What's Your "Cheap" ?

[Al_4_State]

Bottom shelf liquor - The only liquor I consume with any regularity is vodka in Bloody Marys. I'll get cheap vodka and soak peppers, onions, garlic, etc in it to give it some flavor.

Cars - In the 16 years I've had my license, I bet I've had a car payment for no more than 5.

Hotels - if there aren't blood stains, I'm probably fine with it.

Knock-off brand stuff - 90% of consumable products, I'm fine with knock offs. There are a few exceptions, but not many

 

[Prone2Clone]

Jerseys...but they're somehow still high quality.

 

[PineClone]

Bottled water. The reason...it comes out of your sink for free dumb-dumbs!

 

[Bryce7]

We all pay cash for our houses and cars, of course, but what aspect of your life would you qualify yourself as being stingy?

Do you buy knock-off cereal?
Do you buy liquor off the bottom shelf?
Do you check 20 different websites before getting a hotel?
Do you have a punch card at the local brothel?

Where do you cut corners?

Trivago.

By the way, Bill Shatner made hundreds of millions off his stock with one of the other companies

 

[Bryce7]

Jerseys...but they're somehow still high quality.

Buy them at Goodwill real cheap.

 

[Cyclonepride]

More of a general cheap than a specific cheap, but I'm pretty handy, so I find it nearly impossible to hire work done when I can just do it myself. Except plumbing, because **** plumbing.

 

[CycloneWarning]

Bottom shelf liquor - The only liquor I consume with any regularity is vodka in Bloody Marys. I'll get cheap vodka and soak peppers, onions, garlic, etc in it to give it some flavor.

Cars - In the 16 years I've had my license, I bet I've had a car payment for no more than 5.

Hotels - if there aren't blood stains, I'm probably fine with it.

Knock-off brand stuff - 90% of consumable products, I'm fine with knock offs. There are a few exceptions, but not many

That is one area I will not compromise. No motels and no shady hotels. Ever since bedbugs made a comeback, I am freaking out about running across them. Holiday Inn Express or Hampton for me on the cheaper side, but love to stay at nice hotels.

 

[wxman1]

I am not terribly cheap with any one thing other than maybe groceries. I am not picky so saving money and buying store brand is more than fine with me. However I don't do the shopping so as long as she sticks to the budget we are cool. I am cheap in general combined with the fact that if I am going to buy something I want it to be good quality and fulfill want I am looking for and I am willing to pay extra to be more sure of this. That being said I am also generally willing to wait as long as it is not an emergency to make sure we can afford it.

I don't know if checking hotels, flights etc for deal is so much cheap as it is just being smart. You have tools at your disposal...use them.

Thinking about this more I think a lot of this has to do with my childhood. My dad was crazy cheap mostly out of necessity and it drove me nuts. I didn't want to spend extravagantly but it would have been nice to stay somewhere other than the Super 8. It always worked and and we all lived but there was one in particular that we were only scheduled to stay in one night anyway that the whole building wreaked of cigarette smoke and the room was just dusty and dirty. Due to that I am a little more picky when it comes to hotels. I don't need five star and I have stayed in Super 8s and stuff but when I have the option I will shop like crazy and try and wait for a deal (Groupon Getaways can be good for this).

 

[weR138]

We all pay cash for our houses and cars, of course, but what aspect of your life would you qualify yourself as being stingy?

Do you buy knock-off cereal?
Do you buy liquor off the bottom shelf?
Do you check 20 different websites before getting a hotel?
Do you have a punch card at the local brothel?

Where do you cut corners?

I don't know if it's because generic cereals save money by adding less sugar but I prefer many of them because that seems to be the case.

Trouble for me is that as I get older I can't tolerate cheap food and drink. I'm going in the wrong direction with beer, wine, and booze. I'm spending ~$10 for six packs and ~15$ for a bottle of wine...

I don't buy new cars. Cars are just too good now to do that.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I don't know if checking hotels, flights etc for deal is so much cheap as it is just being smart. You have tools at your disposal...use them.

Yeah, I probably should have stuck with "quality of the hotel" versus the website. I'll fix that

 

[CycloneSarah]

We've lived in our house for almost 2 years now and have a folding table and bag chairs in the dining room (and no eat-in kitchen). We always eat dinner in the living room while watching TV so I don't see the point in spending hundreds of dollars on a nice kitchen table yet. I keep hoping a relative will be getting rid of one that we can inherit. We also have an empty spare bedroom with no bed.

 

[DeereClone]

I err on the frugal side with most everything but a couple that stick out to me:

TV - 37" vizio from that I bought with high school graduation money 8 years ago.
Food - we rarely go out to eat. Only for special occasions (birthday, anniversary) or to meet up with friends. I pack a lunch every day, and when travel on the road we pack our own cooler with pop/drinks/snacks/sandwiches from home so we don't have to pay for that stuff at gas stations.

 

[BoxsterCy]

I take pride in spending too much for everything. Someone needs to support the economy.

 

[WhatchaGonnaDo]

I will wear any pair of shoes until they visibly start falling apart or there is a hole in the soles. Those things are so damn expensive.

My wife regularly pays the extra 2 bucks for cage free eggs. I say they are stupid chickens and don't give a **** if they're stuck in a cage or not. They will still lay eggs and they will taste the same.

I also don't care much about the cheap versions of napkins, paper towels, TP. You just throw them away 3 seconds after using them. What difference does it make?

 

[cowgirl836]

oh yeah, leftovers for lunch pretty much every day.

 

[SCyclone]

I'll buy lots of in-house labels at HyVee, but some things I just can't. (Good example: canned tuna.) I bought a new Ford F-150 in 2013, but it's only the second brand new vehicle I've ever had, and I will have it for awhile, I'm sure. I don't scrimp on booze - no Hawkeye vodka for me, please.

I'm not a total cheapskate, I guess it just depends on what it is.

 

[jcyclonee]

Private jets. Why buy a Dassault when an Embraer will get you from point A to point B just fine?

 

[IlliniCy]

One word: Aldi's.

 

[Deanster]

I always use the cheapest gas at the pump.

 

[CtownCyclone]

I will wear any pair of shoes until they visibly start falling apart or there is a hole in the soles. Those things are so damn expensive.

My wife regularly pays the extra 2 bucks for cage free eggs. I say they are stupid chickens and don't give a **** if they're stuck in a cage or not. They will still lay eggs and they will taste the same.

I also don't care much about the cheap versions of napkins, paper towels, TP. You just throw them away 3 seconds after using them. What difference does it make?

Oh my sweet Jesus, my wife does this too. A few weeks ago, so picked up some cage-free eggs at the farmer's market for like $5.50 for a dozen. I informed her that if she wanted to do that, she needed to get a raise because we'll be broke with the amount of eggs we eat.