Where do you draw the line at being too cheap?

[Chicklogic]

drip drying toilet paper is too cheap for me.........

 

[Mouse House Mama]

drip drying toilet paper is too cheap for me.........

You could just drip dry yourself....

 

[Chicklogic]

You could just drip dry yourself....

Or do the "Splash & Dash"!!

 

[JandJ]

I haven't read the whole thread but I had a friend in elementary school whose mom had her save the napkin she brought in her lunchbox. She had to use it, then let it dry, refold it, and use the same one for the whole week. I think that is where I'd draw the line. Or start using cloth napkins.

 

[Green Tea]

I would never take buns into the park to make my own hamburger. Even if I would, my husband would divorce me on the spot.

I won't drink coffee that I don't think tastes good.

I won't take cool showers unless I just want one. Not going to freeze in the shower just to save money.

I won't stay in icky motels. I use Priceline and stay in a really great place for less than the cheap motel was charging.

I won't buy fatty ground beef because it is cheaper than ground sirloin. It cooks away anyway.

I have never saved aluminum foil(believe it or not, it is done!)

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I would never take buns into the park to make my own hamburger. Even if I would, my husband would divorce me on the spot.

I won't drink coffee that I don't think tastes good.

I won't take cool showers unless I just want one. Not going to freeze in the shower just to save money.

I won't stay in icky motels. I use Priceline and stay in a really great place for less than the cheap motel was charging.

I won't buy fatty ground beef because it is cheaper than ground sirloin. It cooks away anyway.

I have never saved aluminum foil(believe it or not, it is done!)

I am with you on these things as well. I also will not buy used clothing and shoes. Sorry but clothes are cheap enough to buy new and wearing used shoes yucks me out.

 

[hentob]

I won't stay in icky motels. I use Priceline and stay in a really great place for less than the cheap motel was charging.

We have stayed at some AWESOME hotels for $75 a night using Priceline. It is addicting. We tend to do Philly or Baltimore during the "yucky" months (January/February/early March) and have been pleased with our 4 Star bargains

 

[spalady]

I have a friend and our kids "were friends at one time" well when they went out even if there were a bunch of kids and it was her turn to drive you would have to drive your kid to her house then she would drive them where they needed to be or if it was her turn to pick them up she would just drive them to her house and you would have to pick your kid up from her house so she wouldn't have to bring everyone home and that was was before gas was $4.00 a gallon!!!!

 

[autumnsmommy]

Obviously, I know Girls Scouts and Boy Scouts are legitimate, but TeenDrug Challenge Northshore, I'm not so certain about...

I'm not so sure about the Teen Challenge, either. The local branch was banned from one of our local businesses, but I saw them collecting in another town 1 1/2 hours away from us. Smelled fishy to me.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I'm not so sure about the Teen Challenge, either. The local branch was banned from one of our local businesses, but I saw them collecting in another town 1 1/2 hours away from us. Smelled fishy to me.

The thing that seems most suspicious to me is that they are at the interesections every day of the week when we drive to work, and half the time the "collectors" are middle-aged men, who don't exactly look like anyone I'd trust with $1.00...what legitimate agency collects nearly every day of the year, all year long at intersections? It just seems like more sophisticated panhandling to me.

Oh, and to the other PP, I absolutely agree the Salvation Army is a private organization that can do whatever they want with the money they collect. I just think most people don't realize that their help comes with religious conditions. I do, and that's why I choose not to give there. As you said, we should all donate our money is ways that make us comfortable. We concentrate our giving through our church, and my place of work. I think that anyone who is donating should take the time to investigate how their funds might be used (which the PP clearly has done), so I applaud that effort and I encourage anyone else making charitable donations to do the same. That seems like a great way to be thrifty, rather than cheap!

 

[Chicklogic]

I will NOT, after a shower, dry off with a hand towel to save on laundry!

There have been times,however, that I have applied baby oil to my wet skin while in the shower and sorta "drip dried" so the moisture from the water would work in conjunction with the oil (seems wrong cuz oil and water don't mix but it helps seal the moisture into your skin)

 

[Chicklogic]

bump

 

[fiveforall]

The post about the relative taking sodas and juice from her relatives' house reminded me of an incident that happened at my house last week. DD had a "friend" (the kid invited herself) from church spend the night. As we were leaving, DD told her friend to grab a snack from the pantry. Now, the friend is 12. DS walked in and caught her putting a 12 pack sleeve of Reese's cups in her bag. He called for me and I told her she could have one snack. She began to unpack her bag and she'd already stashed a couple of snack cakes, some Pringles pouches, a few slim jims, and handfuls of gum. I explained that guests normally don't take so many snacks from their host, especially if the host is unaware.

Back to the original question, I draw the line at a few things. I won't let my youngest DD wear her older sister's old underwear (other handmedowns are fine). I also won't wash out plastic cups like my nana does. I also won't buy generic Q Tips.

 

[cruisnfamily]

The post about the relative taking sodas and juice from her relatives' house reminded me of an incident that happened at my house last week. DD had a "friend" (the kid invited herself) from church spend the night. As we were leaving, DD told her friend to grab a snack from the pantry. Now, the friend is 12. DS walked in and caught her putting a 12 pack sleeve of Reese's cups in her bag. He called for me and I told her she could have one snack. She began to unpack her bag and she'd already stashed a couple of snack cakes, some Pringles pouches, a few slim jims, and handfuls of gum. I explained that guests normally don't take so many snacks from their host, especially if the host is unaware.

Do you think she was really clueless?(ie: thought it was fine to take that much stuff) Or do you think she was hoping to get away with the stash?(ie: stealing from you) Unless she was a very naive, clueless type I'd not be very happy with her....or...unless they were going to some activity together(your dd and the girl) and she was bringing all the snacks for the 2 of them to share at the activity. I don't know, I'm just trying to picture what I would do if I found myself in that situation.

 

[L107ANGEL]

Do you think she was really clueless?(ie: thought it was fine to take that much stuff) Or do you think she was hoping to get away with the stash?(ie: stealing from you) Unless she was a very naive, clueless type I'd not be very happy with her....or...unless they were going to some activity together(your dd and the girl) and she was bringing all the snacks for the 2 of them to share at the activity. I don't know, I'm just trying to picture what I would do if I found myself in that situation.

You know, I have a different take on this one. What if she was trying to bring home to the family because they can't afford this stuff I think the OP handled it well though!

 

[fiveforall]

Do you think she was really clueless?(ie: thought it was fine to take that much stuff) Or do you think she was hoping to get away with the stash?(ie: stealing from you) Unless she was a very naive, clueless type I'd not be very happy with her....or...unless they were going to some activity together(your dd and the girl) and she was bringing all the snacks for the 2 of them to share at the activity. I don't know, I'm just trying to picture what I would do if I found myself in that situation.

I think she knew wholeheartedly what she was doing. She seemed unfazed when I had her unpack the bag. I was extremely mad, but the girl doesn't have the best home situation. We take her and her sister and bring them home from church, so I didn't want her to tell her mom I got too angry and then not let them come to church. She and DD were just going back to prayer meeting at church, so a small snack would have been plenty. She saw DD take one Pringles pouch. But now, of course, I'm very hesitant about having her over again.

 

[Chicklogic]

I had a friend who would run out of milk for the family and use BREAST MILK to fill in until a trip to Albertson's could be made!

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

OMG! Please tell me you are kidding?

 

[natcat117]

I had my first experience with a *real* flea market a couple of weeks ago. As we were unloading the stuff off the car at 5 AM, people were literally picking things out of it and asking how much stuff was! I hadn't even set our cooler (which was NOT for sale) down and already I had a few ladies giving me offers. We planned on organizing everything but people were like scavengers, flashlight in hand because it was pitch-black, rummaging through the boxes and throwing things out. At first I thought they were the people who owned the flea market and were making sure we weren't selling drugs.

That's where I draw the line at being too cheap! People would refuse to buy brand new skirts we were selling for a dollar! They'd negotiate down things by a few pennies. "Seventy-five cents? I'll give you sixty!"

 

[Chicklogic]

OMG! Please tell me you are kidding?

Not kidding........musta been one healthy ten year old boy!