Where do you draw the line at being too cheap?

[meandtheguys2]

I don't do it for all of us, but I will carry the flavoring packets for my husband. He can't have the sugar, nor caffiene, and gets tired of water with lemon sometimes. If the restaurant carries Diet Rite, or Diet 7-up, he'll purchase it, but if they don't he will flavor his water.

We buy juice, or milk for the boys, though. And I usually will just get a diet whatever.

 

[MEM]

RE: washing and re-using ziploc bags. I do it for ecological reasons - I hate the thought of these things clogging up a landfill. I will wash and re-use until they start to leak or no longer seal - I draw the line at re-using bags that held any sort of meat or fish, raw, cooked or otherwise.

 

[ducklite]

With your logic, drinking the free water would be stealing, if the restaurant sold bottled water.

I disagree, because there is certainly more cost to the establishment associated with the service of bottled water. If someone orders a glass of water along with a glass of scotch for example, then that person shouldn't be charged. But for someone who comes in with a BOGO coupon for the two adults on kids eat free night and doesn't order anything but water and a bowl of lemons to make their own lemonade, then orders the least expensive entrees on teh menu and feeds the entire family for $8, I think that's not only cheap, but also pretty hideous behaviour. I have seen that type of thing happen, and then the server get stiffed on top of it. It's just wrong, and karma's going to butt those folks in the butt someday.

If the restaurant really wanted to make a profit, they should charge for the water.

I wouldn't have a problem with that. Or charge for the water unless the person also ordered something else to drink. On the rare occasion that I only order water, I'd have no problem paying a nominal fee for the glass of water.

Anne

 

[MEM]

I have a question for trashpickers. We have the tall dumpsters that roll down our driveway. Do you all actually go into them to pick?


Along those lines, here's the cheapest, meanest trash picking story I know. One saturday, I left a couple of bags of things out on the curb for Purple Heart. A big-momma SUV pulls up and takes my bags!!!!! I meant to check ebay later to see if any of my stuff was listed. But that's TOO cheap, stealing from charity.

Were they marked for the charity? If so, it IS stealing. Same thing goes for people who remove donations placed in or next to Salvation Army or Goodwill drop-offs.

 

[vhoffman]

who comes in with a BOGO coupon for the two adults on kids eat free night and doesn't order anything but water and a bowl of lemons to make their own lemonade, then orders the least expensive entrees on teh menu and feeds the entire family for $8, I think that's not only cheap, but also pretty hideous behaviour. I have seen that type of thing happen, and then the server get stiffed on top of it. It's just wrong, and karma's going to butt those folks in the butt someday.





Anne

Oh, Anne, I don't think that's so awful--we did something similar last week. We had a BOGO adult coupon for Bennigan's and went on kids eat free night. We just got water instead of soda because we don't care for soda, diet or regular. However, we did leave a tip based on the vlaue of the four meals, not the tab. We saw the waiter smiling as he picked up our bill. No harm done, and it provided a night out on our limited finances. Do realize the restaurant offered those coupons and the kids eat free nights, we're just using their offers. But we don't stiff the waiter in the process.

 

[ducklite]

Oh, Anne, I don't think that's so awful--we did something similar last week. We had a BOGO adult coupon for Bennigan's and went on kids eat free night. We just got water instead of soda because we don't care for soda, diet or regular. However, we did leave a tip based on the vlaue of the four meals, not the tab. We saw the waiter smiling as he picked up our bill. No harm done, and it provided a night out on our limited finances.

But you didn't order a bowl of lemons and use them and the sugar to make your own lemonade instead of buying the lemonade or a glass of juice from the restaurant. You also left a full tip. Big difference.

If you had made your own lemonade or brought your own kool-aid mix instead of ordering the fruit punch on the menu, it would have been a different story.

I saw a family do this and then proceed to eat a dessert brought in from outside as well after asking the server to bring desert plates and forks. That's just tacky and cheap IMHO. IMHO that's a family who should have just stayed home.

Anne

 

[vhoffman]

Ok, to jump in on the discussion about making, .....um.......sanitary products, lets carry that one further and take a tip from Grandpa who used to use the Sears catalog for toilet paper! Of course, that was when he lived on a farm and had an outhouse. Just think about not only the money he was saving, but the recycling!

Of course, Sears doesn't have a catalog anymore, perhaps we could use the Penneys catalog instead? Or just use our junk mail! Now there's a use for it! Of course, it will clog the toilet, so just throw it in the trash can, hopefully one with a lid and a stinky disc thingie inside...........

 

[clutter]

Were they marked for the charity? If so, it IS stealing. Same thing goes for people who remove donations placed in or next to Salvation Army or Goodwill drop-offs.

Oh yeah, they were clearly marked (8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper on each bag, no less!!, as required by Purple Heart. I was so shocked, when I saw the truck go by later, I stopped to tell them what happened, because I'll bet they got wiped out of everything in our neighborhood.

 

[vhoffman]

But you didn't order a bowl of lemons and use them and the sugar to make your own lemonade instead of buying the lemonade or a glass of juice from the restaurant. You also left a full tip. Big difference.

If you had made your own lemonade or brought your own kool-aid mix instead of ordering the fruit punch on the menu, it would have been a different story.

I saw a family do this and then proceed to eat a dessert brought in from outside as well after asking the server to bring desert plates and forks. That's just tacky and cheap IMHO. IMHO that's a family who should have just stayed home.

Anne

Oh, Anne, that's too funny! But I'm sure the poor waiter wasn't laughing. Most people base the tip on the discounted amount when they use restaurant coupons and the waiters know it, so we don't mention the coupon until after we've been served. We get better service then. Usually the waiter looks dismayed when we present the coupon, thinking he's going to get stiffed on his fair market value for tip, but looks quite happy when we leave him a fair tip.

 

[vhoffman]

Here's another restaurant cheapie story. We used to eat at an all-you-can-eat place called the Covered Dish, which later went out of business (I can see why!) I saw a family of 5, each carrying a tote bag or backpack of some sort. They proceeded to literally nuke the buffet. I saw mama wrapping pieces of chicken and stuffing her tote bag with them! They even took the salt and pepper shakers, the sugar, and the bottle of wine on the table. I didn't see, but they probably took the silverware. Along with stuffing their faces! They then snuck out without paying! It was a pay-as-you-leave place, the cash register was before the bathrooms. Obviously a poorly designed place. They each took turns going to the bathroom to get beyond the cash resister, then snuck out the door. Kinda like the Sound of Music, how they snuck past the Nazis by singing their exit song!

Oh, geez!!!!! I wonder if they use the same tote/backpack for every restaurant run? Imagine how those things smelled!

Hey, maybe those people could give my sil some tips? How to stay fat for free? BTW, they were all grossly overweight (I use that term with both meanings).

Perhaps they were confused and thought they were at the Salvation Army soup kitchen?

 

[vhoffman]

Here's another sil story--we went out together for dinner, dutch treat. They had a $50 gift card. Their bill came to about $40. They left the gift card and figured the extra $10 was the tip

The justified it by saying they didn't get the ten dollars back if not spent--BTW, the gift card was a gift from us!

 

[Genieklone]

Ok, to jump in on the discussion about making, .....um.......sanitary products, lets carry that one further and take a tip from Grandpa who used to use the Sears catalog for toilet paper! Of course, that was when he lived on a farm and had an outhouse. Just think about not only the money he was saving, but the recycling!

Of course, Sears doesn't have a catalog anymore, perhaps we could use the Penneys catalog instead? Or just use our junk mail! Now there's a use for it! Of course, it will clog the toilet, so just throw it in the trash can, hopefully one with a lid and a stinky disc thingie inside...........

Thank God, I don't have to resort to that. But it is funny that you mention that, my husband just said that just last night. I have a squeamish factor on this one folks... If the govt ever went to crap, I'd be plenty thankful we recycle

 

[Genieklone]

Here's another sil story--we went out together for dinner, dutch treat. They had a $50 gift card. Their bill came to about $40. They left the gift card and figured the extra $10 was the tip

The justified it by saying they didn't get the ten dollars back if not spent--BTW, the gift card was a gift from us!

Isn't 10 dollars a 25% tip? Why are they cheap again? I'm confused.

Is my math wrong?

 

[ducklite]

Here's another sil story--we went out together for dinner, dutch treat. They had a $50 gift card. Their bill came to about $40. They left the gift card and figured the extra $10 was the tip

The justified it by saying they didn't get the ten dollars back if not spent--BTW, the gift card was a gift from us!

I'm not sure you would think they were cheap. Am I missing something here?

Anne

 

[Genieklone]

But you didn't order a bowl of lemons and use them and the sugar to make your own lemonade instead of buying the lemonade or a glass of juice from the restaurant. You also left a full tip. Big difference.

If you had made your own lemonade or brought your own kool-aid mix instead of ordering the fruit punch on the menu, it would have been a different story.

I saw a family do this and then proceed to eat a dessert brought in from outside as well after asking the server to bring desert plates and forks. That's just tacky and cheap IMHO. IMHO that's a family who should have just stayed home.

Anne

Now, that's just extreme! A bowl of lemons! What restaurant gives out that much, they should have sent out a Cheapo alert! I thought you were referring to 2-3.

Bringing your dessert to the restaurant....hmm that's what we call ghetto.

Though, I do know my share of friends who have brought their own snacks and drinks to the movie theater. I just can't bring myself to bring out the spread. To afraid the movie police will kick me out. My college girlfriend actually brought out McD's to the movies one time...Hilarious...

You can't help but laugh at this. Tacky, yes... but not harmful, at least I didn't see it that way.

 

[ducklite]

Now, that's just extreme! A bowl of lemons! What restaurant gives out that much, they should have sent out a Cheapo alert! I thought you were referring to 2-3.

If you have five people at the table and they all ask for three lemons wedges to make their own lemonade, that's 15 lemon wedges--a bowl full.

Anne

 

[imsayin]

It ends up COSTING the server to serve those people! A server makes $2.35 an hour, and is taxed for an 8% on every bill, whether they got a tip or not. That's $8 on a $100 bill that they ahve to pay taxes on. At a 25% tax rate, they pay $2 in taxes in money they never got

I would guess that most people tip more than 8% and I would also guess that most waitpersons only pay taxes on what is reported on their W-2. So, if a few people stiff them here & there, it isn't really going to cost them. I am not advocating stiffing the waitstaff and I don't agree with that practice. Simply wanted to point out that I don't find the argument above very valid.

 

[vhoffman]

Isn't 10 dollars a 25% tip? Why are they cheap again? I'm confused.

Is my math wrong?

The waiter doesn't get change from thr gift card! They effectively stiffed the waiter! If they were so concerned about not getting the full value for their gift card they should have ordered something extra for the $10 difference, then left a tip!

 

[katerkat]

Wow! Cloth diapers sure have changed in the 17 years since I used them on my kids. We had the cloth rectangles that you had to use pins with. And the plastic pants! No matter what you did they always yellowed. The new ones are really cute, but pricey!

Jennifer

Yeah, the new ones are awesome! I wouldn't do it without Fuzzi Bunz and similar diapers. I have a couple of pre-folded flat diapers and covers, which now are velcroed or snapped, not plastic pants, and Snappis to secure them instead of pins. My problem is that the plain white covers just aren't cute enough, so I ended up spending $9 or more on custom covers, which brought the cost to the same as Fuzzi Bunz. (He has a Darth Vader diaper...and an Air Force diaper...)

 

[Genieklone]

The waiter doesn't get change from thr gift card! They effectively stiffed the waiter! If they were so concerned about not getting the full value for their gift card they should have ordered something extra for the $10 difference, then left a tip!

Maybe what they could have done, since you guys were splitting the bill, is given you the gift card and you give them 10 dollars, which goes to the waiter. The 50 dollars still gets applied to the bill and the waiter gets paid. If you had given them 50 dollars toward the meal, I assume they would have used 40 for the meal and 10 for the tip.

Or maybe I just am slow....