funny examples of when people have been extreme tightwads / tightfisted

[Sensisoul]

i recently fell out with a friend who is known for being exceptionally tight with money.

They have no kids & do anything to scrimp and save so they can afford a champagne lifestyle at the drop of a hat. They buy expensive beauty items with free gifts and then take the items back for a refund afterwards and not return the free gift!

This is a light hearted post about examples of tight friends, partners & family members who have either gone out of their way to be tight or given terrible birthday/ Christmas presents over the years.

NB- This isn’t a criticism on saving money, being mindful of money to stop hardship etc. It is great to collect coupons and vouchers and I do the same. It is more a lighthearted look at how tight some people can be:

Tell me what happened and when & is that person still in your life?

I’ll give a few examples:

this friend requests vouchers from people at Christmas
but always buys people “presents”. These presents can be anything from some old used nail varnish to free beauty samples sachets.

Their family now insist that they buy them gift vouchers as they no longer want their version of “presents”

Only orders hot water in a restaurant/bar- so drinks are always free. sometimes brings own tea bag and milk if they fancy a cup of tea.

Insists on walking everywhere and is spitting feathers when they share a taxi with anyone. They would sooner walk home on their own at night and potentially risk their own safety, than hail a cab and get home safely.

Order the most expensive luxury drink at a bar and then complain said drink is flat and that another fresh bottle is opened. They would then complain again and get another drink free!

Arrange to meet for lunch/dinner at the venue of their choice & then not order anything at all from the venue & say they are getting something from the burger van nearby afterwards. Then watch me eat my food that was ordered from the venue while they sip on a free cup of hot water. ( the hot water was free btw)

Insist on always getting a child’s portion at any eatery. whether this is chips
from a burger van or a posh restaurant.
This person always has to have the cheapest bill at the end of a meal.

Send a sympathy card when my auntie passed away & have the text in the card crossed out!! God knows what the original card said 😂

Group Finance Director where I used to work. He was a multi-millionaire because of his shareholding and earned a 6 figure salary.

Always timed his arrival at the bar to ensure he only bought for himself, hanging back if there was a big round in progress. Refused to take his department for Christmas lunch (they were the only ones who didn’t get one, and the department included a lot of the lowest paid people in the company) because it was ‘up to us to set an example’.

His best one was inviting his department to a summer BBQ at his house. They all had to travel down to his massive pile in the countryside, and bring their own wine and soft drinks. He served up one burger each, whilst ducking back inside to fill his own glass from his extensive wine cellar. When they were back at work the following week he surreptitiously put a bill through for his ‘expenses’ despite acting as though the whole crappy thing was down to his great generosity.

I was once in the car with a friend driving back from an event. I needed a wee but she said she didn't want to stop at the services as it would cost an extra 20p in fuel stopping and going again, so I had to hold it. Said friend also would split bills down to the penny - so would say I owed her £5 and 17 pence for a meal we'd been to or whatever rather than just saying a fiver. I know for a fact her DH earns over £100k a year and her own job doesn't pay badly, they live in a house her mother inherited from a friend and then gave to them that they've extended and is probably worth nearly a million!!

it can mean either according to Google

I know. That was obvious which is why I didn't say it.

I know people who go to cafes and take the sachets of sugar home with them. Reason being - they don't have sugar in their tea but it's included in the price.

Years ago I lived in a house share and my housemate had a real chip on her shoulder that I earned more than her. It was only a couple of grand more a year and I wasn't exactly flush. She had form for not having any money left at the end of a night out to pay for her share of a taxi home, or forgetting her purse if we went for a coffee etc. I'd always end up paying and didn't ever follow it up. One day we walked to the local shop and she said she fancied buying a Sunday paper for the supplements (pre smart phone or wifi). I was reading it later that day when she stomped in the room and demanded I pay half of the cost, around 37p. We're not in touch any more!

My dad-I was a skint single mother-every penny counted
hes mortgage free and owns a huge motorbike
anyway we where in town and my bill for something came to £5.05
I asked if he’d mind lending me the 5p so I didn’t have to break into my last tenner
he did,and nagged me endlessly until I repaid the 5p!

my mother is mortgage free,runs a posh car,spends endlessly on clothes,shoes,posh foods and other crap for herself
she has been known to buy my children presents for birthday and Christmas from car boot sales or charity shops-then she’d hold her hand out for the money back from me

i asked her to babysit once when my childcare and let me down-she charged me £30 for less than 30 minutes of babysitting as she’d bought my dd a dummy (it cost 75p)

she used to fudge her timesheets every tuesday-she’d get paid for taking me to tesco,she’d get mileage and she’d charge me £15 in petrol to get there and back
shed also insist on me buying her a cuppa and cake while we where there

im now nc

I don't have an example, but I have heard MIL say, the reason FIL's dick is so small is because he's a tight fisted wanker.

@TreacheryPepper definitely means angry in the north.

Work Christmas meal about 15 years ago - set menu but senior manager 'upgraded' from soup to prawn cocktail at a cost of £2. Then refused to pay the £2 when the bill came. Waiter was a young lad of about 16 who was getting really upset that he would be in trouble and his wages would be docked the £2. In the end I paid the £2 - I was on about 1/4 of the senior manager's salary (but still significantly more than whatever pittance a 16 year old waiter would have been on).

@Autienotnaughtie - we say it to mean thirsty & we're in Salford.

My aunt is a millionaire, gifts from her have included - a used lipstick, face cream samples, stained scarf, out of date biscuits/pickles/crackers. My dh usually get a new gift but think that's because she doesn't have anything in her house to regift him.

I once went out for a group meal, we were five couples. I was driving as was another women, the other three women had £15 cocktails- 4 or 5 each. Bill came it was suggested we split it which would cost dh and I about £40 extra. I wanted to say no but the other driver said "don't, just look at it as though your paying for the night out" Ten years on same friend has been very successful in career earns a lot more than dh and I together. we go out for a meal as a foursome. dh, me, and her husband have a liquor at end of meal (she's driving) (other drinks were paid at bar) she points out at end of meal if we split bill they will be paying £1.50 of our liquors 😂😂

We did our own food at our sons christening. We got to venue slightly after everyone else. (Maybe 10/15 min) As we walked through the door my in laws were stood by the buffet table, they immediately began removing clingfilm off plates. Dhs extended family ran to the buffet table like their throats had been cut. The food was gone in ten minutes. We got nothing, my family on seeing this feeding massacre taking place quickly ran up to grab the last few offerings . The room was ours for three hours. It was all over in 30min. Never seen anything like it in my life.

I live in the south and spitting feathers has always meant angry. Never heard it use to describe thirst. How strange.

Not real north though is it 😂😂😂 just kidding maybe it's an area thing.

A relative of mine. Is so tight! BUT always expects everything for nothing and it’s THIS type of tight fisted person that makes me cross.

Examples of things he’s done are:

Had an old broken bike in a skip, his son saw it and asked if he could have it, to do up for his son. He charged him £20.

Someone put some books outside for free, he took all of them and immediately showed his colleagues and then charged them £2 a book!

Always first to the buffet and piles plate ridiculously high.

Always last to the bar….. ALWAYS.

Bought and read the paper every day, then charged his colleagues 10p to read it.

OFFERED to help his son with some DIY in his new house….. charged him day rate of £200!

This man is not struggling financially, he has a large house in a prime location, never had a mortgage, never had any debt yet wouldn’t give you the dripping off his nose.

@lameasahorse I dread to think what he’s done that we haven’t heard about!

Years ago we stayed with relatives who were fairly well off.

We received instructions about bathing. Apparently the correct way to dry oneself after a shower was to use a facecloth, repeatedly wringing it out, until we were mostly dry. Only then should a bath towel be used to finish off the process.

This would save the bath towel from needing to be laundered as often.

The quirks of dialect, eh? I'm East Mids but definitely more North than South!

It's maybe not the same but I once met up with extended family. Another family member had chosen a nice restaurant in a busy area of the city. There was about 16 of us so the table was massive and it was the start of the festive season. The family member who had chosen the restaurant ordered soup only and about 6 people didn't eat at all and just ordered 1 drink. Quite a few people were driving (myself included) so ordered soft drinks only. I was so so embarrassed as the manager's face sank as he realised he was losing so much money. The cheeky fuckery applies to the person who booked the place but expected to enjoy the atmosphere while I and some others paid for a two course lunch etc.

no it doesn’t- it usually means to be angry about something. sew pic

I've always thought spitting feathers was thirsty and spitting blood was angry.

this made me howl with laughter- soo funny 😂😂

so many anecdotes- really made me laugh- thanks for your contributions- fantastic to read