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Cheapest thing a person has ever done

1000 replies

Unorganisedchaos2 · 17/11/2025 13:38

Inspired by the children's birthday party thread, Im sure this has been done so many times but humor me as Im stuck at home with a poorly DD...

Our family once knew a couple who were convinced that the baby they were due to have shouldn't cost them any more than the family allowance and a grant I believe you used to get in the early 2000's. Some of the things they did:

  • Commented that it had worked out well that the baby was born 2 months prem as they had been able to claim family allowance but he hadn't cost them anything yet as the hospital were providing nappies, milk etc.
  • Refused to visit the baby until the hospital had issued a free parking pass then only visited 3 times a week because they were tired and as it was a 30 minute it was already costing a lot in petrol.
  • Did a separate food shop for him of all supermarket own brand food and £1 meals, she actually had "his money" in one of those money bags the bank used and made the checkout person run it through as two separate shops.
  • Spent hours in charity shops buying up the next few years with of clothes for him, at his second birthday they were asking us to buy clothes for 7-8 year old.
  • Asked my mum to register as a childminder so they could claim childcare but expected my mum to do it for free (not honestly sure how that was ever going to work out)
  • Not child related but he refused to drive above 50 MPH because he believed it was uneconomical, even if he was late for work or holding up a queue of traffic.
OP posts:
JudgeJ · 18/11/2025 21:02

earning 6 figures but re-using tea bags,
When I was still teaching there were two Heads of Department, so not badly paid, who took turns to bring in the milk for their tea , if it was their turn to bring the milk then that week they had the first use of the tea bag every day.

FairViewRosie25 · 18/11/2025 21:03

Isn’t that a steamer? Got one use it a lot.

WearyAuldWumman · 18/11/2025 21:12

JudgeJ · 18/11/2025 21:02

earning 6 figures but re-using tea bags,
When I was still teaching there were two Heads of Department, so not badly paid, who took turns to bring in the milk for their tea , if it was their turn to bring the milk then that week they had the first use of the tea bag every day.

😂

I've known a few skinflint HoDs in my time.

friedeggrunny · 18/11/2025 21:18

My relative is mean spirited, he used to charge people to read his newspaper.

AlltheHedgehogsontheWall · 18/11/2025 21:31

We have a tight friend who seems completely oblivious to social cues.

There's a lot of stories, but on one occasion, before we got our own car, we agreed with him that if he drove us to a theme park, which he was also wanting to go to, for my SD's birthday, we'd pay his entrance fee and lunch whilst we were there as a thank you. All in all, we paid about £130, including topping up his tank with petrol.

On the way home, I said I was happy to cook dinner but needed a few ingredients from the shop. He and I jumped out of the car, and I realised when we got into the shop I'd left my wallet in the car. He said no problem, he'd buy the ingredients. He bought himself a couple of beers and put the ingredients on the same receipt.

Then when we got back to the house, as I was cooking, he worked out what was mine and what was his on the receipt and asked me for £3.79.

AlltheHedgehogsontheWall · 18/11/2025 21:38

Then there was my SIL who turned up to stay at my Mum's luxury B & B free of charge with her boyfriend and son. I'd paid for all 7 of us (me, SD, DD, DH, SIL, the bf and nephew) to go to the safari park at a cost of about £120 for 2 cars, and also for her and I to go to an art workshop together that she wanted to do. They stayed for 3 nights and had lunch, dinner (including fillet steak one night), pudding and plenty of drinks every night except one, when she said she was going to get a takeaway. She said she wanted Dominos and did we like Dominos? I said it wasn't really our thing (I hate American pizza) but SD would probably have a slice and we'd sort ourselves out. I was slightly disappointed as if I stay somewhere I normally bring a few bottles of wine and offer to pay for a takeaway of the host's choice, rather than something they don't like, but I thought that at least she'd offered something.

Once they'd eaten the Dominos she asked me for £15 to cover half the cost.

Dollymylove · 18/11/2025 21:47

An old boss of mine, a tightwad, used to say, frequently, "you dont get rich by giving it away" and in his case it was true 😆

AquaForce · 18/11/2025 21:59

I was invited to a friend's for dinner. She needed to go food shopping first, so off we went. At the till she told me to pay half as I would be eating it as well. Back at her flat she put the food away and served up leftovers from the day before. She laughed and said 'ha ha I made you spend money'.

Another time she gave wine to all the other guests and brought out an opened bottle of Diamond White cider for me. She said it was because I liked cider. I do, but generally prefer it chilled and freshly opened not flat gut rot from the back of the cupboard.

We aren't friends anymore.

ThePerkyDuck · 18/11/2025 22:05

@AlltheHedgehogsontheWall Did you ask her to cover the cost of the safari trip after that?

Ewock · 18/11/2025 22:10

Yep we have them as well. Much nicer to steam some veg, like broccoli. And also easier than trying to cook lots on 4 rings and not having room.

AlltheHedgehogsontheWall · 18/11/2025 22:13

ThePerkyDuck · 18/11/2025 22:05

@AlltheHedgehogsontheWall Did you ask her to cover the cost of the safari trip after that?

No, but I didn't pay for the pizza either- I just pointed out that SD had about 3 slices, DH had one and DD and I had none at all, and we were not paying £15 for half a poor quality pizza.

To add insult to injury, as mentioned, they were sleeping at my Mum's as there isn't space for that many people at ours. My Mum takes great pride in hosting guests, and had gone especially all out for them, making sure they had exactly what they wanted for breakfast, which was specified down to brands, clean sheets every night of their stay, brand new towels in the bathrooms, etc.

After the pizza incident she apparently said to my Mum, "Oh, it's a shame that the hostess gene didn't get passed on to AlltheHedgehogs isn't it?"

Purplebunnie · 18/11/2025 22:15

I bought some new Terry nappies but never used them.. They are currently used for cleaning the condensation from the windows. They are a useful size for a lot of jobs around the house

RosesAndHellebores · 18/11/2025 22:38

This has reminded me of SIL2 and her then bf. They were travelling overseas before settling down. When the dc were tiny, probably 1.5 and 4 they came to stay for three weeks. They were provided with three meals a day, a very nice guest room and en-suite.

They didn't so much as buy the children a toy or us a bottle of wine or bunch of flowers. When they left they left 4 cans of lager, 20 copies of the guardian, overflowing bins, mega skid marks and the filthiest shower I've ever seen. I never put them up again despite being asked.

SIL1 and her three year old visited about a year later. We took them to Center Parks for four days. She did not offer to buy so much as a coffew, stood by and watched her three year old hit my two year old and one night, after dh and I had supervised all three children, including providing a birthday cake for her child, got up from the dinner table and laid on the sofa with a book while we cleared up and supervised the dc.

SIL1 told me to carefully consider whether I should marry her brother because he was a capotalost bastard. Her socialist views have not once prevented her from having a very open hand or from tapping him up when she's particularly skint. She doesn't work.

I am very glad they live abroad.

Theoldbird · 18/11/2025 22:40

Arraminta · 18/11/2025 11:00

Er, I take it you haven't heard of post natal depression then? Or post partum psychosis?

Thanks to chemical and hormonal changes after giving birth, many women are unable to feel any attachment to their newborn. They have no choice in the matter. They cannot will themselves to feel that bond in the same way diabetics can't will themselves to process insulin correctly.

When DD1 was born I felt nothing for her. It was like the midwife had handed me a total stranger's newborn. All I felt inside was a terrible, inner bleakness and panic and even before we left hospital I knew something was very wrong. Not surprisingly, I was quickly diagnosed with severe PND. I wouldn't wish what I suffered on anyone, and it took months for me to fall in love with DD1.

So, yeah sadly, heartbreakingly, many women don't get to experience that immediate, intense bond with their newborn. It's not incredible that they don't, it's just terribly sad.

The OP's post wasn't about someone suffering postnatal depression was it though?? It was about parents who were motivated by stinginess into basically neglecting their newborn. Postnatal depression is a very very different kettle of fish, and not only have I heard of it, I've had it myself, for a prolonged period after having dc.

Arraminta · 18/11/2025 22:52

Theoldbird · 18/11/2025 22:40

The OP's post wasn't about someone suffering postnatal depression was it though?? It was about parents who were motivated by stinginess into basically neglecting their newborn. Postnatal depression is a very very different kettle of fish, and not only have I heard of it, I've had it myself, for a prolonged period after having dc.

I was responding to the poster who, very disingenuous, exclaimed that she couldn't comprehend how mothers couldn't feel intensely bonded to their baby.

AquaForce · 18/11/2025 23:24

Nefrititi · 18/11/2025 11:04

Some of these stories are unbelievable!! A few of my experiences;

a work colleague who was notoriously tight anyway (never married, no kids and inherited a house outright from parents so absolutely no money worries and better off than all of our department).
moaned about any collections for our small dept for anyone’s birthday, birth of a child etc (never more than a £5 donation each).
When bank charges were a thing she was going to go to a company to get them back for her taking a 3rd of whatever she got back so I offered to do it for nothing as I’d done it before so why the hell wouldn’t I offer?
she got £27k back and took the department out (6 of us) to say thanks and bill came to about £200 I think and literally did not stop going on about that for years.
Sil again so mean (as is her mum) when out for food always works out her exact amount and puts it straight in the table first so she can’t ’be done out of money’ (her words) and no chance of leaving a tip.
she also did a market research where they give you snacks whilst there. She tipped the whole basket of sweets into her bag (she doesn’t eat them btw).
I had a friend go to the bar with money I gave for our drinks and pocketed the change.
Step brothers mum only allows one sheet toilet paper for a wee (Lord knows how many for anything else)!!
for me being tight is one of the absolute worst traits, cannot abide it

Our toilet roll holder was on it's last legs and sort of rattled when you pulled on the loo roll. My mother used to listen at the bathroom door and shout ''that's enough'' if it rattled more than once.

Theoldbird · 18/11/2025 23:28

Arraminta · 18/11/2025 22:52

I was responding to the poster who, very disingenuous, exclaimed that she couldn't comprehend how mothers couldn't feel intensely bonded to their baby.

That was me. And I was responding to a specific set of circumstances the op mentioned. of course post natal depression is a very different thing. No idea how that was relevant

HoppityBun · 18/11/2025 23:33

Frenchcremefraiche · 18/11/2025 20:15

There is a big market in second hand nappies. We sold our small sizes for almost as much as we bought them for. Baby poo is generally easy to clean so the nappies still looked lovely.

The larger size were not suitable for selling on. I think I passed them onto a friend who knew they were stained and a bit grey. Don't worry, she asked for them i didnt just hand her my left overs and claim I was doing her a favour!

My parents used second hand nappies on me and so they would have been third hand for my sister.

They got softer as they were used, didn’t they? Or am I imagining that?

HoppityBun · 18/11/2025 23:35

AlltheHedgehogsontheWall · 18/11/2025 21:31

We have a tight friend who seems completely oblivious to social cues.

There's a lot of stories, but on one occasion, before we got our own car, we agreed with him that if he drove us to a theme park, which he was also wanting to go to, for my SD's birthday, we'd pay his entrance fee and lunch whilst we were there as a thank you. All in all, we paid about £130, including topping up his tank with petrol.

On the way home, I said I was happy to cook dinner but needed a few ingredients from the shop. He and I jumped out of the car, and I realised when we got into the shop I'd left my wallet in the car. He said no problem, he'd buy the ingredients. He bought himself a couple of beers and put the ingredients on the same receipt.

Then when we got back to the house, as I was cooking, he worked out what was mine and what was his on the receipt and asked me for £3.79.

I hope you gave him 3.80 and asked for the penny change

Cattenberg · 18/11/2025 23:35

WearyAuldWumman · 18/11/2025 18:37

I got a rose like that from my uni boyfriend, I recall.

At Easter he turned up at my flat door for a date. "My Mum said to be romantic and get you an Easter egg, but you're supposed to be on a diet - so here's a quarter pound of chocolates that a visitor to the house brought."

😂What a twat!

Some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Cattenberg · 18/11/2025 23:40

As for nappies, I was in the car with my mum a few years ago and she asked me to wipe condensation off the inside of the windscreen with a cloth she kept in the glove compartment. It was one of my old terry towelling nappies from the early 80s. Well, it's good for the environment, I suppose!

nunsflipflop · 19/11/2025 00:48

About 30 years ago, we had taken our children to the coast. My DSis and her DH had decided to join us. To keep the costs down we had taken a picnic, I had warned her that’s what we were doing and she said she would do the same.

They arrived about half an hour after us with no sign of a picnic, when it came to lunch time, they just helped themselves to ours,” they knew I’d make too much”.

Money was tight for us, we hadn’t planned on taking the DC on to the pier and the funfair, just some running free on the beach in the fresh air. BIL kept on and on about going to the fair, I explained we didn’t have the budget for that so we wouldn’t be able to go. He offered to treat my dc, who then got really excited. All of the rides were paid for by tokens, each ride being worth a different amount. We get to the ticket booth and he decides he doesn’t want to buy any more than necessary, so he tells my children to choose 1 ride each, that only cost 1 token each. He then starts walking around, counting up the number of tokens he needed for the rides he wanted to go on. My dc were small and needed an adult to ride with them. He refused to waste his tokens doing that, we ended up buying enough token so that my DH and I could ride with them.

We left them on the pier to make our way back to the car, I was less than impressed, my DS asked for a sandwich and when I open the box to pass him one, they’d eaten the lot! To add insult to injury, they then come strolling down the road, him scoffing fish and chips, her with a massive ice cream.

Many years later my son and his gf found themselves pregnant in their late teens. My DSis offered to sell me a pram that she had used for both of her children and then stored in her loft for 15 years, for almost as much as her PIL paid for it brand new.

mondaytosunday · 19/11/2025 01:04

@Theoldbirdhaven’t you thought that perhaps the mothers might also be in hospital? I was - my DD was in NICU for several days but so was I with complications. My DH visited her every day but not all day as we had other kids at home.

IhateHPSDeaneCnt · 19/11/2025 01:23

4 out of my 5 closest friends at secondary school were handed over child benefit plus masses of pocket money every week. I probably had 50p a day. However, this somehow instilled a sense of entitlement to take the piss e.g if they went to an 'All you can eat buffet' they'd stuff themselves to the point of sickness, ask for 'Doggie bags' which were obviously refused, and attempt to smuggle out stuff. I was first to buy a flat and two of them turned up to visit; one, with half a bottle of Vodka, the other with some beers. Both drank my better quality booze and left with their original donations. I swear the one who originally presented 4 cans of Beer appropriated a couple more on her way out!

ilovecardigans · 19/11/2025 01:26

Thankfully, I have no stories of horrific tightarsery to recount, but I hope you don't mind me adding to the thread with some information that I hope is never needed. Co-o Funeralcare's services are free of charge for children under the age of 18.

https://www.coop.co.uk/funeralcare/funeral-services/childrens-funerals

I'm so sorry that bereaved mothers have been subjected to such insensitive, callous behaviour from those who should have been there to support them. I despair of humanity at times, I really do.

Pardon Our Interruption

https://www.coop.co.uk/funeralcare/funeral-services/childrens-funerals

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