Cheapest thing a person has ever done

[Unorganisedchaos2]

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.

Do you know what? I think I may even have been charged too. US bank. Googling shows me this was possible. I guess if you don't have any money left in the account and now live abroad not sure what the bank can really do.

This was in the 90s btw

I'm confused. What did the complainers want to have happened instead?

how did he take the chance for someone else to win £25 away from anyone else? After he had won there wasnt another £25 to be won - the chance for someone else to win had ended the moment he won (as in any draw) -regardless of whether he took the full £25 price money or just a fiver, they were never going to choose a second winner, were they?

Was he the boss and they thought that if he won he should have just said "nah, don't worry about it, pick again?" That's the only way I can think of it as making any sense and tbh I wouldn't think that made the colleagues/employees cheapskates as such, just maybe a bit unfair.

The complainers were of view that someone would have liked to have won the prize and all though he did "win" he essentially did not collect the prize. I think that was the jist of it, he was laughing when telling me about it.

The complainers were being very odd was his view.

Haha that is very weird in that case.

Nowt so odd as folk!

This has been bugging me! So are the complainers saying he shouldnt have bought a ticket at all? Because thats the only way someone else could have won, those things are preprinted with the winning team already decided and you scratch off the panel to reveal the answer when all the boxes are sold. So the second he chose that team, no one else could win!

That one I totally understand. The mum would have been given an allowance by the dad for everything. She would have had no idea how much money there was. Men got a pay packet and gave wife housekeeping money

She was a Deputy Headmistress. 89 now and paying top rate tax! Just fucking mean.

I used to play in a music group as a hobby (various wind instruments). Every year we had a little party for Christmas and were all asked to contribute something for a buffet. There were 25 of us.
We were asked to sign up on a list with our contributions. I put myself down for a veggie quiche and veggie sossie rolls. I saw one other member had put herself down for "eggs" which puzzled me the first time I saw it.
On the day of the party all was revealed as I saw 4 boiled, shelled eggs in a bowl - that was it !
After spending quite some time baking for this event I was a bit miffed to say the least.
BTW this lady was married to a builder and wasn't short of a bob or two.

PS. She did this every year

Had one at work last week that I forgot to post about!

Lime and soda is £1.30 (iirc) but soda water is free. So had a woman order a soda water then came back a couple of minutes later to ask for a shot of lime (about 35p on its own), so she could save less than a quid. She was clearly not short of money judging by the car she was driving but I she tried to negotiate a discount that we dont offer and I heard her say that she wouldnt order a dessert but would share the one her friend ordered. Friend didnt look too impressed at that!

This was definitely from a full set, I think it might have been the biggest one.

Ah. That's different then. I've seen single large matrioshkas, but these are made large enough to conceal a vodka bottle for some reason, so much larger than the norm.

My elderly aunt is a multi millionaire but her and her late husband have always been incredibly stingy. Her latest trick when I visited was to produce a pair of nail clippers and ask me to cut her toe nails as the podiatrist charges £60 and it was too expensive.

My ex-husband did this! Printed picture from a well known online action page and said

My podiatrist charges £42.00, she should shop around but yeah that is really cheeky I wouldn't want to cut her nails, I don't even want to cut mine

I would do it once, do it too short on one nail only (I am not a sadist!) so it was a bit sore for a few days. She wouldnt ask again! "Oh I am sorry Aunt, I suppose thats why Podiatrists charge what they do, they know what they are doing!"

I think what we could all take from this thread is to be a bit miserly and tighter. Clearly this is why people are rich. It stands to reason 😁

3 of my grandchildren were premature and each time we would need to get two buses, a train and a ferry to the baby unit. We weren’t the furthest away either, some couples came all the way from Oban to Paisley and now it’s Glasgow so even further. This is a problem all over Scotland.

And said what? I'm dying of suspense here @BeLimeBeaker !

It sounds like FIL was financially abusive. You could be writing about my parents, although less extreme. There was a lot of unnecessary financial control. My mum rings me for permission to spend her money now he's dead, every time I tell her she can buy whatever she wants, she never needs to explain her choices to me. My dad wouldn't let her go anywhere if it cost money, so she walked miles. My mum became a vegetarian to cost less, she was told she cost too much, like she was a vehicle. Dad had plenty of money but would not spend any. She shielded me from a lot. Your MIL may not have been allowed to buy the train ticket immediately and had to wait until it was cheaper.

That is absolutely heartbreaking 💔

Years ago I used to work with a lovely lady who had worked in the NHS and was responsible for dealing with the property of patients who died in hospital. She told me that she had received a complaint from a gentleman who had bought his mother a bottle of orange squash two days before she died. When he collected the bottle from the hospital after her death there was an inch of orange squash missing and he felt his mother couldn't have drunk that much squash in two days!

@IWishToBeAnonymous FIL was tight but not abusive. MIL was probably tighter and she has nearly as much as FIL had tucked away unspent. She was a Deputy Headmistress and was retired (on an excellent pension) by the time her mother died.

I'm sorry if I phrased my post badly because you are the second person to raise financial abuse. FIL was a very kind man. They were both mean with money and rather joyless.

No don't be.
When I first got married I had to budget carefully, we didn't have any spare cash.
After 10 years dh had a good job and we were better off.
I am now generous to a fault with family and friends but my siblings still regard me as 'careful.'

My parents had a friend years ago who always carried a £20 note (a lot in the 70's) in his wallet and used it as an excuse not to buy anyone a drink as in the bar wouldn't change it.
A ndn would say to df 'what are you having, you only want a half don't you?'
My db , as a dc, sold me the chewing gum that he had been chewing all day. 😅

That’s so sad. Your poor Mum.