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.

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.

I gather the implication is they’re neglectful, but actually I think spending hours shopping for your dc is sweet.

Genuine question, why did you allow all this? I mean at some point you must’ve wanted to tell her what you thought of her or at least tell her to stop?

My mother stole from me
my flat
my car
my clothes, she was double my size then, and is now even larger
she tried to marry me off to further her ‘status’ and disowned me when I refused
she rewrites her will once a week I hear from other relatives

I sent her new husband cash in a congratulations card for their wedding and said good luck as she values money over family. Neither sent a thank you card ;)

My dad used to do this 🤮 and yes we grew up poor but if my parents had been economical in other productive ways, and my father hadn’t prioritised his fags above everything else then we wouldn’t have suffered as much.

We were a family on free school meals as my Mum was widowed very young with 5 young children. The system was you were given a ‘dinner token’ which was worth 50p at the canteen a wealthy friend would sidle up to me and put stuff on my tray so her stuff was was paid from my token and I had less to eat. I actually can’t believe I let that happen.

We are teetotal vegan. Whenever we ate out with my sister and her partner he would drink himself stupid and order the most expensive thing in the menu as we split the bill to be polite. He was so tight it was an effort to get him to pay his half. We always insisted on a 10% cash tip - and more than once I say him pocket it as we left.

I really am such a doormat.

My daughter was born 14 weeks prematuely and we spent those 14 weeks with her 24/7 in neonatal intensive care as she fought for her life, so it breaks my heart what you have shared about that couple and their premature child, OP.

I don't have any stories cheaper than this - the worst a friend has done to me is try to pay back a substantial loan using jars of 1 & 2 pence pieces!

No, the Greens. Who had to run the party on a shoestring budget, to be fair. Still, I decided it was quite a lot of effort to take that stuff miles out into the sticks in order to eat in someone else's garden. The local candidate and a couple of the other party members were nice, two or three members were downright weird and I didn't know any of the others.

My ex inlaws are super tight millionaires. When I was dating DH they would invite us round for take away curry but we were only allowed to order one main dish. Mil would cook rice and give us a supermarket naan.

When DH died, mil informed me that I'd used an expensive funeral director and should have shopped around.

I think the problem with a lot of these stories isnt that tight people are tight.....cos they are and nothing will change that.

Its the fucking doormats allowing it!

The cheeky fucker brother getting his shopping paid for at both ends for him....why the hell did the parents keep doing it?!

So many on here just letting the cheeky fuckers getting away with it. I find that far more interesting from a psychological point of view. @Jaffna why didnt you insist on seperate bills? Or at least give the money to the staff yourself rather than allow it to be left on the table?

My dad nicked flowers off someone else’s grave to put on his mum’s.

I think part of the trouble is if you’ve been raised in a family of compulsively stingy hoarders, who make out that you’re nuts or selfish for objecting to their behaviour (which might just be stinginess but often also includes coercion and theft), it takes a very long time to recalibrate your idea of what is normal, and to trust that there’s ever any point in telling someone no.

Anyone who finds it easy and natural to say ‘that doesn’t work for me’ probably didn’t grow up with severely emotionally disturbed parents who ran roughshod over everyone’s boundaries and punished them for having any in the first place.

I’m so sorry for your loss

I’m so sorry for your loss and the abominable way you were treated

Please do. It's good to have a mix.

A few Christmases ago. My cousin rang on Christmas Eve and asked did I need her to bring anything the following day. I said "Yes, please, cranberry sauce, I forgot fresh cranberries and they'll be sold out now". She turned up the following day with hubby and kids in tow. Ate the turkey dinner. Ate the pud. Drank the wine. Drank a couple of brandies. Stayed for a buffet tea at 7. Departed clutching a parcel of sliced turkey. As she left she kissed me on the cheek and said "Before I forget, you owe me £1.65 for the cranberry sauce."

He’s clearly unhinged… 🤣

Thank you, thats a good point.

My mother would charge you to smell her farts but I was the "difficult" child as I always pushed back against her controlling ways (wasnt just around money) so saying NO was something Iearned early. My sister far less so, so it took her longer to learn that lesson around tightwads.

What did you say?! 😵‍💫

I lived with someone once just after university who was a total skinflint. She had a huge bursary and scholarship to do her phd and her parents paid her rent and living costs.

Her lunch and dinner every day was a handful of fusilli pasta cooked for about 40 minutes so it went massive (in her words ‘so it went further’) with a level tablespoon of bolognese made with value mince and 5p tinned tomatoes. A bag of pasta lasted her a week. She always had cheese on it but never bought any as ‘there was always some in the fridge’ ie not hers.

She gave me 50p to buy her a Lion Bar at the corner shop and asked for the 3p change when I got back. I didn’t have it as I was buying a lot of stuff and only had £1 coins. She harangued me for a week until I gave her the 3p change

Sometimes people find it easier to just hand over the money as they couldn't be arsed making an issue out of it. For example, my friend used to have a weekly visitor who would bring a cake and then ask for the money for it. She was hosting out of kindness, as the visitor had estranged everyone else.

did a secret Santa at work a couple of years ago, someone received an out of date bath set (clearly something someone had stashed away for a long time) was only a £10 present one too and the option to opt out 🫣

I’m glad you said that because, I thought to myself “ooo what a great idea”, those Regina Blitz sheets which I like are huge (and not cheap) and I often find myself folding them in two. 😀

A local charity done a cake sale at an oil and gas company I worked at so not shabby wages for anyone.
Guy tried to get the cakes half price because it was coming to end of day.

The fund raiser was for a children's hospice.
And the tight git would have been on 80 grand+

Some of these are absolutely shocking. I firmly believe in karma so I hope these tight arsed people have their come uppance.

I have a friend who takes a tupperware type box with her everywhere. Going to a buffet or party? Her plate gets filled, everything put in the box, then she goes for 'seconds'. Out for a meal? It's a case of anything left, a bread roll, bit of cheese, a potato, goes in the box. This is probably why she's so wealthy!

Went on a weekend away as a couple with 2 other couples. Had an evening meal in a very nice restaurant. One couple and ourselves got cash out to cover the meal and a good tip. Third couple said they would pay whole bill on their credit card. They just paid the basic bill and kept our tip money we were gobsmacked and speechless. They had a reputation for being careful but this was the next level up.