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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to giggle at the lengths my friends will go to to save money

71 replies

elisadoeslittle · 15/08/2011 22:56

our friends are getting married. The man is stupidly cheap (he once asked me to go sparingly with his bicarbonate of soda which Id borrowed, because its 80p in the shops!)

Anyway, they have managed to avoid spending any money on the wedding. Its being paid for by his Dad who is very wealthy, guests are forking out to go on holiday to the venue which is all inclusive so the wedding breakfast is part of the guests deal. Theres no reception, just staying in the all inclusive restaurant. No bridesmaids, and hes wearing a suit he already has. But our friends have to pay for the cake. They want a cupcake for each person as the wedding cake. We sourced them for £40. Thats too much so shes making them.

BUT. They are making the cakes 3 days before they go and they wont keep plus they will be in transit. They dont care what they look like (have actually said this) and are having the cakes inside white boxes. So the cake will be a pile of boxes.

I giggled at this because its so ridiculously tight. Am I a cow. Why not just buy a cake if thats the only thing you have to pay for?! The cake will be a pile of boxes with off cake inside?!

OP posts:

TheArmadillo · 16/08/2011 11:15

Snuppeline your brother expected you to fork out £5000 for his wedding

seriously!

Are you especially minted or summat?

Is that what people are expected to pay out to attend these all inclusive things?

Who in their right mind thinks thats reasonable?

HuntForGalaxyHazelnut · 16/08/2011 11:23

I used to work with a man who was really tight. On Valentines day he and his wife would go to Tesco and browse the card aisle separately. When they had each found a perfect card for the other, they would read the card out to each other, then put them back on the shelves.

lachesis · 16/08/2011 11:35

Life is too short to hang out with people like this, IMO.

nannynick · 16/08/2011 12:15

Last night my mum and my aunt were going through some boxes of things that my grandfather (their father) had kept (he died a few years back). There were boxes of receipts - he had kept everything. Bit excessive perhaps but it did reveal some historical facts, such as the cost of a all-inclusive wedding package at a hotel from some point in the 1960's which cost just under £800, including the drinks. How much that would be now is hard to know... a guess would put it at £8-10k. So although he kept a very close eye on what money was spent, recorded every transaction and kept the receipt, he spent what at the time was a high amount on a wedding.

There is a website which will tell you the price of fuel at petrol stations within a certain radius of a postcode. Hmm, handy you may think... but wait, you need to do the maths:

My small car - average 12p per mile (just fuel cost, not taking account of insurance, road tax, wear & tear etc).
Local petrol station: 136.9 per litre unleaded
Petrol station 3 miles away: 135.9 per litre unleaded

Worth filling up at the cheaper petrol station? No.
Round trip: 6 miles
6 x 12p = 72p
My car average fill: 27 litres
Saving by using the cheaper petrol station: 27p
Cost of getting to/from that petrol station: 72p
Net LOSS: 55p

Madness to be going somewhere out of your way for fuel... fine if it's somewhere you are passing but otherwise just shop local.

TheMonster · 16/08/2011 12:27

Aren't the little cake boxes quite expensive?

TheMonster · 16/08/2011 12:28

HuntForGalaxyHazelnut no way!

TheBigJessie · 16/08/2011 12:42

Are either of them any good at making cupcakes?

I like it when people think outside the box (hee hee, I made a funny! Didn't I?) to give proceedings their own personal touch, but if the cakes are stale, or in fragments, then they'll have wasted the money entirely.

I think spending time, effort, and money on baking and transporting inedible food is worse than just buying a cake for £40 in the first place.

SnapesMistress · 16/08/2011 12:48

I used to know someone who would wait to go to the loo untl they were out of the house to save on water bills.

TheMonster · 16/08/2011 12:53

Shocking.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 16/08/2011 12:58

My SIL asked DH for a £1.50 petrol contribution because they gave him a lift to a place they were all going anyway for a family do. Same SIL wanted to use our car as her wedding car. Understandable if it was a Merc or a Jag but it was a Ford focus. My beloved Ford Focus admittedly but a Focus nonetheless.

HuntForGalaxyHazelnut · 16/08/2011 14:20

at the petrol contribution request for somewhere she was going anyway.

My BIL's sister is as tight as a camel's arse in a sandstorm. She arranged a driving experience for their dad for his birthday, and then charged both her brothers an administration fee for booking it! Well, she tried to, my sister absolutely put her foot down, refused to pay it and told anyone who would listen about how tight her SIL was.

Original poster

elisadoeslittle · 16/08/2011 14:45

He once called me while I was on the way to visit them, and said, if you want a cup of tea you will have to buy your own milk.

OP posts:

Original poster

elisadoeslittle · 16/08/2011 14:47

You know, as I read this back, I half wish I was going just so I can laugh/cry at their ongoing cheap escapades.

OP posts:

piprabbit · 16/08/2011 14:57

Gwendoline, I suspect that what your SIL was looking for was a free chauffeur. But you would have had to provide your own hat.

DamselInDisarray · 16/08/2011 14:57

I find it hard to believe that anyone has agreed to go to a wedding where the 'hosts' are providing absolutely nothing (beyond a pile of stale cupcakes in paper boxes), which is presumably coating each guest hundreds of pounds (or possibly even more). I see no upside to this.

Original poster

elisadoeslittle · 16/08/2011 15:04

Bride says they are all getting a holiday with friends for their money. (Yeah, to the destination of their choice and in a month when its not particularly sunny or hot)

Another friend has suggested they dont do favours. As these box cakes will be enough. This sounds made up, I honestly wouldnt believe it myself. The weird thing is that the bride has very good taste usually and loves the more expensive things in life!

OP posts:

DamselInDisarray · 16/08/2011 15:19

I like her assumption that everyone wants a holiday with friends, particularly one where they have no control over any aspect of it. Is the destination bizarroworld by any chance?

2littlegreenmonkeys · 16/08/2011 15:28

Sounds like you are better for not going, what a tight thing to do. Wedding cakes don't have to cost a small fortune!

My step-fil is kinda like this. He goes nuts if you write on or actually stick closed a birthday/xmas/fathers day card envelope as he saves them to save money. I write on his in ink and stick it with sellotape to piss him off. I am going to buy him a pack on envelopes for xmas as a joke

cottonreels · 16/08/2011 15:42

he once asked me to go sparingly with his bicarbonate of soda which Id borrowed, because its 80p in the shops!

ha ha ha ha ha ha

cottonreels · 16/08/2011 15:42

Ridiculous re the cakes

ZillionChocolate · 16/08/2011 18:40

I think not bothering with favours is absolutely fine. They're often naff/pointless, I'm only really interested in having sweeties or other edibles. Being mean with the cake is just mean though. I agree they should have whatever they like best, but it should be done well.

Mollymole, the fruit/veg thing isn't tight, it's dishonest. I'd look for ways to dob her in, either that or maybe just press down on the scale while she's not looking?

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