What is the stingiest thing you've ever done / seen someone do?

[Teadrinker11]

Yourself or someone else, what is the most stingy, mean, miserable thing is that you have ever done or seen someone else do?

@Gilly12345

My friend used to recycle her Christmas card for her Husband, so tight, funnily enough they are not together now.

Well, that depends how you look at it. Sending a Christmas card to a husband seems barmy to me, and the opposite of tight. It’s wasteful. Or it could be an in joke.

Dh vacuums our fake grass.
Our ndn mops the path outside her gate.. She is even on Google maps doing it!
This is not stingy or even particularly weird ?? Though I think you are not supposed to hoover fake grass Because to you will suck up all the rubber pellets which are your underlay

@Redsquirrel5

On moving day we discovered previous tenants had taken the loo roll( child on loo) and removed all the light bulbs!

A neighbour ( same street) pegged out the tea bags to dry out and could be used again. I kid you not!

My aunt ( and dad brought up in the war) saved string, brown paper, envelopes for shopping lists etc, bread bags, cut the buttons off clothing, also zips. She left my sister’s and I the house and a considerable inheritance. I discovered I was doing it for string, brown paper and jars. We found lots of recipes written on cards too. She was in the Wrens at 17 after being billowed out to a Castle during the war when at boarding school.
Recycling at its best.

I love this.

@Redsquirrel5

On moving day we discovered previous tenants had taken the loo roll( child on loo) and removed all the light bulbs!

A neighbour ( same street) pegged out the tea bags to dry out and could be used again. I kid you not!

My aunt ( and dad brought up in the war) saved string, brown paper, envelopes for shopping lists etc, bread bags, cut the buttons off clothing, also zips. She left my sister’s and I the house and a considerable inheritance. I discovered I was doing it for string, brown paper and jars. We found lots of recipes written on cards too. She was in the Wrens at 17 after being billowed out to a Castle during the war when at boarding school.
Recycling at its best.

...I mean I love the recycling aunt, not the loo roll taking homeowners.

@Pluvia

Some years ago I was a volunteer helping in a women's refuge and we had a member of the management committee come in several times a week to have a shower or bath and wash her hair and help herself to food from the kitchen. One of the other volunteers worked at a local bakery and would sometimes bring left-over cakes and bread for the women in the refuge and I remember the skinflint sneaking away from the premises with a carrier bag of cakes and pastries. She wasn't hard-up. When it eventually came to the notice of other members of the management committee she acknowledged that she wasn't in need. She just regarded it as a perk.

My mum's sister and one of their cousins went to live in New Zealand about 60 years ago. Over the years I had their offspring and then grandchildren stay with me in London, sometimes for weeks at a time. I gave them all a good time: took them on days and weekends away, collected them and took them back to airports, fed them, lent them money and loaded Oyster cards... I wanted them to have a good time and happy memories. It cost me thousands. When I went to New Zealand for a couple of months in 2019 I thought they'd do similar for me, but no. A couple of nights' accommodation here and there but if we went out for a meal we shared the cost. One cousin, who'd brought his wife over and stayed with me for a week in London and then borrowed my car for a fortnight to tour Scotland, told me that if I wanted to stay in their bach (holiday home) out at Tennyson Sound he'd need rent money. None of them will be staying in the future.

Wow, what utter twats! Good on you for deciding the freeloading is over.

Have they asked to stay since and what did you say?

I love the hot milk in Nutella jar idea..will try that!

@squashyhat

I guess this was a product of memories of wartime shortages but I remember when I was a child my Dad would stick the tiny sliver of old soap onto a new bar rather than throw it away. I now get really irritated with my DH for throwing away the dregs of a shampoo bottle rather than turn it upside down and squeezing it into the new one so Dad must have passed on his parsimonious habits

My ex used to squish soap together, he was the tightest man that i have even known. Living with him was soul destroying.

When i moved into my own place i used to love chucking the small slithers away, the satisfaction it gave me was immense. And buying something new like a t shirt or a pair of jeans without being berated for not getting them from a car boot sale or charity shop. (and i am talking Asda not designer)

Sending a Christmas card to a husband seems barmy to me, and the opposite of tight. It’s wasteful. Or it could be an in joke.

Me too - I've never sent an Xmas card to DH because I see him on Xmas day. I'd guess it must have been an in-joke.

@Jamontoast87

Went to visit an elderly aunt and cousin one Christmas. They were renowned for being tight, despite being well off... went in, house was freezing as usual, they begrudgingly offered us a biscuit, cousin stood there with the open tin in his hand and tilted it towards us so we could pick one. All digestives and had been snapped into halves and he said "take a piece" and once we did so, he promptly closed the lid and returned the tin to the kitchen. My sister, mum and I were stunned but found it hilarious on the way home in the car

Omg 😂😂😂 "take a piece" 😂😂😂

My ex took my leftovers back off the waitress who was taking them away to eat them.

@miltonj

My grandma used to switch the eggs in the boxes at the supermarket - Tesco's finest and Tesco value. I didn't think it was stingy though I thought it was hilarious

It’s not stingy, it’s theft. And it’s not hilarious, it’s disgusting.

@Fizbosshoes

When we were in our late teen there was a fuel shortage. I was with a group of friends at a social meet up. Friend A didn't drive and had been dropped off by her parents who were on their way somewhere else. Friend B told us that she had filled her car up with petrol that morning. When we were all leaving, Friend B told friend A that sorry she couldn't give her a lift home (they lived about 2 roads away from each other- the rest of us came from different areas) because of the fuel shortage. I was quite amazed at such meanness. (And gave friend A a lift home)

Maybe friend B was sick of being the driver all the time?

I have non-driving friends and I do get sick of ferrying them about, especially when they never offer petrol or parking money.

@WindInTheWillows7

Reusing dental floss

Not gonna lie, my initial response reading that was "omg, so gross!!"

But I assume you give it a wash after use, in which case actually that doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

I know someone who would haggle in Charity Shops.

Most of these aren't mean or tight.

Being tight and mean to me, is when someone else is effected in a negative way.

I always take my own food and drinks on day trips and don't think that's mean or tight. It's convenient and means everyone can eat/drink/snack when they are hungry/thirsty. Plus more money for ice creams and arcades!

@BobbieT1999

One tea bag in a pot to make tea for 4...

Will be like dirty dish water

@ufucoffee

I know someone who would haggle in Charity Shops.

I've volunteered in charity shops and you'd be surprised how common that is.

There's no set policy regarding that, it's up to each individual volunteer whether they allow it or not, but I always had a firm rule that unless the person could point out a damage or stain we'd missed, no discounts.

My brother. He used to take an empty hand wash bottle out with him and fill it up from toilets in pubs and restaurants. Keep in mind this meant the bottle was layers of different soaps.
He’d also visit pubs and steal toilet roll, napkins and sauce sachets/salt and pepper.

@Fraine haha I was a child so naturally I found it funny. There are also way worse things going on in the world so I decided not to call the police on my grandma in the end xx

@AngelinaFibres

Went to stay with my sister in law and her husband. They were out for a run when we arrived , even though they knew when we were arriving. When they got back she said we couldn't have a drink yet as they had a drink at specific times and the next one wasn't due until 12.30. We had driven all the way from Worcester to Hull but hey ho. She then announced that they were going to have a bath. She explained that they didn't bath together. They ran 2 inches of water. It was carefully measured with a ruler that was kept in the bathroom. He went in the water first because he liked it hot. She went in the same water after him as it was cooler then. Weird behavior.We sat downstairs and twiddled our thumbs

I think most posts on here are either sensible use of resources or CFs.

This one is actually funny - you may not have seen it that way waiting for your drink though !

[quote miltonj]@Fraine haha I was a child so naturally I found it funny. There are also way worse things going on in the world so I decided not to call the police on my grandma in the end xx [/quote]
On the scale of crimes, it's pretty small. But it would mean, I think, that somebody would inadvertently pay for and eat eggs from caged hens as opposed to free range, and lots of people try really hard to avoid that. From that point of view alone I'd be pissed off.

@MrsHunch

It was never one teabag per pot. It was always one per person and one for the pot, the same as scoops of tea leaves.
Having said that I use three tea bags in our teapot whether I'm doing tea just for me or for all four tea drinkers, more than four needs extra bags.

Can’t believe I’m spending time disagreeing with you but even if one teabag equals one scoop of tea for tea made in a pot that is not the same thing as saying one bag is not good for two cups !

The whole point of tea in a pot is you get more than one cup of tea per person .

So a small teapot for one person would require one bag but give you two cups 😬

We use a fitted cot sheet to clean windows and glass, daughter has been out of a cot for ten years. Having said that, it shines a lot better than any new cloths. Also always used old T-shirt’s for cleaning cloths. Also cut bottoms off shampoo/shower gel bottles in order to fill them with water and get the dregs out. Sure I am profligate in other areas!

My MIL booked a flight at 2am to save £5 each! Possibly the worse time you could have imagined as it's very hard to get to sleep before needing to leave for the airport, it ruined the whole of the first few days of the holiday as everyone was knackered, but hey you saved £5 per person.

The same person won't let us flush the toilet either, reminds us every time to only flush if we go for a crap. The same person also reuses tea bags and left over food scrapes from earlier in the week. We no longer eat or drink over there, I turn up with my own drink.

The same person also made me drive 40miles so she could save a couple of £ on something she bought, not only was it petrol it also cost me my morning!

@MinnieJackson

Saw someone snapping the ends of broccoli in the veg shop before weighing it. My Gran always used to tell me not to tie a knot in the plastic bag when you put it on the scales there because it weighs more

A lot of people snap the ends off - we used to collect them up for our guinea pigs as they only liked the stalk