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

900 replies

Teadrinker11 · 12/01/2022 21:03

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

OP posts:
pengu · 13/01/2022 06:51

@TheDogsMother

Well I didn't think it was stingy I was berated by the decorator I was making a cup of tea for because I used the teabag to make two cups. Both his and mine at the same time, not reusing later.
That's so stingy
Fizbosshoes · 13/01/2022 07:13

Apparently my granddad (who I never met) used to pick up discarded cigarette butts and light them to get a bit more out of them.Confused🤢

Everydaydayisaschoolday · 13/01/2022 07:14

I've posted this before on here - a few years ago my DP invited some mates of his to a golf week in our second home in his country of origin. One of the wives suggested that the women of the group get together at their holiday cottage while the men were away. She then charged us for groceries she bought to cover the two nights we stayed there - the bill included a pack of 24 toilet rolls, a pack of washing powder, soap and shampoo, washing up liquid as well as food and drink staples. Basically a full grocery shop split between 5 women who stayed 2 nights at her house, bought copious amounts of wine and food treats with them and ate out both nights. All this while her husband had a weeks free holiday with my DH.

The same couple invited the group to dinner one night. We were a little surprised when we turned up to discover they hadn't cooked anything (he is a very good cook). After a couple of hours of drink and chat they suggested we ordered a takeaway which we did and a good time was had by all. The next day we all got an email asking us to transfer about £4 a head to their bank account to pay for the meal.

I would totally get this if they were hard up or this were the norm in this group but neither of those things are true. We are all late middle aged, close to retirement and comfortably off and no one else does this. It's become embarrassing and I know I'm not the only one who now looks for reasons to decline their invitations.

Toocoldtocamp · 13/01/2022 07:20

DM whatever meal we go to will scan the menu and have the cheapest item. Whatever it is and however expensive or cheap somewhere is e.g. if a cafe she'll declare she's not hungry and have a teacake ..a pub it'll be a jacket or a children's meal. She then always moans it wasn't very nice. She doesn't let my Dad order what he wants either. We can't holiday with them as it sucks the joy. She is happy to order wine though. But gets really upset and goes on about how a bottle should be £7 and how can they charge £4 a glass etc... we went somewhere for their golden wedding anniversary at their choosing and it was the same!Confused
She always gives you the exact money too down to pennies.
Neither of my parents will tip. Ever.
But they buy the children tons of sweets!

Sadly we have a number of middle class comfortably off friends who never buy a round, show up empty handed or when away expect you to feed their children. Most we've slowly faded out over the years because it causes me immense stress (due to DM I despise meaness and generally end up paying which has meant I'm taken advantage of regularly its a viscous cycle I've had to come to terms with Grin)
This summer when you had to order on an app in pub- a friend (with massive house and good job) tried to tell me on 1st day of a weekend away her card not working on app. So I paid...she was meant to give me back the money for a meal for 4...didn't do it the next day...but I saw her using the app to get drinks... then tried the same stunt next evening! I had to stop at cash machine just to get her to give me the £70 she owed. Must say I've not really seen her since then..(was the end of a long line of freeloading!)
We had another friend who eventually we all dropped who used to be the tightest person ever. She owned 2 flats and her parents are millionnaires. Having never known any wealthy people growing up it took me by surprise. Some of her legendary things.
Selling another friend a 'new discounted' tent (she got for free) that was a customer return (so not waterproof/defective) from the shop where she worked and pocketing the money. Friend had miserable holiday.
Going to stay at a friend's house for the weekend enjoying free food and hosting etc. When leaving going to fridge and taking half a bottle of the wine home with her.
Always going to toilet/home/urgent phone call when her round, even if just 2 coffees and you are at a counter paying. (i now have a colleague who does just this!)
Taking a bottle of vodka or gin to a party but in it is water (she did this often!)
Buying tickets for events but getting everyone else to pay a bit more coz there was a booking fee (thus making her ticket free). She did this for years until we cottoned on.
When I got married I said that we didn't need expensive gifts and didn't have a list. She didn't buy anything not even a card or a good wishes note... and she came in jeans and a cagoule. I'd known her for 15 years.
It actually became a joke by the end. But once I had DC couldn't be arsed with the stress of it anymore as she hated children probably because they were getting more money and attention...

Cochabamba · 13/01/2022 07:24

I feel like this will sound hard to believe but it's absolutely true. When hitching through South America, me and my partner met up with another couple who were doing the same, very rare in the late 90s to meet gringos hitching because it was a stupid thing to do! We were all stingy and didn't want to spend money so we could travel for longer. Anyway this couple had hitched all the way from Canada. We all got a ride together on top of a petrol tanker for about ten hours, beautiful panoramic views of the Andes.
When we arrived wherever we were going we realised the girl in the other couple's rucksack had been in a puddle of petrol, so she was going to need to wash and dry out her stuff. We went over to see them the next day and she had boxes of tampons (no plastic then all paper) drying out in the sun!!

socialistcab · 13/01/2022 07:27

Apparently my granddad (who I never met) used to pick up discarded cigarette butts and light them to get a bit more out of them.🤢

I did this too Grin

wishmyhousetidy · 13/01/2022 07:27

blimey half these things I just think are sensible, not stingy at all. I was brought up by a single mum in the 70’s and she did loads of these things to save money. I still brew more than one cup of tea with a teabag and don’t think anything of it- how embarrassing my friends problem think I am truly stingy 😀

Rosebuud · 13/01/2022 07:28

I know someone who brings cheap Aldi own label beer to drink to our house then doesn’t touch the stuff, but drinks the more expensive beers available, like brew dog. And was at a friends once and someone brought a bottle of cheap red wine, drank half and took the remainder home again.

SylviaTrench · 13/01/2022 07:32

My friend's dad is tighter than tight. He's extremely proud of his money-saving ways and thinks everyone else is a mug for not following his lead.
He doesn't like any visitors using his loo, he's on a water meter, so he sends them to the medical centre opposite to use theirs.
A relative did some shopping for him during the first lockdown. He complained that they'd spent too much money, and wanted to know why they hadn't been to half a dozen different shops like he usually does. One shop might have cheaper tea bags but dearer coffee for example. Shopping comes to £19.96, he scrutinises the receipt, grudgingly hands over £20, and asks for his 4p change.

Friend met and married a bloke, turns out he's exactly the same mindset as her dad. We went out for a meal, he told the waiter he wanted separate bills, that's fair enough. Their bill arrived, he scrutinised it carefully, it was £49.80, he handed over £50 and told the waiter not to forget his change.

It's like a game with them, how can I save money today? Unfortunately it seems to have made them suspicious of other people, including friends and relatives, as if everyone else is desperate to rip them off.

Both very wealthy people, but maybe that's how they get wealthy. Save every penny, deny yourself pleasures in life, and watch your bank balance increase.

SpookyScarySkeletons · 13/01/2022 07:34

My FIL offered us a glass of advocaat at Christmas a few years back. He got the bottle out of the drinks cupboard and it had been there for so long it was just a brown sludge.

He refused to open the new yellow bottle until the brown sludge had been drunk. I think he might still be waiting.

Wolf1970 · 13/01/2022 07:36

On my first holiday with DH we stayed in self catering accommodation. He insisted on bringing back a half empty plastic ketchup bottle. The top must have come off due to the pressure in the plane’s hold - ketchup all over his clothes.

SoupDragon · 13/01/2022 07:36

@Teadrinker11 why do you have three threads asking the same thing, none of which offer up your own opinion?

DressingPafe · 13/01/2022 07:37

We once had a work meal out at a Chinese restaurant. I’d ordered the Cantonese roast duck. At the end a few people asked for doggy bags, all well and good. But not only one, but two people asked me for the bare duck bones from my plate! I said yes but I have no idea what they wanted them for, I’d had my hands on them and eaten the meat off the bone. Why would you want someone else’s leftovers?

Another time I went away with a friend to an Eastern European country, so eating out etc was very cheap. She made me walk all over town to save a £ or 2 on our meal. Found a dirt cheap place, then complained the food was bad! Yet on that same trip she bought herself a £300 piece of jewellery! I didn’t go away with her again.

ChipButtyCurrySauce · 13/01/2022 07:39

I've mentioned this before on other threads but my sister would go to funerals (even those of people she vaguely knows), then disappear later to collect her kids. She'd make them eat at the wake to 'save feeding them at home' and would often walk out with a plate piled with food for their lunch boxes the following day. Didn't even ask, just took it. She'd brag about it and I've witnessed her doing it more than once!

ImALittlePea · 13/01/2022 07:40

I cringe so hard at this now but when I got married (many years ago) we were on a crazy tight budget. We cut out a lot of the normal wedding garb - no cars, no favours, no photographer etc etc. Had a couple of bridesmaids, bought their dresses etc. Realised we weren't going to be able to afford other bits we needed so gave them a choice to contribute about 1/5 of the cost towards their dress or return to me after so I could sell on. They were fine with it (lovely dresses that I know they've reused) but I still feel like it was a stingy move on our part (even if we couldn't find another way to do things at the time. Blush

Toocoldtocamp · 13/01/2022 07:41

I used to work with a woman who was in her late 20s at the time. She owned her own flat and had a good job and was very good with money (aka tight).
She wrote down every financial transaction how ever small (e.g bag of crisps) in a bookeeping notebook she carried in her handbag. She had different coloured pens for in and out. If we were in pub she'd even get back from bar and write it down. Obviously she never bought rounds and never got drunk etc.
It was an obsession for sure. And perhaps control too. She freely admitted she'd done it all through university. She was a bit lonely and friendless actually.
Her long term boyfriend left her because of it Sad. I hope she met someone like minded. I imagine she lives in a giant house now because by 35 she had a big house in South London, but wonder if she still does the book?!?

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 13/01/2022 07:43

There's a difference between stinginess and being thrifty as a legacy from learnt habits from the 'waste not want not' war generations, surely?

I remember going to stay with a friend and family. Five adults and a young teen for dinner in the evening. Asked how many potatoes we wanted (no-one had more than three - new potatoes!) and shared a dinner plate sized home-made meat pie between the six of us! They were very careful with money indeed.

Maireas · 13/01/2022 07:43

[quote SoupDragon]@Teadrinker11 why do you have three threads asking the same thing, none of which offer up your own opinion?[/quote]
It'll be for an article.

SoupDragon · 13/01/2022 07:45

In Take a Break

Maireas · 13/01/2022 07:45

@SoupDragon

In Take a Break
You're right! Wink
Dontgetyerknicksinatwist · 13/01/2022 07:46

My mil is the stingiest person I know. She asked me for ideas for his birthday one year and I knew he wanted a new shaver so I told her. Instead of gifting him one she cut out a photo from the Argos catalog put it in a huge box filled with bits of foam packing and put in a leaflet she had created full of quips, jokes and some bizarre poem about a flathead razor. I thought it was a bizarre thing to do. It was dressed up as a joke and to be funny but she didn’t actually get him anything for his birthday which I think was what she was trying to get out of because she is so miserly. She’s not short of cash either because she’s always going on cruises and holidays with her partner.

ashorterday · 13/01/2022 07:47

FIL filled his car boot with cheap cans of beer and bottles of wine to take to our wedding. He was offering to get people a drink, taking their empty glass off them and refilling it from his boot bar.

Snowiscold · 13/01/2022 07:47

@TheDogsMother

Well I didn't think it was stingy I was berated by the decorator I was making a cup of tea for because I used the teabag to make two cups. Both his and mine at the same time, not reusing later.
I don’t think that’s stingy. A teabag always makes two cups of tea, and I like a decent cup of tea.
RaininSummer · 13/01/2022 07:50

As said, I think there is a difference between stingy and being wasteful. Why not make two cups of tea as unless you want very strong tea, a bag easy does two. Why waste shampoo in the bottom of the bottle etc. Taking home lemonade is stingy unless the host says they don't like it.

KatherineJaneway · 13/01/2022 08:04

Why not make two cups of tea as unless you want very strong tea, a bag easy does two.

It doesn't.