What's the most extreme example of effort to save a few pennies you have heard of?

[wineoclockthanks]

Lighthearted!!

Mine is someone who buys shirts/t-shirts and asks for the hangers, then returns the clothes minus the hangers.

I did mention that Wilkos sell 10 wire hangers for £1.75 but she was adamant it was worth it.

Please can I stress this is lighthearted, I am also on a tight budget and count my pennies so not judging at all.

Archery Annie
Doesn't worry me in the slightest if anyone sees me break of the stem from the broccoli why should it? I don't but bruised apples or squashed oranges I choose the ones I want....so what's different with the broccoli? I also don't dig it with nails a swift snap and it's done

I think it is different because the broccoli isn't damaged or spoilt. You are wasting something that is meant to be included in the weight price.
It will be chucked as other customers won't buy bits of stalk that someone has broken off with their hands.

"Her moral compass has a magnet pressed to it at all times"

Has to be one of the best lines ever!

It does annoy me in the UK that we use "good" water for toilets. It must be possible to devise a system where the grey water from washing machines, dishwashers and showers/baths is diverted for use in sewage systems. It really is a horrendous waste of water.

I knew of a husband and wife who used to shave each other's heads to save on haircuts. They both had quite potato-y faces, so it really didn't look good.

DH will drive for miles seeking out free parking, rather than paying to park.

Not really in the spirit of the thread, but because I didn't want to have to store 2 separate bags of sugar I spent years whizzing granulated sugar in the blender to get caster sugar just as my DM always did.

About 6 months ago I realised that my one single bag could be caster sugar . . . 99% of my sugar use is in cakes, and the price difference is minimal. (It has taken me from leaving home at 18 until my late 40s to make this mental leap )

'Have remembered something DSis did for health reasons rather than ££ saving. 1 commercial cigarette, split open and devide between ten roll ups. Still smokes but makes 1 skinny roll up last a day.'

Are you sure she wasn't sprinkling a little hash over that baccy?

And they actually let him in, some random? I'd tell him to get out of my car.

Actually they offered as they heard him calling a cab the first time then it just sort of became a thing! Win-win I guess as he saves on cab fare and they get the minimum order for delivery...

I have to ask about reusing tea bags. What on earth do people bother drying them out for? Do they think this reinvigorates the spent leaves?

Why can't people just be good to themselves? Go crazy; have all of your cups of tea tasting like tea. It'll change your life.

I do that garlic thing Pax.

It is strangely satisfying, and makes me feel like a true Daughter the Soil.

It does annoy me in the UK that we use "good" water for toilets. It must be possible to devise a system where the grey water from washing machines, dishwashers and showers/baths is diverted for use in sewage systems. It really is a horrendous waste of water.

Indeed there are various recycling and waste reducing systems across the word. In Cyprus, for example, the main cold water supply isn't of drinkable quality, but clean enough for washing etc. There's an extra "tap" attached to the side of the kitchen mixer tap which is pure clean drinking water quality.

We went in holiday with MIL she said she would find the best flight deals saved us £57 by adding 3 hours to our journey. We got a taxi a plane a bus a train and another taxi... with a 2 year old. It was not fun.

AdoraBell Either a joint smoker, or has she been in prison?

I know people who did the takeaway delivery/taxi combo as students, but you have to be careful as the delivery drivers won't be insured to take passengers if they have proper business insurance at all so many will refuse.

I change my insurance providers every year to the cheapest one. I'll also shop around for better internet and phone service providers if I'm out of contract.
I don't turn sockets off at night but I may just try this to see if it makes a difference.
I buy bloody loads of veg in a bulk monthly shop, I chop, slice or dice it, bag it up in resealable sandwich bags (that I sometimes reuse for the next batch) and freeze it all. Keeping the freezer full saves energy and pre chopped veg saves both money and time.
Toothpaste tubes are squeezed to death and then squeezed some more. You can easily get an extra week for a family of 5!
I only buy cheapest value pasta (in bulk) as it's pretty much the same as more pricy stuff.
Cheese is bought from the local shops instead of the supermarket because it's got better offers. I never pay full price for cheese because we eat far too much.
I cut up those vileda cloths into quarters so I don't feel so guilty for binning them after cleaning the toilet (and I clean kitchen, then bathroom sink and bath etc first with them before finally the toilet)
I only buy washing powder on offer and stick up, even if it means keeping boxes in the towel cupboards or in my wardrobe they smell great however.
The shampoo, conditioner and liquid soap bottles are rinsed for a last use.
We buy bundles of 2nd hand clothes for the kids off friends on FB.

On the other hand, I love a looong bath and will top up with hot water multiple times. I won't give up my £56 a month Sky tv (ouch!) and I cannot scrimp on loo roll usage. Butter only, no margarine or "spread". (EW!) Oh and teabags are one use only. I guess it balances out. Some things we're tight about but splash out on others.

I need to try this growing garlic thing though. I go through so much and reckon I could save a fortune growing my own. Plus, who doesn't like home grown stuff? I already have a chilli plant and a herb bucket.

We don't because we're on a pre-payment meter, the prices are all the same and to change to non-meter would cost us money we don't have.

I used a cashback offer to go to EDF after researching it. Stayed with them for 3 months on prepayment and then switched to credit meter. Has saved us a fortune and they dont make you pay the fee that a lot of the other companies do. When we were with Scottish Power they wanted £400 to switch, which I am sure is to put off lower income families from swapping because if you could afford £400 just like that then you would be on a pre payment meter in the first place! So you have to stay on pre payment and they make shed loads more money out of you.

Costs a lot of money to be poor, I have found :(

DSis is a millionaire on paper but the stingiest person I know (not with presents though).

I always post on these threads about her not buying a calendar at the start of one year because she had been given two the year before and she didn't see the point of wasting five bucks. She crossed out the dates and changed them to the new ones.

She lives overseas so we don't see her often. When she was 32 she was still wearing her dressing gown she had when she was 15, with a big rip across the arse. I persuaded her that maybe, just maybe, it was time to buy a new one, and she did. 7 years later we went back over and the "new" one had a big rip across the arse and, yep, of course she was still wearing it.

She used to go to bed when D Niece was at work in the evening and just get up to pick her up and not bothered to get dressed. She used to joke at hoping she wouldn't get stopped by the police as her nightie was completely see-through. Not sexy-see-through, you understand, completely-bloody-worn-out-see-through. This is in Australia as well, so she'd have no coat on. You'd think that she'd have bought a new nightie in those circumstances, wouldn't you?

I know where she gets it from - our Dad. He bought everything from boot fairs, even glasses (spectacles) - he would just try them on till he thought they were OK. Once I called to visit him and he wasn't dressed yet. When he finally answered the door he was wearing a white towelling bathrobe with Elizabeth emblazoned in pink on the breast. How I roared. He was very offended. Needless to say, his name was not Elizabeth. Apparently he had bought it for DStepMum and she hadn't wanted it, not being called Elizabeth either. Funny that . . .

Guess who found this the funniest of all of us, and who laughed loudest and longest? Yes of course it was TightArse DSis.

Just want to point out that if you do decide to wear stockings instead of two pairs of one-legged tights, wear the suspender belt underneath your knickers. Not over the top. That's the big mistake a lot of people seem to make. This way you don't need to constantly unclip the stockings to go to the loo.

My DM washes out freezer bags to re use....even if they've previously contained fish!
My DH cuts all our DC's hair to save money - he does a pretty good job too!
We always take own supermarket bought treat bags/drinks to the cinema.
Not extreme compared to some of these though!

When me and the husband were saving for a deposit for the mortgage, I got my knickers, underwear & tops from Primark as opposed to Topshop & River Island. I think I was pre-drinking and then not drinking anything when I was going out too. And I think for a few months we were taking leftovers from the main meal in the next day as lunch.

As for ones I've heard of? I guess it's the extremes that people have gone to with vouchers. But, I believe that's more of a coupon thing in the US. Comparing prices of items across stores until exhaustion is another one, especially as it appears to be so time consuming.

I have a special hose thingy that pumps out water from the bath and I use it to water the garden down below. I also take my watering can into the kitchen when I'm running the water to get it hot.Usually, it fills the whole thing before it gets warm. I hate wasting water.

I used to have a little giggle about the lengths some people go to to save a few pennies, like extreme coupons, but having seen some people spend a few pounds on what is hundreds of pounds worth of food every week, I realised they're not so silly after all

I do a lot, if not most, of my shopping at Lidl, just buying one or two branded items from other supermarkets. Quality has been good, and I've been saving money. I've also done a number of the things mentioned here, but I have never crossed over into those extreme examples.

I have a couple of stingy traits. DS is no longer a baby but either gets bathed after me (and DH) in the big bath or he gets bathed in the baby bath.

I sell as much clutter from my house as I can and I return any unwanted gifts in exchange for a store voucher. This might seem ungrateful but it's far more wasteful to receive something, never use it and never get any pleasure out of the gift. With gifts that I can't take back I will regift but strictly only if I think the person receiving it will like it.

I shop around for everything I can and use vouchers, coupons and Tesco points if I can. Me and DH love eating out as a family so if we can save elsewhere, we spend on a meal out.

I also cut my dc's hair, no previous training and. I proper equipment except a beard trimmer but DS always looks smart and presentable and it saves the embarrassment of being somewhere where people are trying to relax, with a screaming nearly 3 year old.

I'm taking some of these as aspirational.

Wrapping paper - a few years ago I collected every bit of wrapping paper in the house to keep in one place. For years I had been going into the shops on Boxing Day, first week in January etc and buying up the plain gold and silver wrapping paper that had been marked down. I did once pick up some Christmas themed stuff - it had been marked down to 10p a roll and I bought an armful. So I had stocked up on extremely inexpensive wrapping paper, some of it extremely good quality and fit not just for Christmas but also for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries etc.

When I rounded them all up I had fifty rolls. I haven't bought any since. I probably won't need to buy any more this Boxing Day coming, but I may have to the year after. Or possibly the year after that. Or I may start reusing it.

On a similar note, back when Approved Food was good I bought a large supply of small sandwich bags. I've never stinted using them. They've been used for packed lunches, stuff in the fridge, yeurk rubbish, what neighbours' cats have left in the garden etc etc. After about ten years I no longer have a stash and I am looking sadly at the end of the last roll that was 50p for 300 bags (and sturdy with it!). It was totally worth tearing my hair out about where to put the dratted things.