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.

NightWanderer is Zaphod your DM ?

spinnassiene did you force your younger sister to do the same ?
though I don't think my sister knows about the internet

I have a friend who removes the skin from onions in the supermarket so they weigh less at the til and she's not paying for the skin. She works for a big law firm in the city and probably earns twice what I do. And also, presumably, has much more time on her hands if that is worth her while.

I don't think people like that can like themselves much if they don't feel they are worth a brand new tea bag
I have very high self esteem, but I'm quite anti-consumerist. I think that often people with low self esteem are the ones I see who are happy to waste, as they want to feel "worth it" - hence the "because I'm worth it" ads pandering to people's hidden fears.

I didn't realise that things like reusing teabags were seen as so miserly until I joined this thread! I feel there's a wide gulf between being careful, and being mean - I wouldn't dream of not paying my way, peeling onions in the supermarket (surely not an efficient use of time), or swiping stuff from hotel rooms.

PS One of my cleaning cloths is one of my old nappies from over fifty years ago... It still has quite a bit of wear left

When I was 9, we lived in a rented house with a water meter so my parents gave us said instead of running the taps to clean your teeth, fill a beaker with water and rinse your mouth with it. It's something I still do now.

I know someone who bought a steak and kidney pie despite no one in their family who liked it because it was reduced to 35p and they were self-confessed cheapskates.

ESMES BEES I have a friend who removes the skin from onions in the supermarket so they weigh less at the til and she's not paying for the skin.

Removes the skin from onions?

Why lass when I was a girl we just shared one onion between us - dunking it in the stew for flavour and then passing it on to the next person in the street. Good time.

I don't understand why you would leave the taps running when you brush your teeth. It's not about money, I don't do it in a hotel or anywhere, it's the absolute waste of water. It takes at least a couple of minutes to brush your teeth properly, why would you leave the taps running?

I agree with above, some things you do to prevent waste, others to save money, and others.. well because you have a lot of time on your hands! Calculate how much you earn an hour after tax, and see if it's really worth wasting hours to save 20p, or if you might as well just do 1 or 2 hours overtime.

It's never worth wasting hours to save 20p, there's always reasonableness to consider, but many people don't have the option of working (paid) overtime, so it's not a case simply working more rather than doing the money saving whatever.

They can't earn any more money or don't want to work anymore so the consideration for them is 'is it a sensible use of their limited spare time' to try to save money.

Some things don't take extra time - turning the taps off while cleaning teeth doesn't take any extra time and saves a lot of water, which you should do whether you are on a meter or not. Other things do take time and obviously people need to decide what they can be bothered to do.

I can't be arsed washing and drying plastic bags and cling film, but I might walk further, within reason to save money on parking or to get to a cheaper shop, because I like walking and would usually benefit from the extra activity.

We were all going to Spain for a family wedding (the couple lived there). All we had to pay for was flights because they had rented out a big place to stay.

We found direct flights for £20 each way at the airport we live a few miles from, which we thought was brilliant. BIL disagreed because he'd found flights from an airport literally the other end of the country for £15. He could get a Megabus to the nearest city for a pound and get the local bus to the airport for 1.50. Of course, this took him the best part of two days each way, entailed him sleeping in the airport, arriving much later than everyone else and leaving much earlier.

But hey, he saved an entire fiver!

My dm used to save stamps from letters that came through the door. Soak them in water and then pritt stick them on to envelopes and reuse.

Surely everyone reuses gift bags.

redshoe Fairly sure none of my daughters are on Mumsnet!

And I clean my teeth while I'm in the shower...

" use kitty litter to get clay. "
What does this mean?

I park in my office and walk the two miles to the station if I'm going somewhere overnight. I usually have a heavy bag and this is six am :) and I'm not even saving my own money. Do need the exercise though

Apparently clay is the top ingredient in cat litter, Stealth, so the cheapskates get it wet and, in one instance, used it as a face masque on other people and, in the other, the lady scooped out the poo and wee and wet the used litter to make clay to construct her own headstone.

I didn't realise that things like reusing teabags were seen as so miserly until I joined this thread!

What on earth counts as miserly if re-using a teabag doesn't?

Reusing tea bags is undoubtedly miserly. It's that miserable, self-denying brand of parsimony. For the sake of what, 2p a go, you could have a hot drink that tastes of tea every time.

Well my sister must be quite the opposite of miserly as she uses a new teabag every time and she doesn't even like her tea to taste of tea.

She sort of bounces the teabag off the water and panics if it becomes fully immersed. It would probably be quite reasonable to go for a second cup after her as the teabag will have barely released any of the tea flavour.

My other half re uses tea bags multiple times..and if eating out he'll order one coke to share then tap water after that! , he's the only person I know that can eat out of date seafood ...he'd rather get ill than throw away :)

Kitty litter headstone woman is mentally unwell, surely?

Probably an obvious one using the post at work, re using stamps that haven't been marked, reusing envelopes.

My lovely dearest dad, who has always been frugal, has taken to picking up broken elastic bands from the path (naughty postman drops them) and sticking them together with Araldite.He does have Alzheimer's now though so I try not to laugh too hard at the ridiculousness, although I suspect his condition wouldn't have made any difference to the action.

@chocolateavacado99 i brought stainless steel straws for that reason. They're great, environmentally friendly and cheaper in the long run and you can put them in the dishwasher.

'Kitty litter headstone woman is mentally unwell, surely?'

She was . . . different. Mostly just tight. But it's a false economy for some. One participant was a successful Pilates teacher. Running her business cost her $800/month, not bad, really. But she decided this was too much so she'd offer classes at home - the home had no A/C (miserable in many US states in Summer), they did a crap patch job on a major part of the ceiling her clients were working under, she was using bike wheels with spikes as orbits and used bike tubes as resistance bands. Needless to say, her business dropped off. Who's going to pay for that?

I collect the dropped elastic bands. When the DC were younger I would collect them on the handles of the buggy so no hassle . We are getting short again dh will have to start collecting them. (He does the school run)

I like the eco friendly frugalness such as cutting off lids etc but I don't like meanness at other people's expense such as nicking the tip or stealing from the hotel. Inlaws used to nick the tea spoons.