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.

[IJustLostTheGame]

My in laws refuse to pay for parking.
They will drive around for two hours looking for somewhere free to park.
I did point out that they spent more than parking in petrol and they laughed. Well they laughed until they realised we got too hungry waiting and went for lunch without them and then they had to pay for their own food too.
They're batshit.

[canihaveacoffeeplease]

We own a coffee shop. There's an old couple who come in every evening from 5pm to 6pm exactly. Have 1 1 person pot of tea between them (2 cups) AND get it filled up with hot water. They're lovely so get away with it but pretty audacious really!

My (loaded) sister loves entertaining. She always scrapes plates and KEEPS the leftovers. Not the food from the dishes, from people's actual plates. She shops in Waitrose, she does not need to do this.

[expatinscotland]

'I don't know if this is common in the US, but an American friend mentioned that in winter she treats herself by doing the washing up in warm water but only uses cold for the rest of the year.'

No, it's not at all common to do that.

[SpeckledyHen]

Canihaveacoffeplease I saw a couple do this in a JL coffee shop - they then took biscuits from their bag (!) and sat and read the free papers . They were well dressed and didn't look in need of a free cuppa in the warm .

[OhtoblazeswithElvira]

As this thread proves, take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.

I disagree. A lot of the savings on this thread are tiny amounts, or false economies. I can't see jugs of water saving you enough to buy you a better car or a bigger house or a better holiday, or putting your kids through private school. In some cases these behaviours are very time-consuming and bear no relation to the person's actual financial situation. They are a way of life for some people. They give these people a purpose, make them feel good about themselves (moral superiority) and perhaps keep anxiety at bay for some.

[mrsBeverleygoldberg]

Using the street light outside the bedroom window to get undressed by, rather than shutting the curtains and turning the bedroom light on.
Using ketchup instead of passata/tomatoes/purée in spag Bol.
There are other things but I would hate for the people to recognise themselves as they are lovely.

[mrsBeverleygoldberg]

One extreme cheapskates fed a guest tuna cat food and mayo sandwich as it was 30c cheaper.
She also got really angry because her car was unsafe to drive and the mechanic wouldn't let her leave with it.
She was a millionaire cheapskate.

[StealthPolarBear]

" My PILs leave bought veg outside in winter so there's more room in the fridge for cheese etc."
Don't they get nibbled?

[LightYears]

Proof is in the pudding Elvira

[Badbadbunny]

As this thread proves, take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.

100% true. It's not so much as actually saving the pennies towards something bigger. It's behavioural. If you are careful with the small stuff, that behaviour will follow through into the big stuff, where the real savings can be made. On the contrary, if you're blase and glib about the small/cheap stuff, just where do you draw the line and start being careful with the bigger stuff. Shopping around for offers or freebies becomes the norm and if you do that for your day to day "cheap" stuff, you'll be accustomed to it and know the tricks of the trade etc for the expensive stuff.

[User11145755]

I charge my phone at work to save electric, thought about taking in the iPad and laptop but maybe that's taking it too far

[TK1930]

Badbadbunny I think there's a fine line between that & being tight

My friends husband only showers every other day due to the cost of water

[Badbadbunny]

A few weeks before a holiday, I start marking the daily usage of toiletry bottles and make a note of how long closed containers etc last (such as deodorant, hairspray, toothpaste etc). Then when I get to the "right" number of days left, I put them in my toiletries bag ready for the holiday luggage. That way I take just the right amount, so there's no waste from leaving the leftovers abroad, and I've minimised the weight in my hold baggage.

If it's self catering, I decant and take as near as possible the correct number of days worth of washing powder and washing up liquid. (I also take a couple of pizza trays so we can cook our own pizzas in the oven a few times to save on costs of eating out - most s/c ovens don't have a pizza tray!).

As for tights, I used to wear them daily at work. If I laddered or damaged a pair, I'd cut out that leg and keep the body and "good" leg. Then when I had a pair of "half" tights, I'd put them on, one over the other, so I would be wearing 2 body sections and 2 separate legs. It basically means your tights last twice as long!

[1AnnoyingOrange]

take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves agree with this

[hellybellyjellybean]

I used to work at somerfield and at 9 o'clock loads of ppl come in to get the discounted food but if the food that was discounted (3 for 2 etc) the discount still comes off at the till. One day his guy came in bought loads of these meals for 10p each but to then knocked off the extra discount and so it came on the til we had to give him £10! No one knew how to cope with this and the man said he should get the money as that's what the till said!

[Dowser]

I remember the good old days of coupons. Asda, Tesco etc used to take them whether you bought the goods or not.

I've had £20 off my weekly shop.

You don't see it now...well only in America lol

[bimbobaggins]

Whilst I do agree to a certain extent of taking care of the pennies etc but it's a fine line between being careful with money and giving ebenezer scrooge a run for their money. Life is too short to spend 4 hours walking/ driving round about 4 different supermarkets to save £1.80 or as a pp said spending 2 hours driving round looking for free parking.

[LightYears]

Yeah, I miss those coupons, shame that. Mind you, I had a pound off coupon in Tesco today for some battered cod :-)

[teaandcakeat8]

I know someone who cuts sellotape lengthways as well as across when wrapping presents to use half as much.

[mowgeli]

Notsand I'm dying
Justhere crafty bugger

[SugarMiceInTheRain]

I was at Taybarns (all you can eat buffet place) a couple of years ago. A couple left their half drunk drinks on the table while they went up to get their food. I saw a bloke wander over to the table, empty one into the other and saunter off with the 'spare' glass to the soft drinks machine. I didn't fancy confronting him but did casually point him out to the couple and an employee when they got back to the table and found a drink missing!

[Hygellig]

Some of these things seem unduly stingy and some are just avoiding waste. We re-use things like dishcloths and sandwich bags (I also have one washable sandwich wrapper) to avoid waste. However, I don't drive for miles looking for free parking, and would draw the line at taking the batteries out of the clock every day!

[canihaveacoffeeplease]

Badbadbunny what's a pizza tray? We just use normal baking sheets for pizza... is that odd?