Embarassing Things You Do To Save Money

[Anonymous]

my great aunt would bring her own tea bags to lunch at Marshall Fields' Flagship store, and ask for hot water.

My uncle would always buy the cheapest brand of things (non-dairy creamer, liquor, etc.) and pour them into empty name-brand containers.

My step-father (net worth millions), takes the old papers out of Starbucks instead of buying them. And asks for free refills. His clothes are tattered.

Me? I buy all of my clothes from e-bay, but I don't consider that too embarassing. I also take the old newspapers from Starbucks instead of paying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I use the bags that hold the newspaper for scooping kitty litter clumps.
I use plastic grocery bags to line small trash cans.
If I am thinking ahead, I will take an empty water bottle when I am traveling, fill it at a water fountain in the airport, and then I don't have to buy water.

Huh? Aren't these things people do just because they make sense, not because they save money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ask for extra ketchup packets at fast food restaurants to put in dc's lunchboxes.

They make excellent soup

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i wear my silver wedding shoes to work as my main shoes no matter what i wear (from 3 yrs ago).

i tell the garage guys at work sometimes i have no $$$ to pay them that day (to park).

I ask coworkers for change to buy a bag of chips from the vending machine. And I ask for k-cups.

HHI $155

You sound like a very strange lady.

Agreed.

really?

Asking coworkers for change to save money is rude

REALLY.

Im glad my poorness is so entertaining to so many people (I'm not saving money, Im just broke lol)

[Anonymous]

220k HHI

Shop for as much as possible at yard sales. We also resell things we buy for profit. IE if someone is selling Waterford for 25..I'll list it on Ebay for 75.

We buy gifts for our kids at YS. I've purchased two American dolls for DD at YS and one off Ebay. Also, we regift kids gifts. IE if my kids don't like a particular lego set, we will give it to another kid that does. When my DD was a baby all her clothes came from yard sales. Would take nice hand me downs but don't have anyone to receive from. We do give our hand me downs to friends though.

We stay at 2* hotels.

Spurgles..We have fancy parties for my kids' birthdays often at our house that cost over 500 per month. We have no cleaning service.

We do private school and afterschool nanny.

[Anonymous]

500 per party not per month.

[Anonymous]

430k hhi , we do public school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i wear my silver wedding shoes to work as my main shoes no matter what i wear (from 3 yrs ago).

i tell the garage guys at work sometimes i have no $$$ to pay them that day (to park).

I ask coworkers for change to buy a bag of chips from the vending machine. And I ask for k-cups.

HHI $155

You sound like a very strange lady.

Agreed.

really?

Asking coworkers for change to save money is rude

REALLY.

Im glad my poorness is so entertaining to so many people (I'm not saving money, Im just broke lol)

If you are broke on $155K, you need to rework your spending. You aren't poor you're just cheap and rude.

[Anonymous]

About $300k this year.

I have a cheap pre-paid phone ($7/mo) and mostly use skype to call family. I have basic cable, but only because it makes my internet bill cheaper. Otherwise, I'd drop it. I still have my 15 inch TV from college (many years ago) and don't feel like wasting money on a bigger TV. I rarely eat out and try not to buy pre-packaged food at the grocery store unless I'm too lazy or too busy to cook. I have never had a manicure or pedicure. I used to go to the spa for an occasional massage/facial. However, I've decided it's a huge waste of money and no longer go. A good chunk of my furniture was taken from my mother's and grandmother's houses. I didn't feel like wasting money on new things. I still have my 9 year old (fully paid for) car and plan on keeping it until it falls apart. When I was in residency, my hospital provided free food. I would go in on my days off and eat for free (and bring home a plate of food to last me another 1-2 meals. I used to buy tons of story books. Now I stick with free books on my kindle. I don't go to movie theaters anymore because I think ticket prices are crazy (plus, I'm sick of loud people at the theater and hate watching 30 minutes of ads before the movie starts).

Splurge: I buy organic/non-gmo food when available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About $300k this year.

I have a cheap pre-paid phone ($7/mo) and mostly use skype to call family. I have basic cable, but only because it makes my internet bill cheaper. Otherwise, I'd drop it. I still have my 15 inch TV from college (many years ago) and don't feel like wasting money on a bigger TV. I rarely eat out and try not to buy pre-packaged food at the grocery store unless I'm too lazy or too busy to cook. I have never had a manicure or pedicure. I used to go to the spa for an occasional massage/facial. However, I've decided it's a huge waste of money and no longer go. A good chunk of my furniture was taken from my mother's and grandmother's houses. I didn't feel like wasting money on new things. I still have my 9 year old (fully paid for) car and plan on keeping it until it falls apart. When I was in residency, my hospital provided free food. I would go in on my days off and eat for free (and bring home a plate of food to last me another 1-2 meals. I used to buy tons of story books. Now I stick with free books on my kindle. I don't go to movie theaters anymore because I think ticket prices are crazy (plus, I'm sick of loud people at the theater and hate watching 30 minutes of ads before the movie starts).

Splurge: I buy organic/non-gmo food when available.

You sound like my kind of person, PP.

[Anonymous]

Set for life. Keep my education current and also diversified so I can transition to something different. Hold onto the attitude that job is below me.

Shopping/Spending habits:

- Most if not all clothing bought on sale for me. Try same for the kids. Always use coupons.

- Any good designer items at outlets and usually on their clearance racks to boot. They sell well, when you are sick of them. You get return on investment.

- Look at any fine jewelry purchases as investments in metals(they are) but still buy vintage or on deep clearance if new. Again, they re-sell well

- I stay out of Costco and places like that. Invariably spend more on things we don't need.

- Keep cars until they are truly dead. I'd rather spend 1K on repairs than buy a new one. Pay cash for used cars.


What kills us is the high cost of living here. Utilities seem outrageous. Real estate taxes are disgusting. Housing prices are equally disgusting. My husband is rooted; I'm not. Should get interesting into retirement

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i wear my silver wedding shoes to work as my main shoes no matter what i wear (from 3 yrs ago).

i tell the garage guys at work sometimes i have no $$$ to pay them that day (to park).

I ask coworkers for change to buy a bag of chips from the vending machine. And I ask for k-cups.

HHI $155

You sound like a very strange lady.

Agreed.

really?

Asking coworkers for change to save money is rude

REALLY.

Im glad my poorness is so entertaining to so many people (I'm not saving money, Im just broke lol)

If you are broke on $155K, you need to rework your spending. You aren't poor you're just cheap and rude.

I agree. Broke is one thing; stealing (from coworkers, the garage attendants) is quite another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I too am a high income thrift store shopper. I dress rather simply, but when I go to those stores, I generally feel like I'm the richest person there. I feel a bit embarassed, as if I should be shopping elsewhere. But this thread is showing me that there are plenty of wealthy thrift store shoppers. They probably even dress down to look the part.

I'm having difficulty understanding the thrift store shopping when sales at department/mall stores are so good. Thrift stores in my area either have really threadbare/trendy out-of-date clothing or the good clothing they have is priced on-par with finding it on sale new at the store. Buying designer there is such a risk, especially purses, as the knock-off rate is SO high.

I can see going to look for vintage pieces, but to simply get Ann Taylor clothing or designer jeans that Nordstrom's Rack carries for the same price or $10 new? Makes no sense to me.

I do, however, understand the thrill of the hunt.

Bottom line is I'm understanding the importance of investment pieces as I age. Paying $250 for a 3K Carolina Herrera dress at Saks Off-Fifth will take me farther than an Ann Taylor thrift store purchase. When I decide to sell that, I will get close to - if not more - than 3K. Especially if I hold it long enough to make it considered vintage.

[Anonymous]

Wow - there are some seriously cheap people out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow - there are some seriously cheap people out there.

That's what I was thinking. I don't get extreme cheapness. Life is too short.