Does closely checking my receipts everytime I buy something at a store make me a cheapskate?

[Anonymous]

Not weird. I watch like a hawk as they ring things up. Just yesterday, 1.5lbs of ground beef rang up as $83.26 and the cashier didn't blink; just kept scanning.

[Anonymous]

This is why I usually do self-checkout. I can see the cost of each item when I scan. I know some people aren't a fan of self-checkout but it's made me more aware of where I spend my money.

[Anonymous]

My grocery receipt is wrong all the time. And the errors are not in my favor and are not small. I always check. Sales prices do not always update, store employees are poorly paid and don't care. Caveat emptor.

[Anonymous]

doodlebug wrote:I only do it if the total isn't within my expected ballpark. I try to watch as things are being rung up so I can catch it before I pay.

+1

Smart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Time to dollar to imposition ratio informs how I judge this. Person in front of me holding up the line to resolve an issue about an errant $5 (and who doesn't look super poor) then you are being cheap and ridiculous.

Change that to $20 I'm more understanding. If no one is in line more understanding, all context.

Well there was my father (who was the owner of a couple of businesses) holding up the line over $1.00

[Anonymous]

doodlebug wrote:I only do it if the total isn't within my expected ballpark. I try to watch as things are being rung up so I can catch it before I pay.

Likewise. And it goes both ways. If the cashier fails to scan an item, I tell him.

Yesterday I was at a restaurant and the server mistakenly left the $3 drink off the bill. I pointed it out and they added it. If I hadn't carefully looked at the receipt, I wouldn't have noticed. I like a deal as much as anyone but if I contract to pay for something, I'm going to pay for it.

[Anonymous]

I check every now and then - and never find anything. Restaurants, grocery stores...they all seem pretty accurate to me.

So I don't think it makes you a cheapskate, but it seems a bit obsessive. But hey, no real harm if it keeps you happy.

Now my mother on the other hand - she is nuts. Checks every receipt - no matter how large or small. Then with every receipt - every time, no exaggeration - she loudly announces she has found a problem. Then continues loudly talking to herself until she concludes that it is, in fact, not a problem. She's a nice person, I love her, she raised me well...but this receipt thing of hers - completely bananas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:no - you are not cheap. I don't check every time and at every store- but I noticed that I'm overcharged or double charged for items about 50% of the time at Target, so I try to check that one every time as I'm leaving the store -and then I go right to customer service to fix it before I leave. (Often it's sometime pretty pricey - like $12 bottle of Tide rung up twice. I really think they're doing it on purpose at this particular Target.) And I also try to check at Whole Foods, because I think it happens relatively often there too - maybe 20% of the time. IT's not cheap to not want to be overcharged for what you bought!

I have often wondered this as well about Target. I don't go there much any more but it seemed to happen every single visit.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to start checking mine more closely. I realized today when I got home Harris Teeter charged me $4.50 for one apple. There is no way one apple costs that much. And pp, I am that person who will hold up the line for $1.00.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

doodlebug wrote:I only do it if the total isn't within my expected ballpark. I try to watch as things are being rung up so I can catch it before I pay.

+1

Smart.

I tally the amt as I put things on the conveyor belt, rounding up to account for tax....granola bars $2, plus bread which $1, etc.
I'm a human calculator.

[Anonymous]

I don't hold up the line. I go through the line, then pull the cart over to the front and check the receipt. If there was an error, I can head to the service desk to have it addressed. I do this because if I don't, once I get home, it's never worthwhile to go back to the store and get it corrected.

I'm honest. I will also go back to correct if I have an item that didn't get rung up. I've gone out into the parking lot and found something that I hadn't paid for (like an item under the cart) and gone back into the store and settled up at the service desk. I don't like to pay for something I didn't get. I also don't like to get something I didn't pay for. I do the same at restaurants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm going to start checking mine more closely. I realized today when I got home Harris Teeter charged me $4.50 for one apple. There is no way one apple costs that much. And pp, I am that person who will hold up the line for $1.00.

Organic apple on sale. Regular price $7.50. You got a deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You would be surprised how often my restaurant bill is wrong.

Name the restaurants, I have had this happen maybe twice in a life at most and I am in my 40's.

To the OP, no, you are not being a cheapskate. It is your job as a consumer to make sure you are billed correctly for the merchandise. There is a reason that JcPenny (although they need to add more) and Macy's have price checkers all over the store. Some people do not know how to read signs, and in the grocery store case, some people don't realize that sometimes only certain amount of ounces of something is on sale and not all of the same item.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I examine all of my store receipts like a doctor as soon as I get home.

Does this make me a cheapskate?

No

Once you get home you are less likely to go back to the store to tell them they charged you for Filet Mignon, when you actually bought Pork Chops. This happens a lot, especially with produce.

Otherwise just picture yourself opening your window and throwing dollar bills out of it, really no difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Time to dollar to imposition ratio informs how I judge this. Person in front of me holding up the line to resolve an issue about an errant $5 (and who doesn't look super poor) then you are being cheap and ridiculous.

Change that to $20 I'm more understanding. If no one is in line more understanding, all context.

you grew up with more money than I did apparently. And less sense too.