Embarassing Things You Do To Save Money

[Anonymous]

Aside from a couple folks, this has mostly been a bust - most people just brag about their thrifty habits (old carsm no Starbucks, hotel shampoos) as opposed to things that are actually embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One shampoo bottle can last nearly a year.

Is it a 3-gallon bottle or are you bold?

Was wondering the same thing..

[Anonymous]

I don't do this but my neighbor and a friend do this: to save stamps, they drop their bills/checks directly at the utility companies - gas company; electric company; phone company. We live in a small town so all of these places are close by so it is not a long drive.

[Anonymous]

I have one main pair of shoes. They are keens. I wear them for about 3 years and then buy a new pair. I rarely have to wear any other shoes - sometimes sandals in summers (again I have one pair only) and boots in winter but the keens can be worn in any type of weather and any place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I buy Folger's half caf. After Starbucks stopped making theirs, I experimented with several and then tried the Folger's based on Amazon reviews. It's better than the Starbucks and people are always asking me for more.

Ok, I am 100% serious: what in the world is embarrassing about this? Did I miss some major cultural shift where Starbucks became the only acceptable coffee brand? The only coffee we buy is Folgers as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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?

REALLY.

DEFINITELY.

I have this mental image of this woman wearing the same pair of silver sandals EVERY DAY and everyone in the office has a bet when she is going to get a new pair.

In January. Over black tights.
Some people..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HHI $850,000

Save: one car household, car is 13 years old and paid. Have minimalist attitude, not too many clothes or shoes or toys, etc. allow inlaws to buy almost all of kids' clothes even if some aren't exactly my taste. Cut my kids hair. Tie tons of vacations into DH work (like conferences in nice places) to save on airfare and get free hotel stays. I love thrift stores, Craigslist and neighborhood listservs for kids toys and other items. Cook all our meals, all of them. Only buy kids presents for birthdays and Christmas, no random toys all the time.

Splurge. We shop almost exclusively at whole foods. We sent kids to private schools. We are not cheap when it comes to gifts, esp for relatives weddings, etc. we live in a nice neighborhood a few blocks from the metro. Our house is a bit of a fixer upper, but location location location,[/quote

This is one thing I would never understand. How old are you kids?? What if you botch their haircut, what are their friends going to say???
As for the rest of your post, I'm pretty much the same way. Except for private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I buy Folger's half caf. After Starbucks stopped making theirs, I experimented with several and then tried the Folger's based on Amazon reviews. It's better than the Starbucks and people are always asking me for more.

Ok, I am 100% serious: what in the world is embarrassing about this? Did I miss some major cultural shift where Starbucks became the only acceptable coffee brand? The only coffee we buy is Folgers as well.

It doesn't stop me from buying it but I don't see anyone my age or younger picking it off the shelf or with it in their carts. They buy the small packages or cans from Trader Joes, WF, coffee shops, Starbucks, etc, usually in whole bean form.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's find out the embarrassing things you do to save money:
1. State your HHI.
2. List some things you do to save money.
3. List some ways how you waste money (not a waste to you, but to most people)
Then we can make fun of each other. Or maybe we can learn new ways to save money.
.

1. Just under 1,000,000

2. Shop at thrift stores, including for complete games, puzzles, clothes, etc., many of which become our kids Xmas presents. (For example, my kids love games, so I'll quickly check that a thrift store find has a complete Battleship game, buy it, wrap it, and give as a gift). Will often even go on Amazon at the thrift store to make sure whether it is a well liked item. Buy meat at grocery store a day or two before it expires when it is 30-50% off, make immediately or freeze, use coupons (maybe 2 per shopping trip), buy and sell on Ebay about 10x a year (meaning, purposefully buying something just to resell it). Reuse uncancelled stamps. Like those shampoo bottles too (we use them all...kids take showers daily all summer long after swim team).

3. Travel costs are higher than you can fathom., Have many (moderately priced) cars...used for different reasons. Belong to a country club and separately a pool

[Anonymous]

Reusing stamps is close to stealing. But I admit I've done it too. Just one of many reasons why USPS is bankrupt.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reusing stamps is close to stealing. But I admit I've done it too. Just one of many reasons why USPS is bankrupt.

Nothing "close" about it: it is stealing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reusing stamps is close to stealing. But I admit I've done it too. Just one of many reasons why USPS is bankrupt.

Nothing "close" about it: it is stealing.

Yeah, reusing stamps (especially if your income is 1 million!!) crosses the line from being embarrassing to just being a douchebag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reusing stamps is close to stealing. But I admit I've done it too. Just one of many reasons why USPS is bankrupt.

Nothing "close" about it: it is stealing.

Yeah, reusing stamps (especially if your income is 1 million!!) crosses the line from being embarrassing to just being a douchebag.

See, that would have been a much better topic for the DCUM crowd. Buying non-Starbucks coffee and going to a thrift store are not embarrassing; that is simply being thrifty.

A better question may be - "What douchebag things do you do to save money / save travel time / passive aggressively get back at people?"
- I almost never pay for bagels and coffee at church. I've taken toilet paper rolls from public toilets.

[Anonymous]

You want to turn this into what do you steal. I get it.
Well, when I was kid, we ate at Pizza Hut and we ran out without paying the bill. Wasn't my idea. I naively followed the crowd. Would NEVER do it again. For the same reason, I remember stealing a couple candy bars from the local 7-11 too.