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30 Times People Were So Cheap That Folks In This Online Community Thought They Went Too Far
There are a bunch of people on this planet with very contrasting and sometimes even surprising personalities. Some are kind and generous – others are mean and stingy. Sometimes it all depends on the way people raise their children, as most of one's character traits and quirks are adopted from their parents. However, it might also be that financial insecurity could've been influenced by the financial status of one's family.
Thus, a common reason why someone displays signs of stinginess is probably emotional trauma. People overlooked their family struggle and took their insecurity to adulthood, simultaneously believing that money is something that they "lack". Stingy folks have a hard time giving, and in fact, such a thing is not only associated with money per se, as it also affects the emotional aspects of a person.
An online user took it to one of Reddit's communities and asked fellow members to share their stories about encountering some of the stingiest folks ever. The post received over 2.3K upvotes and nearly 5K worth of gripping stories and comments.
More info: Reddit
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#1
I went for a meal with a group of about 6 friends. When it came time to divvy up the bill one friend said he hadn't got cash on him, but if we all chipped in the cash for our share he would put it on his card. He was also very keen to ensure we all put in a decent tip (in the UK, so tipping is common in a restaurant, but not 'required').
Our friend went up to the bar to pay, but unfortunately for him another member of our party went to the restroom at the same time, and was surprised to notice him paying in cash. We pulled him up on this, and it turned out the stingy bastard was using our tips to cover his part of the meal!
This chap has forevermore been ribbed as having short arms and deep pockets. He is trusted by no one!
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#2
My grandmother, as she didn't own a computer, had to mail in all her bill payments. One month she didn't get her water bill or it was delivered to someone else by accident. Whatever the cause, her next bill was for both that month and the previous month and included a late fee that was less than the cost of a stamp.
For the rest of her life she skipped the bill one month and then paid both the next because she saved a few cents by using just one stamp instead of two. This was a woman who had somewhere around a million dollars in the bank when she passed away.
#3
When I was a teen, a guy who i respected a lot paid me to rake his yard. After we're done, he drives me home and on the way we stop at the local country store to buy a soda and snack. I didn't expect him to pay for me because I had my own money now that I'd just earned raking his yard so I put my merch on the checkout counter and then he slides his stuff beside mine like he's going to pay except he didn't. The clerk looks to me since I had money out to pay for it and he looks at me too as if to say, "well, pay her." I was confused, but paid for it. He apologized later and I lost respect for him.
Mr. Sasquatch Guy 2 years ago
Wow. Massive jerk. Who DOES that? You should have offered to do the yard for free too! /sarcasm.
#4
I used to work as a waiter for a country club. I had a woman tell me she was done with her plate so I cleared it off the table. When I returned to ask if they wanted dessert, she asks "where are my leftovers?"
I calmly responded that she had no food left on her plate. Her response "oh I wanted you to box up the skin from my baked potato so I could give it to my dog."
Requested to see the manager. $80 bill completely free of charge. To this day I swear she had it planned the whole time.
#5
Well, my roommate, despite often bragging about how much money he has saved up and buying weed every other day (so he's clearly got plenty to spend)...
1. Uses my SO's and my toothpaste
2. Picks my used razors out of the trashcan and uses them on himself
3. When it's his turn to buy toilet paper, he buys a 4-pack of the smallest, s***tiest-quality TP he can find. I'm pretty sure he'd buy one roll at a time if he could
4. Used my shampoo and tried to hide it by putting water in it back up to full
5. When SO began his brewing hobby, roommate was all for helping out in exchange for beer... until he realized he was expected to chip in (and help with the process). That partnership ended REAL quick.
6. Broke the toaster trying to cook hashbrowns in it (and I don't mean the oval-shaped ones). Tried to buy one at a c***py thrift shop and complained he had to buy a brand new one at full price. A whopping $30.
Real winner, he is.
Mary Rose Kent 2 years ago
If you’re poor, you’re poor and you make do as you can; if you’re not poor and pull shite like this, you’re a social parasite.
#6
My mate lays out a certain number of sheets of toilet roll if you ask to use his loo.
#7
I was working in a restaurant in Montreal and the staff decided to all have a picnic and a few beers together. We all pitched in to get steaks, salads and drinks. I invited a friend that didn't work with us and he showed up with a potato. Yes one potato. He drank the beer, ate salad and steak. Oh... and he ate his potato too.
#8
Went out to dinner, check came in. Let's say it was a total of $40 for 4 people. Three of us put in $12 each, for our parts and tips. The fourth person looked at the cash we put down, counted it, and put in $4.
#9
My brother had an old Fiat 127, the gas dial hadn't worked for a while, so sometimes he would run out of gas. One time he was with my young nephew when it happened again. They pushed it for like half a mile, arriving at the gas station he realized it was rather more expensive than another station further up the road, so they pushed it for another half mile.
#10
A school friends dad made her bread sandwiches because he didn't want to 'waste money' on pointless fillings when the bread would swell in your stomach with water. Oh and that sandwich fillings were a part of the capitalist machine that rules us all.
#11
Was going to have a movie night with some friends. This one guy is a complete miser, told him to bring round some beers and party food. He doesnt bother with any beers, (says he forgot) just brings around his dinner (that he's just bought from tescos) that he wants to cook. Which he does, in my kitchen. Of course he drinks the beers that we all supplied... Halfway through the film he ups and leaves, saying he doesn't like the movie.
#12
A family friend of mine once told his parents that he was sharing his school lunches with a classmate, and that he was worried about this classmate's financial situation. His parents were concerned, too. They met with the principal. Eventually they asked their child which classmate, specifically, was in possible financial trouble. "[Redacted] Pritzker." (One of the wealthiest families in the country — billionaires.) "...we think he'll probably be okay..."
#13
A girl in undergrad lived off campus her senior year. While on campus she would fill her gym duffel bag up with university rolls of toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, etc. She said she managed the whole year off our schools paper products.
She would also go to thrift stores and search out patagonia fleeces. They have lifetime warranty so she would ship it back to patagonia saying the zipper was broken, etc., and they would send her a new one. She was master level stingy and scammy.
Urbangirlatl 2 years ago
The Patagonia thing is just working smart. If the original owner had a clue, they would have done the same - their laziness is her reward.
#14
Hang out with a group of friends around 6-7 people and we decided to chip in for a large meal except for one guy, he said he's not that hungry because he just ate. When the meal arrived we all started eating and chatting at the same time and that guy just kept eating and eating and once he's done he pretended he got a call and left us.
Boredcanadian1234 2 years ago
I stopped hanging out with a co-worker because she would always say she was not hungry when we went to the bar. Then when I ordered appitizers for myself she would pick off my plate. Like half the plate. Every time. Even though I would ask " are you sure your not hungry cause the food I order is my dinner"
#15
My dad once took a broken fork to the aerospace company he worked for and had a highly skilled welder weld it back together. This was a cheap s**t dinner fork.
Bob D. Lin Quint 2 years ago
The amount of time/money that cost the company, taking into account the "highly skilled welder" who had to do it.... He prolly should've just payed 50c for a new one
#16
Worked at Wendy's one summer when I was in high school. This one guy would come in and order a large size of fries. Dump half of the fries in a bag and come back and say that he wanted fresh fries and that these ones tasted too stale. I only caught what he was doing because I had noticed that one of the times he complained the fries had just come out of the fryer.
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
I had a friend that worked in a bank... they had a coffee station with donuts for people waiting to see loan officers. They had to stop, because homeless people would come in and eat all the donuts and drink the coffee as soon as they opened up. I think the bank should have just bought an extra box and made an extra pot to put behind the building for the homeless people encamped in the woods behind the bank.
#17
My friend's dad would abuse Walmart's return policy. He would do things like get a gallon of milk, drink most of it, fill it back up with water, and take it back to exchange it.
#18
Went to a wine bar with a groupon, the place was super dirty and just not worth staying at and spending more, so we got up to leave.
They asked us to wait and brought us a tab, for like 40 cents, the tax... Never have I been taxed on top of a Groupon...
#19
I have a mate who doesn't believe in tipping (necessary here in .za; most waiters don't earn a wage and live off tips only). Rather than under-tip the expected 10% if the service wasn't 5-star, he'll use any excuse he can think of to not tip at all.
He's also known to round off his portion of the split bill.
Downwards.
#20
I've heard people admit they will go to Costco for "lunch" and just walk around to every sample table getting little free bites until they're full.
#21
My flatmate stole tp from his office when it was his turn to buy... only he stole 1 roll and thought that was equivalent of the 16-pack the rest of us buy (srsly, you don't have to buy that often and it's like 2-3 bucks for 16!)
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
I don't know where you live, but where I am, a 12 roll pack costs closer to $12 than 2 or 3 bucks.
#22
When I lived in Paris after college my housemate and I were really poor.
She worked out how much everything cost in each supermarket and would go to 3 supermarkets to get the best value from each (fruit from one place, meat from another etc).
She doesn't like sugar in her coffee, I do. Whenever we went for coffee (€1.50 espresso) she would take the extra sugar sachets for the coffee I'd have at home.
This didn't bother me at all, they're the perfect serving size.
Her mum came to visit us and just went out and bought a bag of sugar for us.
#23
I have seen people picking through public ashtrays looking for half smoked cigs, my old roommate included.
#24
Guy I worked with used to unscrew the jar off the coffee dispenser on the wall & empty into a plastic bag and take it home, same with the sugar, cheap a**e office coffee!
#25
There's a big a** fishing tournament ever summer near me and the people that set it up go to home depo and buy like 2 grand worth of flowers and then just return them.
Jenn Ryan 2 years ago
I work in a greenhouse in the summers. I won't take back flowers or plants if people try to return them. I don't know where that plant goes once it leaves my greenhouse and the last thing I need is my entire greenhouse to be affected by a pest or bug from a returned plant.
#26
My uncle takes the back seats out of his 1990s minivan, to increase mileage.
M O'Connell 2 years ago
I took the rear seat out of my Subaru for the same reason. It's not like anyone ever sat there.
#28
My friend sat in his car for 3 hours on a Saturday night rather than pay a $5 cover charge.
Kelli Girouard 2 years ago
Probably didn't want to pay the cover charge (entrance fee) for a bar or club and stayed in the car while his friends went in.
#29
Bought a fake otterbox destroyed it and went to the otterbox shop to get a replacement.
#30
When I was a waitress, people would order water with lemons and extra sugar packets. Apparently, they would make ghetto lemonade. I started charging extra for the lemon slices. Like seriously? The lemonade is $1...
What do you think ?
Lea S. 2 years ago
Some people steal because they don't want to spend the money. They are being cheap.
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Jo Choto 2 years ago
I can understand when poor people go above and beyond to save money, but it's horrible when people who have plenty of money are still taking from others.
greenbean 2 years ago
Probably that's their strategy to have plenty of money, which is both sad and how the world actually works.
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GirlFriday 2 years ago
I earn a good living and can afford everything I need, however, I will still hunt for the best bargain I can find, I hate to waste money. That being said, many of these are just downright theft.
Sapna Sarfare 2 years ago
I love a bargain too. But we know some things need to be brought with more money. What we do is spend intelligently
Load More Replies... Lea S. 2 years ago
Some people steal because they don't want to spend the money. They are being cheap.
Load More Replies... Jo Choto 2 years ago
I can understand when poor people go above and beyond to save money, but it's horrible when people who have plenty of money are still taking from others.
greenbean 2 years ago
Probably that's their strategy to have plenty of money, which is both sad and how the world actually works.
Load More Replies... GirlFriday 2 years ago
I earn a good living and can afford everything I need, however, I will still hunt for the best bargain I can find, I hate to waste money. That being said, many of these are just downright theft.
Sapna Sarfare 2 years ago
I love a bargain too. But we know some things need to be brought with more money. What we do is spend intelligently
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