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Although many households put together a budget, the important thing is managing it: setting financial goals and a plan to take you there. Which, as one Reddit thread shows us, can make some family members unhappy.
Started by platform user Steinenhoot, it asked "Children of cheapskates, what are some of the ridiculous things your parent/s have done to save a couple of bucks?"
And it took off. From toilet paper rations to dating only rich people, here are some of the most upvoted entries from the 4,500 entries the question has received.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I've been getting re-gifted present for Christmas since I was a kid. And not like presents from other people that were then given to me. No. We're talking my favorite jacket goes missing for 6 months only to be found under the tree as one of my presents. Just had my 30th birthday- gifted a Swiss Army knife I had when I was a kid.
However, we should mention that for every one of these entries, there could probably be another one about children's questionable spending sprees.
In fact, a 2023 survey of 2,000 parents of kids aged 5-17 showed that more than a third of them worry their child does not understand the value of a dollar (38%).
"Financial skills should be taught at school (as well as at home)," Vicki Broadbent, the woman behind the family and lifestyle blog Honest Mum, told Bored Panda. "I feel yet that's rarely the case."
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#2
My parents don't understand the "invest a few more dollars for a much better quality product" thing, so when I was in high school or just starting uni and they bought me clothing, it would be a $20 pair of jeans from JayJays that would last just a few weeks because of thunder thighs wearing them down as I wore them daily, and then we'd have to buy another pair. They'd buy one pair of $5 shoes from Kmart because they were the cheapest, but they were also the most uncomfortable and - again - I'd wear them on a daily basis so they wore down within a month and we had to buy more.
I'm in my early 20s now and teaching myself the concept of "bigger price tag is better quality" - I bought myself a pair of Dr Martens in 2015, and my parents almost fell out of their chairs when I said they cost $180. Except I've worn them practically every single day since I bought them - whether to uni or work (hospitality), and they're still solid and in good shape. Best investment of my life tbh.
(Edit:) yes yes yes, I know, *a bigger price tag doesn't always mean better quality*. I mean this in terms of what I have talked about in this post - good quality, comfortable shoes and clothing.
Rinso the Red 11 months ago
The Vimes Boot Theory: "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet." - Terry Pratchett
#3
My ex step-mother was like every Disney step mother ever. She was loaded but was super stingy, when we all stayed at her house she made my dad bring our own food every time. One time we forgot, and she fed us 65c tinned tomatoes.
Broadbent, the author of Mumboss (UK) and The Working Mom (US and Canada), believes that parents can and should educate their children about financial responsibility from an early age, even when they're still toddlers. However, it should start in the simplest terms. "I explain [to my little one] that when I'm on my laptop I'm usually writing and this gives me money and how I spend it to buy things," she said.
With time, the mom also starts to include her kids in some money decisions. "I take my children around the supermarket/store with me and involve them in the selection process of items. We look at different prices, brands, and weights and make decisions based on these factors."
#4
My parents taught me never to buy drinks or dessert or snacks when going out. Those things are much cheaper at the grocery store in bulk, and you just have to wait until you get home to enjoy them.
I miss my parents.
Bonus: uncle would put drumsticks in shrink wrap and hide them in his pockets to take to the movies. Then again, our family still has a picture of him from college in the 1960s, a new immigrant to the US, holding a bag of coins at the pay phone, with a huge smile on his face. His dorm mates surprised him at Christmas with the bag of coins so he could call his parents overseas, just for a few minutes. Thank you, Baylor University.
Michael Largey 11 months ago
The drumsticks you smuggle into a movie always taste better than the ones they're selling at the snack bar.
#5
Mom would date richer guys around the holidays so we could have Christmas presents to open.
#6
When dial up came out we got a free months trial CD. We used it for almost 10 years by frequently setting the date back on the computer.
"My older children at 11 and 14 also have bank accounts so they can save birthday gifts and money from chores, choosing what to spend," Broadbent added.
"It's important to show and tell but also to allow children to take responsibility too. If they make mistakes, that's fine. It's the only way they'll learn."
#7
My mother tried to convince ticket seller that I was 6 years old (actually 12) and my brother 12 years old (actually 19) to save 6 bucks for a hop in hop off bus ticket. Needless to say my mother did not get the reduced price. Especially because of the reason my brother was smoking a cigarette.
Fran Parry 11 months ago
Brother 19 should've paid his own fare especially if he can afford to smoke..sheesh...
#8
my mom used to tell me that peanut butter and tortillas are what jesus ate
#9
My dad wouldn't let us eat on Sundays, we had to fill up on free samples from Sam's Club. It was humiliating. He isn't even hurting for money, he's just selfish with it and spends hundreds on himself (computer parts, games, in-game purchasing.. Ect)
And she's not alone in these efforts. According to the aforementioned survey, most parents are taking matters into their own hands (64%), teaching kids about saving by starting a money jar or piggy bank (62%), and giving them allowances to help with budgeting (56%).
However, only 51% have important financial discussions with their children. If this figure was higher, maybe families could strengthen their financial resilience collaboratively, and not separately.
#10
When my parents had the family home refurbished, Pa would carefully extract the nails from the ripped-out woodwork with a claw hammer, and then hammer them straight again and put them in tins for re-use along with unused nails.
For years afterwards, every third or fourth nail you used from his workshop would bend like a banana on first wallop from a hammer and you'd hit your thumb.
#11
My dad always refused to buy me a fish supper from the chip shop. Said it cost too much, and I could have fritters instead. Not really a big deal. Until a stray cat moves in to his house, he decides to keep it, and regularly treats it to fish suppers.
EDIT: My Dad and I regularly joke about this now. He says I was a fussy eater and would have never ate a fish supper. I make up for it by drinking all his beer when I visit him now.
#12
When I was 15, my father was out of a job and we relied on welfare and Medicaid. I had braces outfitted by an orthodontist who has practiced since the 1940s. My braces were an eccentric old-fashioned type. No headgear, but weird brackets. A year later, my father got hired and stopped Medicaid. He wasn't happy with the expense to maintain my braces, and took me to another orthodontist. While the orthodontist examined me, my father complained how much more expensive the other doctor was. He said this loudly. The reception could hear us. The orthodontist was confused by my brackets. He said he'd never seen brackets like mine before. My father went on about the cost. The orthodontist felt he wasn't comfortable giving me new brackets without understanding how mine were functioning already. My father wouldn't have it. The cost! The cost! The orthodontist had enough. He lectured my father that he should consider my safety above all else. My father quieted down after. It was embarrassing to have a doctor tell my father my safety was more important than saving a few bucks.
LavenderHippoInAJar 11 months ago
Covering up an unpleasant comment. Have a great day everyone!
#13
My mom would (and still does) strategically pick a fight with me 2 days before my birthday giving her the perfect excuse not to buy me a gift.
Heather Evans 11 months ago
If anyone needs to hear this, you don't have to remain in contact with toxic family members. Your mental wellness is your responsibility .. just because they are your mom or dad doesn't mean they deserve to be in your life
#14
When my dad moved into his house, he had a guy come over to do a free demonstration for a water filter that goes under a sink. The guy used a bar of soap for his demonstration and left it when he was done. My dad called at least 4 other companies for a free demonstration just to keep the free bar of soap, and never intended to have a water filter installed.
He does things like this, and it gets worse as he gets older. But I just let him do his thing.
#15
Parents would pick a place when going out that had some sort of "Kids under X years old are free" and I had to be 3-4 years younger than I am for the day
Bewitched One 11 months ago (edited)
A lot of these sound more like mom and dad were broke but didn't want the kids to know
#16
My mum would wait up to an hour for the bus that cost 5 pence less. She lived in a house worth nearly a million pounds.
#17
My father would drive literally across town, several miles out of the way to save 2 or 3 cents per gallon of gas.
He would also drive 60 miles to the casinos for a "free" meal but was too cheap to go a restaurant and buy one.
Tobias Reaper 11 months ago
but by driving longer distance he uses more petrol so it will actually cost him more
#18
Ex-wife was a frugal spender and always tried to save money or make extra money where she could. After our divorce, my family would still gift our children clothes on the holidays and their birthdays, until I found her selling the clothes on Craigslist and then go to the goodwill to get cheaper clothes for them.
Now my family makes sure I get the clothes. They go stay with her with what they were sent with.
#19
When I was a child my grandparents had an apartment at the seaside and every summer we would go to spend a month there, meeting other families that were coming on vacation from all around the country. My parents became friends with a couple, they had two children and the eldest girl was my age.
Probably due to the husband having gambling problems in his youth, the wife was the worst cheapskate I've ever met, even if they had a pretty generous income.
When we were out of the house, the husband was "in control" of the finances, being the main bread-winner of the family. So we would go to the restaurant all together, eat fish, spend the equivalent of 50 Euros per person (we didn't have Euros back then) and he'd have no problem putting out this amount of money.
In the house, though, the wife was the queen. So they'd have no hand soap in the bathroom, because it was a waste of money. When I was visiting, she would get a jar of Nutella from the top drawer and spread the tiniest amount of it in an almost invisible film on the cheapest bread. Her children's faces told me that when they had no guests, the Nutella would not even come out of that drawer.
The pinnacle was when one time they invited us at their place for dinner and they served a main course of... ONE PIGEON for 4 adults and 3 kids.
My parents' response, as a good Italian family, was simply inviting them to dinner for the next week and preparing a f*****g huge and delicious dinner. They willingly exaggerated the size of the dinner, we ate leftovers for days.
I'm friends with their son and daughter on Facebook. He still is the golden child (good guy, did nothing wrong, but their parents always preferred him to his sister), she got out of home and is working in beautiful beaches in summer, and ski schools in winter, all around Europe. Good for her.
EDIT: for all the "wtf pigeon meat" comments: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squab_as_food
VioletHunter 11 months ago
That woman sounds like she was traumatised by the husband's former gambling issues and "saving" neurotically for a future relapse which she probably expected any minute.
#20
My dad would always go under the speed limit on the highway. Going around 80-90kph maximized fuel efficiency so that's how fast he would go.
We also drove a car until it was literally falling apart from rust. Had about 400k kilometres on it and just about everything was breaking or had broken. Constant check engine light, bad breaks, no horn or emergency break. It took a cop pulling him over and deeming the car non roadworthy.
Enuya 11 months ago
A person close to me does the "driving at certain speed to maximize fuel efficiency" thing. It is okay, most of the times when he drives around the city. But it drives me crazy on highways and other roads like that as it's both dangerous (at least in my opinion, given how slow he drives comparing to other people) and frustrating for other drivers.
#21
I got a Twinkie with a candle instead of a birthday cake one year.
#22
someday my kids will be in this post, talking about their old cheapskate mom lol, I make my own laundry soap.. can make 8 gallons for like $2.50 a batch.... when my bath towels get holes, I cut them up and use them in the kitchen.... buy meats on clearance. when they are on the last day they can be sold... yep, my kids will be traumatized
#23
My grandma would try and buy me second hand underwear from value village.. put a stop to that pretty quick.
Charlie the Cat 11 months ago
Why would anyone sell second hand underwear? Who gives away second hand underwear in the first place?
#24
One time I wanted to buy this girl a bouquet of flowers to show that I cared for her. My mother said that the shop was shut (I knew it wasn't) and she went to the supermarket and bought her a sandwich instead.
F*****g absurd present really, but she did like it at least. It was ham and mustard.
#25
Share bathwater. My brother would get in first, then me and then mum or dad would be last. It's pretty gross thinking about it now but at the time my parents did it to save money on the water bill and gas bill because they were on really low incomes.
#26
The exterior of our family minivan must have been 70% duct tape by the time it was retired. It was a running joke that we'd put fresh patches on before a big event like a wedding or prom.
#27
My dad returned a video game i got on my bday so he could buy it cheaper from the middle east (there was arabic language option). So after playing a little bit on my birthday i had to wait another week until it was delivered.
#28
My mother put strict rations on toilet paper.
Yes, she was an a*****e.
John Kremm 11 months ago
As kids, we were allowed 2 squares. That's all. 2 squares. Then got beat--yes, literally--if there were skid marks in our underpants. And we only got a clean pair on sunday night after our baths. And speaking of baths, I was the 3rd child, so older sister got fresh, hot water, then older brother in the same tub, then me...unless little brother whined enough, then I was last into the tub with cold, scummy, gray water. My first shower in gym class in junior high school was very close to a religious experience!
#29
My MIL has inherited her fathers war effort frugality. She once asked if she could get a happy meal cheaper if they didn't have the toy. Her husband was in hospital and he asked her to bring him tissues for his nose as the tissue paper was rough, she just took in toilet paper but folded into a tissue box.
She took back a single tin of macaroni to the store beside it wasn't the right one (it cost like 48p)
She gets shoes off her daughter but they are slightly too small so she cuts to toe of the shoe so her big toes just hang out.
She will ask he husband for £50 for shopping but then give him back the change! They have been married for 37 years. Like can't she just keep the few coins.
She only buys sale clothes (always the wrong size) with the intent to sew them into something new.
So mny things that don't make sense for someone who is effectively a millionaire.
Edit: more things I have thought of
They now stay in there sons old room where the wallpaper has been up since the day he was born. As a teen does he covers said cloud covered wallpaper with posters, early 20s he moves out. Parents move into room because it's quieter.
To get rid of the marks holes made by the posters she took a sample to the diy store had paint matched and painted each dot individually. Hundreds of them.
There are other things. What tops it off is that her husband spends money like water on "his rooms" while she is fitting her own carpet tiles so they fit around the rugs.
#30
When my Grandmother and Grandfather got married they did their gift registry with Sears; that was back in the day (Late 1940's) when they had a 'lifetime guarantee' on almost everything they sold. My Grandmother has moved house almost 10 times since then, but she has kept every single flattened box and warranty for every appliance she got when she was married.
About two years ago I drove her to Sears to get her iron replaced, she brought all of the boxing, and paperwork from all the way back in the 1940's to get a new one. They actually did fulfil the guarantee and gave her a new iron!
I think it's hilarious, but she literally hasn't had to pay for a new appliance in over 60 years because she's so cheap! She's a Ukrainian immigrant to Canada, and she always insists 'Lifetime guarantee means lifetime guarantee' I kind of feel bad for Sears because our family are notoriously long lived (her father lived until 104). I sometimes think that maybe this is the reason why Sears is doing so poorly, a ton of cheap old women cashing in on their lifetime guarantees.
What do you think ?
TheNewJenBrady 11 months ago
My FIL once invited us out to lunch with his wife and 2 step kids and it ended up being at a car dealership that had advertised free hotdogs as a promotion if you did a test drive
Corinne Wheeler 11 months ago
Stealing toilet paper and soap from public toilets, taking a half eaten cake off a plate in a cafe. Sending us out to play near to mealtimes in the hope that we'd be invited to a friend's for dinner. We did the bathwater saving thing , two in together and my mum first...I think that was more common in the old days. We had to keep every box, string, wrapper etc.in case it came in handy. Yes, my mother would go through bins and return stuff that we'd thrown away to our cupboards or hoard it downstairs. She always waited for our electricity to be cut off before paying the bill...a couple of days without power in the dark was a saving. My sister who was younger than me got stuff that Id finished with/grown out of wrapped up as presents. She'd taking cuttings from plants in public places rather than buy a plant ( illegal in the UK).....generally if there was a way of getting something free She'd do it. She didn't understand that there's a difference between thrift and theft basically.
walkabout 11 months ago (edited)
My dad was notoriously cheap. When I was a kid in the 70's the clutch on my minibike failed. Dad had it welded tight; turning the bike's drive into direct drive and always engaged. He merely taught me to hold the rear wheel off of the ground by the frame with my left hand while pull-starting it with my right. Once the bike was running I would grab hold of the throttle and handlebar with the right hand, drop the wheel to the ground with the left, swing my right leg over and drop my butt on the seat and simultaneously tear off all wobbly down the path. Good times. EDIT- I just found the part for $15. I wonder father, what that would have been in 1970 US dollars?
TheNewJenBrady 11 months ago
My FIL once invited us out to lunch with his wife and 2 step kids and it ended up being at a car dealership that had advertised free hotdogs as a promotion if you did a test drive
Corinne Wheeler 11 months ago
Stealing toilet paper and soap from public toilets, taking a half eaten cake off a plate in a cafe. Sending us out to play near to mealtimes in the hope that we'd be invited to a friend's for dinner. We did the bathwater saving thing , two in together and my mum first...I think that was more common in the old days. We had to keep every box, string, wrapper etc.in case it came in handy. Yes, my mother would go through bins and return stuff that we'd thrown away to our cupboards or hoard it downstairs. She always waited for our electricity to be cut off before paying the bill...a couple of days without power in the dark was a saving. My sister who was younger than me got stuff that Id finished with/grown out of wrapped up as presents. She'd taking cuttings from plants in public places rather than buy a plant ( illegal in the UK).....generally if there was a way of getting something free She'd do it. She didn't understand that there's a difference between thrift and theft basically.
walkabout 11 months ago (edited)
My dad was notoriously cheap. When I was a kid in the 70's the clutch on my minibike failed. Dad had it welded tight; turning the bike's drive into direct drive and always engaged. He merely taught me to hold the rear wheel off of the ground by the frame with my left hand while pull-starting it with my right. Once the bike was running I would grab hold of the throttle and handlebar with the right hand, drop the wheel to the ground with the left, swing my right leg over and drop my butt on the seat and simultaneously tear off all wobbly down the path. Good times. EDIT- I just found the part for $15. I wonder father, what that would have been in 1970 US dollars?
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