C H E A P People that you know...what are your stories of that person you knew that went overboard with their habits?

[Kern Dog]

WE all know CHEAP people. Some of us are those people.
Sometimes they are really smart and just not being wasteful but sometimes their penny pinching ways are annoying.
Me? I can be cheap sometimes. It sometimes is motivated by money but other times I like a challenge to do more with less.
This car:

Was put together with mostly used parts I saved over the years. Yeah, I could have opened the wallet and bought new things but it was fun to see what I could do with a tight budget. I have a running, driving ratty car for a total outlay of under $10,000.

What about the people that use single ply toilet paper or that recycle used engine oil to lubricate door hinges?
Who has stories of family members or friends that were so CHEAP that they annoyed the heck out of you?

 

[khryslerkid]

I've known people so tight with money they squeak!

 

[Kern Dog]

Who has known someone that reused head gaskets...Cleaned spark plugs and reinstalled them...pulled fan belts, sanded them and reinstalled them?

I have reused lug nuts for years. I like factory hardware so I keep engine bolts and nuts.
No, I don't reuse brake fluid or oil. I knew a guy that did pour used ATF into the tank of his Cummins Dodge truck to mix with the diesel.

 

[XS22J8R]

After grilling dinner my dad used to take a cup of water out to the grille and douse the hot coals. Then light them back up the next time he grilled. When he grilled up chicken it was always still a bit raw inside.
Probably why I still have a cast iron stomach to this day. Food poisoning, what’s that?
My mom had some frugal habits too, but both her and my dad grew up in the depression, so it was a completely different world than us fat spoiled doofus’s grew up in, truth be known.

 

[Don Frelier]

I refuse to answer on the grounds that I might incriminate myself.

 

[kiwigtx]

Who has known someone that reused head gaskets...Cleaned spark plugs and reinstalled them...pulled fan belts, sanded them and reinstalled them?

Any of us who purchase used car panels and then proceed to mud them up must be tarred with the same 'cheapness' brush by the accounts above.

 

[DeltaV]

Cleaned spark plugs and reinstalled them

Yes, that would be me and out of necessity. No money college student. No money for beer either.

I don't consider that going overboard though.

 

[Kern Dog]

Oh, I am absolutely fair game to be picked on here.
I've taken junkyard parts and just bolted them on some of my cars. I save fan belts to use in future projects. They at least offer the ability to determine a proper length needed for non stock applications.
I save as many stock parts as I can and sometimes get calls or messages asking if I have some obscure part. Sometimes I do.
I don't wash paper plates or reuse plastic solo cups though...

 

[DeltaV]

Some answers are going to be generational. My grandparents were born in the the late 1890's and my parents were born in the early 1920's. They all lived through the Great Depression and WWII and saved many things for reuse. Not much went to waste. Some things rub off on you.

 

[Kern Dog]

I'm fine with that. I think that we could benefit from those stories.
People that saved bacon grease for cooking future meals? That is great!
What about the guy that goes to the ice cream parlor and samples every one of the 31 flavors but never buys a cone?
My wife had a college roommate that was a real stickler about splitting the utility bill based on her account of who used the most electricity...

 

[HEMIB]

Him, You get the Steak I'll get the lettuce.

 

[DeltaV]

I would call one of my coworkers in the Seattle area more interesting than cheap. The fan switch on his '71 Fury was acting up in the 1990's. He disassembled the switch and rebuilt it with new wiring after finally finding the wire gauge he needed; and touched up the contacts before reassembling. It worked great afterwards. He hated aftermarket parts and would rebuild anything before he would buy a replacement part. He was a Brit and born sometime in the 1930's and had rebuilt motorcycles for personal transportation as a kid and young adult. I don't believe he ever bought a new car. Smart move!

Oh yeah, he would repair radios for his old cars too.

Great guy!

 

[DeltaV]

Not sure if true or myth, but I have heard of people going to restaurants to pick up deep fryer oil for free and run it as fuel in their diesel.

 

[DeltaV]

What about the guy that goes to the ice cream parlor and samples every one of the 31 flavors but never buys a cone?

That's dishonest, not cheap. I would avoid them like the plague.

 

[kiwigtx]

Yes, that would be me and out of necessity. No money college student. No money for beer either.

I don't consider that going overboard though.

I'll clean spark plugs also unless they are so badly coked up that no amount of cleaning will allow them to run successfully.

Nothing cheap about that - it makes sense....and you eliminate a potential cause of the problems if the engine runs better after cleaning the plugs.

 

[Kern Dog]

I used to know a guy that was an absolute POS in regards to stores and products he bought. If he broke something, he go buy a new one and return the old one for a refund.
He would ask for the Military discount despite never serving in the military.
Karma has bitten him in the *** though. He lived in THIS for almost 2 years:

 

[kiwigtx]

Some things rub off on you.

Be careful saying that on one of Greg's threads....

 

[eldubb440]

not sure about "cheap"........ but waste and inefficiency makes me nuts

 

[Chargerjase]

My Grandmother lived through the war. When the bar of soap got down to a sliver, she would carefully graft it onto the new one avoiding any waste.
I worked with a guy that would measure how much water he needed for his cup of tea and then only boil that amount. Saved electricity. Wow, that guy was a tight ***.

 

[DeltaV]

My uncle is in litigation with the pennysaver publication over their unlicensed use of his birth name.