# The "How Cheap Can You Get?" Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 2, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334 "2010-09-02T00:53:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/61 "2010-09-03T01:53:21Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > > [@Scarlett67](#): > > > > She also washed and reused sandwich baggies. (Yuck.) > > How is washing and re-using a Ziplock baggie different from washing and re-using Tupperware? You wouldn’t throw out your Tupperware after a single use. I’m mildly OK with reusing baggies. My grandparents did it. I don’t do it myself, but I can see it in some circumstances. I draw the line, though, at what I caught one former roommate doing: he thawed some bagged chicken parts on the counter, then tried to pour all the residual bloody, raw chicken juice into the sink, rinse (yes, rinse, not wash with soap or anything) out the bag, and reuse it. DISGUSTING. I caught him at it one afternoon, went berserk, and that was the end of that. I mean, can you _imagine?_ Putting stuff in a bag that has been swimming in raw meat juice at room temperature? This seems like a really great way to get terrible food poisoning. This would be almost unbelievable, but said roommate also did things like removing a pan of muffins baking at 350 F with no mitts, and attempting to reheat popcorn in a saucepan. You know what happens when you put already-popped popcorn back on the stove in a saucepan? It catches fire. Nice work! I didn’t eat anything I didn’t watch him cook. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/62 "2010-09-03T02:01:25Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > > [@TriPolar](#): > > > > Long ago I worked at small shop where the owner’s wife would open every roll of dimes from the bank and count them because dimes are so thin that sometimes there would be an extra one in the roll. > > Silly! Weighing them in an accurate postal scale will be faster. And you haven’t opened the roll, so the bank is more likely to replace the missing dime. I said it was cheap, not smart. Before change counters were all over the place I would take them to the deli, and very often had to explain that they could verify the number of coins by weighing my rolls, and comparing to the weight of rolls already in the drawer. Either way, it’s pure skinflintery, we’re talking about a dime here. Even in the '70s that wasn’t worth much. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/63 "2010-09-03T02:51:49Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > There’s a guy I work with who got married several years ago. When he and his bride-to-be were registering at Target, they put things on their registry like wooden spoons and plastic spatulas. > > I’m also not understanding this one. I would call that “considerate”, not cheap. For one thing, the guy already has a reputation for being a cheapskate. Also, it seems cheap to me because, y’know, if you need a 99 cent 3-pack of wooden spoons, just buy them next time you’re at the store, don’t put them on your gift registry. But maybe that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/64 "2010-09-03T03:11:36Z")
Couldn’t you look at it the opposite way, and say he would be cheap (aka, money stingy) by having you buy him a bunch of expensive stuff on his registry so he can save money by buying his own cheaper spoons? I can’t see asking for something affordable being “cheap”, he’s saving YOU money, not himself. I think you have to find better examples of these peoples’ cheapskate tendencies. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/65 "2010-09-03T03:39:40Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > My folks grew up during the Depression. When I was growing up, they were middle class, but never spent a dollar they didn’t have to, until the kids were all raised. I can remember my Mom cutting little squares out of Christmas cards she had received and saving them to use as tags for presents next year. She also saved the bows to re-use… not sure she ever saved the actual wrapping paper, though. Sis? Is that you? ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/66 "2010-09-03T04:04:41Z")
My mother-in-law does not use her turn signals when she drives because she’s afraid the little light bulbs will burn out. **There are thousands of people like her in Florida, I always wondered why.** ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/67 "2010-09-03T04:22:03Z")
Another cheap coworker: One of my coworkers was getting married, and another coworker gave her a “mug tree” with several mugs and cups on it. But the mugs/cups were old used ones, no two alike, and had cracks, chips and stains from coffee and lipstick. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/68 "2010-09-03T04:23:51Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > My mother-in-law does not use her turn signals when she drives because she’s afraid the little light bulbs will burn out. And the ones that don’t turn them off must be worried about the stalk wearing out. Now I get it! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/69 "2010-09-03T04:41:54Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > > > I was raised by a cheap mom, but I’ve thrown off a lot of her thrifty ways. I was mending my white athletic socks one day, and it occurred to me that they cost about a buck a pair - I tossed them in the garbage and have bought new ones when my old ones wore out ever since. Sometimes I throw them out when they just get all stretched out and funky! > > **Wasteful!** Throwing them out? You save them to use for dustrags, polishing shoes, etc. I already have a closet full of rags from old clothes and sheets. 😃 I have to say, a lot of these frugal things are things I still do. Throw a perfectly good margarine tub in the recycling? Sure, after it gets all tomato-soup stained. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/70 "2010-09-03T05:29:23Z")
The, don’t use turn signals type of cheapskate is the one that is the most annoying to me because of it’s illogicalness: If you don’t use something because it will get “used up”, then what is the point of having it at all? You’re already suffering by not having it’s use, (even if self-induced) so how is that any different from not having it at all? I remember as kids a friend had this squirt gun with special ink in it, you would shoot it at someone’s shirt and it would look like they got a big stain on it, but a few seconds later it would evaporate like you had only been squirted with water. I tried to get him to let us shoot some unsuspecting people with it, but for MONTHS (maybe even years, I don’t remember) he would say no, he was “saving” it. Finally one day he agrees that we can play with it, but by then the special ink had all evaporated. ---
**Author:** ![RedWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/71 "2010-09-03T05:51:30Z")
I wash the sturdy plasticware and most ziplock bags… unless the bag has had meat or room-temperature mayo in it. ---
**Author:** ![AnnaKareninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@AnnaKareninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnnaKareninja)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/72 "2010-09-03T06:14:30Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > > [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > > > **Wasteful!** Throwing them out? You save them to use for dustrags, polishing shoes, etc. > > I already have a closet full of rags from old clothes and sheets. 😃 > > I have to say, a lot of these frugal things are things I still do. Throw a perfectly good margarine tub in the recycling? Sure, after it gets all tomato-soup stained. I had a great aunt who reused old clothes as dishcloths for wiping down the dinner table. One day I saw her using an old pair of worn out underpants to wipe the coffee table. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/73 "2010-09-03T06:19:16Z")
My dad REFUSES to throw food away, to the point that if it gets bad, we have to toss it when he’s not around. He was raised that way – my grandfather was one of those “NEVER WASTE FOOD EVER!!!” types. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > > [@FrancisCastle](#): > > > > The best? I have a friend who will take a popcorn bucket out of the garbage at a movie theater and go to the concession counter for her “free” refill. > > That’s not frugality, it’s dishonesty (if you don’t want to pay for the popcorn, don’t eat it; or bringing your own might be against the rules but at least is not nakedly fraudulent). But I think that’s been raised in other threads. It’s also disgusting. > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > BUT, she still saves margerine tubs and carry-out dishes and lids rather than buying containers for leftovers. She saves the plastic bags from bread to pack stuff in the freezer. She buys on sale with coupons and her senior discount and who knows what-all. My family’s always done that – we use all the left over plastic containers from margarine, cottage cheese, sour cream, etc for leftovers. Why not? It’s also a lot more eco-friendly, and they take up less space than tupperware. We don’t use plastic bags from bread, but we’ve always saved shopping bags for garbage and what not, and who the hell doesn’t use coupons? The re-washing plastic bags is supposedly a tip from [The Tightwad Gazette](http://www.tightwad.com/) Some of their stuff makes sense, some of it’s gross. Like um, [reusing old underwear for straining food](http://www.tightwad.com/tips2.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/74 "2010-09-03T06:20:14Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > When I took my lunch to work, I re-used the same paper bag for months. I also save the plastic bags that bread comes in and use it for wrapping food. > > Regards, > Shodan I do this very same thing. I love to use my paper bag until it literally falls apart. I write **DANGER - BIOHAZARD** on the side over a death’s head, so people leave it alone. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/75 "2010-09-03T06:34:21Z")
My dad was at a friend’s place and the fellow gave my dad his gas bill to drop off at the post office. In town however, my dad dropped the bill off directly at the gas company. Naturally, he peeled the stamp off and drove several miles back to his friend’s house to return the stamp. It’s become a running joke in the family. I think stamps were 25 cents then. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/76 "2010-09-03T06:43:42Z")
Doesn’t come close to many of these, but my father used to drive the family down to the Health Club. We wouldn’t work out, he’d drive down there so everyone could take a shower and he wouldn’t have to pay for the hot water. And my grandfather has been known to eat moldy food. We have personally watched him skim the mold of the top of 3 day old coffee then stick it in the microwave and try to drink it. Though I think that’s more a manifestation of not letting things go to waste than being cheap. **Wooden spoons and spatulas** also serve a good purpose on wedding registries in that they give guests that may be less well off, or guests that are more casual friends (or even kids) something to contribute. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/77 "2010-09-03T08:17:07Z")
I had a friend in college who used to poop before showering to save from using any toilet paper at all. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/78 "2010-09-03T10:54:24Z")
I got a frozen turkey from a dumpster. Came home, washed the package off and put it back in the freezer. Later cooked and ate it… my cats got turkey too, none of us got sick. I reuse ziploc bags for tortillas, cheese, cookies. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/79 "2010-09-03T12:33:33Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > He’s been gone for 9 years and what do people remember about this kind, generous patient man? 3 Squares of Toilet Paper. Well, I’ll be. Uncle Chuck was right! Of course, that may vary, depending on the cough quality of your workmanship. Sadly, #1 takes approximately 19 squares. I didn’t actually perform any experiments on that one, so feel free to do your own research. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/80 "2010-09-03T12:38:37Z")
[QUOTE=TriPolar] I said it was cheap, not smart. Before change counters were all over the place I would take them to the deli, and very often had to explain that they could verify the number of coins by weighing my rolls, and comparing to the weight of rolls already in the drawer. Either way, it’s pure skinflintery, we’re talking about a dime here. Even in the '70s that wasn’t worth much. [/QUOTE] This makes my head hurt. Banks don’t sell money by the pound, so who cares exactly how much a pile of dimes weighs? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334.md?page=5)