# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/121 "2010-09-05T02:55:29Z")
> [@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. My Mother-in-Law used to save the cards, and just CROSS OFF “Christmas,” and write in “Birthday.” I have at least two “Merry Birthday” cards. Seriously. Not just cheap, but also C-R-A-Z-Y. I once got (Hahahahah, I’m laughing again now!) a bag of Cheetos and a cookie tin with about $4.50 in loose change rattling around in it, as a Christmas present, wrapped up just as nice as can be. Joe ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/122 "2010-09-05T03:36:39Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > My Dad is a real “Depression Baby”-when he redecorated his Florida condo, he brought the old kitchen light fixture home..to mount in his garage. And what’s wrong with that?? Should he have thrown out a perfectly good light fixture and then gone and paid $50 or more for a special garage light? I save lightly used paper towels in a coffee can under the sink to clean up spills on the floor, clean gunk out of the drain in the sink, and of course to clean up cat barf. Not a day goes by without The Daily Puke, hopefully not on a rug. ---
**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 5, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/123 "2010-09-05T06:52:41Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > > [@anya\_marie](#): > > > > I got a frozen turkey from a dumpster. > > Wait a second, WHAT? Under what circumstances? Most of the things in this thread make me laugh but that makes me want to vomit, unless there’s a really non-disgusting explanation. Some guy got there first and had claimed four frozen turkeys, and he asked me if i wanted one. THe packaging was sealed, and never had time to thaw before i got home, so i washed the package off a little and popped it back in the freezer. I only took sealed packages, and rarely got meat, if only because someone else had gotten it first. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/124 "2010-09-06T16:47:11Z")
> [@Mr.Accident](#): > > I’m not anva marie, but I’ll answer since I’ve had experience in this area. Often times, if you know the time the meat department at a grocery store clears out their meat that is past the sell by date, you can get all kinds of frozen meats out of the dumpster. … One of our special students edition from a magazine (maybe the Spiegel?) had an article on the new trend of “Dumpster diving” a while back. Students take backpacks and flashlights and go out in the dark to check the dumpsters of supermarkets for expired, but not yet spoiled food. (Some supermarkets donate this stuff to the Food banks, but not all do). The students doing this when asked why said it’s a mixture of reason: the political aspect of demonstrating how expensive life as a student is with tuition, and that they can’t live normally on; the exciting aspect of trying to get to the dumpsters despite security\*; and the surprise of not knowing what you will eat tonight, because it depends on what you find, yoghurt or packaged bread or meat or canned fish… - the supermarkets use cameras and chains to secure the dumpsters for fear that if somebody fishes food out, eats it and gets sick he might sue them. By making it difficult to get the food, the blame is on the person taking the food. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/125 "2010-09-06T16:55:06Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > One of our special students edition from a magazine (maybe the Spiegel?) had an article on the new trend of “Dumpster diving” a while back. Heh. I find it funny that the magazine considers it a new trend. Us poor folks have been doing it for decades. ---
**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 6, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/126 "2010-09-06T17:41:11Z")
Dumpster diving for food – especially perishables – is disgusting. I’m sorry, but it is. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/127 "2010-09-06T17:44:33Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Dumpster diving for food – especially perishables – is disgusting. I’m sorry, but it is. /shrug. Beats starving. Or roadkill. Been a time or two I’ve had road kill stew. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/128 "2010-09-06T18:24:19Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > 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? This kind of mentality drives me nuts. When my brother was having a house built he paid extra to have a fireplace, but then never used it because he said a dirty fireplace would lower the resale value of the house. What? ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/129 "2010-09-06T20:46:50Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > I knew a guy that used his old bathroom rugs as floor mats in his truck before he threw them out. We put new carpet in the house after Hurricane Katrina and there were a few big sections of leftover carpet that were put in high-traffic areas. I took one of the pieces and cut it up and those pieces are still used as the floormats in my van. I’m not going to buy the cheap AutoZone floormats that come apart after a few months, and I’m sure as hell not going to the Ford dealership to pay $100+ for factory floormats. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/130 "2010-09-06T21:59:46Z")
There’s always [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=576610), where the OP, who has been looking for an album for a decade, finally finds it, and is too cheap to actually pay real money for it. Instead, he gets outbid because he’s trying to save a few bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/131 "2010-09-06T23:07:46Z")
> [@Mr.Accident](#): > > > [@constanze](#): > > > > One of our special students edition from a magazine (maybe the Spiegel?) had an article on the new trend of “Dumpster diving” a while back. > > Heh. I find it funny that the magazine considers it a new trend. Us poor folks have been doing it for decades. Yes, but now it’s _a whole philosophy_ practiced by people who aren’t necessarily poor. Laugh if you must, but also read the Wikipedia article on [freeganism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism) or [this New York Times piece](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Squatters-t.html) on some people doing it in Buffalo. Oh, and while I never considered myself especially cheap, I do save those quart-size yogurt containers, as well as the plastic ones that take-out food comes in. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/132 "2010-09-06T23:37:27Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Yes, but now it’s _a whole philosophy_ practiced by people who aren’t necessarily poor. Laugh if you must, but also read the Wikipedia article on [freeganism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism) or [this New York Times piece](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Squatters-t.html) on some people doing it in Buffalo. I forgot about the freegans. Saww a National Geographic show on them about a year back. Didn’t know there were any in the states so far though, thought they were limited to Australia. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/133 "2010-09-07T00:10:36Z")
I’ve always secretly wanted to look in a dumpster behind a grocery store. Would the store care if someone showed up and helped himself? I would think as long as he didn’t leave a big mess it would be all right, but I think one would feel funny if the manager came out and said, hey what do you think you’re doing? Well, duh, looking for free food. Some famous foodie wrote a memoir, Alice Waters (or Ruth Reichl), who went dumpster diving with her roommates before she got famous. One of them conveniently found a turkey for Thanksgiving, but no one questioned him very closely as to the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/134 "2010-09-07T00:27:15Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Some famous foodie wrote a memoir, Alice Waters (or Ruth Reichl), who went dumpster diving with her roommates before she got famous. One of them conveniently found a turkey for Thanksgiving, but no one questioned him very closely as to the circumstances. It’s quite possible. Before Thanksgiving is when stores stock up on turkeys, and unsold ones that are expired have to be disposed of right around then. ---
**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 7, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/135 "2010-09-07T00:27:37Z")
In sort of the same vein, you can go around and check out the garbage of any places that you’ve noted have had a garage sale this weekend. Anything that isn’t sold, into the garbage it goes. Apartment complexes also have great dumpsters - just after the first of the month, they’re full of stuff that the apartment manager has cleaned out of vacated apartments. I never actually hopped in or anything, but I’m not above hauling away a nice table that someone has propped up next to the dumpster. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/136 "2010-09-07T01:08:02Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > > [@Cyberhwk](#): > > > > 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. > > Au contraire, I think this is the thread winner. You had hot running water, and he made you shower in public? Especially if the gym was small enough that it would be obvious that you only stayed long enough to shower. Although I just had a flashback about my grandma teaching the kids at her house to reuse kleenexes. Use it once, wait till it dries, peel it open, and use the non crusty spots again. I know that little kids can go through them pretty quickly, and waste them, but really, how much is a box of tissues? ---
**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 7, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/137 "2010-09-07T04:43:02Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@Mr.Accident](#): > > > > Heh. I find it funny that the magazine considers it a new trend. Us poor folks have been doing it for decades. > > Yes, but now it’s _a whole philosophy_ practiced by people who aren’t necessarily poor. Laugh if you must, but also read the Wikipedia article on [freeganism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism) or [this New York Times piece](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Squatters-t.html) on some people doing it in Buffalo. > > Oh, and while I never considered myself especially cheap, I do save those quart-size yogurt containers, as well as the plastic ones that take-out food comes in. Oh god, if you look in their fridge, they have mayo in there! Lord knows how old it is, or where they got it! ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/138 "2010-09-07T05:46:03Z")
I’m in pain, so have not read all of this. Pain allows me to ignore common courtesy… 😉 Phone games: AIUI, truckers were masters of communicating info over the phone free. They would place a person-person collect to a non-existent person at HQ - each first name had a meaning, and the last name was also a code. Asking for "“Jake Bachman” meant stuck in Libertyville, down 12 hours. I worked with a fellow who, each month, would collect every phone bill )and payment therefor) from something like a dozen relatives (yes, he was Asian) and hand-carry them 5 blocks to the phone co. HQ and pay each bill in person - an hour of his time saved approx $3 in postage ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/139 "2010-09-07T05:55:20Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > The worst thing I ever did, however, was save dryer lint as a child. I had some idea about using it for stuffed animal filling or something, I think. I saved it for a little while, but, uh… it always had weird hairs in it. I tried picking them out, but eventually I realized it was too gross, and I didn’t want an animal stuffed with that crap anyway, and I threw it all out. That is probably my nadir; I still shudder to waste anything, but I have gotten better at recognizing actual garbage as such. We actually do save dryer lint (and hair from brushes, for that matter) but not out of cheapness. We save it all fall and winter long and then place bits in trees at the beginning of spring, along with seeds, for the returning birds. They use the lint and hair for nest building. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334/140 "2010-09-07T06:15:21Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > > [@Cyberhwk](#): > > > > 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. > > Au contraire, I think this is the thread winner. You had hot running water, and he made you shower in public? I’d do this, as in the spirit of the thread I don’t have hot water at home. But only for a treat, and it costs $5 to get in. My dad had one that amused me. We used to play golf together, however his skills were limited, notably being unable to hit the ball very far. I’d say play off the shorter tees, he’d say he got more shots for price of the round off the long tees. He also used to take unnecessary detours simply to look for lost balls. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-cheap-can-you-get-thread/552334.md?page=8)