Reason For Being Cheap?

[Andrew1972]

I grew up with "cheap" parents who never even carried a mortgage except when first married.

My dad was an executive who always made the 6 figure income even in 1980's but you'd never know it when I grew up.

He bought a base model car brand new every 15-20 years. His recent 2015 Outback is first car with keyless entry! I do the same with vehicles in terms of buying for long haul. I also buy just what I need not exactly always want and hang onto it. My wife did violate that with our 2018 Tiguan but it is hers.

My parents are living a delightful retirement well off and traveling 1-2months per year to Europe visiting his siblings and touring.

I like having buffer sitting in the bank and allergic to any payments.

 

[sprite1741]

I tend to keep what I have and only buy what I need. Every time I buy something I give my money to someone else. I would rather not any more than necessary. Especially car salesmen.

 

[Patman]

There are some areas where I'll spend more to get better quality (like on my Corvette and on our new house) but then in other areas I'll try to save by buying gas and food from Costco or buying things at Walmart (save money, live better is the slogan at Walmart in Canada)

Even if I was a millionaire, I would still try to save money on certain things, because there is a definite "rush" when you find a bargain, like when you come across a garage sale and find an item that is practically brand new but priced at a tenth of what it originally cost.

 

[Schmoe]

Geesh, that would be from my Dad. He'd drive 10 miles to save a cent per gallon of gas and now I'm exactly the same. I could eliminate 99.9% of arguments with my wife if I wasn't so cheap. A good deal is a good deal.

 

[BrocLuno]

We built our own home (no contractors), drive older used cars and trucks, shop thrift stores, etc. It just makes sense.

If I won the lottery (with a found ticket, ain't goinna buy one ...) I'd prolly create a 501.C3 and hire myself.

But we do travel, have toys, and like our life - that's what counts

 

[ZZman]

In my opinion, necessity.

 

[javacontour]

I'd like to say I'm value conscious.

I buy quality clothes and shoes, LL Bean, Columbia, Carhart, Rockport etc. I don't buy $150 skinny jeans because they have some designer name on them.

Heck, I have a pair of GoreTex LL Bean gloves I bought in 1988 and I'm still using them.

They were not cheap, but I've received good value from them over the 30 years I've used them.



Originally Posted By: Zee09
Are you thrifty out of necessity or you just plain out cheap because that is how you roll?

 

[old1]

I used to be thrifty, No I take that back I was CHEAP. But as others have said, my parents went through the depression, and was raised that way. That being said, we never were deprived of the necessities, just not the best quality. My wife and I built a new house in the early 70's that we did most of the work ourselves. As a mechanic, I always drove old cars that I fixed up myself. Now that we both are retired, I am not quite so stingy anymore, as I know I don't have that many years left, and have enough money to do or have most anything we want for the rest of our days. BUT, I still get more satisfaction from fixing something up and reusing it than buying a new one. Some people say look at the new gismo I bought, and it cost me $$$$$$$. I have more pride in saying look at the gismo I got from a garage sale, and fixed it for only $.

One other thing, I am kinda weird about food (according to some people) in that I prefer a good thick hamburger to a steak most of the time. I can afford a top of the line steak, but would rather have a hamburger. Of course if you are talking prime rib, that is different.

 

[BJD78]

On some items and products I look for the cheapest and then there are some things we wont skimp on. Sometimes one gets what you pay for. My dad used to say something like "the bitterness of low quality will often linger on long after the sweetness of low price is gone" That said it depends on product and use. I use regular conventional oil and it has served me well. Our Sonata we often use for long trips in summer so keep Michelen X tours on it. The Forester and Tuscon stay in city limits so I use cheaper Mastercraft tires. If I grill hotdogs and hamburgers I can use the cheap store brand charcoal as it works just fine, but when I grill ribs I use a more expensive charcoal like Stubbs or Kingsford because the more expensive brand will maintain temp much longer and I need 5-6 hours of heat for that. When we bought our small 1100, sq ft bungalow home for 77K back in 1995 we could have qualified and bought a much larger 150K 2000 sq ft home, but mortgage would have been much larger and it would have cost much more to heat and cool. Never have owned a car newer than 4 years old. People can do as they see fit, buy the most expensive or always have new, but I have seen many people go broke with the "Keeping Up With the Jones" mindset, and then they end up house poor, and broke because of too much house and too many new cars, boats, motorcycles, 80 inch tvs,and too much debt.

 

[WyrTwister]

I am cheap for several reasons . The necessity is not as great as it once was . But may get tighter , once I fully retire .

 

[Papa Bear]

I'm not cheap .. I'm frugal

 

[PandaBear]

Well, you've probably heard about my mountain top 10/F "penthouse suite" childhood home with no elevator, that my parents paid off the mortgage in 3 years.

I just don't think many things in life deserves a high price. I'd pay a lot for the things that I see the value in (like a good house in a good district, a reliable car, a quality repair done right, etc), and I do tip the market rate, but not a $10k performance package or a $1k GPU for gaming.

I usually buy my car new because used aren't that much cheaper. I don't always buy a "better car" than my last one though, hopefully I won't get into that entitled mentality when I hit midlife crisis.

 

[LoneRanger]

Originally Posted By: PimTac
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
My parents went through the Great Depression and I was taught to be not wasteful or overly extravagant.

Spot on Arco. Those of us who were raised by parents that lived through the Depression and WW2 were generally taught to be more frugal. Save for the rainy day, buy what you need not what you want, and so on.


Same here. In our family you didn't waste stuff. Mom and dad both grew up through the Depression. Our family was single income from dad's HVAC service job. I have a vivid childhood memory from about age 8 or 9 of being all caught up playing some board game with my older brothers one evening when dad came upstairs holding a piece of cheese that had one bite out of it and cigarette ashes all over it. "Which one of you took one bite of this and threw it in the trash?" LoL !! Guess who? Cigarette ashes rinse off really well and you can't really taste that they were ever there. When I'd tossed it, apparently it'd landed in the trash atop freshly emptied ash tray contents.

 

[Pajero]

I learned a long time ago. You get what you pay for! Now and then I get lucky with something that is incidentally cheap. At least with tools, oil, and parts. In my humble opinion of course.


Respectfully,

Pajero!

 

[double vanos]

Depression era parents here as well. I can remember the parents brewing coffe to watch the 10 o’clock news, then leaving the pot on the stove so it could be warmed up again for morning coffee. I have a keurig machine now which my dad thinks is crazy.
Frugality still rubbed off tho.
I’ll buy store brands over name brands in many cases (OJ, milk, butter etc.) but like was stated here, you get what you pay for.
The wife and I are generous when tipping with the hope that the money may help an industrious waiter further their education.
You can’t take it with you and being frugal here lets one put it elsewhere where it does good.

 

[eljefino]

I'm thrifty but getting "soft". It bugs me because thrift is a moral virtue.

Later this summer I'm having a (fully insured) "handyman" re-side my house where my ladder doesn't reach. His rate is about what I make at my job, but if I worked overtime I'd beat him by a bunch. I have to protect my body (as it is a tool that feeds my family) and know when to say "no". Old me would have done something dangerous, as I didn't have the opportunity for OT so it was literally a penny saved, earned.

Other "softness" includes buying all my food at one store instead of shopping sales because I'm tired and don't want to make time or didn't plan as well. Old age is a [censored].

I'm kind to people but brutal on corporations. I tip well and represent something I sell fairly. I take advantage of pricing errors. The tire shop doing my state inspection did an unsolicited free "alignment check" and gave me the printout. I did trigonometry and figured out via the thread pitch and distances involved how much to turn things to get the toe fixed.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
The tire shop doing my state inspection did an unsolicited free "alignment check" and gave me the printout. I did trigonometry and figured out via the thread pitch and distances involved how much to turn things to get the toe fixed.


So, how many free alignment checks do you do to get the toe within ball park usually?

 

[eljefino]

I used to have a nice laser level I did alignments with but it went missing. I haven't done a follow-up because math says I did it right the first time.

 

[SirTanon]

I try to save as much money on the things that I need.. the 'necessities'.. so that I have more to spend on the stuff that I WANT.. and/or things for those I love. Plus, I feel less stress knowing I have more financial cushion in my bank account.

Why spend hundreds of dollars to have someone do my brakes, when I can buy a set of rotors, and a set of pads, from Amazon Warehouse Deals for $50, all up, and do it myself? I'll spend the money I saved going to see a movie with my wife or my dad, or towards a new set of rims.

 

[fdcg27]

Thrift is a habit and a virtue.
Cheap is knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing, as someone far wiser than I once wrote.
There are goods where you can really let your cheap self have a romp, motor oil being a good example.
There are other cases where paying more makes sense.
Would you want the cheapest lawyer in a situation where you needed one?
Would you entrust your family to the cheapest tires or brake parts?
Would you really want to take the cheapest possible vacation?
There are times when going cheap makes infinite sense and there are also cases where it doesn't.
Even in those cases where you don't benefit from buying the cheapest possible product or service, you can still spend a little time looking for the deal.
Cheap is driving home from work on a 90F+ day with the windows down because the AC increases fuel consumption by maybe 5%.
Frugal is realizing that I paid for the AC and may as well use it to be comfortable on my forty minute commute home.
Thrift sees the value in this expenditure while cheap sees any expenditure as wasteful.
Not a pleasant nor mentally healthy way to go through life.