Tight people and the things they do to save money
Discussion
Some very odd stories in here!
A good mate of mine is still living at home with his parents, and despite having had a modest job in the local supermarket for all his adult life, he must be sitting on a large sum of cash. I couldn't really describe him as tight, but he really doesn't spend his money at all unless he has to. He doesn't drive and has no ambition to, lives at home despite being mid-thirties, has a small range of clothes, (not unhygienic, he just does't own anything more than a couple of shirts, trousers and t-shirts) old phone and doesn't have much in the way of possessions. I think his main expenditure is having nights out, but they only constitute a few beers in the local pubs twice a week.
A few times we've had the conversation of him having a lot of money in the bank, and he's very coy about it, never telling us exactly how much but saying he has "enough". I can't really fault him for his logic though, he's just not really a spender. Compared to how I was in my old job having about a grand a month to spunk on whatever I wanted, (which I always did) he's never skint whereas I often was by the end of the month.
These days being in the "real world", paying rent, bills etc, I'm lucky if I have any money at the end of the month and that's without any nights out or luxury items bought. I've taken to pinching a few toilet rolls a month from work and conducting as much "business" in work-time as possible thus meaning I use less bog roll of my own at home.
I remember when I first left the military and was renting a house for the first time that in the winter I didn't want the heating on despite my ex's protests, I was paranoid of racking up huge heating bills as we didn't have much spare cash between us. Turns out that I could quite happily have the heating on and not incur much additional money on the bills after I gave in and put it on to keep the house a nicer place to be in.
A good mate of mine is still living at home with his parents, and despite having had a modest job in the local supermarket for all his adult life, he must be sitting on a large sum of cash. I couldn't really describe him as tight, but he really doesn't spend his money at all unless he has to. He doesn't drive and has no ambition to, lives at home despite being mid-thirties, has a small range of clothes, (not unhygienic, he just does't own anything more than a couple of shirts, trousers and t-shirts) old phone and doesn't have much in the way of possessions. I think his main expenditure is having nights out, but they only constitute a few beers in the local pubs twice a week.
A few times we've had the conversation of him having a lot of money in the bank, and he's very coy about it, never telling us exactly how much but saying he has "enough". I can't really fault him for his logic though, he's just not really a spender. Compared to how I was in my old job having about a grand a month to spunk on whatever I wanted, (which I always did) he's never skint whereas I often was by the end of the month.
These days being in the "real world", paying rent, bills etc, I'm lucky if I have any money at the end of the month and that's without any nights out or luxury items bought. I've taken to pinching a few toilet rolls a month from work and conducting as much "business" in work-time as possible thus meaning I use less bog roll of my own at home.
I remember when I first left the military and was renting a house for the first time that in the winter I didn't want the heating on despite my ex's protests, I was paranoid of racking up huge heating bills as we didn't have much spare cash between us. Turns out that I could quite happily have the heating on and not incur much additional money on the bills after I gave in and put it on to keep the house a nicer place to be in.
Edited by Brigand on Friday 6th March 22:45
Brigand said:
I remember when I first left the military and was renting a house for the first time that in the winter I didn't want the heating on despite my ex's protests, I was paranoid of racking up huge heating bills as we didn't have much spare cash between us. Turns out that I could quite happily have the heating on and not incur much additional money on the bills after I gave in and put it on to keep the house a nicer place to be in.
A lad i know he's just moved into his first house he bought, after doing it all up. I've been told he has the heating on 24hrs a day at 24deg.Edited by Brigand on Friday 6th March 22:45
I'll await to see if he turns it down after he gets his first bill through......
I'm going going to go as far as say i'm tight, but i keep the heating on around 18-19, which i'm alright with!
JackP1 said:
Brigand said:
I remember when I first left the military and was renting a house for the first time that in the winter I didn't want the heating on despite my ex's protests, I was paranoid of racking up huge heating bills as we didn't have much spare cash between us. Turns out that I could quite happily have the heating on and not incur much additional money on the bills after I gave in and put it on to keep the house a nicer place to be in.
A lad i know he's just moved into his first house he bought, after doing it all up. I've been told he has the heating on 24hrs a day at 24deg.Edited by Brigand on Friday 6th March 22:45
I'll await to see if he turns it down after he gets his first bill through......
I'm going going to go as far as say i'm tight, but i keep the heating on around 18-19, which i'm alright with!
Before reading this I thought I was pretty tight as I started buying Tesco own brand tuna as it's a couple of quid cheaper. Now I realise i'm some sort of free spending maniac.
I'm sat here with my lights on, heating on and am about to go to bed and charge my phone (something I didn't do at work or in my car)!
Seriously, some of these stories are embarrassing to read and these people need to loosen the purse strings.
I'm sat here with my lights on, heating on and am about to go to bed and charge my phone (something I didn't do at work or in my car)!
Seriously, some of these stories are embarrassing to read and these people need to loosen the purse strings.
Gareth1974 said:
berlintaxi said:
Gareth1974 said:
My mate has a reputation for being tight ... he paid his mortgage off by the age of 40 ... he's accrued c£400k in savings, and is packing in work at the end of the year.
Hmmmm
t than truth.Most people would find it difficult not to spend that level of disposable income of things like flash cars (I would), he's happy with a crappy Hyundai i10 which he'll run into the ground.
Edited by Gareth1974 on Friday 6th March 19:03
Edited by Gareth1974 on Friday 6th March 19:03
STW2010 said:
Finally, I try to work at home as much as possible to save on fuel (I love driving, but not the M1). This conflicts with the stting schedule.
Presumably you've done the calculations to ensure that the increased electricity usage, heating charges, own drinking water and increased wear and tear on home fixtures and fittings doesn't make any fuel savings meaningless? tting schedule. 
Funk said:
I have my heating at a reasonable level though (usually about 18degC), I don't want to be cold and shivering in my home.. Life's to short to be miserly but prudent frugality that isn't of detriment is just plain common sense.
Plus cold/shivering will presumably increase the risk of man flu, which will then require expenditure on expensive remedies such as lemsip, thus negating any savings on the heating bill 
I think I'm both incredibly tight at times. If there is a fantastic offer on household goods (bogrolls, washing up liquid, laundry detergent etc) I'll fill the car and store it all in the garage. I check out all the offers from the Big Four Supermarkets, Aldi, Lidl, Costco, Booker and Makro.
I think I do this to offset the extravagance on cars, holidays and tech goods.
But I fail to see all this talk about £2.50 Coffees etc. If you can afford it, then do it and enjoy it.
I think I do this to offset the extravagance on cars, holidays and tech goods.
But I fail to see all this talk about £2.50 Coffees etc. If you can afford it, then do it and enjoy it.
I'm not tight, but I don't like waste. I'm an all-or-nothing kind of guy, if I want something I buy the best I can reasonably justify and expect it to last longer. I don't need a lot of stuff, but what I buy is good. I just despise consumerist 'disposable society'.
I refill disposable plastic drinking bottles just because I think it's hugely wasteful to use them once then chuck 'em (recycling, or in the real world, landfill and the sea where they actually end up). I save water by only using what I need and turning off the tap whilst brushing. I will eat food past it's best before date if it passes the sniff test. I wear tyres down to 1.6mm. My electricity bill is about the lowest of everyone I know because I only have the air conditioning on when I need it on.
I'd hate to be actually tight, I'm happy to buy what I want, get the round in, split meals evenly when I didn't have wine etc etc.
I've a mate who has an iPhone with no mobile internet service at all because work provided a SIM for corporate use which has very little data allowance and is gone in a couple of days. He misses out on all manner of meals and nights out because he doesn't receive our invites on WhatsApp until he gets home and connects to his WiFi.
I refill disposable plastic drinking bottles just because I think it's hugely wasteful to use them once then chuck 'em (recycling, or in the real world, landfill and the sea where they actually end up). I save water by only using what I need and turning off the tap whilst brushing. I will eat food past it's best before date if it passes the sniff test. I wear tyres down to 1.6mm. My electricity bill is about the lowest of everyone I know because I only have the air conditioning on when I need it on.
I'd hate to be actually tight, I'm happy to buy what I want, get the round in, split meals evenly when I didn't have wine etc etc.
I've a mate who has an iPhone with no mobile internet service at all because work provided a SIM for corporate use which has very little data allowance and is gone in a couple of days. He misses out on all manner of meals and nights out because he doesn't receive our invites on WhatsApp until he gets home and connects to his WiFi.
jonah35 said:
They die with £500k in the bank, having never lived and some ungrateful nephew will blow it when they're gone.
Strange old world.
I really do hope so. Strange old world.
My sister aged 50 a couple of weeks ago, took 100 people out to dinner. That is the only time she's ever paid for anyone else's meal, because every time she came to see us, and we went out, she plead poverty. Until I fecking realised she has an "envelope" saving brain.
Anyway, looking at it, she has a nice house, professional middle management university career, decent pension coming, mortgage paid off, her main expenditure being a new fiesta from her local Ford dealer every 10 years, and one flight to see our oldest sister in the USA once a year where she's so tight she won't even pay to rent a car for a week, and expects to be driven around. She was discussing the idea of a conservatory, and it slipped out she had £100K in savings (£45K would have come from inheritances). She didn't bother as "it is too expensive"
I suspect that when our parents shuffle off her 1/3 will be worth £200K, her house is worth £250 now.
I expect that she will gives everything to some spurious charity like the RHA (Royal Horticultural Society)
young lad at work, lives at home does a lot of hrs including ones that he shouldn't as he poor?? (claims to be)
Rarely drinks but smokes like a chimney, lorry driver like myself but never stocks up on fags the night before, always stops at motorway services and pays thru the nose for them.
BUT HES POOR hence all the hrs he does and some that he claims for that he aint even done.
Rarely drinks but smokes like a chimney, lorry driver like myself but never stocks up on fags the night before, always stops at motorway services and pays thru the nose for them.
BUT HES POOR hence all the hrs he does and some that he claims for that he aint even done.
Davey S2 said:
Ari said:
Davey S2 said:
My fathers cousin used to take the battery out of his watch each night so it would last longer.
No he didn't. 
When someone tells you that:
'He's so tight he eats baked beans on a Friday so he can have a bubble bath on a Saturday.'
Or
'He's so tight he's got a combination lock on his wallet'.
Or
'He's so tight he squeaks when he walks'.
Or
'He so tight he takes the battery out of his watch at night'.
It doesn't actually mean that those things actually literally genuinely happen. They're called 'Figures of speech', they're little jokes intended to humorously convey a sentiment.
Cudd Wudd said:
STW2010 said:
Finally, I try to work at home as much as possible to save on fuel (I love driving, but not the M1). This conflicts with the stting schedule.
Presumably you've done the calculations to ensure that the increased electricity usage, heating charges, own drinking water and increased wear and tear on home fixtures and fittings doesn't make any fuel savings meaningless? tting schedule. okgo said:
I'm not tight but where I can save large sums of money I will. I buy a lot of returned electrical stuff vs new. Nutribullet for example yesterday £60 vs £100. I try to find second hand bike bits or barely used stuff vs new. I certainly try to be thrifty where it will make a difference. But I don't think twice about spending money if that makes sense. Just I like to make sure I'm not being ripped off.
My father was pretty tight, it's kind of passed down but I have a bit of my mothers idiotic attitude to money too (spends it like water) I think it's a healthy balance.
Anyone pissing about with kettles and light switches needs to get a f
king life. 
A sometimes neighbour of ours, who recently retired in his early 50s, has homes in several continents, is, according to google, is worth north of 50 million.
He is 6'4" tall and flies economy to Australia. He paid just under 2 million cash for his house in France, yet despite a professed interest in cars, he drives a five year old budget spec Clio. I find it difficult to comprehend what motivates him to spend so little on personal comfort, and having fun.
He is 6'4" tall and flies economy to Australia. He paid just under 2 million cash for his house in France, yet despite a professed interest in cars, he drives a five year old budget spec Clio. I find it difficult to comprehend what motivates him to spend so little on personal comfort, and having fun.
It seems there's a spectrum from semi-normality right through to OCD and mania but…
Sweating about spending an extra 50p on whatever is some sort of tragic masochism.
Spending an inordinate amount of time obsessing over some scheme to save an imaginary 10p is not a worthwhile deployment of human faculties.
Boring me to death with the minutia of how to make sandwiches, soups, and when to visit toilets, etc. does not in any way justify anything.
Saying "I/he/she is not tight, but" then listing tight-fisted activities means that "I/he/she" is in fact, fecking tight.
Being cold and having to whiff the fragrances of pi$$ and $hit rejects everything that evolution and progress has gifted us.
Simple solution - hide in a cave licking water off the walls to maximise the amount in the bank when you pop your clogs
Sweating about spending an extra 50p on whatever is some sort of tragic masochism.
Spending an inordinate amount of time obsessing over some scheme to save an imaginary 10p is not a worthwhile deployment of human faculties.
Boring me to death with the minutia of how to make sandwiches, soups, and when to visit toilets, etc. does not in any way justify anything.
Saying "I/he/she is not tight, but" then listing tight-fisted activities means that "I/he/she" is in fact, fecking tight.
Being cold and having to whiff the fragrances of pi$$ and $hit rejects everything that evolution and progress has gifted us.
Simple solution - hide in a cave licking water off the walls to maximise the amount in the bank when you pop your clogs
I'm tight as owt but will spend money on things that are important to me. I account for every single penny I spend and have done so since 2008. Seeing it in black and white makes you realise how much is wasted on rubbish.
I am careful with what I spend...
Wouldn't let mrs buy a bottle of water from vending machine on hotel lobby (£1.50), told her to go up to room and have tapwater if she was that thirsty.
Use showers at gym in morning rather that putting hot water on at home.
Make the most of work facilities, printing, stationery, teabags etc
Regularly visit car boot sales and happy to have 2nd hand stuff, tools, books etc.
But
Have 3 nice cars in the household
Eat very well, home and away
Plenty of trips away/holidays
Kids don't go without
Few nice toys, Lotus, Hi-Fi, BBQ gear, decent AV setup etc.
I makes me cringe when I see colleagues coming up from shop with about a tenners worth of food, snacks, pop etc every single day. Hundreds of pounds a month but then they tell me they can't afford to put anything into a pension.
I am careful with what I spend...
Wouldn't let mrs buy a bottle of water from vending machine on hotel lobby (£1.50), told her to go up to room and have tapwater if she was that thirsty.
Use showers at gym in morning rather that putting hot water on at home.
Make the most of work facilities, printing, stationery, teabags etc
Regularly visit car boot sales and happy to have 2nd hand stuff, tools, books etc.
But
Have 3 nice cars in the household
Eat very well, home and away
Plenty of trips away/holidays
Kids don't go without
Few nice toys, Lotus, Hi-Fi, BBQ gear, decent AV setup etc.
I makes me cringe when I see colleagues coming up from shop with about a tenners worth of food, snacks, pop etc every single day. Hundreds of pounds a month but then they tell me they can't afford to put anything into a pension.
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