Extreme Cheapskates

[Storm]

I just found this somewhat humorous show online.  It reminds me of ERE, a bit:

http://tlc.discovery.com/videos/extreme ... ricks.html

[Lone Wolf]

LOL.  This guy's great.  I love the clothesline hanging across the kitchen for dangling his old, used paper towels to dry.

I'll have to cut our current tube of toothpaste when it runs out just to see my wife's reaction.

[MediumTex]

LOL.  This guy's great.  I love the clothesline hanging across the kitchen for dangling his old, used paper towels to dry.

I'll have to cut our current tube of toothpaste when it runs out just to see my wife's reaction.

Last year I was using a knife to cut open an "empty" bottle of lotion.  The knife slipped and I needed three stitches to close up the laceration between my right thumb and index finger.

Needless to say, my attempt at saving money in this case was not successful.

In the last year, I have had two of these strange hand injuries (the more recent one being the scrarecrow incident).

[Lone Wolf]

Last year I was using a knife to cut open an "empty" bottle of lotion.  The knife slipped and I needed three stitches to close up the laceration between my right thumb and index finger.

Sorry to hear about that, but thank you for the warning.  Perhaps I should employ my son's safety scissors for my excursion into extreme cheapskatery.  I'll also be sure to wear a helmet and puffy clothing for my dumpster diving.

[MediumTex]

Last year I was using a knife to cut open an "empty" bottle of lotion.  The knife slipped and I needed three stitches to close up the laceration between my right thumb and index finger.

Sorry to hear about that, but thank you for the warning.  Perhaps I should employ my son's safety scissors for my excursion into extreme cheapskatery.  I'll also be sure to wear a helmet and puffy clothing for my dumpster diving.

Don't forget your chainmail gloves.

[Storm]

Last year I was using a knife to cut open an "empty" bottle of lotion.  The knife slipped and I needed three stitches to close up the laceration between my right thumb and index finger.

Sorry to hear about that, but thank you for the warning.  Perhaps I should employ my son's safety scissors for my excursion into extreme cheapskatery.  I'll also be sure to wear a helmet and puffy clothing for my dumpster diving.

Don't forget your chainmail gloves.

And leather chaps...

[Lone Wolf]

Sorry to hear about that, but thank you for the warning.  Perhaps I should employ my son's safety scissors for my excursion into extreme cheapskatery.  I'll also be sure to wear a helmet and puffy clothing for my dumpster diving.

Don't forget your chainmail gloves.

And leather chaps...

What a handsome devil I'll be in my poofy shirt, bicycle helmet (with light), chainmail gloves and leather chaps.  Later, still clad in this dashing outfit, I'll saunter up to my wife.  And like our buddy Roy, for an anniversary gift I shall present her with a filthy rose that I pulled from the bottom of some reeking dumpster.

I hope that all of you less romantically savvy guys are writing this stuff down.  Roy and I are trying to show you how it's done... for less!

[Storm]

I hope that all of you less romantically savvy guys are writing this stuff down.  Roy and I are trying to show you how it's done... for less!

It would be even better if you cooked her a nice anniversary dinner of goat's head!

[Lone Wolf]

It would be even better if you cooked her a nice anniversary dinner of goat's head!

Ha!  Good one, you smooth operator!

I wondered what the butcher was thinking about this guy so eagerly purchasing these frightening-looking goat skulls.  "Is this fellow merely a really cheap bastard or an occultist warlock?  This will effect what sort of price I offer."

[MediumTex]

For a fancy night out with your wife you could take her to Medieval Times and sit in the parking lot and when the crowd inside cheers you may be able to hear it faintly.  You might also stand near the door and look inside as people are coming and going.  With your chainmail garments you might be able to loiter near the employee entrance and maybe even get a private audience with "the king" at the end of his shift.

What woman wouldn't love an evening like that?

[Storm]

For a fancy night out with your wife you could take her to Medieval Times and sit in the parking lot and when the crowd inside cheers you may be able to hear it faintly.  You might also stand near the door and look inside as people are coming and going.  With your chainmail garments you might be able to loiter near the employee entrance and maybe even get a private audience with "the king" at the end of his shift.

What woman wouldn't love an evening like that?

You could top it off with dumpster diving for dessert! 

[craigr]

LOL.  This guy's great.  I love the clothesline hanging across the kitchen for dangling his old, used paper towels to dry.

Why not just buy some cloth towels and re-use them?

[Lone Wolf]

Why not just buy some cloth towels and re-use them?

You know, I'm really not sure!  Even our family does this a lot.  If whatever you're wiping up is too nasty for a cloth towel, do you really want to hang it up, allow it to dry to a crust, and then wipe it all over your countertop and\or face?

I also don't grasp the charm of turning two-ply toilet paper into two rolls of one-ply.  Anyone believing that ol' Roy gets away with a couple squares of one-ply?  Me neither.

Speaking of which!  Brace yourself for... reusable toilet paper!  http://tlc.discovery.com/videos/extreme ... paper.html

[MediumTex]

Speaking of which!  Brace yourself for... reusable toilet paper!  http://tlc.discovery.com/videos/extreme ... ricks.html

That's not as dumb as it sounds.

If you used microfiber towels instead of toilet paper and kept a bucket next to the toilet with a mild bleach solution to soak them in until laundry time, that might actually be a viable strategy.  It would still be sort of gross, but not any more gross than using cloth diapers.

[Lone Wolf]

If you used microfiber towels instead of toilet paper and kept a bucket next to the toilet with a mild bleach solution to soak them in until laundry time, that might actually be a viable strategy.  It would still be sort of gross, but not any more gross than using cloth diapers.

I am not sure what type of cloth they went with in the video.  Unfortunately, it is a type of cloth that holds visible stains.  *shudder*

[craigr]

Why not just buy some cloth towels and re-use them?

You know, I'm really not sure!  Even our family does this a lot.  If whatever you're wiping up is too nasty for a cloth towel, do you really want to hang it up, allow it to dry to a crust, and then wipe it all over your countertop and\or face?

Just wash it!

I also don't grasp the charm of turning two-ply toilet paper into two rolls of one-ply.  Anyone believing that ol' Roy gets away with a couple squares of one-ply?  Me neither.

Maybe he can rake the leaves from his yard and use those?

At some point you cross the point of being frugal to being cheap. My old boss would explain that he was frugal, not cheap. Frugal saves you money and time. Cheap usually means wasting your time but not necessarily saving any money.

But maybe I'll get some good tips that will be worth doing so I'll check out the show. If anything, it may give me a good laugh.

[Lone Wolf]

You know, I'm really not sure!  Even our family does this a lot.  If whatever you're wiping up is too nasty for a cloth towel, do you really want to hang it up, allow it to dry to a crust, and then wipe it all over your countertop and\or face?

Just wash it!

Oh yes, I agree!  I mean to say that if whatever you are wiping is too disgusting for a cloth towel, then go with the paper towel.  But then throw that crap away!  I am no longer interested in letting the dirty paper towel "dry off" so I can wipe my hands with it.

At some point you cross the point of being frugal to being cheap. My old boss would explain that he was frugal, not cheap. Frugal saves you money and time. Cheap usually means wasting your time but not necessarily saving any money.

Definitely.  Having said that, as long as people like this are happy, I am so glad they're out there.  One guy's able to look at a disgusting goat's head that looks like it belongs in a pentagram and see a delicious home-cooked meal.  And then another sees a rusted out, filthy tea pot in a grimy dumpster and thinks it's a gift for his wife.  They're like Doc Brown's "Mr. Fusion" and most importantly, not competing with my dollars for the goods that I care about (like toilet paper!)  :)

Edit: And yes, I would also enjoy watching this.  It looks like it'd be a great combo of comedy and some potentially very useful ideas.  Storm, I know you cut your cable cord, so are you watching this online?  (We're doing a cord-cutting dry run but my wife's missing some of her shows!)

[Storm]

You know, I'm really not sure!  Even our family does this a lot.  If whatever you're wiping up is too nasty for a cloth towel, do you really want to hang it up, allow it to dry to a crust, and then wipe it all over your countertop and\or face?

Just wash it!

Oh yes, I agree!  I mean to say that if whatever you are wiping is too disgusting for a cloth towel, then go with the paper towel.  But then throw that crap away!  I am no longer interested in letting the dirty paper towel "dry off" so I can wipe my hands with it.

At some point you cross the point of being frugal to being cheap. My old boss would explain that he was frugal, not cheap. Frugal saves you money and time. Cheap usually means wasting your time but not necessarily saving any money.

Definitely.  Having said that, as long as people like this are happy, I am so glad they're out there.  One guy's able to look at a disgusting goat's head that looks like it belongs in a pentagram and see a delicious home-cooked meal.  And then another sees a rusted out, filthy tea pot in a grimy dumpster and thinks it's a gift for his wife.  They're like Doc Brown's "Mr. Fusion" and most importantly, not competing with my dollars for the goods that I care about (like toilet paper!)  :)

Edit: And yes, I would also enjoy watching this.  It looks like it'd be a great combo of comedy and some potentially very useful ideas.  Storm, I know you cut your cable cord, so are you watching this online?  (We're doing a cord-cutting dry run but my wife's missing some of her shows!)

I just checked Hulu and it's not available.  Looks like I might need to fire up the good old Bittorrent for this one.  There are just a few shows, usually stuff on animal planet, TLC, or Discovery, that don't seem to show up right away.  This show does look to be entertaining for someone like me.  There are things you can laugh at and maybe even 1 or 2 things you can learn.

[Boeing737]

These people are not cheap, they are wacked!

[Storm]

These people are not cheap, they are wacked!

What's humorous to me is that they are not even that good at being cheap...  When I grew up we didn't buy paper towels.  We used a dishcloth with dish soap and hot water to wash everything, including countertops and surfaces.  That actually saves you money because you only spend a few cents on soap and it lasts a long time.  Dishcloths were usually old bath towels that had degraded to the point that we tore them into small squares.

The guy that paid $7.50 for 2 goats heads?  Then boiled them and baked them in the oven for a couple hours?  He probably also spent about $5 on gas or electricity just to cook them.  For that same amount of money, I could have bought large bags of beans and rice and ate healthy for a month.

Dumpster diving?  He probably spent $5 or more in gas just driving around to different dumpsters, not to mention wear and tear on his automobile.  He could have gone to a convenience store and bought 2 of those $1 roses for less.

I think it's rather humorous that these people think they are being cheap.  That seems to be the appeal of this show.  If it was meant to be educational they should go visit the guy that runs the ERE website and find out how he lives for only a few hundred $$ a month.