article: People Share The Biggest Cheapskate They Know

[swampwiz]

https://www.clipd.com/stories/2457832/people-share-the-biggest-cheapskate-they-know

[shuffler]

Please try harder.

[Slow2FIRE]

This probably needs to go in a comedy section, but I wanted to comment on this:

Never saw it personally, but on this show, there was this lady who would save the bath water making everyone in the family use it, from her to the son to the father.

Many years ago in Japan, it was common for the family to all share the bath water.  Everyone would soap up and get clean OUTSIDE of the tub (rinsing off with a shower hose) and then they get to relax in the bathtub.  Typically you'd arrange the kids cleanest to dirtiest.

...at least this is what my mom told me unless she was just pulling my leg.

made her husband take like five minute showers.
No more than that she would talk to him through a baby monitor making sure he got out."

That's nothing.  I get myself wet with the shower water, turn it off, shampoo my hair, turn the shower back on long enough to rinse the soap out and turn the water off, wash my body with soap and then do a final quick rinse.  Probably use less than 3 minutes of shower water total each time.

[marty998]

made her husband take like five minute showers.
No more than that she would talk to him through a baby monitor making sure he got out."

That's nothing.  I get myself wet with the shower water, turn it off, shampoo my hair, turn the shower back on long enough to rinse the soap out and turn the water off, wash my body with soap and then do a final quick rinse.  Probably use less than 3 minutes of shower water total each time.

I am going to try this. As long as it's not too cold :)

[elliha]

I have to admit I did steal ketchup and mustard at restaurants when I was single. The reason was that I used mustard probably 2-3 times a year and ketchup never so I only kept 2-3 packages available if someone would visit and want ketchup. That way I could offer a guarantied fresh product and not have to buy a whole bottle of ketchup to go sit in the fridge or some mustard that I would not finish before it split or dried up.

[expatartist]

I get myself wet with the shower water, turn it off, shampoo my hair, turn the shower back on long enough to rinse the soap out and turn the water off, wash my body with soap and then do a final quick rinse.  Probably use less than 3 minutes of shower water total each time.

My British husband was shocked at how wasteful North Americans were in the shower, having water running while we soaped up and shampooed. He cured me of the habit. Now even if it's cold that just gets me scrubbing faster so I can get the hot water on again.

[terran]

Come on now Swampwiz, I thought you were at least adding some of your own commentary to your many links now? You were doing so well :-)

made her husband take like five minute showers.
No more than that she would talk to him through a baby monitor making sure he got out."

That's nothing.  I get myself wet with the shower water, turn it off, shampoo my hair, turn the shower back on long enough to rinse the soap out and turn the water off, wash my body with soap and then do a final quick rinse.  Probably use less than 3 minutes of shower water total each time.

I am going to try this. As long as it's not too cold :)

I've been doing the same. If you shower with cold water it actually feels warmer once you turn it off. I don't yet know if I can continue this into the colder months though :-)

[Sailor Sam]

At work, we ration water and the showers operate exactly like those particularly annoying public bathroom sinks. You have to hold a button down to get flow, and the water is frigid.

You can 100% bet I don't do anything similar in my ablutions once I finally get off the bitch ship. This is definitely my frugal valley to die in, but feel free to enjoy your hill. ;)

[RWD]

Many years ago in Japan, it was common for the family to all share the bath water.  Everyone would soap up and get clean OUTSIDE of the tub (rinsing off with a shower hose) and then they get to relax in the bathtub.  Typically you'd arrange the kids cleanest to dirtiest.

...at least this is what my mom told me unless she was just pulling my leg.

I believe this is still the case in Japan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furo

I get myself wet with the shower water, turn it off, shampoo my hair, turn the shower back on long enough to rinse the soap out and turn the water off, wash my body with soap and then do a final quick rinse.  Probably use less than 3 minutes of shower water total each time.

My British husband was shocked at how wasteful North Americans were in the shower, having water running while we soaped up and shampooed. He cured me of the habit. Now even if it's cold that just gets me scrubbing faster so I can get the hot water on again.

It's hard to care when water is so cheap. More than half our water bill is fixed connection charges, so even if we could theoretically use zero water we'd still be paying $11.50/month. Running the shower for 3 minutes compared to the average shower length (8.2 minutes) saves a whopping $1.50/month (using my utility rates) for two people each showering once per day.
Edit: I don't want to calculate the cost of heating the extra water, as that's more complicated, but it's still negligible compared to other financial concerns.

[Linea_Norway]

I get myself wet with the shower water, turn it off, shampoo my hair, turn the shower back on long enough to rinse the soap out and turn the water off, wash my body with soap and then do a final quick rinse.  Probably use less than 3 minutes of shower water total each time.

My British husband was shocked at how wasteful North Americans were in the shower, having water running while we soaped up and shampooed. He cured me of the habit. Now even if it's cold that just gets me scrubbing faster so I can get the hot water on again.

I also turn the water off when soaping my hair. Otherwise I will stress to do it as quickly as possible.

[Linea_Norway]

This probably needs to go in a comedy section, but I wanted to comment on this:

Never saw it personally, but on this show, there was this lady who would save the bath water making everyone in the family use it, from her to the son to the father.

Many years ago in Japan, it was common for the family to all share the bath water.  Everyone would soap up and get clean OUTSIDE of the tub (rinsing off with a shower hose) and then they get to relax in the bathtub.  Typically you'd arrange the kids cleanest to dirtiest.

...at least this is what my mom told me unless she was just pulling my leg.

My mother told me that this is what happened when she was a child. I think this was before the house had running, hot water. Once a week they would bath. But at my mother's house, the sequence of bathing was: father, mother, children after age with the eldest first. My mother was the youngest.

At my house, it is DH who sometimes want to take a bath. I often go in the bath after him, if the water still looks cleanish. I don't mind going second, because I don't like the water as hot as DH has it.
I actually heard from a co-worker in the past who also shared the bathwater with his SO.

[Slow2FIRE]

Many years ago in Japan, it was common for the family to all share the bath water.  Everyone would soap up and get clean OUTSIDE of the tub (rinsing off with a shower hose) and then they get to relax in the bathtub.  Typically you'd arrange the kids cleanest to dirtiest.

...at least this is what my mom told me unless she was just pulling my leg.

I believe this is still the case in Japan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furo

I get myself wet with the shower water, turn it off, shampoo my hair, turn the shower back on long enough to rinse the soap out and turn the water off, wash my body with soap and then do a final quick rinse.  Probably use less than 3 minutes of shower water total each time.

My British husband was shocked at how wasteful North Americans were in the shower, having water running while we soaped up and shampooed. He cured me of the habit. Now even if it's cold that just gets me scrubbing faster so I can get the hot water on again.

It's hard to care when water is so cheap. More than half our water bill is fixed connection charges, so even if we could theoretically use zero water we'd still be paying $11.50/month. Running the shower for 3 minutes compared to the average shower length (8.2 minutes) saves a whopping $1.50/month (using my utility rates) for two people each showering once per day.
Edit: I don't want to calculate the cost of heating the extra water, as that's more complicated, but it's still negligible compared to other financial concerns.

I save the water for environmental / tragedy of the commons reasons and not to save money  (HHI >$200K). I'm not perfect in making efforts to conserve, but when I see something I can do easily with little perceived cost to me I will do it.
Your connection charges are absurdly cheap compared to what I paid in Colorado ($40-50 for water base connection) and Arizona ($90 for water and sewer base connection).  In Colorado, there was extra monetary incentive to save water during the winter -> your sewer monthly charge throughout the entire year was based on the average gallons used during  2 or 3 winter months.

[expatartist]

For us as well it's not a question of $ but of enough. ExH worked for water companies in Europe, Hong Kong, and Australia so was more cognizant of what goes into it than most.

"How much is enough?" is one of the questions that brought me to and has kept me coming to this site. I tend to be extravagant in some ways - airline miles used, sugar consumed, secondhand clothes and furniture purchased and donated - and skimp in others.

After 15 years in Asia, the fact that most westerners shower in *drinking water* still blows my mind. So much unnecessary processing of resources. To make my water potable I boil it, let it cool, then filter through a Brita and chill.

[RWD]

Probably use less than 3 minutes of shower water total each time.

My British husband was shocked at how wasteful North Americans were in the shower, having water running while we soaped up and shampooed.

It's hard to care when water is so cheap. More than half our water bill is fixed connection charges, so even if we could theoretically use zero water we'd still be paying $11.50/month. Running the shower for 3 minutes compared to the average shower length (8.2 minutes) saves a whopping $1.50/month (using my utility rates) for two people each showering once per day.
Edit: I don't want to calculate the cost of heating the extra water, as that's more complicated, but it's still negligible compared to other financial concerns.

I save the water for environmental / tragedy of the commons reasons and not to save money  (HHI >$200K). I'm not perfect in making efforts to conserve, but when I see something I can do easily with little perceived cost to me I will do it.
Your connection charges are absurdly cheap compared to what I paid in Colorado ($40-50 for water base connection) and Arizona ($90 for water and sewer base connection).  In Colorado, there was extra monetary incentive to save water during the winter -> your sewer monthly charge throughout the entire year was based on the average gallons used during  2 or 3 winter months.

Fair enough, environmental reasons are my only motivation too. Though I was definitely more concerned when we lived in the desert.

[mathlete]

The "Free Ketchup" one is the only one that makes me scratch my head. I don't go out of my way to steal condiments, but even as someone who eats out maybe once or twice a week, you start collecting condiment packets and napkins pretty quickly. I don't see this as that weird.

It will never make a meaningful financial or environmental impact. I know that. But I've been saved countless times by the cache of fast food napkins I keep in my car's center console. More than a few times, I've finished making tacos or something, only to find that we don't have hot sauce. Taco bell packets to the rescue!

[The Guru]

I'm puzzled by the accumulation of condiment packets too, but for a different reason: if he's such a cheapskate as to accumulate such a collection WHY NOT QUIT EATING OUT!!

[jim555]

J. Paul Getty was so cheap he didn't want to pay for his kidnapped grandson.  In the end he bargained them down, that was after they cut the grandson's ear off and mailed to as proof.

[Imma]

This probably needs to go in a comedy section, but I wanted to comment on this:

Never saw it personally, but on this show, there was this lady who would save the bath water making everyone in the family use it, from her to the son to the father.

Many years ago in Japan, it was common for the family to all share the bath water.  Everyone would soap up and get clean OUTSIDE of the tub (rinsing off with a shower hose) and then they get to relax in the bathtub.  Typically you'd arrange the kids cleanest to dirtiest.

...at least this is what my mom told me unless she was just pulling my leg.

My mother told me that this is what happened when she was a child. I think this was before the house had running, hot water. Once a week they would bath. But at my mother's house, the sequence of bathing was: father, mother, children after age with the eldest first. My mother was the youngest.

At my house, it is DH who sometimes want to take a bath. I often go in the bath after him, if the water still looks cleanish. I don't mind going second, because I don't like the water as hot as DH has it.
I actually heard from a co-worker in the past who also shared the bathwater with his SO.

Yeah, I know these stories from my parents as well. They would take their turns bathing in the kitchen.

When I was a kid, we would all have a bath on Friday night. And with all, I mean, all 3 kids in the bath at the same time. Was a lot of fun and my mum probably had to clean the entire bathroom afterwards. During the week, we'd shower at school after PE and at the swimming club after swimming. I don't really remember us showering at home, at least pre-high school. We'd wash our body and feet every day with a washcloth. These days this would probably be called child abuse, but I don't think we were dirty at all.

In my family, bread was also sliced into really thick slices, socks and stockings were mended and my mum used to sew small kid's shirts from my dad's old shirts, but I don't think my family was particularly frugal. This was just the way everyone in our village seemed to live. Our neighbours had a reputation for being spendypants because they took their kids to the cinema and McDonalds every month.

[Reader]

You can 100% bet I don't do anything similar in my ablutions once I finally get off the bitch ship. This is definitely my frugal valley to die in, but feel free to enjoy your hill. ;)

what an amazing turn of phrase! love it!

[expatartist]

Our neighbours had a reputation for being spendypants because they took their kids to the cinema and McDonalds every month.

What a great perspective, Imma - our family of 5 kids went out once a month too, to Burger King. But it was a good deal less than most families in our neighborhood. Today their distinctive burger smell evokes those times, though I'm not a huge fan of fast food generally.

[pecunia]

Not too many years back I had a job where I was being trained by an old guy named Frank.

Soon after he began training me, I had questions.  Our boss was Skippy.  So I asked Skippy, "Where's Frank?"

Skippy replied, "He's in the bathroom."

I wondered how he could tell by looking at his watch.  I asked.  Skippy said, "He goes this time every day.  He doesn't go at home to save the cost of the water and toilet paper."

[mountain mustache]

my ex-bf turned the water off in the shower while he was soaping his hair, and it trained me to do it too. But, I only do it in the summer, as it's so cold in my house in the winter! I live in the (high) desert, and water resources are always an issue here. I take less than 5 min showers anyway, so I do my best to conserve as much as possible.

[Slow2FIRE]

my ex-bf turned the water off in the shower while he was soaping his hair, and it trained me to do it too. But, I only do it in the summer, as it's so cold in my house in the winter! I live in the (high) desert, and water resources are always an issue here. I take less than 5 min showers anyway, so I do my best to conserve as much as possible.

Yes, local temps would make a difference (along with shower configuration).

In Arizona I wouldn't even use the hot water in my shower from Mid march through end of October so long as I took my showers around 2PM to 5PM the water was plenty hot enough.

Right now, our current home's shower is small enough and positioned such that it maintains a decent amount of heat within the little shower stall (and it is still early in fall).

[FamilyGuy]

That's nothing.  I get myself wet with the shower water, turn it off, shampoo my hair, turn the shower back on long enough to rinse the soap out and turn the water off, wash my body with soap and then do a final quick rinse.  Probably use less than 3 minutes of shower water total each time.

This is exactly what I do. Turning it on & off. I do the same when brushing my teeth. Turn it on for water. Turn it off while gargle. :) :)

[RWD]

That's nothing.  I get myself wet with the shower water, turn it off, shampoo my hair, turn the shower back on long enough to rinse the soap out and turn the water off, wash my body with soap and then do a final quick rinse.  Probably use less than 3 minutes of shower water total each time.

This is exactly what I do. Turning it on & off. I do the same when brushing my teeth. Turn it on for water. Turn it off while gargle. :) :)

There are people that run the water while brushing their teeth? I figured you only really need it to rinse the bristles when you're done...

[Linea_Norway]

That's nothing.  I get myself wet with the shower water, turn it off, shampoo my hair, turn the shower back on long enough to rinse the soap out and turn the water off, wash my body with soap and then do a final quick rinse.  Probably use less than 3 minutes of shower water total each time.

This is exactly what I do. Turning it on & off. I do the same when brushing my teeth. Turn it on for water. Turn it off while gargle. :) :)

There are people that run the water while brushing their teeth? I figured you only really need it to rinse the bristles when you're done...

Yes, some people open the tap fully and let it flow the whole time. It hurts my eyes when I see that happening.

[GuitarStv]

I poop at work.  Both to save on toilet paper, and because it's fun to be paid to poop.

[Slee_stack]

I laugh at all the folks bragging about turning off the shower to soap their hair.

If you we're truly badass like me, you wouldn't have hair on your head to need to shampoo in the first place!

Feel free to hang your hairy head in shame now.    ;P

[saguaro]

The "Free Ketchup" one is the only one that makes me scratch my head. I don't go out of my way to steal condiments, but even as someone who eats out maybe once or twice a week, you start collecting condiment packets and napkins pretty quickly. I don't see this as that weird.

It will never make a meaningful financial or environmental impact. I know that. But I've been saved countless times by the cache of fast food napkins I keep in my car's center console. More than a few times, I've finished making tacos or something, only to find that we don't have hot sauce. Taco bell packets to the rescue!

We don't eat out much, except when on vacation, that's when I will accumulate the condiment packets and bring home to keep on hand.  Just yesterday realized I used up all the ketchup and out came the McD's ketchup packets when DH wanted ketchup with his meatloaf.   And fast food napkins I brought to use at work.   This are the packets/napkins that came in the bag so I don't go out of my way to get them.

[GuitarStv]

We tend to eat out once or twice a year at most . . . and were given hundreds of little packets of crap we didn't want the last time we got fast food.  It's environmentally horrifying.

[Secret Stache]

I poop at work.  Both to save on toilet paper, and because it's fun to be paid to poop.

Boss makes a dollar
I make a dime
That's why I poop
On company time

[RWD]

We tend to eat out once or twice a year at most . . . and were given hundreds of little packets of crap we didn't want the last time we got fast food.  It's environmentally horrifying.

It is horrifying. We also very rarely eat out and I'm amazed at how much trash in generated for each meal at a typical fast food restaurant. Everything is wrapped in paper or plastic. Plastic bowls for soups. Plastic or styrofoam cups for drinks. Paper sheet on tray. All of it just dumped in the trash on the way out the door. It's not a big deal on an individual, rare basis. But when considering McDonalds alone serves 68 million customers every day the cumulative effect is tremendous.

[YHD]

Quoting @expatartist:
“After 15 years in Asia, the fact that most westerners shower in *drinking water* still blows my mind. So much unnecessary processing of resources. To make my water potable I boil it, let it cool, then filter through a Brita and chill.”

Second most important public health improvement was centralized water treatment, after effective sewer systems.  It’s a way to guarantee clean water for all—health equity.

[expatartist]

Hong Kong is first world, our water is not dangerous. Like many former British colonies, plumbing was a priority (Greece vs Greek Cyprus a fine example). Our water is clean at the source but due to consistent hot and humid temperatures and being a city of islands, not consistently trustworthy - particularly in many older buildings like mine. Much of our water comes from China before being treated here. Part of why HK was unable to remain a British colony: China could've caused a water crisis whenever it likes, instead of the constitutional crises we have now.

[Linea_Norway]

I laugh at all the folks bragging about turning off the shower to soap their hair.

If you we're truly badass like me, you wouldn't have hair on your head to need to shampoo in the first place!

Feel free to hang your hairy head in shame now.    ;P

That is what my DH often says, when he just washed his very short hair in 5 seconds with only water.

[Phryne]

my ex-bf turned the water off in the shower while he was soaping his hair, and it trained me to do it too. But, I only do it in the summer, as it's so cold in my house in the winter! I live in the (high) desert, and water resources are always an issue here. I take less than 5 min showers anyway, so I do my best to conserve as much as possible.

I used to always turn the water off while washing my hair (I’m in Australia, so water restrictions rather than economics)

That was till I slipped on some conditioner (no running water to wash it away) and landed face first on the edge of the bath... $8,000 of dental work later = the water is alway running when I’m in the shower now!!

[swampwiz]

I poop at work.  Both to save on toilet paper, and because it's fun to be paid to poop.

Boss makes a dollar
I make a dime
That's why I poop
On company time

Unless you work at Amazon ...

[SwordGuy]

The biggest cheapskate I knew was the ex-husband of the woman I married.

One Christmas when they were still married, he added up the value of the gifts they received and compared them to the cost of the gifts that they gave to determine if they made a profit on Christmas gift giving.

I've found I've never, ever, had to add any additional information to get people to accept he was a cheapskate.