Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Extreme Cheapskates
- Thread starter tastybasslines
- Start date
My daughter and I watched a coupld episodes of Extreme Cheapskates this weekend. I found some of it as disturbing as Horders.
Here's a guy who dresses great for very little $
http://thriftygent.com/
Admittedly he spends a lot of time at it and it sounds like flips some of his finds that aren't in his size for some cash.
Here's an exapmle of one of his outfits:
See it here http://thriftygent.com/cbd/
Suit: Southwick, thrifted, $8
Shirt: Luciano Barbera, bought secondhand online, $22
Tie: Brooks Brothers, discount store, $10
Shoes: Johnston & Murphy, thrifted, $12
Total: $52
At retail prices: $1100 or more
He has some blogs from August that provide some "guidelines on how you can pursue a thrifty-but-stylish wardrobe for yourself."
http://thriftygent.com/
Admittedly he spends a lot of time at it and it sounds like flips some of his finds that aren't in his size for some cash.
Here's an exapmle of one of his outfits:
See it here http://thriftygent.com/cbd/
Suit: Southwick, thrifted, $8
Shirt: Luciano Barbera, bought secondhand online, $22
Tie: Brooks Brothers, discount store, $10
Shoes: Johnston & Murphy, thrifted, $12
Total: $52
At retail prices: $1100 or more
He has some blogs from August that provide some "guidelines on how you can pursue a thrifty-but-stylish wardrobe for yourself."
Some people get off on it like shoplifting. Doing stuff like getting a water cup and filling it with soda is technically illegal, but you will likely get away with it.
I buy quality to last. For example: when I was working construction, I was buying $100 boots that would last five, or six months. I got sick of that and spent $300 on really good boots; they are more comfortable and have lasted almost four years so far.
lowsound
lowsound
I'm a cheap/thrifty person, but I still like to buy overpriced high quality items as a reward for saving money elsewhere.
I live by the philisophy "for all the times I save a few dollars I will pay too much for something else"
I buy generic, sale, discontinued, and last years stock when possible. Buy clothes from "seconds department stores" like Ross and Marshalls. Stash extra napkins from fast food restraunts. Do my own home and car repairs and installations when I can. Occasionally dumpster dive for hardwoods and other useful scrap. Filled my entire home with used furniture bought for dirt cheap on Craig's List. All of my most expensive bass gear has been bought used in like-new condition for a great discount. Even my car was bought used like-new the same model year as the current calendar year.
Was taught at an early age that you can never get rich by paying too much. Never buy a brand new car, when you can buy the same near-new car for 30% less. Never be an early adopter of electronic technology. First generation electronics always have lots of bugs, are less reliable, will be discounted within a year or two, and absolete after five years, or might never even catch on and become an obscure trivia question for future generations.
...or maybe I'm just cheap
I live by the philisophy "for all the times I save a few dollars I will pay too much for something else"
I buy generic, sale, discontinued, and last years stock when possible. Buy clothes from "seconds department stores" like Ross and Marshalls. Stash extra napkins from fast food restraunts. Do my own home and car repairs and installations when I can. Occasionally dumpster dive for hardwoods and other useful scrap. Filled my entire home with used furniture bought for dirt cheap on Craig's List. All of my most expensive bass gear has been bought used in like-new condition for a great discount. Even my car was bought used like-new the same model year as the current calendar year.
Was taught at an early age that you can never get rich by paying too much. Never buy a brand new car, when you can buy the same near-new car for 30% less. Never be an early adopter of electronic technology. First generation electronics always have lots of bugs, are less reliable, will be discounted within a year or two, and absolete after five years, or might never even catch on and become an obscure trivia question for future generations.
...or maybe I'm just cheap
My dad tries to be an extreme cheapskate but fails miserably. He'll try to reuse, styrofoam container, paper cups and plates, plastic utensils and he'll eat food for the sole purpose of it not going to waste BUT he'll spend TONS of money on ALL of those things as well. He has, for my entire life, regularly pulling stuff out of the depths of our trashcans to reuse somehow. It disgusts everyone in the house. It's been driving us all crazy for as long as I can remember and it's only geting worse. Honestly, I get a little upset just thinking about my dad's poor habits.
I don't know how old your mom is but children of the Great Depression like my grandmother (born 1919) never really got over the experience. They tend to be very idiosyncratic but they all get a pass in my book.
I look for deals and am usually aware of prices when purchasing things, so I rarely pay too much. However, shopping for low prices is small potatoes. Where I have saved the most money (probably $100k) over the years was learning how to do my own home renos and repairs. I bought a fixer for well under market value and:
- gutted and rebuilt my kitchen for less than $10k, including new appliances.
- shingled the house for the cost of shingles, ice/water shield, and nails.
- built a garage singlehandedly, with the exception of some friends helping raise the roof trusses.
- installed hardwood floors throughout the house for the cost of wood alone.
- replaced all the wiring, plumbing, and every single door for the cost of supplies.
- built 2 decks.
- built a sunroom.
- finished the basement doing all the wiring, drywall, mudding, and painting myself. I only paid someone to lay carpet as I'm not very good at hiding seams.
- gutted and rebuilt my kitchen for less than $10k, including new appliances.
- shingled the house for the cost of shingles, ice/water shield, and nails.
- built a garage singlehandedly, with the exception of some friends helping raise the roof trusses.
- installed hardwood floors throughout the house for the cost of wood alone.
- replaced all the wiring, plumbing, and every single door for the cost of supplies.
- built 2 decks.
- built a sunroom.
- finished the basement doing all the wiring, drywall, mudding, and painting myself. I only paid someone to lay carpet as I'm not very good at hiding seams.
Yes, the Great Depression altered the minds of millions and millions of Americans.
My grandfather would spend all day in his basement rigging up a homemade fix for a toilet, door, whatever, when a $5 item at the hardware store would have fixed it straight away.
Hardly anybody in the US had any money for 15 years.
to the OP..thanks, thanks alot...
After stumbling on this thread, it is now 1am and I am watching a marathon of this show. Its hard to believe some of these people arent just hamming it up for the cameras though..
After stumbling on this thread, it is now 1am and I am watching a marathon of this show. Its hard to believe some of these people arent just hamming it up for the cameras though..
