Have you seen that show Extreme Cheapskates? When it made it onto Netflix, I was able to watch it for free and made it through the six episodes in less than a week. One of the episodes was so over-the-top that I couldn't make it to the end, but overall I found it entertaining and decided to watch to see if I could learn any frugality rules. The opposite happened and I found myself angry at these people for what they put their family through. Here are some of the worst examples.
- Took other people's leftovers from restaurants
- Reused paper towells
- Refills ketchup bottle with packets from restaurants
- Buys two ply toilet paper and separates into two rolls (saves $6 per month)
- Dumpster diving
- Woman used wash cloths instead of toilet paper
- Wife's anniversary present from dumpster
- Buying expired food
- Picking wild chives in the public park
- No cell phones or electronics
- Put soap slivers in panty hose to re-use
- Hand clean and reuse vaccum bags
- “Spare change mining” to pay for dinner (took all day)
- Keep and reuse paper towells from public restrooms
- Furnished apartment through dumpster diving
- Makes own deoderant
I've heard of some of these before. I even know some fellow finance bloggers who do a few of these. But some are totally crazy. One guy spent an entire day looking for spare change to buy dinner. He came up with less than I make in an hour after a full day's work, and he appears to be an intelligent guy who could easily handle a part-time job. He could work less and make more!
What are the craziest frugal ideas you've ever seen? Ever tried any of these? Share in the comments.
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I’m all about finding ways to cut costs, but it seems to me that many of these people don’t understand the value of time. As you pointed out, spending all day looking for change to make enough money for dinner is a waste. You could have worked for that day and earned enough to buy dinner for a week if you shopped smartly. People need to understand the correlation with time and money and place a value on their time. I love finding new ways to generate income, but I know that if job A nets me $50 in an hour I will focus on that job as opposed to job B which only nets me $5 an hour.
I totally agree! And I would never eat anything I foraged from a dumpster or urban park. Gross!