Saving money is important these days. We might have trouble making ends meet sometimes, so saving a little money now and then will really help.
Some people, on the other hand, save money way too much. They go beyond being thrifty to being cheap. Kids are sometimes the ones who get stuck in the middle.
You can read these stories from kids who had to live with big jerks. If you grew up with cheap parents, a lot of this will probably hit home.
How my dad got a free bar of soap by using a smart trick
When my dad moved in, he had someone show him how to use a water filter that fits under the sink for free. This guy showed how to do it with a bar of soap and then left it.
Besides wanting to keep the free bar of soap, my dad called at least four other companies for free demonstrations. He never planned to have a water filter put. His behaviour gets worse as he gets older. Nevertheless, I did not stop him.
2. My dad’s love of paper towels
My father saves all of his paper towels. He still wants me to ask for permission to use them even though I’m 21 years old. He doesn’t want me to waste them. Because he was so worried about me throwing them away, I thought it cost $100 for a roll.
He only buys the cheapest things, which break or don’t work as well, so he ends up spending twice as much on everything. Although my lover and I were at his house, I spilled a gallon of milk all over the place. For cleaning up, she got a roll of paper towels and used the whole thing.
It made me feel bad to help her, but seeing my dad’s face light up when he realised we used a whole roll was amazing. He was too nice to yell at my lady, so I knew he wouldn’t yell at us. He was clearly trying to hide his hurt, anger, and sadness over the “wasted” roll, though.
3. How My Dad Saves Every Penny in His Own Unique Way
Dads are so bad, I swear. He hangs his clothes outside because he doesn’t like paying for power. That would be fine if he didn’t do it all year, even when it’s cold outside.
When my sisters and I cleaned out our rooms, he would go through our trash to find “valuables” like money or garbage that we had thrown away. He is always looking for the cheapest petrol. One time, I sat in the car with him while he drove around town for thirty minutes.
To drive down a hill, he puts the car in neutral, opens the door, and uses his foot to push himself down the hill. We went to Burger King one time, but I could only get chicken fries because a burger was “too expensive.”
4. Know about the return policy, Maestro
My dad took crazy advantage of the fact that Costco lets you return things. He gave back a set of outdoor chairs that we had had for eight years. The weather had worn it down, and a few of the pieces were broken. The cash was used to buy a new patio set from Costco. Not believing it.
5. Showing Off My Grandmother’s Smart Money Saving Skills
As a child, I spent the summers with my grandparents. One of my jobs was to set the table every night before dinner. When we had guests over for dinner, I was told to use “the good napkins.”
Those were the napkins that didn’t have names of restaurants on them. We only went to restaurants when my grandma thought she could get something good out of the deal. There were lots of ways for her to do this.
Obviously, she cut out coupons, but that was just something kids do. It was her way of saying “thank you” for everything someone did for her. She always came back with a huge bag full of napkins and food from the buffet.
She wasn’t interested in going to a place that didn’t have a salad bar. We had to drive more than an hour to get to a Sizzler she wasn’t banned from to take her out to dinner for her birthday one year.
6. Savings that grow over time
My dad found a place to buy the big industrial rolls that you see in some shopping malls and moved us there. There are about three or four regular rolls of toilet paper in this big roll. Having friends over has never made me feel so bad.
7. Sears’ Unbeatable Lifetime Guarantee for My Grandmother!
When my grandparents got married, they made their gift registry at Sears. This was in the late 1940s, when most of the things they sold came with a “lifetime guarantee.”
Since then, my grandma has moved nine or ten times, but she still has every flattened box and broken appliance warranty.
A few years ago, I took her to Sears to get a new iron. For the new one, she brought all the boxes and papers from the 1940s. They surprised everyone by keeping their promise and giving her a new iron!
Because she’s so cheap, she hasn’t had to buy a new device in over 60 years, which I think is funny! She comes to Canada from Ukraine and always says, “Lifetime guarantee means lifetime guarantee.”
My family is known for having very long lives (her father lived to be 104). I feel bad for Sears. A lot of cheap old women taking advantage of Sears’ lifetime guarantees makes me wonder if that’s why the company is doing so badly.
8. Remodelling my dad’s cheap house turned into an adventure
My dad is always being too cheap. Lots of stories to tell, but I’ll start with the best one. Dad only looks at the amount of money and not anything else. If there is a six-pack of toilet paper for $5 and a twelve-pack for $7, he will always buy the six-pack for $5.
So you can guess how any big buy with him goes. He chose to buy a house when I was eight years old. Back then, in my area, something pretty good could be bought for $110,000. We’re talking about cabinets, floors, trim, doors, windows, and other indoor features that are newer.
He finally bought a bad house for $89k. It had been built in 1947. The builder was likewise cheap as my dad. Every door and window was original. The asbestos covering on the outside was still there.
Within, there was no trim. The only door inside was the bathroom door, which did not have a lock. There are no kitchen counters or shelves.
In the bedroom on the first floor, linoleum had been unrolled all over the place and put down in the living room. My dad “saved” $21,000 when he bought the house, but he’s had to spend a lot more on it since then.
9: Cheap Ways to Beat the Heat
Georgia is where I’m from, and it’s hot and muggy there. When it got above 100F, my dad wouldn’t turn on the air conditioning. Those are Styrofoam pads with metal foil on one end that he bought.
To “keep the heat out” and save money on the AC, we had to put those in all the windows and doors that led outside when the AC was on. Additionally, our city has a natural spring. The water is free and safe to drink.
There is a queue in front of it, so let me set the scene. Some moms with a pitcher to get some cold water on a hot day, a guy with an empty milk jug, and my dad with TWENTY-TWO 5-gallon bottles to fill up “in case the spring dries up tomorrow.”
10. A gift card
Grandpa was the world’s most cheap person. He left me a $30 gift card after he died. I was going to give it away, but I chose to use it instead.
That moment made a break in my life: “before” and “after.” When I gave the card to the checker, her face turned pale.Checkout clerk: That can’t be right. Where did you get that?
Inquiring: Oh… My grandpa owned it.Wallet holder: “STOP EVERYONE!” WE HAVE IN FRONT OF US THE WINNER OF THE TEN-YEAR-OLD SWEEPSTAKES! The cashier enthusiastically told the customer that the gift card was a unique advertising item that came with a million-dollar prize that had been unclaimed for years.
As the store manager came over to confirm the unbelievable news, I stood there speechless. My grandfather’s “stingy” gift turned into a wealth that changed my whole life and my future in an instant.
What We Did to Get Noodles with a Flavour Packet Collection
Since my dad likes to add other flavours to his ramen noodles, he keeps the flavour packets in a Ziploc bag that is too big for him. Sure enough, I think we have a hundred of those. If you run out of your favourite flavour of ramen, this will help!
Our dad keeps all of the sauce packets from fast food restaurants. We keep a bag of them in the fridge and use them sometimes.
12. The brick work my dad left behind works today
My dad made us clean all of the bricks from our brick garage and line them up around our house so we could use them again in the future. They’re still there after eight years. It was worth the $500, the year of work, and the back-breaking effort.
Our vehicles are worth $2,000 each. My dad buys the same cars and takes them apart to use the parts inside. Just when you think he’s done, he takes the engines out and stacks them under the garage. They’ve been driven 300,000 km.
There are these around the dinner table where we sit. For power reasons, our TVs are only 20 inches. A lot of our furniture is discarded items found on the street. The shaving cream and shampoo we use are made from soap.
The cabinets and couches in our granny flat are stacked up to the roof, making it hard to move. The weight is so great that the ground has settled and cracks are showing up everywhere.
I thought about renting out the room to make better use of it, but it seems that keeping broken treadmills, lawnmowers, fridges, ovens, and washing machines for spare parts is more important.
13. How We Used Bath Water Again to Cut Down on Gas and Water Bills
The bathwater was shared. Then my brother, then me, and finally my parents. Now that I think about it, it seems pretty gross, but my parents did it because they were really poor and wanted to save money on their gas and water costs.
14. Crib vs. dog bed
It worked out because my dad is cheap and my mom isn’t, but this story makes me laugh every time. My dad wanted to get me a dog bed instead of a cot or baby bed when I was born.
15. The inexpensive wrapping paper is here
When I was younger, I thought Christmas wrapping paper always looked funny, like a cheap 3D picture. One half centimetre or more was missing from all of the Santas’ faces. I learned later that my mom always bought cheap gift paper with wrong printing.
However, I don’t feel like Christmas when I see pretty paper these days. I still think the cheap, badly printed paper feels more like Christmas, even after 30 years.
Also, before Christmas, my parents and aunt would count the boxes they used to wrap gifts. My aunt would start Christmas morning by saying, “I came here with 16 boxes and I’m leaving with 16 boxes!” if she brought 16 gifts that needed shirt/clothes boxes like you can get at Sears or JC Penney.
It’s funny that back then, the boxes came free with the items you bought, but these days, you usually have to pay for them. Then my parents and aunt got stuck on free boxes.
Even though the tape on the boxes is old and starting to come off, my family is now more likely to say it’s okay to throw them away.
I remember putting them away for next year and taping up the big tears. Even a box from a store called Structure that had been used for years and years longer than the shop itself did.
16. My dad’s “perfect bed” for my baby girl turned out to be a toy cot
So that I ‘didn’t have to buy a cot’, my dad tried to give me the ‘right bed’ for my new daughter. The bed from my childhood doll had been in their garage for more than 20 years and wouldn’t have worked, even if it wasn’t a completely crazy plan.
17. Wonders of Mom
For sauces to last longer, my mom adds water before she uses them. It’s like drinking water with ketchup in it sometimes. Somewhat funny and strange. Everything we use is important to us, and she turns meals into times of simple, “thrifty love.”
18. What a dear
My parents had everything they could want, but I didn’t. They lied and stole my grandmother’s estate after she died. Just a $50 Walmart gift card every year. There’s no phone in my house because I don’t have enough money.
Every year, they buy a bunch of fancy cars and take holidays in the Maldives. But one day, everything was different. A letter came to me while my parents were on a cruise. There was writing on it that said “Do not open while they are nearby.”
After looking around, I tore open the package right away and started to read. This is your real father, Mary. I have been trying to find you for a long time. Your grandma left you a big gift, and I’ve been working hard to get it back for you. Come to the address given; it’s time to take back what is properly yours and make your life better.
