Stingiest thing you've seen stingy people do

Chris P. Bacon

RoverJames wrote: »

No, cover it in beans :rolleyes: Not rocket science old boy.

Oh but i know it's not rocket science,if you read my POST earlier in this thread you will see that I also do it,but not with a croissant, that's all I was saying I find it hard to believe it can be done with such a big piece of food like said croissant.

Bagel

The funniest celebrity one I heard was of Gay Byrne seen at the petrol pump holding the hose bit up high to get the last few drips he'd paid for into his tank. This was in the 80s. Hopefully he has a few more penny's in the bank now!

villabren

Well he's the head of that legalised mafia The RSA nowadys, so he knows a thing or two about squeezing money out of people

senorwipesalot

Once saw a woman in my local drinking a pint and after each sup she would look around and then spit it back in and place the pint back on the table. She did this with the one pint for about an hour the dirty oul mare.

Ghandee

a few years back, I worked the odd Sat night here and there as a taxi driver.
Picked a notorious stingebag up one night, and the fare came to 15 euro, to which he exclaimed he had only a tenner on him. I took the tenner, and told him not to worry about it, I'd get him again..............
Bumped into him a few months later at a funeral, he came over to me, duly thanked me for the night I sorted him out with the ' Cheap fair' and as it was so close to christmas I was to have ' a drink on him' and as he said it, he stuffed something into my jacket pocket!
Fair play I thought, he's after putting a fiver, tenner or possibly even twenty quid in my pocket, I could nearly taste the Guinness slipping down me neck!
Reached into my pocket, only to find the ciserable munt had placed a tea bag in my pocket, worst of all I don't think he did it in a malice way!

Capt'n Midnight

STIG83 wrote: »

And people who panic buy petrol or diesel on the day of the Budget, have seen it twice!! some of them would be driving BMWs or a Merc, idiots they are

LOL

used to work with a guy who needed to get petrol that day took something like 40 minutes to get to the pumps to save 8c a litre or something. he was raging at those muppets because even ignoring the fuel wasted in stop/start he couldn't believe it 'cos even on a full tank the amount of money they saved wouldn't cover minimum wage for the time it took to queue

Capt'n Midnight

Bagel wrote: »

The funniest celebrity one I heard was of Gay Byrne seen at the petrol pump holding the hose bit up high to get the last few drips he'd paid for into his tank. This was in the 80s. Hopefully he has a few more penny's in the bank now!

Loved that aside by Dustin that he saw him in the RTE canteen "scabbin fivepences"

vincenzolorenzo

Bagel wrote: »

The funniest celebrity one I heard was of Gay Byrne seen at the petrol pump holding the hose bit up high to get the last few drips he'd paid for into his tank. This was in the 80s. Hopefully he has a few more penny's in the bank now!

Thats not stingy, just common sense. And back in the 80s Gaybo was broke. Some solicitor fella had scammed a fortune out of him and it only came to light after he died.

homerjay2005

STIG83 wrote: »

Used to work with a Polish guy, God he was tight!! he would have money in his bank account but yet he would only take out the barest amount to last him for the week.
And people who panic buy petrol or diesel on the day of the Budget, have seen it twice!! some of them would be driving BMWs or a Merc, idiots they are

errm no, both of them are far from stingy IMO, the first is called being sensible and living by your means. if irish people lived liked that, we would not be in the s*ite that we are in.

the 2nd is refusing to be screwed over the goverment, even if it only means saving one or 2 euros. a full tank in a bmw or merc could be up to 70euro, when its 7 or 8 cents a litre added to the price of fuel, thats a nice bit extra for a full tank.

efb

Anyone find the tone of this thread changing as time passes... What once was stingy...

vincenzolorenzo

efb wrote: »

Anyone find the tone of this thread changing as time passes... What once was stingy...

I do, but not in the way you mean. I've followed it from the start and more and more of the stories are not really stingy, just people using a bit of cop on and not wasting money. I suppose there's only so many genuine stingy stories and after 2000odd posts they've all been told

efb

Well I thought the same, but people's perception of stingy has changed in the last few years

Raiser

efb wrote: »

Well I thought the same, but people's perception of stingy has changed in the last few years

Definitely - It used to be an embarrassing taboo to act as though your were expecting value or considered anything to be expensive in Ireland a year or two ago.

Retailers and services Providers lost no time in escalating prices to ridiculous levels when they discovered we'd happily stand there casually throwing €50 notes at them while thinking it would be cooler and trendier to eat somewhere a little bit more expensive next week.....

JohnCleary

One myself this morning but think it's just cheeky rather than stingy....

In college, Q'ing at the Canteen for the breakfast with friends (I didn't order anything, was'nt going waiting my money on canteen food) who had ordered a full breakfast when they were told that they were out of sausages and to come back in a few mins for fresh ones.

So we all sit down and the lads proceed to eat away. When they're done they went back to get the rest of their brekkie (teh sausages). Tehy all come back with 2 sausages each which is fine because it was part of what they'd paid for.

Thought i'd chance my arm, went up and gave teh same story and also said that my friend was sitting down and didn't get their sausages.

The result: 4 free sausages..... schneakyyyy

CorkMan

My Dad told me of this woman who was a millionaire in the 1960s, which is over €10,000,000 today. Anyway she never spent any of the money, she used to go down to her sons for scraps of food for dinner and get free tea in the unemployment centre.

A millionaire like!

GSV

Years ago I heard of a care worker who used to go to this elderly man's home to look after him for a couple of hours a week.
A couple of times when she went he gave her a small brown paper bag of peanuts.
The last time she thanked him but said "You shouldn't do that, save your money for yourself"
To which he replied - "ah it's no bother, sure once I suck the chocolate off them They're no good to me". :eek:

funk-you

GSV wrote: »

Years ago I heard of a care worker who used to go to this elderly man's home to look after him for a couple of hours a week.
A couple of times when she went he gave her a small brown paper bag of peanuts.
The last time she thanked him but said "You shouldn't do that, save your money for yourself"
To which he replied - "ah it's no bother, sure once I suck the chocolate off them They're no good to me". :eek:

I'm not sure if i'm turned on or disgusted. Probably turned on.

-Funk

ButtersSuki

Over 10 years ago, I lived with a colleague. I didn't really have much choice, i was new to the town (large, but rural) and all the other decent rental options were either all gone or too far away from my place of work. He owned the house and I rented a room.

He was legendary in his mean-ness. Some examples include:

• the fact that the sitting-room furniture still had all of its wrapping from the shop (I called them "couch condoms") - despite the fact that they were over 5 years old at that point.
• all of the condiments were taken from various hotels, take-aways etc.
• he refused to turn on the heat in the house - we had a major "discussion" over this. I lost. So I bought an electric heater and spent most of the time in my room or out or in my gfs
• he would socialise with a group of colleagues (as did I) and always turn up late and leave early to avoid having to buy a round
• Further to the above, one night we when we were all out, he decided to help me carry a particularly large round to the table. He then rather slyly announced "look what I've brought ye" (not bought, brought!). There was amazement all-round (I was paying and taking the last few drinks down to the table). The next day a colleague said to me "can you believe X bought that big round last night?". It was my round of course and while he didn't technically say he bought it, he didn't deny it either
• One time he announced he was going home for the weekend. I was thrilled and planned a nice rosemantic w/end with the gf with the house to ourselves. He left about 7 so I set a nice big fire (NOTE: this was the first time the fire had been used as he was too cheap to buy coal) in the sitting room. He forgot something and returned to the house around 8. When he saw the fire, he stayed for the weekend! I was so p*ssed off I just left him at it and stayed in the gfs for the weekend. When I returned on Sunday he had used the coal on all 3 days! I wouldn't have a problem with that except he was so stingy he'd have gone ape if I dared use anything of his.
• we shared the bills but I never saw them. He's give me a figure and I'd just have to pay. I asked him to see a bill once and he said he shredded them immediately after opening them as they contained "confidential information"! Needless to say he didn't have a shredder
• I saw him take a jar of half-used coffee from the canteen. It was communal so he had no right to take it
• His car was once broken into. A window was broken but nothing of value was taken....I say nothing of value because he lost some Tiger Tokens (old Esso Loyalty Scheme). Guess what? He reported this to the Guardai and his Insurers! I'd love to have heard either conversation
• Forgot to mention he charged me extra on the bills as I used more electricity than him - not sure how he figured that out but I didn't really care
• On the rare occasion he'd join those of us who ate out of the canteen he'd have soup and water (tap of course)
• On one such occasion he drove (I'm surprised we weren't charged for petrol) and a female colleague took her purse from her bag and left the bag on the back seat of the car. He saw this and said to her "You can't leave your bag there". She replied by saying "it'll be ok, sure can't we see it from the restaurant". he replied stating "I'm not worried about your bag, I'm worried about the car". It was a VW Polo!
• When I was leaving that job he organised a whip round for me. I got a record voucher for £50old pounds which I genuinely appreciated. Thing was a few colleagues saw the voucher and value and said to me that between the three of them they gave £20 each (£60!). So God knows how much he pocketed of that!
• All the classics like repeated use of tea bags etc. - he did all of those
• Never turned on the immersion but here's the best part - had selotape over it to keep it in place!
• Would talk forever about the Nightsaver Plan from ESB
• Or maybe that was Bord Gais but you get the idea
• would buy the reduced stale bread and toast it
• Wrote his name on everything in the fridge though I lost count of the amount of times I saw him use my stuff - again, not that I'd care except for his views on the subject
• there's a lot more but I'm drained even thinking about him!

And before you ask, yes I did move out. All of the above was in a 10week period!

AnonoBoy

ButtersSuki wrote: »

[*]Forgot to mention he charged me extra on the bills as I used more electricity than him - not sure how he figured that out but I didn't really care

Well sure didn't you have that ridiculous and totally unneccessary heater in your bedroom running all through the winter?

ButtersSuki

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Well sure didn't you have that ridiculous and totally unneccessary heater in your bedroom running all through the winter?

Yes, for fear of getting frostbite!

He also used to steam stamps off envelopes and re-use them!

kelle

Great post ButtersSuki!

TiGeR KiNgS

Macca3000 wrote: »

Remember the table quiz nights in pubs years ago. Usually to raise money for some local charity or team or school. It cost about £5 per person on a team and the winning team won maybe a hundred quid. But this was always given back to the charity.

Until one weekend, and for the first time ever I was on a winning team. Along with 2 mates and my American cousin who was visiting. Mates and myself straight away said to keep the money, it was more the craic on those nights anyway. The cousin was pissed and after about 5 minutes of argueing he went up to the top table and asked for his share of the winnings stating that as he wasn't local he didn't feel any need to give his share to local boys GAA club.

Needless to say he has never been too welcome around home even to this day.

Liar
This is from an episode of the Fresh Prince of Bel air.

Vinta81

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Over 10 years ago, I lived with a colleague. I didn't really have much choice, i was new to the town (large, but rural) and all the other decent rental options were either all gone or too far away from my place of work. He owned the house and I rented a room.

He was legendary in his mean-ness. Some examples include:

• the fact that the sitting-room furniture still had all of its wrapping from the shop (I called them "couch condoms") - despite the fact that they were over 5 years old at that point.
• all of the condiments were taken from various hotels, take-aways etc.
• he refused to turn on the heat in the house - we had a major "discussion" over this. I lost. So I bought an electric heater and spent most of the time in my room or out or in my gfs
• he would socialise with a group of colleagues (as did I) and always turn up late and leave early to avoid having to buy a round
• Further to the above, one night we when we were all out, he decided to help me carry a particularly large round to the table. He then rather slyly announced "look what I've brought ye" (not bought, brought!). There was amazement all-round (I was paying and taking the last few drinks down to the table). The next day a colleague said to me "can you believe X bought that big round last night?". It was my round of course and while he didn't technically say he bought it, he didn't deny it either
• One time he announced he was going home for the weekend. I was thrilled and planned a nice rosemantic w/end with the gf with the house to ourselves. He left about 7 so I set a nice big fire (NOTE: this was the first time the fire had been used as he was too cheap to buy coal) in the sitting room. He forgot something and returned to the house around 8. When he saw the fire, he stayed for the weekend! I was so p*ssed off I just left him at it and stayed in the gfs for the weekend. When I returned on Sunday he had used the coal on all 3 days! I wouldn't have a problem with that except he was so stingy he'd have gone ape if I dared use anything of his.
• we shared the bills but I never saw them. He's give me a figure and I'd just have to pay. I asked him to see a bill once and he said he shredded them immediately after opening them as they contained "confidential information"! Needless to say he didn't have a shredder
• I saw him take a jar of half-used coffee from the canteen. It was communal so he had no right to take it
• His car was once broken into. A window was broken but nothing of value was taken....I say nothing of value because he lost some Tiger Tokens (old Esso Loyalty Scheme). Guess what? He reported this to the Guardai and his Insurers! I'd love to have heard either conversation
• Forgot to mention he charged me extra on the bills as I used more electricity than him - not sure how he figured that out but I didn't really care
• On the rare occasion he'd join those of us who ate out of the canteen he'd have soup and water (tap of course)
• On one such occasion he drove (I'm surprised we weren't charged for petrol) and a female colleague took her purse from her bag and left the bag on the back seat of the car. He saw this and said to her "You can't leave your bag there". She replied by saying "it'll be ok, sure can't we see it from the restaurant". he replied stating "I'm not worried about your bag, I'm worried about the car". It was a VW Polo!
• When I was leaving that job he organised a whip round for me. I got a record voucher for £50old pounds which I genuinely appreciated. Thing was a few colleagues saw the voucher and value and said to me that between the three of them they gave £20 each (£60!). So God knows how much he pocketed of that!
• All the classics like repeated use of tea bags etc. - he did all of those
• Never turned on the immersion but here's the best part - had selotape over it to keep it in place!
• Would talk forever about the Nightsaver Plan from ESB
• Or maybe that was Bord Gais but you get the idea
• would buy the reduced stale bread and toast it
• Wrote his name on everything in the fridge though I lost count of the amount of times I saw him use my stuff - again, not that I'd care except for his views on the subject
• there's a lot more but I'm drained even thinking about him!

And before you ask, yes I did move out. All of the above was in a 10week period!

What an absolute nightmare that must of been! It was a very entertaining post though. The guy sounds bloody crackers!

ButtersSuki

Vinta81 wrote: »

What an absolute nightmare that must of been! It was a very entertaining post though. The guy sounds bloody crackers!

Bonkers! Totally. All jokes aside though, I think he had must have had some form of OCD - not an expert medical opinion by any means but he was SO anal about penny pinching. I have loads more stories but a bit busy at the mo. - will defo. post some again in the not too distant future though.

The sad thing was when I left he thought I was his best friend when in reality I hated him and his pettiness. In a strange way I felt sorry for him.

Hamiltonion

ButtersSuki wrote: »

• On one such occasion he drove (I'm surprised we weren't charged for petrol) and a female colleague took her purse from her bag and left the bag on the back seat of the car. He saw this and said to her "You can't leave your bag there". She replied by saying "it'll be ok, sure can't we see it from the restaurant". he replied stating "I'm not worried about your bag, I'm worried about the car". It was a VW Polo!

To be fair he was right about this, no point having a window broken over some bint leaving a handbag in plain view on the backseat.

jackiebaron

JohnCleary wrote: »

One myself this morning but think it's just cheeky rather than stingy....

In college, Q'ing at the Canteen for the breakfast with friends (I didn't order anything, was'nt going waiting my money on canteen food) who had ordered a full breakfast when they were told that they were out of sausages and to come back in a few mins for fresh ones.

So we all sit down and the lads proceed to eat away. When they're done they went back to get the rest of their brekkie (teh sausages). Tehy all come back with 2 sausages each which is fine because it was part of what they'd paid for.

Thought i'd chance my arm, went up and gave teh same story and also said that my friend was sitting down and didn't get their sausages.

The result: 4 free sausages..... schneakyyyy

That's not being mean, that's just being scummy. I like it.

ButtersSuki

Hamiltonion wrote: »

To be fair he was right about this, no point having a window broken over some bint leaving a handbag in plain view on the backseat.

On one level, yes, he was right - but that didn't apply in this case.

You had to be there to appreciate the scene. This was restaurant on top of a hill in a rural town (and one with practically zero crime) at lunchtime on a bright day and the car was parked adjacent to the window of the restaurant in which we were seated (if they opened the window we could almost touch the car) - I'm not talking about an underground car-park off O'Connell Street at night! Being on top of a hill you could see all the way down the considerable length of the driveway AND if there were 5 cars in the car-park it was a busy day. A petty thief would be going MILES out of his way for some slim pickings if he fancied his chances here.

AGGGGGGH!!!!!! Getting angry even thinking about him!

ButtersSuki

TiGeR KiNgS wrote: »

Liar
This is from an episode of the Fresh Prince of Bel air.

What? The Fresh Prince had a GAA team? That Will Smith is versatile....:D:D:D

Firehen

Man, Buttersuki, you must have the patience of a saint to put up with that for 10 weeks! I'd defo have fllipped the lid much sooner into that arrangement.

I'm pretty stingy myeslf, but always within reason (in my opinion!). I'd much rather throw on an extra layer of clothes or a blanket than put the heating on, and I'm a very careful shopper, but I'd like to think I'm still reasonable about most things.

One example I can think of was when me and a few mates were on J1 in San Diego for a summer. We collected all beer cans for the majority of the summer cos there was a refund policy of 5 cents a can, I think. At one point, we had bags upon bags of cans in the house and when we had to move we had no car to drop us at the nearest collection point. Rather than simply throwing the cans out, or leave them on the street for a lucky homeless type, we decided to bring them with us.

In the end, we had to give up the ghost and just throw them out, but it was only when no alternative remained. Probably about $100 between 7 or 8 of us, and we were devastated!

Firehen

Firehen wrote: »

One example I can think of was when me and a few mates were on J1 in San Diego for a summer. We collected all beer cans for the majority of the summer cos there was a refund policy of 5 cents a can, I think. At one point, we had bags upon bags of cans in the house and when we had to move we had no car to drop us at the nearest collection point. Rather than simply throwing the cans out, or leave them on the street for a lucky homeless type, we decided to bring them with us.

In the end, we had to give up the ghost and just throw them out, but it was only when no alternative remained. Probably about $100 between 7 or 8 of us, and we were devastated!

thats 2000 cans :eek:

I call shenanigans!