I get cheaper and cheaper each year.
As a young man, I was a spendthrift. If I had a buck, I would spend a buck, for myself and for others. Worrying about tomorrow or saving for an emergency wasn’t on my agenda. It’s not surprising that I eventually recognized that this mindset needed some serious realignment.
I still haven’t attained the status of “The Stingiest Person in America,” but I’m trying.
Today is a beautiful spring day in the Poconos, PA. It’s sunny and sixty-five degrees.
Yard - Before Clean-up (click to enlarge)
Glorious!
So, I had no excuse for avoiding attending to my yard. The newly melted snow has revealed a leaf-strewn mess. It may look like I did not rake up the leaves last fall, but I did – twice. Unfortunately, the autumn winds placed them all back on my lawn prior to the first snow.
I don’t really mind this spring chore because it allows the grass to grow evenly, and I do love a nice lawn. However, this year, I had an additional chore to attend to. Last Christmas, a very tall tree in the middle of my front yard could not withstand the weight of an ice storm, so it came down and crashed onto my house.
I posted a YouTube video to document the aftermath.
(Okay, here’s where I get back to the topic of cheapness).
My homeowner’s insurance paid to have the tree taken off of my house and they also paid to have the roof repaired. That was good. However, I learned that my $500 deductible was to be used to have the tree carted away. If I did not want the tree parts taken away, I could keep the $500.
Since it was the middle of the winter and I would not have to even think about moving those tree parts to the woods beyond my backyard until spring, this was an easy call.
“Take down the tree, and leave the pieces on the ground, please.”
Cheapness prevails! Yay!
Oh, it’s time to move the tree parts now.
The first photo was taken after I had ditched the tree parts in the back. I used a hand truck to roll the larger pieces and hand carried the rest. It took a lot of trips, but I did it, so I feel like I’ve made $500 today. Of course, after doing all of that carting, I didn’t feel like raking leaves anymore, but I started anyway.
So far, I’m about six hours into it and half-way done. I took a break and drove to the gas station because I had run out of smokes. My daughter asked for a pink lemonade drink, so I said, “sure”. While reaching for the 20-ounce bottle, I paused. The price: $1.49. What?
Okay, I get the whole convenience store thing – you pay for convenience. I understand. But the cheap side of me was still ticked off. I love Pepsi, and I stock up on the 2-liter bottles when they go on sale for $0.99, so their pricing seemed outrageous.
I know. Perhaps I’ve gone over the edge here a bit. I bought the damn lemonade, but I glared at the cashier while doing it.
So there, take that, convenience store gougers!
That’ll learn ‘em.
Yard - After Clean-up (Click to enlarge)
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Do you think that cheapness as a virtue?
What is the best bargain that you’ve ever made?
Have some fun and…
… share your story.
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Ray } – 
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t believe cheapness is a virtue. There is a difference between being frugal and being cheap. The best price is not always the lowest price. The best price is is the lowest price for the most quality item. I also believe life is meant to be enjoyed.
Food is meant to be enjoyed. I buy quality food even if it costs a little more because it usually doesn’t cost that much more. I have a friend who is so cheap she will only drink water when she goes out to eat to save the money. Not me. I will supersize my meal to get the bigger drink and I always order a Diet Coke at restaurants. And I get that thing refilled about 3-5 times before the meal is done. Just my way of enjoying the experience.
I have also learned that quality is less expensive than quantity. I have seen many people buy the cheap item to save the money and they end up replacing it several times. I say suck it up and pay for the quality item up front. It saves money in the long run.
All that being said, I do have a great story about a killer deal. For about three of the four years my husband and I lived in our first house we never paid for our home phone service. It used to be that one phone company was the only choice for local service. We hated that company and as soon as we had the chance to switch to another provider we did. Somehow that switch made us fall through the phone service cracks. Our phone bills were emailed. They said our bill was say $30 and we had a credit for $30! This went on for maybe a year and then we stopped getting the bills. My husband tried to figure out who we owed money to but neither company would claim us as customers. So we used our phones for free and used our cell phones for long distance calls, just in case! Moving was sad because we knew we’d never get that deal again.
Hi Tristan,
Okay, you’ve got me there — being frugal is probably a better way to go. I’ve lived your example of having to replace cheap items. When we were buying appliances for the new house, nearly twelve years ago, we bought the lowest priced models — dishwasher, stove, washer, dryer, and refrigerator. Only the refrigerator turned out to be a good buy, as it’s still doing its job. The other four appliances each needed to be replaced more than once. Last year, I finally saw the light and replaced them with mid-range priced models. They work better, are quieter, and are more energy efficient.
In terms of food, there are only certain items where I insist on buying the higher priced items such as a higher grade of chopped meat and Häagen-Dazs as my ice cream of choice. I’ve found that many of the generic food items are fair substitutes, so I do buy some of those.
That was a great deal you had going for you with the phone companies. It’s very unusual that neither would claim you as a customer. That’s falling through the cracks in a good way, for sure.
Ray
I just realized I forgot to congratulate you on saving $500 for moving the tree yourself! That is a great example of frugality. I have no doubt you felt like you earned the money today. Good work.
Thanks, Tristan. I try to do as much as I can on my own. It may not be good for kids who offer to shovel the snow from my driveway, but it feels good to be a do-it-yourselfer. Some other things that I have done are painting the entire inside of the house and minor car repairs. I’ll probably have to hire someone to get that tree stump out of the ground though. Some things are beyond my capabilities. Ray