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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jun 13, 2016 9:37:04 GMT -5
When we were doing long trips, we frequently drove through.....especially when we were young. My parents would start out at night and drive through, switching off. I think it was more to keep us quiet sleeping for the better part of the trip and to get where we were going as fast as possible (limited vacation) than it was to save money.
When we got older, unless there was an urgent cause (like when my grandfather died), they started stopping for the night. I suspect that it was more due to the fact that their bodies just wouldn't let them drive so long all at once.
When I lived in KY, it was nothing for me to drive from there to upstate NY (about 1000 miles) in one day alone. Not long before I left, I started breaking it up into a 2 day trip. My butt just didn't handle driving that long anymore.
Sigh.....age.
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Jun 13, 2016 9:42:15 GMT -5
When we were doing long trips, we frequently drove through.....especially when we were young. My parents would start out at night and drive through, switching off. I think it was more to keep us quiet sleeping for the better part of the trip and to get where we were going as fast as possible (limited vacation) than it was to save money. When we got older, unless there was an urgent cause (like when my grandfather died), they started stopping for the night. I suspect that it was more due to the fact that their bodies just wouldn't let them drive so long all at once. When I lived in KY, it was nothing for me to drive from there to upstate NY (about 1000 miles) in one day alone. Not long before I left, I started breaking it up into a 2 day trip. My butt just didn't handle driving that long anymore. Sigh.....age. When the next generation hears these stories they are going to be so confused. "why didn't you just sleep in the car?" they will ask. "someone had to drive the car." We will respond. "You mean the car didn't drive itself? Were you around when the dinosaurs were alive?" they will ask. Good thing they are cute we will think to ourselves.
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milee
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Post by milee on Jun 13, 2016 10:22:01 GMT -5
Sometimes driving through is about timing, too. In October when I took my boat up to a regatta in New York, I ended up driving straight through which was not the plan. It was just me in the car and the plan was to start as soon as I woke up, drive as far as I could without being tired, stop when tired and stay wherever that was, get up the next morning and finish in NY. Guess I was pretty fired up about the event, so I woke up early, got going and just kept cruising along. Had some audiobooks and switched between them and finding local radio stations, but my car is very, very comfy for road trips so I didn't really feel tired at all until almost midnight when I was through most of what I think was Pennsylvania. The area hotel options looked pretty sketchy plus I did a little quick calculating and realized if I just kept going I would arrive in New York City at 4 in the morning. Since I was already not looking forward to crossing through NYC - which I'm completely unfamiliar with - towing a trailer, the idea of going through it when there wasn't much traffic sounded pretty good. I got some coffee, which works well since I don't normally drink it, and kept going. Got through NYC when there was little traffic and hassle and ended up at the yacht club around 5 in the morning. There was no way I was going to show up at the door of the fellow sailor who was hosting my team for the week at his Greenwich mansion (we never did figure out how many rooms that place had!), so I just unhooked the boat and took a nap in the SUV, showered at the yacht club when I woke up, got the boat all set up in the morning and showed up at our Greenwich host's place late in the afternoon... all good. As for cheap vs. frugal, I think whoever said that being frugal was about saving money in ways that didn't impact others and being cheap was saving money in ways that impacted others was right. Using my example about driving through, if I was not stopping to save money that would be frugal. If instead of cleaning up and waiting until the afternoon to show up at the Greenwich host's house, if I'd driven through the night to save money and showed up at the host's house at 5 in the morning, that would be cheap.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2016 10:32:01 GMT -5
True. I think the first time we drove though 17 was about storms and missing, getting in before snow/ice etc. wanting to be home before it hit rather than snowed in at a hotel. And once we realized we could do it...
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Jun 13, 2016 11:16:19 GMT -5
I think cheap also implies trying to save money in the short term that ends up costing you money long term.
For instance, DH is very frugal and for a long time would only buy his shoes at deep discount places. The poor quality shoes fell apart quickly and he ended up at the podiatrist for a foot issue. I convinced him a pair of good quality shoes would last longer and prevent foot problems, so eventually (after about 30 years) he spent about 100 bucks on a good pair of walking shoes, which he's had for about five years, wearing them almost daily (and they still look good) - plus his food problem went away.
For $100 bucks, he could have bought five pairs of cheap shoes that wore out in a year and he still would have had the foot problem....
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Jun 13, 2016 11:18:54 GMT -5
Oh and we had one of those office women who loved to eat other people's food for free.
Once, our department did something good for another department and they gave us a plate full of fancy brownies. Tons of them. We all had one at break, leaving about 3/4 of the plate untouched. Next morning, they were gone, turns out this woman decided that the remaining brownies were hers to take home.
Wasn't even that she was married and had kids - she lived alone. Just her and a bunch of brownies.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jun 13, 2016 12:46:12 GMT -5
You all here are cheap. I'm frugal.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Jun 13, 2016 13:45:39 GMT -5
I used to be cheap. Now I'm frugal. The correlation may be that I used to be poor (actually living below the poverty line; qualified for EITC and WIC). Now I'm middle class.
My BIL & SIL do get annoyed when I don't want to eat out because it wasn't planned for.
A co-worker put a coffee pot in the staff room. After a few week's he put a sign on it. "So & So's coffee. You're welcome to share, but bring your own." He is kind of an ass in general. Don't most staffroom coffee pots work like this? It gets old providing all of the coffee for a lot of people, particularly if there are two or three pots a day like there are at school. I don't drink coffee, but there used to be a similar sign in our break room. Now it is strictly k-cups, which people keep in their rooms.
A co-worker put a coffee pot in the staff room. After a few week's he put a sign on it. "So & So's coffee. You're welcome to share, but bring your own." He is kind of an ass in general. I don't think this is cheap. Coffee is expensive and it sounds like he is providing the pot, but you need to bring your own coffee. We used to alternate bringing in cans of coffee in one lab I worked in. Same difference. Sorry, I should have given more background information. There is a community coffee pot in the office; people contribute coffee to that coffee pot. This guy doesn't want to share with others. He's pretending to be nice. My issue is the contradictory message of the sign. He's not actually willing to share his coffee.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Jun 13, 2016 13:58:35 GMT -5
I think cheap also implies trying to save money in the short term that ends up costing you money long term.
For instance, DH is very frugal and for a long time would only buy his shoes at deep discount places. The poor quality shoes fell apart quickly and he ended up at the podiatrist for a foot issue. I convinced him a pair of good quality shoes would last longer and prevent foot problems, so eventually (after about 30 years) he spent about 100 bucks on a good pair of walking shoes, which he's had for about five years, wearing them almost daily (and they still look good) - plus his food problem went away.
For $100 bucks, he could have bought five pairs of cheap shoes that wore out in a year and he still would have had the foot problem.... This happened to DH too. He got some "free" boots that were about a size too small. After a month he started commenting that the bottom of his foot was numb. Another month and he started complaining that it hurt whenever he stepped on the ball of his foot. Turns out he had tarsal tunnel (basically foot carpal tunnel) and had to have surgery to remove the scar tissue from around the nerve. I think that adventure cost us around $5K and he was out of work for a week or so. He buys the expensive boots now. As far as the OP goes, I think of cheap as "penny wise, pound foolish" and frugal as being both penny and pound wise.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2016 14:44:21 GMT -5
I think cheap also implies trying to save money in the short term that ends up costing you money long term.
For instance, DH is very frugal and for a long time would only buy his shoes at deep discount places. The poor quality shoes fell apart quickly and he ended up at the podiatrist for a foot issue. I convinced him a pair of good quality shoes would last longer and prevent foot problems, so eventually (after about 30 years) he spent about 100 bucks on a good pair of walking shoes, which he's had for about five years, wearing them almost daily (and they still look good) - plus his food problem went away.
For $100 bucks, he could have bought five pairs of cheap shoes that wore out in a year and he still would have had the foot problem.... Do you mean he's been wearing them almost daily for an hour or so of walking as in for exercise? Or is he wearing them almost daily as in regular shoes. I wear walking shoes to work on orders of my podiatrist. So I wear them every day all day. They don't last five years, and they cost $150. I get about a year's wear of them for daily use, and then they become the garden shoes when I buy the next pair. They do prevent foot problems (plantar fasciitis) so I'm happy to do this. I can (maybe) see them lasting five years if he was only wearing them a little every day. Not five years with real daily usage.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Jun 13, 2016 16:51:46 GMT -5
I think cheap also implies trying to save money in the short term that ends up costing you money long term.
For instance, DH is very frugal and for a long time would only buy his shoes at deep discount places. The poor quality shoes fell apart quickly and he ended up at the podiatrist for a foot issue. I convinced him a pair of good quality shoes would last longer and prevent foot problems, so eventually (after about 30 years) he spent about 100 bucks on a good pair of walking shoes, which he's had for about five years, wearing them almost daily (and they still look good) - plus his food problem went away.
For $100 bucks, he could have bought five pairs of cheap shoes that wore out in a year and he still would have had the foot problem.... Do you mean he's been wearing them almost daily for an hour or so of walking as in for exercise? Or is he wearing them almost daily as in regular shoes. I wear walking shoes to work on orders of my podiatrist. So I wear them every day all day. They don't last five years, and they cost $150. I get about a year's wear of them for daily use, and then they become the garden shoes when I buy the next pair. They do prevent foot problems (plantar fasciitis) so I'm happy to do this. I can (maybe) see them lasting five years if he was only wearing them a little every day. Not five years with real daily usage. Believe it or not, he initially wore them full time, to do everything - including mowing and painting. After a few years they started looking a little shabby due to the scuffs and paint stains on them, but they're still in good condition, no tears and good soles. After about 3 years convinced him to buy a pair of black shoes to use for 'dress' shoes at work, but he still wore the original shoes part of the time to work, and then on weekends. I don't think I'll ever get him to part from them. I got a pair of black work shoes about the same time he got his, and while I haven't worn them as much as he has worn his (I bought additional shoes from the same manufacturer) I have yet to 'retire' any of the shoes from this manufacturer (Ecco) - of course I refrain from wearing them when I'm doing yard work or chores around the house - my momma talk me about 'good shoes' and 'play shoes' - so mine look nicer than his.
Amazingly good shoes, normally I would go through a pair of work shoes in a year, but not since I switched to these.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2016 17:00:34 GMT -5
Do you mean he's been wearing them almost daily for an hour or so of walking as in for exercise? Or is he wearing them almost daily as in regular shoes. I wear walking shoes to work on orders of my podiatrist. So I wear them every day all day. They don't last five years, and they cost $150. I get about a year's wear of them for daily use, and then they become the garden shoes when I buy the next pair. They do prevent foot problems (plantar fasciitis) so I'm happy to do this. I can (maybe) see them lasting five years if he was only wearing them a little every day. Not five years with real daily usage. Believe it or not, he initially wore them full time, to do everything - including mowing and painting. After a few years they started looking a little shabby due to the scuffs and paint stains on them, but they're still in good condition, no tears and good soles. After about 3 years convinced him to buy a pair of black shoes to use for 'dress' shoes at work, but he still wore the original shoes part of the time to work, and then on weekends. I don't think I'll ever get him to part from them. I got a pair of black work shoes about the same time he got his, and while I haven't worn them as much as he has worn his (I bought additional shoes from the same manufacturer) I have yet to 'retire' any of the shoes from this manufacturer (Ecco) - of course I refrain from wearing them when I'm doing yard work or chores around the house - my momma talk me about 'good shoes' and 'play shoes' - so mine look nicer than his.
Amazingly good shoes, normally I would go through a pair of work shoes in a year, but not since I switched to these.
I'm impressed. Of course, mine start looking shabby as you said after the year so I buy a new pair for the new school year. Last year's pair then becomes the garden shoes. Mine are New Balance, which is what the podiatrist recommends. But they come from the NB store because he said I had an odd fit.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Jun 13, 2016 17:06:49 GMT -5
Oh and we had one of those office women who loved to eat other people's food for free.
Once, our department did something good for another department and they gave us a plate full of fancy brownies. Tons of them. We all had one at break, leaving about 3/4 of the plate untouched. Next morning, they were gone, turns out this woman decided that the remaining brownies were hers to take home.
Wasn't even that she was married and had kids - she lived alone. Just her and a bunch of brownies.
I hope you publicly shamed her into replacing them. One of those people who never feel shame, unfortunately. Said she thought no one would mind if she took the rest of the plate home, and that was that. No one wanted to be the petty person fighting about brownies, so everyone else dropped it - but we remembered . Never left food unguarded after that.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2016 17:39:57 GMT -5
I think cheap also implies trying to save money in the short term that ends up costing you money long term.
For instance, DH is very frugal and for a long time would only buy his shoes at deep discount places. The poor quality shoes fell apart quickly and he ended up at the podiatrist for a foot issue. I convinced him a pair of good quality shoes would last longer and prevent foot problems, so eventually (after about 30 years) he spent about 100 bucks on a good pair of walking shoes, which he's had for about five years, wearing them almost daily (and they still look good) - plus his food problem went away.
For $100 bucks, he could have bought five pairs of cheap shoes that wore out in a year and he still would have had the foot problem.... Be careful. You are supposed to replace walking shoes after so many miles. Sort of like car tires, they wear out. The padding and support wears down. That's why they do not recommend buying used athletic shoes. I went to the doctor because I hurt my back pretty bad. She asked me how old my shoes were and how old my mattress was.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Jun 13, 2016 17:42:10 GMT -5
I hope you publicly shamed her into replacing them. One of those people who never feel shame, unfortunately. Said she thought no one would mind if she took the rest of the plate home, and that was that. No one wanted to be the petty person fighting about brownies, so everyone else dropped it - but we remembered . Never left food unguarded after that.
Yeah, there really is nothing you can do with someone like that. The entitlement is strong with them. Your only recourse is to remove the opportunity.
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suesinfl
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Post by suesinfl on Jun 13, 2016 18:18:42 GMT -5
We have a staff training day every quarter when we are closed for business and always have a staff luncheon in which we all bring in different dishes. After lunch, all food would be put in the fridge for us to take our item home or for snacks at break time. We had one staff member who would always make 3 or 4 plates piled high to take home for herself and husband, but she never contributed anything.
So now most bring in food that does not need to be kept cold or it is put in coolers that we bring and take home. We do not mind if some wants a snack, but to take more than you need, is just not fair. Of course if we do not care, we leave it in the staff fridge as a free for all.
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plugginaway22
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Post by plugginaway22 on Jun 13, 2016 19:53:03 GMT -5
Our medical office gets occasional luncheons provided by the pharmaceutical reps. One guy brought us huge pans of delicious pulled pork for BarBQ sandwiches. We were all excited for the next day's leftovers, but alas, gone when we arrived the next morning. We had it narrowed down to 2 employees, but neither would fess up and I looked at them differently after that. Cheap/Thief??
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2016 20:47:27 GMT -5
I prefer to drive straight thru if possible, when there is nothing I want to see on the way. It's less about cheap than prioritizing, time and $. And 5 kids need 3 rooms? I was thinking one for parents, one for the 3 boys, one for my sister and me.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2016 20:49:22 GMT -5
Mom and two girls, dad and three boys And still room for one or two more!
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Jun 13, 2016 21:05:15 GMT -5
I think cheap also implies trying to save money in the short term that ends up costing you money long term.
For instance, DH is very frugal and for a long time would only buy his shoes at deep discount places. The poor quality shoes fell apart quickly and he ended up at the podiatrist for a foot issue. I convinced him a pair of good quality shoes would last longer and prevent foot problems, so eventually (after about 30 years) he spent about 100 bucks on a good pair of walking shoes, which he's had for about five years, wearing them almost daily (and they still look good) - plus his food problem went away.
For $100 bucks, he could have bought five pairs of cheap shoes that wore out in a year and he still would have had the foot problem.... My dad is like this. Drives me insane! Then he wonders why he's always replacing things. I just can't convince him that it's cheaper in the long run to buy quality.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jun 15, 2016 11:48:17 GMT -5
my aunt saves unused condiment packets. I went to Chick Fil A for lunch tomorrow and I didn't use one of the honey mustards they gave me. I was about to throw it away but she said she'd take it, and she just popped it in her bag. I don't know if that's necessarily cheap, but I think it's weird when I open a fridge and see a ton of condiment packages.
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jun 15, 2016 11:55:42 GMT -5
my aunt saves unused condiment packets. I went to Chick Fil A for lunch tomorrow and I didn't use one of the honey mustards they gave me. I was about to throw it away but she said she'd take it, and she just popped it in her bag. I don't know if that's necessarily cheap, but I think it's weird when I open a fridge and see a ton of condiment packages. Hoarding? Mom used to do that too, not sure if she still does but I think she's quit.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Jun 15, 2016 11:56:19 GMT -5
I don't go out of my way to get extra stuff, but when we get Chinese takeout and there are left over packets of soy and hot sauce, I don't throw them away. I take them to the office when I make Chinese food at home - easy to transport and does not make a mess. Same with the crushed peppers and cheese when we get pizza - if there is more than what we use, I save them.
I have a small box in one shelf where I throw the packets and use them when needed.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jun 15, 2016 11:57:51 GMT -5
Lol, "tomorrow" should have been "yesterday"
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jun 15, 2016 11:58:46 GMT -5
I have a drawer at work with a few leftover packets too but all the useful stuff is gone because I've cut back on going out and I'm the only one adding to it. It's my kitchen. I just have small condiments in the fridge. I will bring a mostly empty soy sauce bottle to work when I buy a new one.
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mollyanna58
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Post by mollyanna58 on Jun 15, 2016 12:58:27 GMT -5
Lol, "tomorrow" should have been "yesterday" Darn! I thought your post was proof of time travel.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2016 12:05:36 GMT -5
Separate checks at the restaurant - is this cheap or frugal? I have an (ex) friend that seem to think that asking for separate checks is rude & you should just split the bill evenly. Of course she was ordering drinks and appies when others didn't. Why is being responsible for your own bill in any way rude? I now hang out with a group that always asks separate checks I like the explanation that cheap is penny-wise but pound-foolish. Frugal seems sensible to me. I buy clothes mostly used. I could buy new, but why do that when I can usually find what I want from a thrift shop? Jeans I buy new because they are harder to find good quality, fitting ones used. I think this is frugal. If I eat out, I eat quality food which might be expensive or inexpensive, just depends. I won't eat fast food, because I think that is sooo unhealthy. But I will gladly eat street tacos from the truck - yum!! Being frugal however, means I don't eat out very often!!
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Jun 16, 2016 12:28:03 GMT -5
I don't think it's being cheap to want to pay for your own food. Cheap is when you order drinks, apps, and a to-go order and THEN offer to split the bill "evenly" with your companion. I went to Chili's last week with a group of people and the only option to split the bill was 2 ways, 3 ways, or 4 ways (just dividing the amount vs. what you actually ordered). Very annoying.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Jun 16, 2016 15:25:54 GMT -5
I don't think it's being cheap to want to pay for your own food. Cheap is when you order drinks, apps, and a to-go order and THEN offer to split the bill "evenly" with your companion. I went to Chili's last week with a group of people and the only option to split the bill was 2 ways, 3 ways, or 4 ways (just dividing the amount vs. what you actually ordered). Very annoying. I went to dinner with my supervision training class in DC. You could only use 8 cards to pay and no separate checks. Just had to tell them what to put on the card. Very luckily most of us had cash. We felt like this should have been told to the girl who made a reservation for 25 people! Then we would have been prepared.
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