Heh! Heh!
The thing is though, is it really being cheap or just being prudent?
I've had more than enough $5 cups of Starbucks & other pretentious, yet dramatically overpriced coffees to know I'm really not missing anything by brewing my own excellent coffee just the way I like it for less than a quarter. If I'm out & about & want a great, fresh cup of coffee, I stop at Sheetz, a regional convenience store & pay less than a $1 for a 24 oz. cup & I have 10 or more excellent choices of coffee.
Does that make me cheap?
My Wal-Mart - Value City wardrobe is quite comfy & durable. In fact it consistently beats the crap out of a lot of stuff I've gotten at 4 & 5x the cost at the Macy's & other top shelf retailers.
Does that make me cheap?
I rent DVD's online for about $1.35 each from a video library of 60,000 titles instead of spending $2 for gas to pay $4.30 to rent a DVD at a store with less than 5,000 titles.
Does that make me cheap?
When I travel, I use Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, etc., along with the internet to get unbelievable discounts on hotels, car rentals & air fare. I also have frequent traveler cards for airlines, hotels & car rentals that have turned into fantastic free vacations.
Does that make me cheap?
When my favorite New Balance tennis shoes went on sale almost 1/2 off, I bought 4 pair of them. One is an all black pair kept pristine for times when I want to dress nice. I don't care if folks look down & eventually figure out I'm in comfy tennis shoes instead of uncomfortable "dress" shoes (ya, I do have dress shoes for when I absolutely must wear them). The other three pair get rotated daily. They are now pushing 8 years old, yet they are still in great shape. In a few years when a good quality tennis shoe is on sale, I'll do it again.
Does that make me cheap?
In fact, I apply the same methodology to almost all of my purchases - food, household products, electronics, furniture, appliances. I load up on quality items when they are on sale. I clip coupons & shop where they double their value. If something breaks like a TV, dishwasher, whatever, I don't mind doing without it for a couple of weeks until I can find a suitable replacement on sale.
Does that make me cheap?
I also cash in on rebates from cheese & shampoo all the way up to every vehicle we've purchased in the last 15 years. We paid $13k (including taxes, title & plate) for a brand new Chevy Impala using their discount & rebate, plus our GM card rebate, a Drivers Edge rebate & a bonus GM loyalty rebate. It stickered for almost $26k.
Does that make me cheap?
Probably to a lot of folks think I am. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, so who cares? |
