Examples of when being too cheap can cost you more time, money, pain and/or misery

Windows7forever on 05/05/2014 - 07:25

I'm the tightwad of the family and everyone knows it. I'm always shopping for a bargain and looking to save money in any way possible. Reducing my cost of living as much as possible is also another crazy masochistic hobby of mine, sometimes at the expense of my quality of life.
These are some examples of when taking your cheapness too far can have a contrary effect on your life based on the law of diminishing returns.

e.g. Eating a poor diet of 2 minute noodles(20c/meal, bargain!) for a year and becoming an anemic and malnourished corpse(they could play you as an extra on the Walking Dead)
e.g. Not having 3rd party insurance("its never going to happen to me") and hitting a $100k Mercedez Benz(nice job buddy!)
e.g. Not paying for the chick on the first date(or even worse, making her pay) and losing the girl of your dreams(she's never gonna call you back)
e.g. Using a frustratingly slow computer still running Windows 95 and a 56k modem because your'e too cheap to upgrade(you're gonna make best friends with the egg timer)
e.g. Being supremely intellectual and studious but not pursuing tertiary education because you are too afraid of amassing a 20k+ HECS debt and the ancillary costs of textbooks, transportation, parking, etc. (you can always become a Garbo)

General Discussion

Comments

  • ihbh on 05/05/2014 - 07:54
    +4

    Gerry Harvey drove through Auburn to get cheap petrol to fill up and was late and missed out on being able to buy a piece of Channel 10 when it was worth much more.

    • Windows7forever on 05/05/2014 - 09:30

      Haha. Mr Gerry Harvey is my idol.

    • mranderson978 on 05/05/2014 - 18:48

      Gerry Harvey is obviously a professional.

  • pao2x on 05/05/2014 - 07:58

    Going to that cheap unfamiliar mechanic to fix or service your car.

    • [Deactivated] on 06/05/2014 - 03:41

      Or letting your old man "fix it"…

      • Windows7forever on 08/05/2014 - 11:05

        So true. I had a friend(budding home mechanic) botch a gasket change, so I ended up taking it to the mechanic the second time and it ended up costing me double all up!

  • Geewhizz on 05/05/2014 - 08:25

    Not having roadside assistance can be a killer if you need a tow.

  • 2ndeffort on 05/05/2014 - 08:50

    I refuse to buy anything unless I feel like I am rogering the seller with the transaction. My problem is that where I might need a new coat for example I will find awesome 60% off deals for goretex coats etc and then over a 3 month period I will end up buying 3 or 4 because they are such awesome bargains. In the end I have probably spent as much as the original full price coat but have 4 coats. Problem is I only need one!

    • [Deactivated] on 05/05/2014 - 08:58
      +8

      I hope you're posting those deals on ozbargain.

      EDIT: Just checked your profile. Looks like you are. Keep up the good work.

  • muzzamo on 05/05/2014 - 09:00
    +2

    I have a friend who is quite tight and what I find frustrating is that he is happy to waste everyone's time in order to save himself money.

    Say you are in a group of 10 people, and he wastes about a half hour of everyone's time to save himself $5, you can see where the problem is if you value everyones time at an average of $30 an hour each.

    • Windows7forever on 05/05/2014 - 09:29
      +7

      I'm surprised he still has any friends.

  • geek001 on 05/05/2014 - 09:34
    +7

    Spent 2 hours on the internet looking for the cheapest rate for flights/hotels, and save myself $10? Travel to all 3 <insert big retail chain name here> store near me to find that bargain posted on OzB that says in-store only only to return home with nothing?

    • halfnhalf71 on 05/05/2014 - 13:48
      +1

      I do that! Problem is, a lot of the time you don't know that you are only going to save a few bucks. The lure of finding that amazing deal keeps you going until you are fed up and only then do you realise you've just wasted a few hours/days/weeks to save a few bucks. Having said that, the 'Find me a bargain' section on OzB has been good value for very little effort!

      • itajac on 05/05/2014 - 13:50

        I second the usefulness of OZB's, find me a bargain.

  • Plankton on 05/05/2014 - 14:20
    +3

    It's how I got the clap

  • juventino on 06/05/2014 - 01:16

    Cheap dental works..the pain, misery and extra expenses bite my %ss in near future

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