I won’t pay for Starbucks coffee, although I actually hate the stuff so much that I won’t let anybody else buy it for me, either. I drink the free stuff they have at my office or the deli coffee if I am not heading straight into the office. I am flabbergasted that workmates actually buy coffee to bring to work when the company supplies it for free.
My newest car is a 2006 that I was given by a friend who inherited a new car from her dad. My other car is a 1994. We had one new car and it was the worst thing we ever owned.
I rarely take a cab and hate to even spend for the bus or subway. When I was looking for work in the city after 10 years of driving to work, my main criterion was that the office had to be within walking distance of Penn Station. In 10 years, I have taken the bus to and from Penn only 6 times and those were after surgery when my doctor forbade me to walk that far.
When I was thin, I wore expensive undies, now I buy the cheap 10 packs. I do buy expensive bras but only because I am so top heavy that I need the support.
I am not a wine lover so I buy cheap stuff. I read library books and cherish the twice a year book giveaways the library sponsors. I scan the NYT on line and read 10 articles each month on my home computer, my work computer, H’s computer and my phone. I refuse to pay for online access.
I buy my clothing at Sears or Kmart or Costco although I can afford better since I don’t feel that a fat pig like me deserves to spend a great deal of money on clothing.
I feed my pets generic food from Costco. One dog just turned 16 and other died at 15 so I guess it works as well as the expensive stuff they try to guilt you into feeding them.
I grew up in a housing project on welfare and many of my choices are informed by that as well as having been raised by children of the Depression who went the other way and became spendthrifts who died with nothing.
I do splurge on pens for work because I hate the ones my office supplies. I just don’t feel like I can write a successful motion without the right kind of pen in my hand.
Greeting cards. Will often get them at the dollar store. Can’t see paying $$$ for a piece of paper. I have bought some specialty cards and even ordered 2 on line (like happy 3oth birthday to our son" one). DH spent $7.99 on his Valentine’s Day card for me!!! Mine was… errr… a few dollars less…
I splurge on renovating and decorating my home, and it looks like a magazine picture. Maybe that’s why we never moved - it took too much energy and resources to get everything right. But I did not even know that a wine glass can cost $35. Most of my household stuff comes from HomeGoods, and I just found a very nice wine glass set at $1 each.
I like brand name clothes and shoes (not the label, but the quality, the look and the fit), but I won’t even look at them unless it’s at least 40% off (usually 50-80%) Thanks g-d, there is no shortage of designer clothes on sale all year round. Never ever paid for expensive restaurants, luxury resorts, business class travel etc, unless I travel on business. But I buy outrageously expensive food and coats for my dog.
Haircuts. As a guy in his 50s with a full head of mostly brown curly hair, I should pay more attention to it. I go to the $7 walk-in. It has usually been no worse than the bad haircuts I got for a lot more money.
Neckties. I won’t spend more than about $30. Since moving west this has been less of an issue.
I do not like paying for fuel either. Near term choices in this respect include fuel-conserving driving habits, not driving when some other method works fine, and removing roof racks when not needed to carry something. Longer term choices include significantly factoring fuel efficiency into car choices.
Magazines. If I am bored, I can read a People magazine cover to cover but I would never buy it. My sister used to bring home the older magazines when she managed a dental office and my mom and I would read them for free.
I buy sunglasses and reading glasses at the Dollar Store. I’m constantly putting my reading glasses on and then quickly taking them off, so I misplace them often. I have at least 20 pair (or is it pairs?) of glasses all over my house. For the low cost, I don’t feel guilty at all if I misplace them.
Lunch. I pack my own lunch and snacks every day for work unless I have made plans to meet someone (rare). I also make my own fancy coffee drink every morning to avoid paying at coffee shops.
Cars – buy used, drive a long time. Rarely Uber or Lyft unless it is very expensive to park and the bus doesn’t run there.
Books – I’d be flat broke if I bought all the books I read. Library all the way.
Dental visits – I probably only go every 2 years. No insurance and great tooth enamel, only 3 cavities ever and last one was 28 years ago. Doesn’t seem with the money to me.
Going to have to break some of these habits for a while. Probably having shoulder surgery soon, and am going to pay for convenience for a few months. Apartment cleaning, coffee shops, lots of convenience foods like cut fruit in the supermarket, maybe supermarket delivery. But will try hard to go back to “normal” afterwards.
I won’t get prescription glasses at an optical shop. I buy them online. I worked at an ophthalmology practice and I know how ridiculously marked up those glasses are. There is no reason to pay those inflated prices for prescription glasses.
I can not bring myself to pay full price for anything. It has to be on sale. Even toilet paper. Especially toilet paper. I only buy the brand I like, but when it’s on sale I buy enough to last until the next sale. I do this with EVERYTHING. I think there must be 8 boxes of pasta in my pantry and I got them each for 33 cents. I have 3 of my favorite deodorant in my drawer, normally $6 a piece but I got them for $3 each. I can’t help it, my mom trained me well.
My husband, on the other hand, has no idea what a price tag is. He was shocked when I dragged him to Famous Footwear to pick out a $5 pair of shoes (normally $60 there). I had a lot of stackable coupons and I couldn’t rest until they were used properly!!!
My children hate having to shop for summer clothes in the fall and shop for winter clothes in the spring. But that’s how I get the $3 sweaters.
I hate paying retail for anything, and will buy some brands used on eBay :">
I use coupons and stop by WalMart or Winco once a month to pick up cheaper toiletries and canned goods.
My indulgence the last few years has been waterproof shoes for walking, very useful in the PNW! But I still buy them on sale, yet am still frustrated that the Goretex only lasts a few years.
And I rarely pay for beverages at restaurants or those $5 coffees; as a matter of fact we rarely eat out, we figure we can cook better and cheaper at home.
Yah, I am pretty much cheap, but then when I have accumulated those savings, I do buy nice things, on sale
Yep, library every week
Yes, I rarely ever buy reading material–love libraries and reading for free online. I’m fine with buying inexpensive clothing from Costco and Ross for myself but will splurge on D and S and really great clothing elsewhere sometimes.
I buy all our eyeglasses at Costco. They provide great service and decent prices.
I have no problems splurging on nice mid-high end restaurants for special occasions provided I’m accompanied by several friends and/or good family members. Don’t see the point in eating out at a restaurant especially a mid-high end fancy restaurant alone. Part of the restaurant experience IMO is to experience it with others. If alone, I may as well pack something simple or even forgo the meal altogether*.
I will also splurge on laptops/high end computers for parents so they have something reliable and to minimize the frequency of calling me up for tech support.
I tend to be very cheap with many other areas of personal spending. Admittedly to the point even older relatives who themselves grew up in the Depression/WWII era have said I was too stingy when it comes to spending on myself by their standards back when I was an undergrad/few years out of undergrad.
I am very cheap when it comes to buying computers/computer parts for my own computers. A large part of this is due to the fact computers are worse than cars when it comes to value depreciation along with the fact I have not had to buy a new/used computer in nearly 15 years because every more technologically updated computer I’ve had since then including the notebook I’m using to type this very post has been a dumped computer from relatives, friends, or clients fed up with minor issues I was able to get working again.
In fact, the amount of dumped computers I get as part of my line of work is such that I’ve had to periodically organize selloffs/giveaways of older models to ensure I maintain enough space in my home.
I’ve also been fortunate to not have developed a strong gaming bug unlike many friends I know who end up being part of the top 5% in terms of splurging on the latest/greatest computer/gaming console hardware because it’s required to play the latest games.
I've gotten used to eating 2 meals a day unless it's a leisurely weekend as I find I work better with more energy and clarity of mind in the morning when I wait until taking lunch at 1 pm than if I had breakfast.
Depending on the area of the city and time, I may opt to walk a few miles back home not only to save on the subway/bus fare, but also because it’s actually faster.
Specifically, if I am attending friends’ shows out in Williamsburg,/Bushwick and it goes past 11 pm, it actually saves me an hour to walk all the way home than to take the subway with the long waits, multiple transfers, and delays due to late night repair work.
Weather wouldn’t be a factor unless it’s a heavy blizzard(3+ feet of snow) in which case I wouldn’t have bothered going to the show in the first place or crash with a friend who happens to live in Williamsburg/Bushwick(9/10 I’d still walk back as a challenge).
I seldom take taxis as I still don’t feel they’re worth the premium…especially considering in most cases IME…it’s faster to take the subway or sometimes to even walk.
If it wasn’t for clients treating me to such items as part of conducting business transactions/as gestures of gratitude, I’d never pop into fancy coffee shops or order/buy myself a glass/bottle of wine.
Part of it, however, is due to the fact I only enjoy drinking at social occasions outside my home as I find drinking at home to be about as interesting as watching paint dry. This is a reason why on occasions when party hosts asked me to take home leftover bottles of beer back home that I’ve forgotten about those bottles for as long as 5 years before consuming them.
I still sometimes carry one the habit of wearing clothes/sneakers with holes at home or when I’m doing dirty/grimy work with computers and I don’t want my nice clothes to incur any dirt/damage from said work.
One older college classmate said his retired academic father and I are very similar in this regard…except he’d wouldn’t have worn them to the extent the holes got as big as they did on some of my ratty casual/dirty working outfits.
While I wouldn’t necessarily go broke if I bought all the books I read, it would not only be a burdensome expense, I’d have no space to move around in my home. This is also the same reason why I don’t subscribe to dead-tree newsmedia/magazines.
I have no problem spending on most things and outsourcing things like house cleaning. But I will not pay to have H’s dress shirts done so I wash and iron them at home.
