I have a set of pots and pans I got as a wedding present 30 yrs ago - and so of course, things are kinda falling apart. But God forbid, I purchase a replacement pot at full price…or TJMaxx price…I’m waiting for a certain pot to land in clearance and have that beautiful red sticker…then and only then, will I get a new pot. I know it’s one of those things that will last another 30 yrs, and it’s only $49.99 as it is, but I just can’t seem to buy it. Meanwhile - I pay $750 per dog to have their teeth ultrasonically cleaned and cough that up no issue. Go figure.
I have joked with my kids that ‘i want what I want; I just want to pay less for it’. I consider myself quite frugal because, at most purchase points, I make sure I have found the best price for it (balancing convenience, access, etc.) DH, on the other hand, doesn’t desire a whole lot but, what he does want, he has no interest in looking at the price tag. Took awhile for me to get used to the vast differences in our style.
Still, I do spend a fair amount on many things but the things that I do that fit this thread include always having water rather than a soda, etc. when going out to eat (have to say I have given up soda and water is now my preference) and buying discounted movie tickets at Costco and get annoyed with myself if I ever have to pay full price because I’ve run out/don’t have them with me). This is the first year DH and I have a high deductible health plan. I have found myself not going to the doctor for something relatively minor that, with our old coverage, I would have gone.
A couple thoughts that might be of interest to others…purchasing books is another pet peeve in that I only read them once and it seems like a waste. In earlier days, I also didn’t want the physical item in my home once I was done. My library system has a really poor system for e-readers but my D, in DC, has a great one. Just last week she helped me access hers and I now have two recently released books on my ipad. I’m very excited about my new access and, if your own local library’s system doesn’t work well, perhaps you know someone or have a kid in an area with a better one.
When buying online, I always go to froogle.com and enter the item which shows me where it’s sold least expensively. Of course one has to balance shipping fees, length of time to receive it, etc. but it really helps. Finally, there are multiple sites like mrrebates.com, ebates.com and others that provide a rebate when purchasing online.
I too recently subscribed to digital access to the NYT. I appreciate the reporting and am happy to pay to help ensure the organization stays in existence.
Hope no one minds the tangents.
Comforters! I always get mine at KMart ot Targer, and will continue to do so as long as we have pets in the house.
I’m cheap for myself. I look for deals and try to buy on sale. But I’ll pay full price when buying for others.
Today I bought some SmartWool socks for myself at an outlet store. They were irregulars. I didn’t notice anything wrong. They were $9.99. I buy them as stocking stuffers for my kids and pay $19.99+ for a pair of socks.
My current lifestyle and eventual retirement have been facilitated by being cheap. Now that I have downsized, and all resources are not going towards paying off a mortgage, I can relax a bit. But I said something to a D that my current state is directly related to all of us rarely eating out, drinking water only when we did eat out, and buying many clothes and household items at garage sales and St. Vinnies for years. The point of frugality has been to afford international travel, travel to see family, quality musical instruments, and living in a neighborhood I love.
Other frugal behaviors include rarely buying alcohol in restaurants, shopping CL, rarely buying even a regular coffee, much less a latte from coffee places, driving a car cheap on both repairs and gas, flying economy, playing the FF mile games, no cable, and rarely buying meat. Not being too picky helps in making frugal choices.
I do pay for the NY Times, and subscribe to a number of magazines because I don’t want them to stop publishing (subscriptions are dirt cheap in many cases) and buy books for book groups. I splurge on good socks for my sore feet, and quality if discounted shoes,
I see we’re back to bragging about how frugal we are instead of addressing the more interesting topic raised by the OP.
I absolutely do not live like you great Lakes mom. H and I buy a bottle of wine when we eat out knowing full well we are paying three times the price of retail for that bottle. I also no longer ever go to garage sales and buy only new clothes. But hopefully on sale!
I also love to travel. That is another area where I am no longer cheap on. At this point in my life I want to stay in nice places. So H and I tend to book upper end hotels and resorts. But I still do not fly first or business class.
D1 flies first class when she is traveling on a long flight and coach for shorter flights. That’s probably the way to go…
Had my oil changed this weekend. Normally I let them change filters and wipers and whatever because I can’t be bothered.
This time they wanted $48 to change the cabin air filter. $48!
So I said no, and when I got home ordered one from Amazon for $7. It takes three minutes to install… Screw you jiffy lube. 
As I noted earlier, I am normally very thrifty. DH is the one with more expensive tastes, but for the most part we agree (or at least, he pretends to agree with me), especially on the important decisions.
In the past five years, we lost both my parents and my father-in-law, as well as several of my and DH’s aunts/uncles, and a couple neighbors. Back in high school, DH worked part time in a mortuary, occassionally helping with the heavy lifting (one of his friends’ had the family business). After attending a half dozen funeral services, DH recently told me that he wishes to save us any funeral expenses, and instead have his body donated to medical science. While this is certainly a noble endeavor, as the need in med schools in always present, I think DH decided this because he wants to avoid a hefty funeral bill. His words - “I can go out as cheap as anyone”
I would like to donate my body to medical science so they can figure out WHY I have these unexplained health issues and hopefully help future people. I wouldn’t do it to save money, but my understanding is that they will create your remains after the medical school is done with it and have a ceremony where they distribute the cremains in the ocean at the end of the term/year. I would still leave it to my loved ones to do what they feel would help them most to do as they prefer for any services and what they want to do with my body. I’m fine with donation to medical science and cremation with my cremains scattered.
My grandfather always said “A pine box was good enough for Eisenhower, it’s good enough for me.”
I’ve found that I’m not as cheap as I’ve always thought I was. Some of it is that as I’ve become older, I like what I like and life is short.
But I will research things to death to save a few bucks. I will not buy something until I check and see if I’ve got the best price. I bought a car today. I found a car I liked. And then I went to the websites of other dealers and saved myself $800 off the price. It only took a few minutes. The Internet is a game changer.
I absolutely love quality costume jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, and pins), but I won’t spend any money on a piece for me. I’ll buy full price for my kids, but I just can’t do it for myself, so I hunt thrift stores, rummage sales, estate sales, etc. Usually I can find beautiful pieces for next to nothing. (Disclaimer: I will pay for new earrings because I can’t handle wearing earrings that others have worn.)
Even if u soak them in alcohol?
@deb22, you sound a lot like me.
I spend plenty of money on things.
BUT, almost always, I care about getting a good deal.
I’ve tried, and can do it when it’s my kids’ or my sister’s earrings (I use alcohol for those), but any other used ones, I just get squeamish. 30+ years ago when I had my ears pierced multiple times, I had a couple of bad infections, and I’ve been overly cautious with my ears ever since.
Socks: I never realized there was such a market for nice socks!!! Well, I’m cheap on socks. Cvs, target, never noticed.
Cars: I buy 'em and drive 'em into the ground.
Coffee: Well, my S/O purchased an espresso maker, grinder and roaster. While you may think that’s excessive, we no longer need to buy coffee out at Starbucks, DD, or any other place. The set up has MORE than paid for itself in less than a year. We order green beans online (which are half the price of roasted beans), I roast them, and we can have as many espressos or lattes a day as we like. And the best part is, the coffee quality and taste is so much better!
Food: Costco has wonderful quality meats and fruits. Nothing better than a home-cooked meal! It’s never disappointing as many restaurants can be! We stock up on other items there as well like paper goods and medicines. My S/O even got his glasses there! He also gets his gas there. That’s where I draw the line, I prefer to get the expensive gas around the corner from my house. ;))
Cards: I rarely buy cards, but I went to Hallmark a couple of weeks ago and spent 24 bucks on 4 cards, I mean whaaaaaat! Next day, I went to dollar store and realized that is where I need to go from now on. Same 4 cards (basically) $4.
Haircuts: I spend full price on those. Cut, highlights, blow dry can put me out $200+ yikes.
cards-yeah, I accidentally spent NINE DOLLARS on a plain old valentine’s day card at Publix.
What the hell! Dollar store cards for me from now on. That’s ridiculous to spend that much on a mass-produced piece of paper.
Greeting cards are definitely a place I try to economize, except for maybe a very special occasion. I love the look of the more expensive cards, but can’t see spending $4 or more on something someone may well throw away. You can get cheaper cards at the Hallmark stores, the big box stores or the supermarket.
You can get nice handmade cards at places like etsy. Still not cheap, but much nicer than mass produced Hallmark fare.