Extreme Cheapskates

[bellicosebroad]

I looked for another thread on this and didn't find one. Anyone else find this show interesting and slightly disturbing at the same time? I have to admit I've watched in part to get ideas on how to save money, but no way would I dumpster dive for what has to be rat infested food like Kay (Kate?) the accountant did. She made me a little queasy (no thanks to washing my clothes in used shower water, either), but they had a guy a while ago who cut his supposedly empty toothpaste tube in half to get another week's worth out of it. I've done that since. :-) Most of it just leaves me scratching my head, feeling nauseous or mad (because frugal but perfectly solvent Kate refuses to pay full price to the poor street vendor who's just trying to make a living, frex), but there's the odd gem, too.

[Claddagh]

The toothpaste thing I think is really creative and plan on trying that.

I try to be frugal where I can but some of the ideas they had just creeped me out. I wouldn't wash my clothes in shower water either. Like you some of it has me going "What?"

[Deleted06]

We do lots of things to stretch our money but there is no way I would eat dumpster dived food. That seems like a trip to the ER waiting to happen.

[lilwriter85]

I saw that show a few months back. The toothpaste thing is something that a lot of people do. Some of the stuff those people are pretty crazy and really annoying. I didn't like that guy who took a bouquet of flowers out of the garbage to give his wife.

[Witsec5]

Playing games with health is as my grandma used to say "penny wise and pound foolish." Eating poor quality food will cost later in the long run, whether it is a chronic health problem or a trip to the ER as another poster mentioned.

I would like to watch the show though.

[Gypsy]

I can't imagine how much money Kay (the NYC CPA) has. When I lived in Manhattan the apartment building we lived in required you to make at least 200k a year (we did Not make that much, but that's another story). Her gas is off, her air is off and she barely uses other utilities.

I dont think I would dumpster dive for food, but furniture and home decor hell yes. I once got a brand new Sony stereo system just because its not a big deal for people in that city to throw away 300 dollar items on a whim.

The young zumba instructor guy was a douche though, charging his friends rent when he lives in the townhouse for free.

[Seven Severn]

I haven't seen the show, but this is related: When I lived in WI (a university town) there was a guy who would dumpster dive around campus for aluminum cans. It turned out that he was a local accountant who had a successful practice and he paid for his kid's law school tuition from the money he earned from the cans.

[Witsec7]

I haven't seen the show, but this is related: When I lived in WI (a university town) there was a guy who would dumpster dive around campus for aluminum cans. It turned out that he was a local accountant who had a successful practice and he paid for his kid's law school tuition from the money he earned from the cans.

We had a forestry prof on campus that collected cans. He was making well over 150K a year. I still see him diving for cans now that he's retired. I have a pal in town who upper middle class and now that she is retired she dives for cans 8 hours a day :o

Now I don't mind alley shopping for furniture and creative finds. I do miss it now that I'm a pedestrian.

[bellicosebroad]

Playing games with health is as my grandma used to say "penny wise and pound foolish." Eating poor quality food will cost later in the long run, whether it is a chronic health problem or a trip to the ER as another poster mentioned.

I would like to watch the show though.

but furniture and home decor hell yes. I once got a brand new Sony stereo system just because its not a big deal for people in that city to throw away 300 dollar items on a whim.

Yep I love Goodwill and St. Vinny's; we get most of our household things and clothes there except for socks and underwear; I got two almost new bread machines there (because I make my own bread) and a new toaster and toaster oven for $8 each. But food is a different story. I love Aldi (of Duggarland) for all of our nonperishables and some produce, and we're always pinching pennies. But we can afford to pay for fresh food, and so can Kay. I'll never understand playing Russian roulette like that, and I really thought it was rude of her to expect her friends to eat dumpster dive food too. Some of the cheapskateness is just plain selfish; it affects other people negatively. Make your own choice to live that way if you wish, but don't expect other people to jump on board or foot the bill for you.

[doggie]

people like this end up making money control their lives and make them miserable. if it makes you so unhappy and you can't enjoy any of it then you are no better off then someone that wastes it all.

[bellicosebroad]

I haven't seen the show, but this is related: When I lived in WI (a university town) there was a guy who would dumpster dive around campus for aluminum cans. It turned out that he was a local accountant who had a successful practice and he paid for his kid's law school tuition from the money he earned from the cans.

See, now, I don't think there's anything wrong with that (although I'd be squeamy about the dumpster diving itself, having to rummage around in garbage). He's recycling something that should be recycled and not tossed, and he's essentially getting "paid" to do so because he's going to the trouble of hunting for and collecting the cans. It's the dumpster dived food that gets me.

My living room set is nice chunky pine furniture that I got from a second hand store for very little money, and I've a few other pieces (all really nice, not junk) that were castoffs other people didn't want. When we move, we'll likely be taking the nice leather couch my niece doesn't want. (? which I don't understand, but hey, it's all good). The only problem I'd have with just picking up random furniture like I used to is the bedbug infestation that seems to be everywhere.

[bellicosebroad]

people like this end up making money control their lives and make them miserable. if it makes you so unhappy and you can't enjoy any of it then you are no better off then someone that wastes it all.

Kay especially seemed almost frightened to spend money; I've been really broke, like, truly starving broke, so I understand her want to hang onto every last penny. But when you can't let yourself eat healthy fresh food even when you can afford it, when you expect friends to put up with spoiled food too or vendors to give you a price break when they're just trying to make a living (or when you expect roomies to pay rent even though you don't, like the young guy did), it's gone too far.

[lilwriter85]

Dumpster diving for food is gross. I know a few people who have dumpster dived or looked around for cans in order to get extra money. I think that is a different thing. I haven't watched the Kay episode, but it is coming out again on TLC tomorrow at 7 pm eastern. The posts about Kay give me the feeling that she is kind of wacky. I think she is crazy to dumpster dive or expect other people to put up with spoiled food when she is able to afford good food.

[moreorlessnu]

The segment on Kay was very sad. There's a huge difference between cutting a tube of toothpaste in half (to use the remaining toothpaste that you've already paid for), and somehow deciding that you are not worth fresh, unspoiled food.

According to this website, http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/72843413.html, she's saving $5k per month.

[lilwriter85]

Some of the ONTD posters are bashing Kay and someone said they felt bad for the friends who ate the food from the dumpsters before Kay revealed to them. There are posts about no toliet paper thing that Kay does. There was another woman featured on Extreme Cheapstakes who had a husband and two or three kids, that family stopped buying toliet paper and used special cloths.

[Gypsy]

I honestly felt bad for her. She looked so uncomfortable with those people in her house and you could just tell the interactions between her and the friends gf were forced by the producers, as are most of the human interactions on the show in general.

In 50 years people are going to look at records of TLC shows and view them with the same level of disgust as we view old circus freak shows. The network works to expose and hype the real issues of everyday people and make as much money as they can on the fallout.

[BlondeAgent007]

dumpster dive makes what these people do sound gross. most people use the term freegan. you can get some really good foods if you know where to go. my brothers friend did it over a year, he got day old bagels every day from the local bagel joint. lots of grocery stores throw away perfectly edible food once it hits the sell by date. i wouldnt trust dairy products non fridged from a dumpster, but shelf stable foods sound okay to me. i watched a whole special on freeganism in nyc. they have guides to help you find good things and determine what is still edible. i work in food service at a nursing home, and we throw out perfectly edible food every day after three days to keep up with health codes. call me crazy, but i dont think canned applesauce goes bad after three days. ive had jars of applesauce keep for months.

[lilwriter85]

My aunt and uncle did volunteer work for a food pantry and some grocery stores do donate their 1 day bakery items (mostly bread items) to food pantries or other organizations. They used to go three times a week to several grocery stores to pick up the 1 day old items. Some store chains/managers a re happy to donate their 1 day old stuff, but they like to keep the pick up process a bit secret. My relatives told me that part of the pick up process was for them to park their cars in the back entrances of the stores and the managers preferred that the pick ups happened between 5 to 8 am. The items they picked up were all left in their original packages and they were all placed in a large black trash bags.

[BlondeAgent007]

our local groceries donate old bakery items and discontinued items to our food bank (like when a product gets a new label). they will clear out old produce too. the economy has hit this area hard and a lot of families have come to depend on the food bank. anybody can go there and use it too....you dont need to make or not make a certain amount of money. it feeds tons of families who are too proud to take food stamps.

[dawbs]

our local groceries donate old bakery items and discontinued items to our food bank (like when a product gets a new label). they will clear out old produce too. the economy has hit this area hard and a lot of families have come to depend on the food bank. anybody can go there and use it too....you dont need to make or not make a certain amount of money. it feeds tons of families who are too proud to take food stamps.

The catholic charity local thrift store gives me a free kid's book when I have my kid there and one of the BEST bakeries in the area gives them their old bread every friday.

So on Saturdays, if we go thrifting, my kid gets better bread than she does the rest of the week :oops: .

(I'm always a little torn on taking it. I make an OK living. Things are tight but I don't need free bread...but on the other hand, it means that her PB&J (we're in a difficult toddler food phase) is made on good bread instead of Meijer Value Brand...and if they don't give it all away Sat and Sunday, it'll go stale...so I take one loaf. And I justify it by once a month buying/donating one of the 'food bank' cars at meijer for $5)

[BlondeAgent007]

The catholic charity local thrift store gives me a free kid's book when I have my kid there and one of the BEST bakeries in the area gives them their old bread every friday.

So on Saturdays, if we go thrifting, my kid gets better bread than she does the rest of the week :oops: .

(I'm always a little torn on taking it. I make an OK living. Things are tight but I don't need free bread...but on the other hand, it means that her PB&J (we're in a difficult toddler food phase) is made on good bread instead of Meijer Value Brand...and if they don't give it all away Sat and Sunday, it'll go stale...so I take one loaf. And I justify it by once a month buying/donating one of the 'food bank' cars at meijer for $5)

i dont see a problem with that. its not like you are taking ALL the bread!

our part of the food bank that is open to everyone actually sells food deeply discounted. i think its $1 or less a pound. people are more willing to use it instead of food stamps because it feels less like charity since their still paying some money. the money collected is used to fund the school backpack program. teachers from inner city schools started figuring out their students were sneaking their friday lunches home and wouldnt eat again till breakfast at school monday. one kid per family gets an unmarked backpack at the end of the day with enough foods to feed the kids throughout the weekend. this program feeds thousands of kids here.

[bellicosebroad]

My aunt and uncle did volunteer work for a food pantry and some grocery stores do donate their 1 day bakery items (mostly bread items) to food pantries or other organizations. They used to go three times a week to several grocery stores to pick up the 1 day old items. Some store chains/managers a re happy to donate their 1 day old stuff, but they like to keep the pick up process a bit secret. My relatives told me that part of the pick up process was for them to park their cars in the back entrances of the stores and the managers preferred that the pick ups happened between 5 to 8 am. The items they picked up were all left in their original packages and they were all placed in a large black trash bags.

I used to get free bread on Fridays when I lived near a bakery. It was a really tough time financially and I couldn't afford food. They had their day old stuff available for the taking, and they also told me where to go to get things like fresh produce, which our food bank didn't have. Same thing -- they asked me to go early and gave me a "package" of food they couldn't sell anymore but that was still good in a garbage bag. I survived because of them. It was also really nice to walk through the checkout as a paying customer after that time was over and be recognized by the people who used to give me food as I was "rung up." One guy just had the biggest smile on his face and I'll always remember it, like, "You made it! Great!" :-)

[bellicosebroad]

dumpster dive makes what these people do sound gross. most people use the term freegan. you can get some really good foods if you know where to go. my brothers friend did it over a year, he got day old bagels every day from the local bagel joint. lots of grocery stores throw away perfectly edible food once it hits the sell by date. i wouldnt trust dairy products non fridged from a dumpster, but shelf stable foods sound okay to me. i watched a whole special on freeganism in nyc. they have guides to help you find good things and determine what is still edible. i work in food service at a nursing home, and we throw out perfectly edible food every day after three days to keep up with health codes. call me crazy, but i dont think canned applesauce goes bad after three days. ive had jars of applesauce keep for months.

I think it's the actual dumpster diving that gets me. Day old food isn't a problem as long as it's clean (unopened, not exposed to other garbage, vermin, etc.) and has been kept at the proper temp so you aren't at risk of getting food poisoning. I understand why businesses can't sell it anymore, but giving it away for free is so much better than just tossing it.

[bellicosebroad]

I honestly felt bad for her. She looked so uncomfortable with those people in her house and you could just tell the interactions between her and the friends gf were forced by the producers, as are most of the human interactions on the show in general.

In 50 years people are going to look at records of TLC shows and view them with the same level of disgust as we view old circus freak shows. The network works to expose and hype the real issues of everyday people and make as much money as they can on the fallout.

I agree that the shows' pure purpose from an industry standpoint is to get ratings through exploiting people, pure and simple. But for some of these shows, they're also an inoculation of sorts for me, and probably others too. i watch Hoarders occasionally if I'm getting just a little too itchy to "stock up" on more than we need because something nonperishable is on sale for a steal; stops me in my tracks. (I'm a former clutterbug who's working hard to stay that way and was never as bad as these shows' participants are, but bad enough.) I also think that sometimes people like Kay do need that rude wakeup call. Maybe seeing herself on TV like that will cause her to say, "Gah, look at what I'm doing! Oh, yeah. Garbage bags and dumpsters have garbage in them, and I make enough not to have to get my food from them." She agreed to be filmed as well, and she's clearly not a dumb woman.

[lilwriter85]

I just watched the Kay episode. I honestly hope that Kay at least changes her stance on refusing to pay for food. I agree with bellicosebroad, day old food that is in good condition isn't a problem until gets placed in dumpsters and exposed to other garbage, insects, and vermin. My aunt and uncle said there were glad to be doing pick ups for the pantry they were involved with. They volunteered with that pantry for close to ten years before my uncle started having health problems and they encouraged other retirees or people that don't work days to get involved with early morning food pickups.