Why are people so cheap??

No other time of the year do we get to see a true snippet of how cheap people are.

I read a quote that just struck me "some people are so poor, all they have is money"

I know a couple of people that are 1% or very near, and they are cheap to the point of a mental illness.
It just makes me sad that people in general now don't want to share. What is the point of a successful life it not
to share it with friends and family. It's not just about money, it's about time, giving of yourself. I've seen it in my own family. Have we lost our humanity? I've heard people complain about having to donate food to their kids Christmas parties, seriously how grinchey can you get??

My mother grew up in a third world country. She said even though she lived in dire poverty what she misses the most was that everyone shared.
If a neighbor got something (lets say a cake) instead of gobbling it all down themselves or hoarding it, they would invite everyone over and slice that thing 30 ways so everyone could have a little taste.

I recently saw a lifehack on FB, it said you could save money on gift wrap by reusing potato chip bags as gift paper. I am not joking. I am all for
recycling, but c'mon, a potato chip bag! The sad thing is that I know people that would do this!!

There's a saying I once heard in the acquisition of money wealth.... "Watch the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves"

I guess the meaning was that once broke, dollars disappeared as did pocket change.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Cheapness everywhere!

We has to love the moolah.
Otherwise: we wouldn't go through the torment, and daily grind, of holding a regular job.
Always convinced that we don't quite have enough. Just need a little more.

A sharing economy is NOT what TPTB want.

originally posted by: Plotus
There's a saying I once heard in the acquisition of money wealth.... "Watch the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves"

I guess the meaning was that once broke, dollars disappeared as did pocket change.

That quote is from a time when most people tried to save money.
Seems to me that it was in line with this old quote: "A penny saved is a penny earned"
Always thought it meant that pinching your pennies, led to saving pennies, led to being able to have dollars in your savings account.

Here's what i've gathered from my own experiences with family and friends.......

Rich people are rich because they are cheap. They horde whatever they can for as long as they can, and that amassing of money builds over time.

My grandfather for example, had a killer union job. He never had to pay for housing, as his home was inherited when his parents died. He never had to pay for meals associated with his job, as they were funded by his job. Business suits? company comped. Furniture? Second hand stores and garage sales. Vehicle? Drove a company funded car, with gas and insurance paid for...... So on and so forth. He rarely ever had to spend a dime of his own money, unless it was something he personally wanted. He would go golfing and spend several hours collecting golf balls so he wouldn't have to buy his own. He grew up in a lower class household, but managed to land a decent job with benefits.

By the time he was 35, he had saved over 5 million dollars in the bank (this was back in the 1960's, BTW)

The cheaper and stingier the person, the more wealth they can save. The more giving and sharing you are, the less you have for yourself.

Coming from the thirties, I could see the need for conservation and thrift. Reusing things and buying cheaper alternatives, less brightly painted if function was still there.

I knew a woman who would wash and keep the Styrofoam plates hamburger came in, save bent nails, buy Beer when it came in a beige brown cans and had black lettering 'BEER'. At the height of the Generic craze. She saved tin foil, plastic cups, all those things most people throw away. She was by no means wealthy, but..... did have a few more bucks at the end of the month.

It varies for everyone, folks I know that started from nothing and have grown to be well off typically still live as if they had nothing.

My grandmother is very well off at 97 and she still lives like its the Great Depression.

Traumatic times will stick with people even if they are now very well off.

I keep thinking that people know that Christmas is the same date every year. Yet every year you see people freaking out about not having enough money to get their kids presents. These same people are mostly, I know not everybody is the same, out blowing money in the summer time on junk and disposable goods.

Two years ago we asked my sister what her daughter's like. I felt a little guilty getting my children good gifts that they want, while she doesn't do much at all for her children. We spent a about $150 buying her girls gifts and I dropped them off after they went to bed on Christmas eve. She didn't even know what we got them. I did it because I felt bad for the kids. I have not done it since because I realized that my sister is one of the people that spends money, doesn't save, and does not plan on the future. She got a hearty tax return this year and blew it all. Every single penny. Did not even put any back for future needs.

Anyways, I work hard for my money to take care of my family. I have learned that people need to take responsibility for themselves and their family first and foremost. I am not wealthy, I am trying to get to a point where I can put money back for future needs.

It's not about being greedy. It's about taking care of one's self and helping out if you feel that person or people would appreciate it.

People do not become wealthy just blowing money.

Just my opinion and little ramble here.

a reply to: dothedew

My Brother is much like the story you tell. But again, his wealth has flourished, but at a cost. The loss of wife and children. He now has so much 'stuff' he has to work to maintain it.... that to me is servitude to stuff, and when age comes knocking, a consuming encumbrance.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
It's not just about money, it's about time, giving of yourself.

Then what is your beef? So they don't give money or things to people you think "need" it. Doesn't matter anyway, right? And everybody has the same number of hours in a day, so maybe rich people -- knowing how valuable that time really is -- prefer to spend it with their families or their other rich friends rather than with a bunch of poor slobs they have nothing in common with.

"You will always have the poor among you..." -- Jesus Christ

The obsession with money should be labeled as a mental disorder. It's insane.

Most people are not cheap. Just because some people choose to use their money wisely and not buy the latest gadgets or go on expensive vacations, this does not mean they are cheap. They just have different values than some others.

Also, wanting to pay less in taxes does not make a person cheap. People who gripe about tax cuts are likely people who don't pay any taxes to begin with.

I don't know where you come up with this accusation. Do you need others to give you money? For what? If you have a dire need for money to buy food for your kids, I doubt you will have any trouble getting people to generously help.

So, what do you want people to spend their money on? What would prove to you that people are not cheap?

a reply to: JAGStorm

Why so caught up on appearances and what other people do with their own property (money)?

Maybe the better question is why we think that other people have to conform to our own ideas of what they "should" do with their own money...in short, it's really none of your business what other people do, and if you don't like it, that's okay, because you are just as free to be your own self as others are, regardless as to how it mirrors your own actions or beliefs.

This is one of the biggest issues with current society--we are so enamored and concerned with what other people are doing with their things that we take the time to rant about it to the (digital) world. Keeping up with the Joneses should not be a societal pressure, so maybe we shouldn't perpetuate it on ATS?

As an aside, what you have presented here is not "being cheap," it's being fiscally responsible. Maybe the near-one-percenters you mention are trying to save for their future generations as much as they can, feeling that they don't need much more out of this world (people get rich, generally speaking, because they are better with money than most people). Maybe the idea of reusing something like a chip bag that is already bad enough for the environment is a good thing, and the recipient of such a gesture might see it as well-intentioned stewardship of the environment instead of seeing them as being cheap.

It's all about perspective, and from where I stand, you seem to lack some if this is a big enough issue with you that you felt driven to start this thread.

My dad is one of the cheap people. HIs motto is "cheap is good and good is too expensive". This has come back many times on him with expensive repairs needed to the cheap cars and appliances he buys. He always buys things from the clearance bins at the grocery store regardless of if it's even anything that someone will actually eat. I throw away some of the food that he buys when I read the expiration date and see that it expired 2-3 years ago. Right now he is having problems with his refrigerator which he bought at a Sears clearance store...

a reply to: JAGStorm
I am cheap because I grew up poor and never got it out of my system. I buy reduced food daily at the supermarket and zero food waste goes out of my house. My TV screen will be upgraded when it dies same with everything else I own which is mostly second hand bought anyway.
I ask the question why people are so obsessed with new shiny things but of course I am weird

a reply to: JAGStorm

Its just intelligent foresight, I think...

Back over 25 years ago when I was a kid, my parents broke up and split everything in the middle. My Dad used the funds to by another property for 190k (which is worth well over a million now), he lived like a total tight arse, saving every cent, like a chimpmonk saving there nuts for winter.

My mum on the other hand, used the funds to take us kids on a luxury holiday to Queensland and has always been the sort of person who would give a person $5 if they needed it, even though she only had $10 to her name.

Fastforward to today and my mum is a 50 something year old women, struggling to pay rent and living week to week... well my Dad on the other hand, doesn't even need to work anymore, travelling overseas constantly and buying luxury holiday houses on the beach with top of the line jet skies to much...

Me personally, I'm like my mum. As in, live it up in the now and just worry about the later when I get there.

In other words, I'll always be broke, in the long run...

a reply to: dothedew

The more giving and sharing you are, the less you have for yourself.

Quite the opposite, for some..

a reply to: JAGStorm

I knew a guy that reused paper towels...

That was cheap.

You get it!!!! This is not about frugality, which many people are in dire need of. It is about cheapness, which is totally different! I think the older you get you go one of two ways, Ebenezer Scrooge or you become more generous. I sure hope I'm becoming more of the latter.

Interesting theory of the value of money:



Keep property private. It's the other stuff he says that may be relevant.