I believe in being frugal, but not to the extend of becoming obsessed with saving every nickle you can. Those people on that TLC show may have some compulsive disorder, it seems to me. They are definitely crossing the line.
I can be cheap when I am having money problems but not THIS cheap. I am mostly cheap at spending money on gifts for people just because we're going to their house for Christmas dinner or something. I always say just getting them a bottle of wine will suffice.
So have any of you guys, other than the OP actually seen this show? I ask because this week I watched a few episodes on Youtube and I thought it would be fun to discuss it. I'm sure you guys were probably wondering if there's some kind of upside to their bizarre behavior. Here are the positive effects of being crazy frugal and unsanitary. The lady that doesn't buy toilet paper and washes her butt with soap ,and picks all her furniture out of dumpsters, owns an apartment in expensive New York City, that is completely bought and paid for. The lady who is a millionaire and pees in a bottle to save on her water bill, has enough money saved to last until she is 116 years old. She will never have to work again. Jeff Yeager the Ultimate Cheapskate bicycles everywhere, picks up pennies, makes meals out of fish carcasses and goat heads, and makes crafts out of trash, is a successful frugal living author and him and his wife have a beautiful house that is completely paid for ,plus they retired when they were in their 40's. Everyone keeps saying, these people are rich- why are they so cheap? These people are rich BECAUSE they are cheap. They don't spend money, so they have more of it. These people might go a little overboard and be kind of gross, but they are debt free, retired at young ages and own the homes they live in. Maybe there are some things we can learn from them without doing the gross stuff.
That is bordering on an illness in my opinion. My dad used to scour the bins on our estate for old furniture until I moved in with him and put a stop to that.
I started watching this show in hopes of learning something. But things like not flushing my toilet isn't going to help me, since I do not pay for water where I live. I am still going to hang in there and keep watching. There is bound to be some information I can eventually use.
The best thing I found on the show that actual normal people can do is the fiscal fast that Jeff and Denise Yeager did. Having a no spend month where you don't go shopping, just use up the food in your pantry and freezer and use up all those product samples you've accumulated is more reasonable and a lot less gross than the other things on the show.
