A phrase that I will be using from now on. Stupid cheap, not frugal and not cheap, just procrastinating or doing something dumb to save a few pennies.
Standing in line at a Rogers store, I looked at the young lady in the other line. I saw that she had two tiny kittens in her sweater. Naturally, they were as cute as can be, and I asked where they came from. I was told that she and her fiance found them abandoned in a box on a path. One of the kittens had already died, but the three others managed to make it (at the time).
What does this have to do with Stupid Cheap? You have a female cat, and you are too cheap to have it neutered. You let it wander around the neighbourhood, and you can’t afford to feed the kittens (or keep them), so you dump them in a box on a walking path (OK the last part isn’t Stupid Cheap, that is just evil).
Saving money by not doing important things is not necessarily Frugal, and at times, it is stupidly cheap. I realize we already we have “penny-wise and pound foolish” but that is too many words.
Other examples of stupid cheap?
- The car you rely on to get to work needs a brake job, however you put off doing it because it is too expensive, but continue to drive the car, because you need it to get to work. If you can’t afford the brake job, maybe you can’t afford a car and should be looking at mass transit.
- Using expired condoms because you can’t find anything else? The price of a condom vs. the Price of a Child hasa very big difference, and my advice is to keep it in your trousers.
- You can’t sell off your poorly performing Mutual Funds because they are back-end loaded and you’d lose lots more money. Seriously? You really need to talk to a real investment adviser and not your Uncle Sam, who sells Mutual Funds too.
Now for my Frugal and Cheap readers, I am not calling you Stupid for being cheap, just be cheap for the right reasons. I have said that 50% off meat is OK as long as you are sure you aren’t poisoning yourself.
Stupid cheap is not frugal or cheap; it’s just procrastinating or doing something dumb to save a few pennies. A good example might be not getting the breaks on your car fixed right away, or not getting your cat spayed or neutered, even though you let them outside to roam.
From personal experience back in university, students usually fall into the trap of being cheap for the wrong things.
Things they say they “can’t afford” with money and time
– Healthy food
– Gym time
– Seminar and workshop fees
– Networking session fees (not sponsored by the school)
– Books
Yet they pay huge $$ for
– Junk food
– More-than-you-ever-need phone plans
– Smartphones
– iPads
I’m not saying students are stupid, but I feel like schools should really push on #personalfinance101 more.
Penny wise and pound foolish, but stupid too… You can’t eat an iPad (although it might be classified as techno-junk food).
We have a pear-shaped Ginger Tom that is actually in charge at the Stately BCM Manor
Forget cheap, this person was just plain stupid.
I wonder how others would feel if they got dropped off for good in a box?
Mark
Boy your Independent and Loblaws are cheaper than mine! I buy meat the day before it expires (as per the label) usually at 30% off – take it home and either cook it that night or freeze it. I’ve been doing this for well over a year. Only once did we get meat that was actually ‘off’ and you could smell it. We do check it before we freeze it.
Although it doesn’t fall into the cheap category because the bags are so dang expensive, we have a vacuum sealer and I portion the meat into meal sizes and freeze it that way. Frankly I haven’t paid full price for meat in ages. I guess I’m fussier about my vegetables because I rarely find anything on the distressed table although I did once get a huge bag of mushrooms for 99 cents.
The best way I know to save money on groceries is to just buy what’s on sale and stock up when it’s really a good price.
And always check the dates of anything you are buying, more than once we have bought Milk or bread that was about to expire (or worse had expired), without noticing.