How Cheap Are You?

I watched a television show called Extreme Cheapskates last night. I've heard of people like this and can't even fathom some of what these people are doing. One man only flushes the toilet once a week. Another lady cruises upscale restaurant trash for food. One man has almost no furniture for his family of four, yet he has almost $200,000 in the bank. What good is having all that money if you don't enjoy it? Granted, I wish I had that much in the bank. Some weeks I'd be happy with even $500 in savings. 

I'm all for frugality. I hate to spend money on clothes, especially for myself. I want clothes to be as close to free as possible, if not free. I try as much as possible to buy clothes at season ending for the next year. I've gotten several great deals in this way.

Several years ago Toys R Us and Babies R Us were merging so Toys R Us had a great sale where they clearanced out a bunch of things at 90 % off. I scoured the store to find the unlabeled clearance items that the staff hadn't marked yet, as well as the items that had been marked. One of my best deals was a PlayMobil set that was normally $60 I got for $5.99. I also got my son a bike that was originally $60 for $5.99. I got such a high from finding great deals. I still have a few of those items waiting for the right person to give it to for a birthday.

When toys are on clearance I try to buy things that I know my kids or their friends would like and stockpile a few items for birthdays.

But I don't think I'll be cruising trash cans for food to save a buck or two. If we really needed to do that in order to eat I suppose I would. I hope we are never at that point.