I was in the Hardware store the other day and this older man comes in to return 2 screws he purchased earlier. No problem right?

The screws cost 6 cents each for a total of 12 cents.

With the price of gas around $3.00 why would you drive back and return them?

Then the kicker is, I see him driving off in his Caddy. Granted it wasn't a newer model, but it was in great shape..

If I ever get that cheap please shoot me....

Do you know an one like this?

Maybe you don't see anything wrong and you would have done the same..

 

That is the difference of people with money, and the people without. My wife is extremely cheap, and I guess its starting to rub off on me. Twelve cents is a tad extreme, but I'll stand in line for a buck!

Duncan

 

That's not cheap, it's just plain stupid. But the reason for him doing it was probably not about the money at all. His life is so empjy that he has to manufacture things to do to get out of the house.

 

Being in retail, I can attest to this. Old folks go out and 'do' stuff just because they're lonely, or need to get away from thier spouse.

Ryan

 

I Cant Count The Number Of Times I've Stepped Over A Dollar To Pick Up A Dime. I Just Dont Want To Get Old !!! So I Keep On Moving !!!

 

what drives me nuts is when they have the day after thanksgiving sale at the local walmart. Hordes of people in a line that stretches all the way down the front of the store, and overflows into the parking lot. they start lining up at zero dark thirty and wait for hours just to get 5 bucks off a item that will most likely be sold out by the time they push and grind their way to the back of the store.

I would never participate in such absurd tactics. the smart ones wait untill the after christmas sales......at least thats what I tell my wife as she is headed out the door at 4am.

 

I agree it's not about the money, but I don't think he has an empty life. It's a mind set. Over my career I've retired two of these types and met many more. They usually started out young with nothing, and ended up with millions.

Sometimes it seems like they always spend a dollar to save a dime, (literally), but they get in the habit of doing that whether it's calling all over town to save a nickle on something or calling around to save 10 grand on a million dollar investment. Working to live is a hobby to these guys, so he had as much fun returning that 12 cents as I do on a trip to the beach.

I worked eight years for one guy that owned 4 unrelated businesses. Our 'office' was Jack in the Box, because the boss could eat off the dollar menu, drink the senior coffee and they didn't care if we sat around for 4 hours working bids on the laptop with the cells going full blast.

He literally makes more money than he can spend, but will drive across town for a nickle, or get 'new' shocks for his truck at a wrecking yard. Took me 5 years to convince him that you don't need to save used sheetrock screws.

But then he would turn around and buy me, (cash), a new F550 and outfit it with a bunch of expensive toys - even though he hated Fords. Paid me good money, too. Every raise was a hardball negotiation with profit forecasts, but once something was agree'd on he would pay.

The guy drove to return two screws, because it was fun.

 

My dads godfather is a retired professer and is among the cheapest I have ever met. When mending his cattle fences he will save the staples and reuse them. Before he retired he would bring his lunch to work (always a bologna sandwich) he would fold the bag up and take it back home to reuse the next day and the next and the next. When he washes his hands he pats them dry on a paper towel so he can hang up the paper towel and reuse it. He is about the only person I know still using dial up with windows 95, but yet I stand surprised that he even has a computer. When looking for a car he looks for vehicles with salvaged titles just to save a couple hundred bucks.

 

My son worked at a hardware store and indeed, people do bring back a thimbleful of screws, nails, nuts, washers, etc for credit. It costs the store more to issue the credit than the items are worth (pennies) but they look at as a public relations, goodwill gesture. The whole idea of advertising is to get people in the store, so this also works to their advantage. Once in the store, half the people will purchase addtional merchandise

 

Im actually sort of the opposite when it comes to cheap hardware. Instead of buying one screw, ill buy 6, and then 6 in a couple sizes up and down just in case. Then i put them in a drawer. Eventually, i need them. Otherwise, we clip coupons and shop sales like mad.

 

Maybe he was sending a message in what he did ?


as in: I was feeling too (2) screwed over with things from this hardware store

 

Thinking globally/ acting locally. I agree with re-using plastic stuff, but the paper towel thing... dang

 

Thinking globally/ acting locally. I agree with re-using plastic stuff, but the paper towel thing... dang

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Blame the "Viva & "Bounty" commerials.

 

It all makes sense to me,I guess I'm cheap. Even my wife says I was the cheapest date she had.

 

Identifying the problem is the first step to recovery..

So now you can go spend, spend, spend......