On Being Cheap

I'm cheap, I admit it. I shop the sales, I use coupons and most of all, I just am not a good consumer. I love garage sales, especially for kids items, because they take so much abuse anyway. I like being cheap. My goals for being cheap are that my family will (eventually) be able to afford to do larger things - like vacations and home renovation - and that I will be able to afford things for my friends and family, and above all, that we never be in anything but "good" debt.

But there's a whole other group of people on the cheap that piss me off. People who are looking to get a deal at the expense of someone else. These are the people who 'find' antiques at a great deal from someone who doesn't know what they have and crow about the score they made. Because they knew and they screwed someone else over.

In my search for ways to save money I stumbled on a blog that recounts how a woman hunts through Ebay for misspelled or poorly listed items, and then bids because once someone bids they can't unlist the item, and because the item is poorly listed it won't get buyer traffic - meaning, of course, that because they made a mistake, she's taking advantage of them. It's skeevey. It's rude. It assaults my sense of fair.

I've also recently heard They're rich, they can afford it! as a reason to get something cheaper from someone else. As if, because someone else has money you should get something from them?

In another small cheap/energy conscious move, I signed up with ComEd to let them put a switch on my air conditioner. They will be able to cycle my air conditioner off for up to 15 minutes every half hour during peak energy usage. For this, they'll give me (automatically) a $5 credit on my June-Sept bills. That's my kind of savings - reduce consumption and save money!