25 Folks Share Their Experiences With Ultra-Frugal People
Sometimes, people who have it all tend to be the most frugal.
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In a world where consumerism often takes center stage, finding someone who prioritizes frugality can be both refreshing and challenging. Sometimes frugality even raises massive red flags. Recently, a Reddit thread opened the floor for women to share their experiences of dating some of the most frugal fellas out there.
The responses were diverse and came from both genders, offering a glimpse into the dynamics of relationships where financial responsibility and thriftiness play a significant role. Scroll below to read some answers.
Image source: chitchita, Pixabay (not the actual photo)
This was technically before we started dating, but one of my exes is so cheap we went on holiday once and she refused to spend money on public transportation so she made me walk like 50-60k steps every day for an entire week. I thought my feet were gonna fall off.
Image source: Kyaspi, Kindel Media (not the actual photo)
They pulled out a calculator in a Taco Bell to split a meal that was under $20, *down to the penny*, and told me to venmo what I owe. He wasn’t POOR, had a full-time job while I was living on a student budget.
Image source: moonstonemayhem, Lisa Fotios (not the actual photo)
I’d say this is just being a cheap idiot rather than frugal, but I was sick with COVID and asked if he could bring me some grapes and frozen mango. He dropped them off at my door, then sent me a Venmo request for the $10 they cost.
Meanwhile, I had gotten him a $300 pair of glasses, let him eat out of my cupboard & fridge whenever he came over, routinely picked him up at the airport, and the only date he ever took me on was our first date to Starbucks.
Image source: Ok-Pomelo494, Michael Burrows (not the actual photo)
I once was asked to Venmo him two dollars for the few bites I took out of his six-dollar rice platter.
Image source: A-Yandere-Succubus, cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
*During an interesting time in my life, I lived with a millionaire for a short while, and he was one of the most disturbingly cheap people I've ever met...*
*In all his extra spare time, he volunteered at a food bank... only to take home the food donated, so he wouldn't have to buy groceries. He called himself frugaI.*
*I hated him. His cheapness led to his death.*
*I'm really going to have to write a book someday.*
*I can't/don't do cheapskate/frugal people.*
Image source: gemhreqo, Yuliana Kungurova (not the actual photo)
He didn't plan ahead and went on a roadtrip with his elderly father. He refused to pay for a hotel/motel because is was over $100 a night and made his father, who was in his late 80s sleep in his Volkswagen golf.
Image source: missdopamine, Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
Bf of 3 years got into a small car accident, where air bags went off. He called me from the garage and said he decided to only replace the driver’s seat airbag and not passenger’s seat because each airbag was a few hundred dollars to replace.
I was the main person sitting in that passenger seat.
After I heard him say that with complete nonchalance (and knowing he had $10k in the bank), I realized he just truly did not care about me, and couldn’t be a partner.
Image source: momzspaghettti, Sora Shimazak (not the actual photo)
We spent hours one day on the slopes and when we finally left I was starving. I begged him to stop at a gas station so I could get something to eat but he refused as “we had food at home.” It was an hour and a half drive and I felt light headed the whole time. We got home and he proceeded to make this obnoxious dinner of salmon and poached apples that took 2 hours. I ate like 3 granola bars while hiding in the bathroom. Gee I hated him.
Image source: JoJack82, cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
I’m a guy but I had a previous girlfriend tell me about one of her previous first dates with a guy and when she offered to pay he said “oh, in that case I’m getting a sandwich to take home too” and order ANOTHER meal to go.
Image source: Blah0013, Thompso HO (not the actual photo)
Three rooms, a light fitting in each, but only two lamp shades and one light bulb between them.
Yes you guessed it, you either used your phone for light or had to transport the bulb to use the light for a 2am wee.
Image source: Beautiful_Feature190, KoolShooters (not the actual photo)
Instead of getting a hotel for the road-trip we were going on, he suggested we just sleep in his regular-sized car.
I did not go on said road-trip after this suggestion.
Image source: shiroh17, OOingle.com (not the actual photo)
I went on a first date with a guy who suggested we go to a restaurant because he had a coupon and then decided it was too far of a drive and he didn’t want to spend the gas money (it was like a 15 minute drive) so then he flipped through his wallet of coupons and found one for applebees for free wings with the purchase of a beer. i’m not a huge fan of wings but just thought that’s great he can get some wings for his meal. we got there and he immediately told the waitress he had a coupon, asked for the cheapest beer they had, and ordered his wings. then the waitress looked at me and asked what i wanted, and before i could speak he tells her i’m having the wings with him and i said “actually no thanks” and ordered some food for myself and he got visibly upset and then wouldn’t speak to me and watched basketball on the tv for the remainder of the date. then when the waitress came and asked if the check would be together, he hesitated so i quickly asked for separate checks. frugality is fine, but this man’s financial situation was equal to my own.
bonus content: before the date, we met at a park and he started fishing (??) so I wandered around until he was done (and took a picture of him with his fish), then he played his guitar at me for an hour insisting i sing with him (i cannot sing), and on the way home he told me women shouldn’t work and belong in the home and basically told me i had a joke major because I was an art student and that that was great for me but he has to be more serious and isn’t comfortable working a service job after college.
Image source: Clioashlee, Jep Gambardella (not the actual photo)
He asked if I wanted to go to dinner to a hungry horse (very budget restaurant in England) with him as he had a coupon for buy one meal get one free.
He ordered two meals and ate them both ???
Image source: eiroai, Jack Sparrow (not the actual photo)
He wasn't frugal regarding things he wanted. He bought expensive tech, leased a car, bought the food he wanted etc. But he was an expert in slowly, discretely making me pay for stuff like food. And manipulating other things like making me pay to live there as much as a roommate would pay (luckily not for long before we broke up and I was outta there). He pretended to financially struggle while having a lot of money in the bank, because his current job paid little, and his loan was high. Which isn't my problem of course but he made it that. Meanwhile I was a student. I'm not one to financially carry anyone and never wanted to do that for him, which he knew, so he made sure to be pitiful and careful and made it sound reasonable.
Lazy sack of s**t never painted his house properly (it was only 6 ish years old), so when I moved in, I washed and painted almost the entire thing He barely even covered the costs. He sold his house with a solid earning a few months after, we'd broken up by then. Did he pay me for doing it? Nope.
It was my first relationship, and we were together 3 years. Funny how those small things can just sneak up on you without you realising it, and all of a sudden you look back and realize they took advantage of you. I've always had a hard time demanding anything from anyone. Never again, I am very much done being too kind to people, one of many reasons I just stay single now.
Image source: thebabepee, RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
Instead of buying pads for her period, she’d ask me to steal diapers from the daycare I worked at to save money. Another time I came home, and there was a box of diapers. She got them from a diaper bank, claiming she was a mom. I even offered to buy her pads, tampons, or a Diva cup. She only wanted diapers.
Image source: BudgetInteraction811, Viktoria Slowikowska (not the actual photo)
He wanted to pay the dinner bill in front of his colleagues and then ask me to transfer him money afterwards so they didn’t see him making his girlfriend pay for her own meal. He made 4x what I made and was obsessed with saving every penny of that. Never again lmao
Image source: VeryCoolAndFunny, Karolina Grabowska (not the actual photo)
One guy told me he has a credit card that gives 25 cents back per transaction. He uses self checkout and does a separate transaction for each item. He also pays $400/month in rent, despite making around $120K/year as a private LMFT. When I went to his house it was infested with mice, he didn’t have flooring (literally was walking around on the subfloor), and the whole house smelled horribly like animal feces. Disgusting. And he comes across as super put together and professional.. it totally threw me off.
Image source: SleepFlower80, Beck (not the actual photo)
He ate beans on toast for all 3 meals because “it’s healthy and you don’t need to spend loads on food”.
I’m British so I’ll indulge in beans on toast happily, eagerly, but for 3 meals a day, every day of the week?? Nah mate. I ate it a lot in uni because I was a skint student. Now we’re in our 40s there’s no bloody need.
Image source: SoullessCactus, Elijah O'Donnell (not the actual photo)
He believed that mattresses and cots were a waste of time and believed everyone should sleep on the floor.
I noped out of that one pretty fast.
Image source: alexisohyes, 30Nudos Adicora (not the actual photo)
He had planned a short getaway for us together. I was shocked to arrive at the hotel and find out that our rooms had no windows. He said that these rooms were cheaper by about 5 to 10 dollars…
Also, meticulously noting down every single expense on his phone so that we could go halvesies later. Nothing inherently wrong with that, I concede, but I was happy to just take it in turns to pay for stuff and not be so calculative lol
We didn’t last long
Image source: Struggling_Intr0vert, Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
My ex took me out on a date to this steak place that he loves so much. He ordered some wine for us, appetizers, sides, mains, dessert, etc. The whole shebang. Everything was going great. Good food. Amazing conversations. Lovely atmosphere. Then, the bill came... "F**K!"
Thinking something was wrong with the bill, I asked about it. He lost his s**t because he didn't expect the bill to be that much. He ordered EVERYTHING. I didn't even bother to look at the menu (because I got overwhelmed with the myriad of options, lol). I also told him he was ordering too much food.
He would NOT stop cursing under his breath. He was VISIBLY so mad. I started to feel embarrassed as he won't stop, so I asked if it's going to help if I just paid half of the bill. Just to get it over with. He IMMEDIATELY stopped throwing a fit, calmed down, and said, "Yeah, that would be good."
I never let him "take me out on a date" ever again after that. I always pushed to pay for my share even if he "insisted" on paying.
No, we're not together anymore. And the total bill was $110. Lol
Image source: bvladkin95 (not the actual photo), Lisa Fotios (not the actual photo)
Once dated a guy who wasn’t exactly rich, but had more than your average person with a hefty inheritance. Early on into our relationship, he invited 6 of his friends over on Valentine’s Day (which was apparently his valentines gift to me: quality time with his friends) for a home cooked meal. At the end of the meal, he asked everyone for £10 a head. I couldn’t image ever inviting people over to my house and charging them to eat.
Image source: Cukimonster, Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
Well, it was mostly that he was frugal with me, but spent whatever he wanted on himself. We were married. My son and I got the cheapest of everything, asked if I truly needed items (like new shoes because mine were falling apart or my son had outgrown his) but had to have name brand everything for himself, just because he wanted it.
Image source: mamaneedsacar, W W (not the actual photo)
I bought my own ($300) engagement ring ? I can’t remember if he every paid me back, but suffice it to say… we did not get married.
Image source: alcatote_, RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
Went for pizza with my ex bf (he was really cheap, too many stories), he "forgot" his wallet and after I paid he broke up with me lol
#1
Image source: chitchita, Pixabay (not the actual photo)
This was technically before we started dating, but one of my exes is so cheap we went on holiday once and she refused to spend money on public transportation so she made me walk like 50-60k steps every day for an entire week. I thought my feet were gonna fall off.
#2
Image source: Kyaspi, Kindel Media (not the actual photo)
They pulled out a calculator in a Taco Bell to split a meal that was under $20, *down to the penny*, and told me to venmo what I owe. He wasn’t POOR, had a full-time job while I was living on a student budget.
#3
Image source: moonstonemayhem, Lisa Fotios (not the actual photo)
I’d say this is just being a cheap idiot rather than frugal, but I was sick with COVID and asked if he could bring me some grapes and frozen mango. He dropped them off at my door, then sent me a Venmo request for the $10 they cost.
Meanwhile, I had gotten him a $300 pair of glasses, let him eat out of my cupboard & fridge whenever he came over, routinely picked him up at the airport, and the only date he ever took me on was our first date to Starbucks.
#4
Image source: Ok-Pomelo494, Michael Burrows (not the actual photo)
I once was asked to Venmo him two dollars for the few bites I took out of his six-dollar rice platter.
#5
Image source: A-Yandere-Succubus, cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
*During an interesting time in my life, I lived with a millionaire for a short while, and he was one of the most disturbingly cheap people I've ever met...*
*In all his extra spare time, he volunteered at a food bank... only to take home the food donated, so he wouldn't have to buy groceries. He called himself frugaI.*
*I hated him. His cheapness led to his death.*
*I'm really going to have to write a book someday.*
*I can't/don't do cheapskate/frugal people.*
#6
Image source: gemhreqo, Yuliana Kungurova (not the actual photo)
He didn't plan ahead and went on a roadtrip with his elderly father. He refused to pay for a hotel/motel because is was over $100 a night and made his father, who was in his late 80s sleep in his Volkswagen golf.
#7
Image source: missdopamine, Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
Bf of 3 years got into a small car accident, where air bags went off. He called me from the garage and said he decided to only replace the driver’s seat airbag and not passenger’s seat because each airbag was a few hundred dollars to replace.
I was the main person sitting in that passenger seat.
After I heard him say that with complete nonchalance (and knowing he had $10k in the bank), I realized he just truly did not care about me, and couldn’t be a partner.
#8
Image source: momzspaghettti, Sora Shimazak (not the actual photo)
We spent hours one day on the slopes and when we finally left I was starving. I begged him to stop at a gas station so I could get something to eat but he refused as “we had food at home.” It was an hour and a half drive and I felt light headed the whole time. We got home and he proceeded to make this obnoxious dinner of salmon and poached apples that took 2 hours. I ate like 3 granola bars while hiding in the bathroom. Gee I hated him.
#9
Image source: JoJack82, cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
I’m a guy but I had a previous girlfriend tell me about one of her previous first dates with a guy and when she offered to pay he said “oh, in that case I’m getting a sandwich to take home too” and order ANOTHER meal to go.
#10
Image source: Blah0013, Thompso HO (not the actual photo)
Three rooms, a light fitting in each, but only two lamp shades and one light bulb between them.
Yes you guessed it, you either used your phone for light or had to transport the bulb to use the light for a 2am wee.
#11
Image source: Beautiful_Feature190, KoolShooters (not the actual photo)
Instead of getting a hotel for the road-trip we were going on, he suggested we just sleep in his regular-sized car.
I did not go on said road-trip after this suggestion.
#12
Image source: shiroh17, OOingle.com (not the actual photo)
I went on a first date with a guy who suggested we go to a restaurant because he had a coupon and then decided it was too far of a drive and he didn’t want to spend the gas money (it was like a 15 minute drive) so then he flipped through his wallet of coupons and found one for applebees for free wings with the purchase of a beer. i’m not a huge fan of wings but just thought that’s great he can get some wings for his meal. we got there and he immediately told the waitress he had a coupon, asked for the cheapest beer they had, and ordered his wings. then the waitress looked at me and asked what i wanted, and before i could speak he tells her i’m having the wings with him and i said “actually no thanks” and ordered some food for myself and he got visibly upset and then wouldn’t speak to me and watched basketball on the tv for the remainder of the date. then when the waitress came and asked if the check would be together, he hesitated so i quickly asked for separate checks. frugality is fine, but this man’s financial situation was equal to my own.
bonus content: before the date, we met at a park and he started fishing (??) so I wandered around until he was done (and took a picture of him with his fish), then he played his guitar at me for an hour insisting i sing with him (i cannot sing), and on the way home he told me women shouldn’t work and belong in the home and basically told me i had a joke major because I was an art student and that that was great for me but he has to be more serious and isn’t comfortable working a service job after college.
#13
Image source: Clioashlee, Jep Gambardella (not the actual photo)
He asked if I wanted to go to dinner to a hungry horse (very budget restaurant in England) with him as he had a coupon for buy one meal get one free.
He ordered two meals and ate them both ???
#14
Image source: eiroai, Jack Sparrow (not the actual photo)
He wasn't frugal regarding things he wanted. He bought expensive tech, leased a car, bought the food he wanted etc. But he was an expert in slowly, discretely making me pay for stuff like food. And manipulating other things like making me pay to live there as much as a roommate would pay (luckily not for long before we broke up and I was outta there). He pretended to financially struggle while having a lot of money in the bank, because his current job paid little, and his loan was high. Which isn't my problem of course but he made it that. Meanwhile I was a student. I'm not one to financially carry anyone and never wanted to do that for him, which he knew, so he made sure to be pitiful and careful and made it sound reasonable.
Lazy sack of s**t never painted his house properly (it was only 6 ish years old), so when I moved in, I washed and painted almost the entire thing He barely even covered the costs. He sold his house with a solid earning a few months after, we'd broken up by then. Did he pay me for doing it? Nope.
It was my first relationship, and we were together 3 years. Funny how those small things can just sneak up on you without you realising it, and all of a sudden you look back and realize they took advantage of you. I've always had a hard time demanding anything from anyone. Never again, I am very much done being too kind to people, one of many reasons I just stay single now.
#15
Image source: thebabepee, RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
Instead of buying pads for her period, she’d ask me to steal diapers from the daycare I worked at to save money. Another time I came home, and there was a box of diapers. She got them from a diaper bank, claiming she was a mom. I even offered to buy her pads, tampons, or a Diva cup. She only wanted diapers.
#16
Image source: BudgetInteraction811, Viktoria Slowikowska (not the actual photo)
He wanted to pay the dinner bill in front of his colleagues and then ask me to transfer him money afterwards so they didn’t see him making his girlfriend pay for her own meal. He made 4x what I made and was obsessed with saving every penny of that. Never again lmao
#17
Image source: VeryCoolAndFunny, Karolina Grabowska (not the actual photo)
One guy told me he has a credit card that gives 25 cents back per transaction. He uses self checkout and does a separate transaction for each item. He also pays $400/month in rent, despite making around $120K/year as a private LMFT. When I went to his house it was infested with mice, he didn’t have flooring (literally was walking around on the subfloor), and the whole house smelled horribly like animal feces. Disgusting. And he comes across as super put together and professional.. it totally threw me off.
#18
Image source: SleepFlower80, Beck (not the actual photo)
He ate beans on toast for all 3 meals because “it’s healthy and you don’t need to spend loads on food”.
I’m British so I’ll indulge in beans on toast happily, eagerly, but for 3 meals a day, every day of the week?? Nah mate. I ate it a lot in uni because I was a skint student. Now we’re in our 40s there’s no bloody need.
#19
Image source: SoullessCactus, Elijah O'Donnell (not the actual photo)
He believed that mattresses and cots were a waste of time and believed everyone should sleep on the floor.
I noped out of that one pretty fast.
#20
Image source: alexisohyes, 30Nudos Adicora (not the actual photo)
He had planned a short getaway for us together. I was shocked to arrive at the hotel and find out that our rooms had no windows. He said that these rooms were cheaper by about 5 to 10 dollars…
Also, meticulously noting down every single expense on his phone so that we could go halvesies later. Nothing inherently wrong with that, I concede, but I was happy to just take it in turns to pay for stuff and not be so calculative lol
We didn’t last long
#21
Image source: Struggling_Intr0vert, Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
My ex took me out on a date to this steak place that he loves so much. He ordered some wine for us, appetizers, sides, mains, dessert, etc. The whole shebang. Everything was going great. Good food. Amazing conversations. Lovely atmosphere. Then, the bill came... "F**K!"
Thinking something was wrong with the bill, I asked about it. He lost his s**t because he didn't expect the bill to be that much. He ordered EVERYTHING. I didn't even bother to look at the menu (because I got overwhelmed with the myriad of options, lol). I also told him he was ordering too much food.
He would NOT stop cursing under his breath. He was VISIBLY so mad. I started to feel embarrassed as he won't stop, so I asked if it's going to help if I just paid half of the bill. Just to get it over with. He IMMEDIATELY stopped throwing a fit, calmed down, and said, "Yeah, that would be good."
I never let him "take me out on a date" ever again after that. I always pushed to pay for my share even if he "insisted" on paying.
No, we're not together anymore. And the total bill was $110. Lol
#22
Image source: bvladkin95 (not the actual photo), Lisa Fotios (not the actual photo)
Once dated a guy who wasn’t exactly rich, but had more than your average person with a hefty inheritance. Early on into our relationship, he invited 6 of his friends over on Valentine’s Day (which was apparently his valentines gift to me: quality time with his friends) for a home cooked meal. At the end of the meal, he asked everyone for £10 a head. I couldn’t image ever inviting people over to my house and charging them to eat.
#23
Image source: Cukimonster, Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
Well, it was mostly that he was frugal with me, but spent whatever he wanted on himself. We were married. My son and I got the cheapest of everything, asked if I truly needed items (like new shoes because mine were falling apart or my son had outgrown his) but had to have name brand everything for himself, just because he wanted it.
#24
Image source: mamaneedsacar, W W (not the actual photo)
I bought my own ($300) engagement ring ? I can’t remember if he every paid me back, but suffice it to say… we did not get married.
#25
Image source: alcatote_, RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
Went for pizza with my ex bf (he was really cheap, too many stories), he "forgot" his wallet and after I paid he broke up with me lolDE
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