16 People Whose Stinginess Is Almost Limitless

There is no problem in saving or wanting to save some money for a rainy day. But sometimes people get too carried away with it and become too greedy. Someone just eats extra candy and gets into awkward situations, but some people aren’t ready to share even a piece of bread. Well, we can do nothing about it, only read these stories.

• I held a high-ranking position but decided to leave for health reasons. My resignation happened to fall on my birthday. The door opens — in come the owner and the director, solemnly carrying a box labeled “Coffee maker.”
  At home, I open it and find a receipt on top: “Discount Store” along with a note from my bosses saying they were aware of the defects and agreed to them. I cried. Then I laughed.
  The next day, I took it back, saying I couldn’t accept something that reminded me of myself — a little battered by life and marked down as unnecessary. The owner was genuinely offended, and the director asked me not to tell anyone. © Chamber 6 / VK
• My parents aren’t poor — there’s always been money in the family — but it was always saved, hidden, or otherwise put away. My parents bought only the bare necessities.
  I’m married with a child, and due to circumstances, I had to stay at my parents’ place with my daughter for 3 days (our home was under renovation). My father always said that wealth comes from cutting expenses, not increasing income.
  I finally understood what he meant when I was bathing my daughter in the tub. After 10 minutes, I came out to a polite cough and was asked not to use so much water — I could bathe her in a basin instead. This way, less water would be used, and costs would be lower. © Overheard / Ideer

• My husband, our child, and I have been renting for 5 years, saving every penny as we try to scrape together a down payment. Then my husband’s parents announced they were moving. They sold their summer house and found a place in a new city — they just needed to figure out what to do with their old apartment.
  My in-laws said they didn’t want to look for buyers or deal with strangers, since we’re their own children. I thought they wanted to help their son by leaving him the apartment. But no! They offered to sell it to us.
  Out of the kindness of their hearts, they lowered the price a bit, so it came out just below market value. And my husband is seriously considering it! He’s been calculating, even saying that if we can’t get a mortgage on his parents’ apartment, we could at least rent it — it would be cheaper than what we pay now.
  To me, it feels humiliating. And I wouldn’t want to live there because I’d constantly remember how his parents profited off us. © Overheard / Ideer
• I’ve never been greedy for money. I’m not the daughter of wealthy parents, but I almost always have money for pocket expenses. And I never minded spending on my friends.
  No money for a snack? Fine, I’ll pay, no one should go hungry. Short on cash for a purchase? I’ll add some. Can’t chip in for a gift? I’ll cover it for them.
  And most importantly, I never asked for the money back. Naturally, few returned it.
  Then recently, a friend bought us a treat to share, and at the time I couldn’t pay her back. God, she nagged me for a month over some petty little thing, constantly reminding me I owed her. That’s when I realized maybe I’m doing something wrong in this life. © Chamber 6 / VK

• I bought a pair of sneakers online, but they turned out to run small. No exchanges or returns were allowed. I didn’t want to spend money on another pair, so I decided to wear them anyway. They rubbed my feet, pinched from all sides, and I had to walk with my toes curled.
  But they looked stylish, so I kept wearing them. I lasted a week and ended up with such bad blisters that I now have to get treatment from a doctor. So much for saving money. © Chamber 6 / VK

• An acquaintance borrowed money from me. When it was time to pay me back, she called and said she only had cash and would bring it over. Then she added, “Let’s hang out and chat while I’m there.” I agreed.
  She showed up with a whole bag of drinks and snacks. We settled in, and I asked, “So, where’s the money?” She calmly pointed to the bag and said she’d spent it on these. Long story short, I packed everything back up and set it aside to enjoy later with my husband, then sent her on her way. © Overheard / Ideer
• Turns out my little sister is being taught how to save money at school! Her first-grade teacher gave a whole lesson on saving water, electricity, heat, and other expensive resources, even showing slides. The kids were really impressed.
  I’m all for saving, of course, but how do I explain to her that she doesn’t need to turn off the lights everywhere and all the time — including when her big sister is taking a shower? I almost slipped in there 3 times in a week! Good thing she hasn’t learned how to shut off the water yet. © Not everyone will understand / VK
• I went into a jewelry store to find out how much it would cost to fix my chain. They told me to wait a couple of minutes and offered me some candy. Out of greed, I stuffed about 5 pieces into my mouth at once.
  And then the jeweler came over and asked what exactly I wanted. I hadn’t managed to chew yet, so all that candy flew right into his face. I ran out, and now I’m wondering how I’m going to get my chain back. © Ward 6 / VK

• When I was renovating, I decided to save money on soundproofing. I was already on a tight budget and didn’t want to spend extra. Everything was fine until a woman moved into the empty apartment next door.
  Every morning I could hear her wild wailing. Then I found out she teaches vocal lessons and starts warming up the moment she opens her eyes. Through the wall, her singing is so clear, it’s like she’s shouting right into my ear.
  I tried sleeping with earplugs, but then I couldn’t hear my alarm. I asked if she could start her practice at least an hour later so I could get some sleep, but she said I just didn’t appreciate art. © Ward 6 / VK
• It was my first New Year as a wife. Back then, we were still living with my husband’s parents and money was tight. I had asked for a set of bed linens as a gift — inexpensive, practical, and necessary.
  Then came the moment of gift-giving, and my husband handed me a package. I opened it and saw the exact same set I had once given to his mother.
  I am not sure what hurt me more: that my husband could not be bothered to choose a proper gift and just ran to his mom, that his mom told him not to waste money because she had sets in her closet, or that I was pregnant at the time. 10 years have passed, but the bitter feeling is still there. © Overheard / Ideer
• This is a story about stinginess. It all started when our glass cooktop broke. Let’s not go into detail about whose fault it was — my husband was just standing there looking guilty.
  When buying a new one, I had that little voice in my head saying, “Save money! If you save, you earn.” So we chose a pretty budget-friendly model. But it turned out to have a mind of its own and was less powerful, too.
  At some point during cooking, it would just shut off completely. The lights would start flashing, and I’d be standing there in shock with half-cooked food. No pleading or restarting helped.
  After struggling with undercooked pancakes and spending 3 hours cooking on one burner, I’d had enough. I went out and bought a multicooker. So much for saving money — I guess it’s just not my thing. © elenastakun

• I used to know a billionaire. Guy literally had everything, from apartment towers to malls and restaurants and Ferraris and Lambos and all the rest.
  Dude paid me minimum wage. As little as he legally could, and then, I’ll never forget, before I knew how rich he was we were discussing shoes for staff for the kitchen. He chose the cheap plastic shoes.
  Then he decided, not everyone gets a pair. They’ll get half the amount of shoes so that the late shift/early shift can swap shoes, and he’ll only have to buy half the shoes. © circleinsidecircle / Reddit
• I work in a manufacturing plant. For our Christmas/Holiday party, it was pot luck. Since our production lines had a very large staff of temporary workers on it, we decided to invite them as well (to show our appreciation for their hard work).
  Our party was scheduled in the middle of our shift. As we’re shutting the line down (running machines out so no product gets wasted), we let the temps go because they couldn’t do that part of the job. They all head up to the cafeteria and commence pure gluttony. Taking extra plates, wrapping food up in paper towels, and just being pigs.
  By the time we got up to the party (about 15 minutes later) there was very little food left. In fact, most of us ended up going out for lunch. That was the last year the temps were invited to our holiday party. © mossy33oak / Reddit
• Last year we moved to a new place. Winter came, the apartment was freezing, and the radiators were cold. I went to ask my neighbor about it, and she said it was cold in her place too. She told me she’d called the maintenance workers, but they just shrugged and said it was because of the old radiators, then left. Our whole family froze all winter.
  This year, the neighbor’s apartment was sold, and new owners moved in. I dreaded winter, already mentally preparing triple layers of clothing for the whole family. But our apartment was warm, and the radiators were hot.
  Turns out, the previous neighbor had decided to save money and shut off the radiators for the entire building. I calculated it — the savings were just pennies. How can someone be that stingy? © m.dzhapieva

• A friend of mine started seeing a guy, and they dated almost every day. But he never buys anything, not even groceries, and doesn’t give her any money for food. Yet he eats a lot.
  One day she got fed up with it, and she removed all the food before he came over. She told him she was out of both money and food, and that they’d need to either buy or order something.
  That night, he opened the empty fridge about 30 times. He didn’t order anything, didn’t buy any groceries, and didn’t give her a cent. In the morning, he drank plain tea and left in a bad mood. © *********_natali_555
• I had a garage sale once and had a table with a sign that said “FREE STUFF” as it was tons of little things that weren’t worth putting a price tag on but too nice to throw away. I also wrote “free stuff” on the street posters to entice people to come to the sale.
  Just after the sale began, these 3 ladies showed up, and each one bought one of the several large baskets I had for sale, then proceeded over to the “free stuff” table and shoved everything into their 3 baskets, leaving nothing at all for anyone else. And in the speed in which they did this, it was clear that they hadn’t even examined the offerings, they just wanted it all cause it was free.
  I had to explain to them that the “free stuff” was a sales tactic and that I had imagined most people would take a few things each, perhaps even up to a dozen things, but not the entire table all at once. They didn’t seem too happy, but they put most of the stuff back and shot me dirty looks the whole time. © Juan_Cocktoasten / Reddit

And these women had to find out firsthand what a greedy partner is.