Extreme Cheapskates on TLC

[Marianne2]

Posted: 1/9/12 at 11:07pm

Did anyone see this special? It is really disturbing. These people are being beyond cheap. Like this one guy would take his stained clothes to a thrift store to have them wash it, so he could buy it back for like $1 a few days later. It is his answer to dry cleaning. He also dumpster dived to get gifts for his wife for their 25th wedding anniversary. It wasn't good stuff either. Total junk. He would also ask people for food they weren't going to finish in restaurants. Total strangers.

Then there was a woman who had communal toilet paper. It was cloth that she cut up and had people throw the pieces in bucket in the bathroom when they were done, and she'd wash it and reuse. I mean, she even did this with random people who came over.

Finally, the other most disturbing one was the guy who cooked goat heads to eat in his oven. Sick. He also went searching for lost change everywhere he would go.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/9/12 at 11:15pm

I'm watching it now. These people are...special.

[BroadwayGuy12]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 12:19am

I watched this a few weeks ago and thought the best part was the one woman's reaction when the guy asked her for her leftover food. She just seemed so shocked and weirded out. I also liked the woman's face when she went over to her neighbor's house and found out they didn't use real toilet paper.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 12:22am

My dad had a friend who did that with his shirts in the 80s. He would drop his wrinkled, soiled shirts off at Goodwill and bought them back the next day for $.10. lol

[Marianne2]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 12:58am

^ Fortunately, that seems not as bad as some of the other things. I guess I've just always been under the impression that anything really stained, these places throw out.

I think I'm going to have nightmares now thinking about the bucket of toilet rags. Just eww.I hope she washes really disgusting ones right away, since it's a bucket to dispose them in and not a diaper genie. The goat heads are disturbing too.

[MatineeLover]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 8:59am

Right out of college I worked at a restaurant with a college kid who called himself a "buspan vegan." It's not that he didn't eat meat, its that he refused to support the meatpacking industry. He would bus tables and take people's unfinished steaks and would wrap them in a napkin, put them in his pocket and eat them later. This is a kid who was somehow smart enough to be attending Duke.

Pretty sure he probably has hepatitis (or worse) by now.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 9:18am

I have friends who were freegans in college. They would dumpster dive for all kinds of things. They would hit pay dirt the last weekend of the semester. People would toss out the most random things. They found this unopened giant carton of Goldfish crackers and a whole case of Ramen. They also found a laptop that just needed a new hard drive and like 4 microwaves.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 12:20pm

Where the hell do you get goat heads?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 12:27pm

When his wife told him "I want head when I get home from work tonight", I don't think that's what she meant.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 1:10pm

LOL

[Kad]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 1:43pm

Remember when TLC used to be an educational network? The Learning Channel? Now it's basically a side show.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 2:23pm

Or when A&E really was the Arts & Entertainment network? Or when the History Channel ran programs about history?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 3:03pm

Yeah, I'll say it...MTV.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 8:39pm

Oh God, the goat's head guy is on right now.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 9:53pm

Ok, the reusable TP, the goat head and the taking food off others plates was gross, but I do admire practical people. Some of them end up being very "green" and save alot of other money. As someone who is not very frugal, I think some of what these people do is commendable.

Like the couple who got out of $89k worth of debt and the couple that uses their extra $$$ to rescue dogs.

The goat head guy was the only truly creepy one. lol

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/10/12 at 11:10pm

The bartering (sp?) guy was SO uncomfortable to watch!!

[StockardFan]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 1:26am

So uncomfortable!

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 12:32pm

Or when Animal Planet was actually all about animals before they changed it to their awful slogan of "surprisingly human" and filled the channel with nothing but shows meant to scare - infestation, animal hoarders, etc etc or dumb reality shows that don't deserve to be on the air.

That lady who reuses the toliet paper is the most disgusting thing I've seen. I couldn't even imagine doing something like that.

Updated On: 1/11/12 at 12:32 PM

[Marianne2]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 1:39pm

I'll give the goat head guy props for riding his bike everywhere. That's it. I'm skeeved out by the dumpster diving because you have to go into the dumpsters to search for stuff. But, I know my parents have picked up furniture like end tables and dressers if they've seen stuff by the road.

One thing I'm glad to not see from any of these people is mooching off of food pantries and soup kitchens. I know some of those places have a no questions asked policy. But, I think it would be terrible for people to take that stuff from people who truly need it more than them.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 6:12pm

I forgot about the "barter" guy. That was embarrasing. Can I sing for a donut? I'd be like, "get the f@#k outta here." I am all for people asking to work in exchange for goods or services-so I was cool with him cleaning for a haircut, but the donut thing was saddddd.

Oh and the mom buying food from the "expired" store and making a salad from weeds made me really nervous. Are you really going to chance your kids health by serving them expired cheese and sauce. Fine for you, but not the kids. Seriously, go to Aldi, Big Lots or something is you want to cut grocery costs. Don't buy expired dairy products. Scary.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 6:13pm

And who SELLS expired dairy products and is legally allowed to do it??

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 6:20pm

Good question Jordan-apparently the store she went to did-it was their stock and trade.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 8:38pm

Yeah, I also thought the expired product store was odd. I mean, a day or 2 should not matter, but longer than that I would question. It also depends on the item. I know the soup kitchen in my area gets day old bread from some stores to give to patrons, since they can't sell it. But, it's day old.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 8:40pm

I didn't see the part with the expired dairy products lady. That's icky.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 1/11/12 at 9:24pm

That was the communal toilet paper lady.