I was channel surfing last night while eating dinner, and I came across "Cheapskates" in the middle of an episode. It featured a woman who was trying to help her daughter plan a wedding on a shoe-string budget. Now, I'm all for bring frugal. I know a few women who had very small wedding budgets and still managed to pull off lovely, joyful celebrations. But when you're buying a pee-covered wedding dress at a pawn shop? And serving your guests mayo-and-Wonder bread cheese sandwiches for the reception? Um, something might have snapped in your head. Don't even get me started on the eight-months-pregnant woman in the next episode who would go dumpster-diving behind hospitals for pre-natal vitamins. (I watched like four episodes before I couldn't handle it anymore.)
Then there was the couple that shares not only a toothbrush, but also a single piece of floss and a single cotton swab. This show just makes me feel gross.
I mean, seriously??? I consider myself to be an expert penny-pincher, but I would NEVER share my razor with Matt. You've gotta keep SOME mystery in the relationship, right?! Besides, you can get floss for free from the dentist when you go in for a cleaning, so how much is that really saving you? Same with toothbrushes. GET YOUR OWN.
Then there was the girl who was earning $4k a month at her job, but would bring her own food to restaurants and ask the server to heat it up for her. And this is where I started to get REALLY pissed off. If you're too cheap to eat out in restaurants, DON'T GO TO RESTAURANTS. If you're too cheap to pay for a wedding cake, DON'T TRY TO LOW-BALL THE BAKERY. If you are too cheap to pay for paint for your baby's nursery, DON'T TRY TO HAGGLE AT THE LOCAL HARDWARE STORE. I mean, these people that run these small businesses have to make a living too! (No one was trying to pull this crap at Wal-Mart or Home Depot or Chili's — it was always the little places.)
I'm all for getting a good price, but that's what shopping around is for! I feel like the people on this show are incredibly rude — not for wanting to get a good deal, but for taking advantage of local service providers. Small business owners (of which I am one) have to decide what their products and services are worth based on expertise, project scope, market rates, overhead, supply/demand, and a myriad of other factors. I would be royally insulted if someone tried to argue that I should work for free just because they don't want to pay. I have to pay bills just like you do. OH WAIT, most of the people on this show live with their parents, so they can force mom and dad to foot the bills instead. (Dude, you're a professional wrestler. Your mom should not be shaving your back every day.)
Have you watched "Extreme Cheapskates"? What do you think of these antics? Do you consider yourself to be cheap?