Hi, my name’s Jackie and I’m a cheapskate. There. I admit it, although I prefer the term ‘thrifty’.
My parents came of age during the Great Depression where thrift was a necessity. Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without was our family motto and I continued that lesson into adulthood. I have trouble spending money – not on the important things. I didn’t hesitate to buy a new furnace, but when the Dear Spouse insisted we replace our stone patio with a poured one, that looks like stone BTW, I went ballistic. His reasoning was sound. We want to stay in this house until we die. Do we really want to spend our retirement years weeding between the stones, stones our aging feet will trip and stumble over?
I gave in and I love that patio, but what about all that stone I hauled and set with my very own hands? You see? Too cheap to pay someone to do it. It seemed wasteful. We now have two stone patios out by the pond (dug by my sons because a backhoe costs money!) and another under the swing, oh, and a path through the woods and path to the pool. Hey! It was a lot of stone, okay?
I drive a twelve year old van because it still runs and the seat is molded perfectly to my butt and hell, it’s got no where near the 300K miles the last one had. I use rags instead of paper towels, not for the environment, but because they’re free. My main cleaning products are bleach, vinegar and ammonia. I’ve never called a plumber and I’ve repaired washers, dryers and an endless list of small appliances. I hate to pay anyone to do what I can do myself.
My point is this. I’m tired, but I can’t break the cheapskate habit. We recently replaced the ratty carpet with laminate floors in the bedrooms upstairs and yes, I wanted to save the installation expense. How hard could it be? But the Dear Spouse started talking divorce and knowing my love of bargains, he found one for installation at Home Depot. So now I’m painting the bedrooms and hall and refinishing all the woodwork and doors. Why? Because I can and it’s a waste of good money to pay someone to do what you can do yourself.
But… I’m exhausted and cranky and it’s not like we can’t afford to pay someone to paint… Still…
Is there a Cheapskate’s Anonymous out there? I need help!
