There are some folk out there who just love finding strange, unique ways to save money. And while some are kind of ingenious, others are just hilariously embarrassing. From dumpster diving royalty to one guy who actually lives in a dumpster, and one woman who’s so cheap that she literally cooks lasagna in her dishwasher, let's delve into the world’s most extreme cheapskates!
Stephanie Bennett
Stephanie Bennett was introduced to the world via the home of trashy reality TV, the TLC network. Back in 2011, TLC debuted its now-classic show Extreme Cheapskates, taking a peek into the lives of people who’ll stop at nothing to save a buck. Stephanie was chosen among these tight-fisted folks, for good reason.
Despite working a well-paid job at a doctor’s office, Stephanie loathes nothing more than spending her hard-earned cash. So much so, she has a bunch of bizarre rituals which she claims save her a fortune. It’s true that the small things add up, which is why Stephanie doesn’t believe in buying cotton wool balls for removing her makeup and nail polish. After all, why spend like $2 on cotton balls when you could use the lint from your dryer for free?
While for most of us, shower time is an opportunity to relax as we lather up and perhaps belt out some of Celine Dion’s greatest hits, in Stephanie’s house it’s quite literally a military operation. That is, she and her boyfriend first briefly splash their bodies, then shut off the water, lather up with suds, and then quickly rinse off, AKA, a military shower. And to make sure that her trooper of a boyfriend is following her washing rules, Stephanie has even set up a baby monitor camera system in the shower. Unsurprisingly, that same lack of generosity also extends to the electricity too, as Stephanie has just one lightbulb that she carries from room to room. And while she claims that this saves her around $60 a month, is that $60 saving really worth the trouble? Besides a couple other freakishly frugal honorable mentions, such as scraping leftover sauces back into the bottle or asking the butcher for discounted expired meat, this next one of Stephanie’s quirks is sacrilegious.
Always on the prowl for a new way to save some moolah,
Stephanie had a lightbulb moment when she realized that her dishwasher reached 170-degrees during its cycle. Which was not only the perfect temperature to clean dishes and kill bacteria, but apparently great for cooking a lasagna.
She Cooks Lasagna in the Dishwasher! | Extreme Cheapskates by TLC After preparing her lasagna, Stephanie would wrap up the casserole dish in aluminum foil to protect it from being blasted by jets of dirty dishwater, and allegedly cook it, all the while cleaning the other dishes. It sounds totally unbelievable, but the dishwasher lasagna is actually legit. Technically, as long as you ideally pre-cook any meat in your meat-sauce, it is possible to cook lasagna in the dishwasher. MythBusters themselves
tested and confirmed that it was viable, if a little mushy. But that doesn’t mean you should.
Cash for Trash
They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. A 2017 survey amongst US citizens found that 44% of participants would consider or already have dabbled in the art of dumpster diving. And, hygiene and safety aside, it seems there are plenty of riches for the taking!
Meet the dynamic duo,
Veronica and Liz, the professional dumpster divers. Scavenging dumpsters far and wide, this dumpster double-act sell on their findings and, according to them, rake in around 4 to $5,000 a month each! That’s a potential collective annual income of $120,000, just from selling trash.
While it sounds impossible, Veronica and Liz assure that beyond the trash and trinkets there are plenty of high-value items discarded, such as designer goods, antiques, and custom furniture pieces. With lucky finds also including high-quality appliances, these treasures can bring in anything from $300 to $1,000.But it’s actually harder work than you might imagine. In order to get crème de la crème trash, the dumpster duo travel from city to city, typically targeting affluent neighborhoods, or college accommodation areas when it’s time for students to move out, and it often requires working the night shift from 10pm until 3am.
Similarly, with quite a literal taste for trash is
Sofie Juel-Andersen who gets the majority of her food from trash cans. Targeting grocery store dumpsters, Sofie claims that most stores throw out perfectly good food for the simple reason that it’s expired.
However, in most cases, these are simply "best before" dates, meaning that the food isn’t necessarily bad, just not at optimum quality. "Use by" dates, on the other hand, are usually an estimation of when the product will no longer be safe for consumption and may cause foodborne illnesses. Still, if a product has exceeded its "use by" date and you neither smell nor see any signs of spoilage then it’s at your discretion if you want to risk eating it. And Sofie seems to be doing just fine, all the while only spending $88 on groceries a year! Which is a pretty hefty saving when you consider that in 2023 the average US citizen spent around $5,000 on groceries over the year! But not so fast. Before you go diving head-first into the next trash can you see, you should be aware that it can be pretty risky business. Back in 2020, 30-year-old dumpster-diver, Stephanie Cox from North Carolina, was out late at night doing her regular rounds. Only on this occasion, Stephanie never returned home. As she trawled through the trash cans, a garbage truck innocently collected the dumpster she was inside. And given the hydraulic compression systems inside garbage trucks, you can probably guess what happened.
It wasn’t until a week later that Stephanie’s unfortunately final fate was
discovered at a local landfill, making her legacy a cautionary tale as to the dangers of dumpster diving. What’s more, the practice is actually illegal in a lot of places, so be sure to check the legality and safety before you embark on any scavenging missions of your own!
Victoria Hunt
While it’s easy to laugh at some cheapskates’ money saving ideas, it is, unfortunately, the only way some people can make ends meet. Victoria Hunt, however, is not some people, but rather a literal millionaire. And after also appearing on TLC’s Extreme Cheapskates, she proved that there is no length she won’t go to in order to save her dough.
Representing Columbus, Ohio,
Victoria has a few interesting ideas when it comes to budgeting. For instance, while the average US household spends around $73 on their monthly water-bill, Victoria parts with just $20! How? Believe it or not, Victoria has never used her shower. She’s an avid gym-goer anyway, so why not make every penny count and do all her showering there? She also tracks how much energy each appliance in her house uses, so much so, her freezer is on a 12-hour-on 12-hour-off setting. Considering how she regularly brings home food from dumpsters out back of her local bakery I don’t imagine she’s all that concerned about her food going bad. But there is one habit of Victoria’s that is completely unforgivable. Pains me to say it, but Victoria literally pees in a jar to save water on flushing.
Woman Doesn't Like To Flush Her Toilet So Pees In A Jar | Extreme Cheapskates by tlc uk Imagine forcing yourself to squat over a tiny jar every time you pee and it saving you only $10 a month, and you’re also a millionaire. But this a dual-purpose jar as it enables Victoria to collect her urine and drizzle it over her compost piles in the yard. The phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen in urine might make it good for plants, but Victoria, have you thought about those plants’ feelings?
The Skip House
London is rich with history and culture, it’s no wonder that it’s one of the most iconic capitals in the world. However, if you want to live there, that’s where things can get pretty pricey, which, of course, doesn’t bode well for the average cheapskate. So, with that in mind, meet 28-year-old Harrison Marshall, who pays just £50 a month when the average rent in the city is £2,100!
How is that even possible? It’s simple, just live in a dumpster! Harrison literally lives in a dumpster, or in what the British call a skip. It all began when he couldn’t find anywhere reasonable to live in the major city, prompting him to think outside the box, or rather, inside the box.
Having shelled out £4,000 to purchase, expand and decorate the dumpster, which was of course thoroughly cleaned, he transformed it from shabby to chic, which he documented on his Instagram page, ‘
the skip house’. With a space to eat and sleep, plus the ability to literally move house when needed, Harrison’s humble abode has everything he needs. Well, all but running water or a bathroom. Thankfully, a porta-potty stands nearby, donated by fans of the project, and the neighborhood gym provides facilities for showering.
Clearly, Harrison is saving thousands a year by living in a glorified trash can. But, given that, technically, prisoners have better amenities, is it really worth it?
Melody Rose
The only thing cheaper than a cheapskate is a hillbilly cheapskate. Meet Melody Rose, who, in her own words is a hillbilly cheapskate, and is another star of TLC’s Extreme Cheapskates.
Living in a trailer with her husband and two teenage sons, let’s just say they’re a very close family. After all, Melody forces them all to share the same cold-water bath. Not at the same time, but nonetheless, the same water, which is pretty evident considering the water that looks like it’s inhabited by a swamp monster. Just watch for yourself in the footage below:
The Self-Proclaimed "Hillbilly Cheapskate" | Extreme Cheapskates by TLC But should they be feeling particularly fancy and want a hot soak, Melody boils the water on an open-fire and fills up a big old rusty tub out in the yard. Four Seasons, eat your heart out. But not only do they bathe in a somewhat medieval way; they poop like it too, as Melody also has a strict no toilet-paper rule. However, they don’t go without wiping, that would be barbaric. They use newspaper! And to make matters worse, they keep a bag full of these crap-smeared papers next to the toilet and burn them in the yard once it’s full. Nothing quite like gathering around the backyard poop fire! And when it comes to dental hygiene, Melody also goes to extreme lengths. Granted, dental work fees can be expensive, however removing your own teeth with a hammer and chisel like she proudly proclaims to have done is certainly not advised!
But beyond the bathroom, Melody also saves energy by having a handheld lantern as the home’s only light source. Not only that, but all laundry is done by hand and chilled foods are kept in a hole in the yard. But perhaps the weirdest thing Melody does to save money is force the whole family to share one bed like Charlie Bucket’s grandparents. There are other bedrooms, but they’re blocked off to "save on heating and cooling".
It's pretty hard to believe that anyone would truly live like this, so it’s hardly surprising that the credibility of this reality show has, time and again, come under fire. But while you might be inclined to believe it’s entirely fake, it seems that the people are actually real, despite some reality-TV exaggeration; they’re not just actors. In fact, the hillbilly cheapskate herself, Melody, was later interviewed by her local newspaper, who not only confirmed she was real, but that she had bad things to say about the show. Melody claimed that while she is a proud cheapskate, about 90% of what was portrayed on the show was actually false. And just for the record, she’d like people to know that, contrary to popular belief, she and her family do not wipe their butts with newspaper! The producers reportedly asked her to imply the more extreme stuff like that, seemingly telling her that if she did, the show would rake in more viewers, and she might be able to get her own TV show. By contrast, the pee-jar user Victoria Hunt was interviewed separately from the show, and actually proudly confirmed a lot of the strange behaviors she exhibited on the show. Various other participants have also given interviews, where their impression of the show ranged from it being pretty honest, to manipulative and deceptive on the parts of the producers. So, looks like, as is often the case with reality TV, the whacky show was a mixture of grains of truth, and moderate exaggeration, with the occasional total lie sprinkled in.
Reddit’s Cheapest Things
Reddit, if you’re unfamiliar with the site, is a place where anything goes, and the subreddit AskReddit is a channel where you can ask any question your heart desires. Several threads have asked what was the cheapest thing people had seen other people do, and there were some golden responses!
In one
redditor’s anecdote, he explained how when he was a kid he and his brother went on a trip to the zoo with their tightwad grandma. Such a tightwad, that when the boys got hungry she refused to pay the zoo’s restaurant prices and instead fed them the $2 crackers that were sold to feed the goats.
She’s not the only cheapo grandma in town, though. Another Redditor’s grandma, who was pretty wealthy, saw nothing wrong with buying her granddaughter used underwear from a garage sale for Christmas! Laugh now, but just remember who’ll be putting you in a nursing home, grandma!
In other shameless cheapskatery, one user explained how one of their friends is so cheap that when he joins them for restaurant meals, he always orders, at most, a small side and then audaciously eats everyone’s leftovers at the end! Cheapskate? More like bottom feeder. On the topic of dining out, we’ve all had our fair share of disastrous dates, but this next one takes the prize. When on a date with a cheapskate, one poor girl shared how she was forced to hide in his trunk so that he only had to pay one admission at the drive-in theater. Hopefully there wasn’t a second date.
Solar Camper Car
Rent prices around the world have skyrocketed in recent years. And these prices have quite literally driven one creative New Jersey cheapskate out of the rental market, into living in his car!
Meet Arslan, a medical technologist from the US. On his
TikTok and
YouTube channel, he shares the fascinating details of how, by living in a number of cars for over a year, he’s managed to save tens-of-thousands. And while the thought of living in a car might be enough to send your average claustrophobe haywire, Arslan surprisingly has a pretty decent set up.
While for most people this wouldn’t exactly be ideal, Arslan seems pretty pleased with his cost-effective motorhomes. With a bed, desk, fridge, sink, hotplate, electricity from rooftop solar-panels, and even a cassette style toilet, which is reportedly stink-free and easy to empty, Arslan has everything he could ever need.
There are a few issues, though, to bear in mind. While it’s not illegal to sleep in your car in New Jersey, doing so for an extended period could be classed as camping, which is illegal outside of approved zones, so Arslan regularly has to uproot from his parking spot for pastures new. On top of that, the initial setup of converting a car or SUV into a livable space can easily run up several thousand dollars, not to mention the price of the car itself. But if you already own a car, and that ever-moving, minimalist, very-cozy lifestyle is something you’re okay with, it could have some appeal.
Extreme Couponing
A great way to get some freebies is the art of couponing. And well, there are some people who’ve taken this to the extreme and devised genius ways to swipe thousands of dollars-worth of goods for next to nothing!
Meet Shavon, third-generation couponer who appeared on another classic TLC show, Extreme Couponing, where she was seen continuing a tradition of her ma and mee-maw. This ancestral penny-pinching is so serious that Shavon literally inherited a huge collection of non-expiring coupons from her late grandmother, continuing her bargain-hunting mission posthumously! Thanks to her grandmother’s teachings, Shavon now has a hefty stockpile of goods worth $60,000, which thanks to the power of coupons, she claims to have only spent $800 on!
Shavon Stockpiled $60,000 in Goods! | Extreme Couponing by TLC Flaunting her couponing prowess, in one televised shopping trip Shavon snatched over $1,400 worth of groceries for just $21.23. The cashier responsible for scanning all those coupons must’ve been at risk of a sprained wrist!
He Faked His Birthday To Get Free Stuff
On the topic of extreme savings, these days, so long as you’re happy to give away all your personal data on their loyalty websites, many shops, cafes, and eateries might just give you a little treat on the house for your birthday. YouTuber Zac Alsop decided to take full advantage of this scheme and put it to the test when he faked his own birthday.
With the aim being to get as many freebies as possible, Zac paraded around central London, donning his birthday regalia, and claiming whatever he could! So, how successful was Zac’s birthday scam? Impressively, he managed to rake in 2 cookies from Subway, a cake from Costa Coffee, a bunch of free treats from Greggs bakery, a doughnut from Krispy Kreme, a drink from Café Nero, Chicken nuggets and a banana from Leon, nachos from Chipotle, a cocktail, a glass of bubbly and a burger, and a free session of ice skating.
I faked my own birthday to get free stuff by Zac Alsop Not a bad haul, especially considering the value of his items came to a total of £87.89, all completely free, that’s quite literally a steal! While some might call it cheap, it’s a stroke of genius, and to quote Zac directly, “fake birthdays equal profit and extortion!”
How To Be A Cheapskate
Let’s move on now to a quick-fire round of do-it-yourself cheapskate ideas from the interwebs, that you can carry forward into your own life, albeit with varying degrees of effectiveness!
For starters, check out this Aussie guy who went viral for his cheap grocery store hack:
My boyfriend’s so cheap he peels bananas before weighing them at grocery by New York Post It kind of makes sense if your store uses weight to calculate fruit prices, it would only really work if you were planning on buying one banana and eating it right there and then. But at least he used a bag, just imagine handing the cashier your naked bananas. But according to the cheapskate in the video, his refusal to pay an extra penny or two for banana skins was more of a protest on inflation. On the topic of fat-cats, landlords are notoriously tight-fisted. Which was certainly the case here when one person’s landlord decided to cut off their heating in their Minnesota apartment whilst it was -40 outside. Legalities aside, it seems the cheap landlord forgot the arrangement that he pays that property’s electric bill, so the tenant cleverly positioned a fan next to the stove top which circulated the heat.
Pretty genius, even if it is probably a bit of a hazard. Please don’t try this at home! But while we’re on the topic of hazardous cheapskate ideas, just get a load of the "hot water" tap below spotted in Vietnam. It’d be interesting to know just how effective that tiny candle is at heating cold water, let alone what happens when the wick burns down further!
In another hilarious bathroom DIY project, one cheapskate came up with a rather interesting showerhead replacement. The duct-taped beer can seems to be doing a pretty decent job at being a shower head, if only it were pouring out beer! Something less convicing, however, is this next cheapskate who, rather than replace their car’s broken lock, fitted a padlock instead. It’s functional, but at what cost?
But that’s just the thing with cheapskates, ease of use and comfort always come second to cost, as can quite literally be seen with this disaster of a couch.
But it does the job, right? Similarly, another cheap workaround is this BBQ grill made from a grocery store shopping cart. Hygiene aside and the fact that you’re not really supposed to steal those things, you could possibly say that it does technically work. Perfect for grillin’ up some roadkill!
And how about the dirt-cheap alternative to a phone case below? You’re correct in thinking this would be absolutely useless at protecting the phone if dropped. But it’s so cheap!
HOW TO MAKE PHONE CASE FROM BALLOON by True or False Experiments Functionality is not a word synonymous with this next cheap contraption either, which was spotted on Facebook Marketplace in Oklahoma. For the not-so cheap price of $69 and listed as used roller skates, it’d be interesting to know who on earth used these monstrosities. If a pair of rubber boots taped to some office chair wheels can pass as roller skates, then surely anyone can pass for Leonardo DiCaprio.
Moving on and taking thriftiness to its most uncomfortable extreme, meet the toilet-paper splitting machine from legendary YouTube inventor, Household Hacker, which takes one roll of 2-ply and divides it into two rolls of 1-ply.
Toilet Paper Splitting Machine by Household Hacker Either way, being ultra-thrifty isn’t anything new. Case in point:
The Tightwad Gazette. This was a newsletter published between 1990 and 1996 by Amy Dacyczyn dedicated to frugal living. While there were plenty of genuinely useful tips, some of the more extreme were weird. She advocated for washing and reusing aluminum foil to save money, and extending the life of dental floss by carefully rinsing and drying it after each use.
She also suggested creating a "mystery casserole" by combining leftover bits of food from the refrigerator, and would have contests with her family to guess the ingredients. She would then freeze leftover mystery meals without labeling them, turning frozen dinners into a game of "culinary roulette." It’s all pretty wholesome, but plucking pieces of mystery meat out of your teeth with pre-used dental floss, most will want to pass on that. I hope you were amazed at these extreme cheapskates! Thanks for reading.
