False economies of your friends cow-orkers and relatives

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is there anything anyone you know does with the aim of saving money which actually ends up costing more money?

Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 09:40 (fourteen years ago)

Is Cow Orking like Cow Bingo?

I wouldn't even know where to start with my colleagues. It's just too depressing to think about.

Cow Bingo (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 09:43 (fourteen years ago)

two examples I can think of -- my parents started renting a TV from a company called Radio Rentals circa 1981 after I broke the telly they had been given by a friend by throwing a cushion at it. Now, 29 years later, my mother is still renting her TV from the company's successor, Box Clever. I don't know how much she pays for the privilege. I do know she has paid for a very large number of TVs in the process.

An aunt of mine used to drive all round Hertfordshire looking for the cheapest deals from various supermarkets, spending far more in fuel than she saved by visiting the various shops.

Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 09:45 (fourteen years ago)

The public sector has been riddled for years with expensive bodies/consultants that go in and advise on efficiency.

Matt DC, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 09:47 (fourteen years ago)

not having a credit card and using direct deposit advances on their paychecks when they're short on cash - which generally entails a $50 fee.

sarahel, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 09:51 (fourteen years ago)

Just this afternoon I've got yet another pointless meeting trying to persuade someone in this company to invest in data cleansing for the addresses in our database.

It keeps getting rejected on the grounds it's "too expensive".

The cost of postage on the returned mail of postal promotional shots in the past 6 months alone would have paid for it already. I keep saying this, no one listens.

Cow Bingo (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:03 (fourteen years ago)

In the U.S. it is now a requirement for bulk mailers to do what I imagine you're referring to by "data cleansing."

sarahel, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:21 (fourteen years ago)

I have a relative who always buys the smallest quantity possible of toilet paper. It'd be cheaper if she bought it in a reasonable quantity, and that way she wouldn't always be running to the store to pick more up. But I think she'd buy it roll by roll if her grocery store sold it that way.

prey like aretha franklin (sciolism), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:28 (fourteen years ago)

Oh Radio Rentals was the worst thing ever, when I was a teenager I worked out that with the amount of money my parents were paying to rent a tv they could have just bought a new one every 6 months. We could never persuade my dad that it would be cheaper to buy one (or that shopping at Poundland so much was pretty expensive too).

8 (88), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:34 (fourteen years ago)

parents used to mount window A/Cs in the bedrooms instead of using central air

like a ◴ ◷ ◶ (dyao), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:39 (fourteen years ago)

the "driving around looking for better deals" one is so classic though

like a ◴ ◷ ◶ (dyao), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:40 (fourteen years ago)

Surely Radio Rentals had a purpose back in the 80s when decent tellies were a lot more expensive and many people couldn't have afforded to whack down all that cash in one go?

Matt DC, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:41 (fourteen years ago)

also classic:

driving on the highway with the windows down so that you don't have to turn on the A/C and can "save gas"

like a ◴ ◷ ◶ (dyao), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:43 (fourteen years ago)

I know a certain one-time ilx poster who still does the TV rental thing :o

progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:45 (fourteen years ago)

Actually a friend of mine had been renting a (pretty big) TV and then ended up buying one. The rental dudes basically said "well, you've paid the cost of TV in rental, we can't rent it out again, it'll cost more for us to pick it up then it would to just let you have it". So I bought it off him for a tenner.

Matt DC, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:50 (fourteen years ago)

I wish it worked like that with apartments.

progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:53 (fourteen years ago)

The public sector has been riddled for years with expensive bodies/consultants that go in and advise on efficiency.

Yeah, we paid Large Consultancy Group three quarters of a mil three years ago to come in and tell us to save money by making 50 people redundant and giving them big payouts

oh shit a ◕‿‿◕ (sic), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 12:27 (fourteen years ago)

used to work with a guy who always had full tank of petrol, when he used a quarter of a tank, he'd top up.
i told him the extra weight of fuel would be costing him more in fuel to carry round, he didn't believe me!
what can you do?

not_goodwin, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 12:33 (fourteen years ago)


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