Children Of Cheapskate Parents Share Their Horrifying Stories

I think it’s hilarious, but she hasn’t had to pay for a new appliance in over 60 years because she’s so cheap! She’s a Ukrainian immigrant to Canada and always insists, “Lifetime guarantee means lifetime guarantee.”

I feel bad for Sears because our family is notoriously long-lived (her father lived until 104). I sometimes think that maybe this is why Sears is doing so poorly: a ton of cheap old women cashing in on their lifetime guarantees.

8. My Dad’s Budget Home Became a Renovation Adventure

My father is pathologically cheap. I have tons of stories, but I’ll share the biggest. My dad only looks at the dollar amount and nothing else. If he sees a six-pack of toilet paper for $5 and a twelve-pack for $7, he’ll buy the $5 pack every time, guaranteed.

So you can already imagine how any major purchase goes with him. When I was about eight, he decided to buy a house. One could buy something relatively decent in my area for $110k back then. We’re talking newer cabinets, floors, interior appointments like trim, newer doors, windows, etc.

He ended up buying a low-quality house for $89k. It had been built in 1947. The guy who built the place was just as cheap as my dad. All of the windows and doors were original. It still had its original asbestos siding.

On the inside, there was no trim. No interior doors except the bathroom door, which itself had no knob. No kitchen cabinets or counters.

The living room floor was bare plywood, and the ground floor bedroom had linoleum haphazardly unrolled onto it. So essentially, my dad “saved” 21k when buying the house but has had to put way more than that into it over the years.