Extreme Cheapskates
Extreme Cheapskates
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TVTranscript
00:00When it comes to money, there are those who save, those who are stingy, and then there
00:07are cheapskates.
00:08Don't mind if I take this to you.
00:10They eat food destined for the trash.
00:12I find that utterly grotesque.
00:14They reuse their toilet paper.
00:16I've been using them for more than five years.
00:20And they dig deep to save a buck.
00:23We get access to the brain through here.
00:26Welcome to the world of Extreme Cheapskates.
00:30My name is Roy G. Haynes.
00:41I live in Vermont with my wife, Lisa.
00:50I don't think anybody can really describe Roy's cheap ways.
00:55I'm squeezing the last few drops out of this hose.
00:58He takes it to the extreme.
00:59By any chance, do you have any mustard packets?
01:01I never fill it, and I never spill it.
01:04Not that I'm America's cheapest man, but I'm the world's cheapest man.
01:08Hi there.
01:09Hi.
01:10Going out to dinner with Roy can be a little bit difficult and challenging for me, because
01:15Roy has some peculiar habits at the dinner table.
01:19What's the matter, Roy?
01:21Where are you going, Roy?
01:24I'll finish with that.
01:25You don't mind if I take it there?
01:26No.
01:27You sure you really want it?
01:28Oh, yeah.
01:29You look like nice folks.
01:30Okay.
01:31And it's good food, so.
01:32All right.
01:34Waste not, want not.
01:35Okay.
01:36Okay, go ahead.
01:37Great.
01:39It's better than it going in a dumpster, isn't it?
01:40I guess that's true.
01:41Thank you so much.
01:43It'll be put to good use.
02:07He takes food from other people's tables.
02:08I find that utterly grotesque, and it's very embarrassing.
02:09I was grossed out.
02:10I feel really bad for his wife, and she's obviously embarrassed.
02:11It's disgusting.
02:12I have no qualms about asking strangers for their leftover food.
02:19They'll often times give me funny looks or even dirty looks, but I'm unaffected by that.
02:31The frugal ways that Roy has, have allowed us to be able to focus our time and effort
02:37on saving animals.
02:38We got a letter too from a gentleman who's wife has passed away and he's got a 15-year-old
02:39dog that needs a place to go.
02:46Our rescue organization is Save Our Strays and we have placed well over 3,000 cats and
02:54dogs.
02:55It's very rewarding.
02:56You haven't bitten anybody all day.
03:01We make money by pet sitting.
03:04But rescuing dogs is costly, so Roy has a lot of cheapskate tricks to stretch their
03:08income.
03:09It's a satisfying feeling knowing that you're not paying full price for anything.
03:14Hi.
03:15Hi.
03:16How are you?
03:17Good.
03:18Can I get a few of those extra packets of ketchup?
03:19Sure.
03:20How many do you want?
03:21As many as you can spare.
03:22All right.
03:23Let's see.
03:24More than four.
03:25How about that?
03:26Appreciate it.
03:27Thanks a lot.
03:28Have a good one.
03:29I refill the bottles that I have at home.
03:34It's a very simple procedure, not even time-consuming.
03:38Learned at a young age to cut corners.
03:41Roy gets ketchup packets from different places, and he refills his ketchup bottle.
03:47A lot of people might think that's weird, but, you know, after all these years, it's
03:50just normal to me.
03:52I save probably $70 or $80 a year just on ketchup alone.
03:59Most people consider the paper towels disposable.
04:02I reuse them.
04:03Spruce it up, bring it a little back to life, and voila.
04:08I could reuse these paper towels three to five times.
04:12Roy estimates that over the last 10 years, he's saved nearly $2,000 just by reusing paper
04:17towels.
04:18But he also knows how to squeeze savings out of his toiletries.
04:22If the blades, which are kind of flimsy on these disposables, they get dull, I sharpen
04:28them on the striking part of a book of matches, give them a whole new life.
04:32And you can't squeeze any more out, and it appears to be empty, but that's the end, and
04:38they just toss it away.
04:40Wrong.
04:41Cut your tube, and there's a week's worth still left in there.
04:49I buy cheap, two-ply toilet paper, and I get two rolls out of one.
04:55I get twice as much as anybody else does for the same price.
04:58By Roy's calculation, this strategy nets him an extra $6 a month.
05:03I do not enjoy two-ply toilet paper being separated.
05:07I just kind of refold it so that it's a little thicker.
05:11Toilet paper is a lot like life in general.
05:15The closer you get to the end, the faster it seems to go.
05:20Americans spend over $300 billion a year on clothes, but Roy's share since 2009 has been
05:25a grand total of nine bucks.
05:28I had a nice shirt that was my favorite shirt.
05:30It fit me well, and I really liked it.
05:33I had bought it new.
05:34It was off a clearance rack at a store.
05:36I paid $8 for it, and after wearing it for about a year or so, it got an ink stain from
05:41a pen in the pocket.
05:43So I went to the dry cleaner.
05:45They told me it would be about $12, so naturally, that didn't sit right with me.
05:50I donated it to the thrift store.
05:52I went back two days later.
05:54They had taken the stain out completely, and I purchased it for $1.
06:01Today does happen to be my anniversary.
06:03Lisa and I are married for 25 years now.
06:06I proposed when I found out that I needed some dental surgery, which would have been
06:11rather expensive.
06:12I had a job.
06:14You didn't have a job.
06:15I had insurance.
06:16You needed periodontal surgery.
06:19Got married on a Tuesday.
06:20Got your surgery on a Wednesday.
06:22Got my surgery on a Wednesday.
06:25What a country.
06:27My goals are to find something nice to give my wife, Lisa, for our anniversary, be it
06:34from a dumpster, a discount store, or even on the side of the road.
06:40I don't know when I'm coming back.
06:42The gifts, there's no, like, diamonds, there's no necklaces, there's no extravagant strips.
06:47The icing on the cake should be the dinner out tonight.
06:53I don't know what I'll be bringing home, but it'll be something, you never know what you'll
06:57come up with in the land of opportunity.
07:01Hopefully I won't have to spend as much as $10, which I try not to.
07:12As a professional, what I take with me is a crate and a pair of work gloves, and those
07:17are my tools of the trade, so to speak.
07:23Some husbands have different kinds of hobbies.
07:27My husband has a hobby of dumpster diving.
07:29I mean, it might be a little bit more socially acceptable for him to take up golf.
07:41Anniversary gift for Lisa.
07:44Clean him up a little bit.
07:45Roses.
07:46Now that says romance.
07:50I found it.
07:52A lovely gift from Lisa.
07:55She drinks tea.
07:57If it's free, it's for me.
08:01But while Roy prefers price tags that read zero, it is his 25th wedding anniversary.
08:07So he stops into the liquidation center to see if he can scare up another cheap present or two.
08:13Lisa is usually not anticipating anything too luxurious in the way of gifts.
08:1829 cents.
08:20Lisa loves animals, and she does like animal crackers, and they happen to have some here.
08:25They're not even expired.
08:27She'll love it.
08:31She likes bottled water, and here it is at the right price.
08:38It's a little more than I wanted to spend.
08:40It's 99 cents, but I'm going to go all out this year.
08:45I think she's going to love it.
08:48The weirdest gift I ever got Lisa.
08:53Takes a little thought.
08:54I brought her some doozies.
08:57You're welcome.
08:58Have a good day.
08:59Having spent less than two dollars so far on his wife for their 25th wedding anniversary,
09:03Roy finishes his shopping day by putting together a card.
09:07I'm writing a nice anniversary card for Lisa.
09:11It's one that's been given to her in the past.
09:14I'm just rearranging it.
09:16Lisa, wishing you a happy anniversary.
09:19Hope to see you soon. Roy.
09:24Coming up, Lisa celebrates 25 years of being married to the self-proclaimed cheapest man in the world.
09:30Close your eyes.
09:36And we meet a mother of six so cheap she refuses to buy toilet paper.
09:41This is kind of good.
09:43It's okay. It's clean.
09:45Roy Haynes is an extreme cheapskate who runs an animal rescue center with his wife Lisa in Huntington, Vermont.
09:50But today is a special one for this dog-loving couple.
09:54It's their 25th wedding anniversary.
09:56And in true penny pincher form, Roy's come up with an idea to celebrate that won't cost him a thing.
10:02He's taking Lisa on a stroll down memory lane to the town hall where they got married.
10:09You have me a little snuggly.
10:12Reminds me of our wedding day when we got married at City Hall.
10:17Remember that fiasco?
10:19Memories are free.
10:21They're not always good, but they're free.
10:23It wasn't a fiasco, but it was sort of a fateful day.
10:27Yeah, at least you had a good meal when we got out of there.
10:31On the day that we did get married, there were some people there and they did throw rice.
10:35Roy bent down and he scooped up the rice and he picked it up and then he took it home and he cooked it for dinner.
10:41And I did not eat it and I started to have a second thought about who I married.
10:45Oh no, he found rice. Oh crap.
10:47Come on, Roy.
10:49Pick it up quicker, will ya?
10:51It's cold outside.
10:53Nag, nag, nag.
10:55Some nice brown rice.
10:57That's not supposed to be brown, Roy. That's white rice.
10:59Come, my ricey friend.
11:03There are some benefits to being married to a cheap man.
11:06I don't have to worry about him running out and spending money on wine, women, and so on.
11:11You're not gonna shake it loose.
11:15I'm gonna try.
11:17And you're not gonna feed it to me.
11:21Following the rice incident, Lisa isn't feeling very romantic.
11:25Instead, she's worried Roy's cheapskate ways will embarrass her when they go to dinner later that night.
11:30I'd like you not to take food from other people.
11:34It's not that big a deal, you know. I do it all the time.
11:37I know you do it all the time.
11:38You don't eat it, I do.
11:39Just this once. I mean, one in 25 years would be nice to be able to go out to eat
11:43and not take somebody else's food home.
11:46It would be like an anniversary present that doesn't cost you anything.
11:52With the dogs fed, Roy and Lisa head out to celebrate their big night.
11:56But will Roy be able to behave himself at dinner?
11:58This place that I'm taking Lisa is not particularly cheap,
12:02but occasionally I make exceptions for my wife.
12:05How we doing?
12:06Good evening, sir.
12:07How are ya?
12:08Hopefully I won't embarrass her too much tonight.
12:11So now what?
12:12Let me get you a gift, my dear.
12:13Well, maybe not.
12:16Maybe that's not a good idea.
12:19Oh, Merry Christmas.
12:23Close your eyes.
12:26I can't, I'm praying.
12:27Smell.
12:28No, I'm not gonna smell.
12:30Happy Anniversary.
12:31I don't smell anything.
12:35Sort of nice.
12:36Don't you like it?
12:38Lovely.
12:39Everyone likes flowers.
12:40I know.
12:41But not everyone likes dead flowers.
12:45Happy Anniversary.
12:46Happy, happy, happy Anniversary.
12:49Is it you?
12:50No.
12:51Did you buy it or find it?
12:52It's for you.
12:53Very nice.
12:55You're welcome.
12:56Anniversary.
12:57Oh.
12:58Yeah.
13:00Beautiful.
13:04I got you a nice card.
13:07Okay, it looks like somebody else got me that card, but I'll...
13:10This is from when I wasn't feeling good that Jane sent me.
13:14And you've changed my date and added words.
13:18And your name.
13:20Isn't that nice?
13:22Except for the hope to see you soon part.
13:25When you care to send the very best...
13:27You don't get it from Roy.
13:28And out of the corner of my eye, I noticed some appetizing food at the very next table.
13:35Everybody's leaving.
13:39How's everything tonight, fellas?
13:40Good.
13:41Good.
13:42Gonna be some leftovers this evening?
13:44Have at it.
13:45I sure am hungry.
13:47That's a little odd that he comes over and asks for my leftovers.
13:49Yeah, but...
13:50To each his own, right?
13:52It's a good combination.
13:57When Roy reaches over and tries to grab someone else's food,
14:01it's absolutely disgusting and there's no need for it.
14:05Thank you, folks.
14:06I want out of there as fast as I can, because he is absolutely mortifying.
14:14Although he's a little bit...
14:16He's a little bit...
14:18He's a little bit...
14:20He's a little bit...
14:21He's a little bit annoying and irks you all of the time.
14:24You can get over that stuff, because, you know, Roy's Roy.
14:30I was not sure if I should come back in or not, ever.
14:35Okay, Roy.
14:36You're gross.
14:37Yeah, keep on going.
14:38You're absolutely gross.
14:42Okay.
14:43Got more gifts?
14:44What's with the animals?
14:46You know that whenever I have anything with animals...
14:51Now I'm getting greedy.
14:52I'm like, okay, more gifts, please.
14:54Hold out your hand.
14:56Keep your eyes closed.
14:59If you put a chicken wing in there, I'm gonna kill you.
15:01No.
15:02You may open.
15:03Oh, no.
15:07This isn't exactly anniversary, but I do love it.
15:11Kind of reminds me of you.
15:16But this looks like you actually paid for it.
15:18I did.
15:19This is turning out to be a good night, after all.
15:22See that?
15:23Despite everything.
15:24And you had your doubts.
15:25Cheers.
15:27Cheers.
15:28Happy anniversary.
15:30She's a very compassionate person.
15:32Not only does she put up with all the dogs,
15:35she puts up with me, so...
15:37I want to come show you what we're gonna have for dinner.
15:39Coming up, what will the neighbors think
15:41when they catch wind of Angela's reusable toilet paper?
15:44One of the things we do to save money
15:46is we use cloth toilet paper.
15:54I'm Angela Kauffman, and I live in Kansas City, Missouri.
15:57And I'm Angela Kauffman.
15:58And I'm Angela Kauffman.
15:59And I'm Angela Kauffman.
16:00And I'm Angela Kauffman.
16:01And I'm Angela Kauffman.
16:02And I'm Angela Kauffman.
16:03And I'm Angela Kauffman.
16:04And I'm Angela Kauffman.
16:06And I live in Kansas City, Missouri.
16:08Here's what we've got on our lineup, guys.
16:10The laundry and help with the cookie cake
16:12and also with washing the windows.
16:14I have six children.
16:15I have six children.
16:16And I'm married to Darin Kauffman.
16:18Most people don't have six kids
16:20but we're kind of an average middle-class family.
16:23Angela, you ready to talk about the budget?
16:25Yeah.
16:26All right.
16:27When we were newly married,
16:28we used our credit card on everything.
16:30When we finally added it up,
16:32it was $89,000 that we owed.
16:33Heidi's starting her point class.
16:35But by pinching some serious pennies
16:37and cutting up all their cards,
16:38the Kaufmans were able to eliminate
16:40their entire credit card debt in under a year.
16:42After that experience where we got out of debt,
16:45we figured out that it wasn't that hard to live that way.
16:48All right, that sounds good.
16:50I want my children also to see the frugal example.
16:53When the cereal gets to the bottom, nobody wants that.
16:56We save them up, then I add it to bread
16:58or any way I can sneak it in.
16:59It takes the place of some of the flour.
17:02When we give the kids a bath, we make them all share
17:04the same bath water.
17:05And then the older two children will take showers
17:08in the morning and we time them.
17:11We save money on our grocery budget
17:13by making our own cleaning supplies, and now it's free.
17:17But the Kaufmans haven't stopped there.
17:19They've eliminated one item from their budget
17:21that nearly everyone considers a necessity.
17:25Their toilet paper.
17:28I'm cutting toilet paper squares for our bathroom
17:31that we will wash and use instead of paper products.
17:35We have a little bin underneath the basket
17:36that holds the little toilet wipes,
17:38where we put them so we can wash them later.
17:40And then when it's time to wash, I just pour them in
17:42and I never have to touch them with my hands.
17:44Buying toilet paper just doesn't do anything for me.
17:47As a middle class family that makes a good income,
17:50I shouldn't have to go into debt to buy toilet paper.
17:53All of our cloth wipes that we have in the house,
17:55we've been using them for more than five years.
17:58Using cloth toilet paper saves us $20 a month.
18:01And over a year then, that is $240.
18:05I had one person say she couldn't contaminate
18:07her washing machine, and I just had to laugh
18:10because if you know anything about bacteria,
18:12there's no way it can survive those harsh conditions,
18:15so contamination's not an issue at all.
18:17When Angela first came up with the idea
18:19of cloth toilet paper, I was kind of a little skeptical.
18:22Once I got used to it, to me it's more comforting
18:25to have something solid on your hand than the paper stuff.
18:29This is kind of dirty.
18:31It's okay, it's clean.
18:34After folding a fresh load of reusable toilet paper,
18:37Angela and the gang are off to hunt down
18:39the cheapest dinner they can find.
18:41But this is no ordinary shopping trip.
18:44To save money, the Kauffmans recently joined
18:46a babysitting club, and tonight it's their turn
18:49to take on three of their neighbor's kids.
18:52The family that's babysitting provides the meal
18:55then for all the children.
18:56For tonight, we're making pizza,
18:57and then we're also going foraging
18:59to get some wild things to make a beautiful salad.
19:03Concerned about the cost of feeding 11 hungry mouths,
19:06Angela heads to the salvage store,
19:07where she can find groceries for half price or less.
19:10But there's a catch.
19:12Most of the products are expired.
19:14That's $6 for five pounds of cheese.
19:18How is it, do you want it?
19:19Packaged on June 11th.
19:21Do you want it?
19:22Well, I don't see any mold.
19:26Why don't you grab one more?
19:27That's like a little more than a dollar a pound.
19:33Oh, hold on, guys.
19:36It's only 50 cents for a pasta sauce.
19:40It expired in November of 2009,
19:43but it's sealed pretty good.
19:45It's probably okay.
19:48Have a good afternoon.
19:49You too.
19:51Then Angela takes the kids to a local park
19:54to forage for salad fixings.
19:56I'm looking right here.
19:57This is wild chives.
20:01You can just snip them off like this.
20:03Foraging is free.
20:05My grandmother grew up in the Depression
20:07and we would go on nature walks
20:08and she would show me all the things that were edible.
20:11Here's actual clover, which the leaves are edible too.
20:17Whoa, dog poop.
20:18Watch out for dog poop.
20:21Wipe your foot off in the grass.
20:27I'm spending $10 for all of the food tonight,
20:30which includes four large pizzas
20:32and then three cookie cakes
20:34and then a tossed salad made from wild things.
20:40Hi, how are you?
20:42I think that Angela has frugal ways, her and Darren,
20:45but I also think that, you know, to each their own.
20:47We've got pizzas and we made a wild salad
20:49where we kind of went to the field a couple blocks over.
20:53So that's what that is.
20:54That kind of caught me a little off guard.
20:56I mean, I'm all for the garden without the pesticides.
20:58I mean, she's kind of sound like
20:59she's just picking flowers out of the ground,
21:00but people did that, so it might be good.
21:05And before you go, I just wanted to show you
21:07real quick about the bathroom.
21:08One of the things we do to save money
21:10is we use cloth toilet papers.
21:12You just use them like you would regular toilet paper,
21:14but then you just drop them in the bucket.
21:15You could go and buy some toilet paper
21:17for $3 a package, but if that's what they like to do,
21:21then I say all the more power to them.
21:27For $10 worth of expired cheese and sauce,
21:30Angela has fed 11 people
21:31and covered a month's worth of babysitting costs,
21:34saving the family nearly $400.
21:37Do you want some wild salad?
21:39No, thank you.
21:41And if anyone needs to use the restroom after dinner,
21:44the price of admission is absolutely free.
21:49Coming up, we meet a penny pincher
21:51with a taste for the exotic.
21:53We get access to the brain through here.
21:56♪♪
22:00Ten cents.
22:01My name is Jeff Yeager.
22:02I'm known as the ultimate cheapskate.
22:04Twelve cents.
22:05Ah!
22:07Ah-ha! What did I tell you?
22:08Another nickel?
22:10It's a gold mine!
22:12I live in Acakeek, Maryland.
22:14I'm married to Denise. We've been married 28 years.
22:18Love you, honey. Love you.
22:20If you pinch the pennies,
22:22the dollars will pinch themselves.
22:25So something as simple as picking up a penny,
22:27those little acts of frugality by themselves
22:29aren't going to make you rich,
22:31but they establish a very different mindset.
22:34That attitude toward life made Jeff and his wife,
22:36Denise, come to an agreement early on in their marriage.
22:39I said, listen, honey, why don't we sort of make
22:41an informal pact to establish a permanent standard of living,
22:45to always continue to live at this level?
22:48If you've looked around our house,
22:49you notice we have no flat-screen TVs.
22:51We have no cell phones, no iPods,
22:54no I-whatevers.
22:59Most people have continued to allow their lifestyle
23:02and their spending to escalate
23:04as they earned more and more.
23:06We're basically able to retire
23:08or do what we want for a living,
23:11and many of our peers are nowhere near ready to retire
23:14or have the kind of financial freedom we do.
23:20To improve their financial standing,
23:21five times a year, Jeff and Denise
23:23take their cheapness to its fullest
23:25with what they call a fiscal fast.
23:28We take a week where we spend no money.
23:31I describe it as spending detox.
23:34Jeff and Denise estimate each week-long fiscal fast
23:37has saved them $700.
23:39Over the course of their 28-year marriage,
23:41that's over $100,000.
23:44It's really gonna show you how you spend and waste money.
23:47We try to use it as an opportunity to use stuff up.
23:50So you're gonna use up the food that you have on hand.
23:53And also, the week of the fiscal fast
23:54is the week where we finally use up
23:56those little bottles of shampoo we've been saving
23:58from the motel for all those years.
24:04For the Yeagers, the trash can
24:06is actually a source of inspiration
24:08because during the fast, they throw virtually nothing away.
24:12We're on the final day of the fiscal fast here,
24:16so things are getting a little lean.
24:18We all have these little slivers of soap,
24:21and a lot of times, we just throw this stuff away.
24:23But what I like to do is sort of a daily double
24:26of creative repurposing, as I call it,
24:28is take an old pair of Denise's pantyhose
24:31and save these little soap slivers down in here.
24:34A little sexy, the cheapskate soap on a rope.
24:36Walked in our bathroom one day,
24:38and there's Jeff using my pantyhose
24:40for the soap on a rope.
24:42You know, it's just little ways,
24:44and I think that's what a fiscal fast can teach you,
24:47is there's all kinds of things that you throw away
24:49all the time that you can reuse.
24:51But after a week of no spending whatsoever,
24:54Jeff's going to have to get resourceful
24:56if they want to eat.
24:57Don't get your hopes built up,
24:58and I'm hoping to do something special for dinner.
25:00Even though this is the last day of the fiscal fast,
25:02I'm gonna have to get creative.
25:04You can do this.
25:06At this stage, Jeff will not buy dinner
25:08unless he can find enough change to pay for it.
25:11When we were kids, our favorite thing to do
25:13was look for lost change in the cushions of sofas
25:17and chairs.
25:17This is something I will roll my eyes at.
25:19I will not participate in.
25:21You'd be surprised how much loose change you could find.
25:24But with the couch already picked clean,
25:26Jeff will need to get his hands dirty
25:28to dig up the change he needs.
25:31I like to clean out my vacuum cleaner bags,
25:33both to reuse them,
25:35as well as occasionally find some loose change in there.
25:38You know, I always think of this
25:39more as kind of panning for gold.
25:41You gotta be careful as it comes out,
25:42because if there's coins, it can easily be lost.
25:47A penny, something.
25:51A nickel, six cents.
25:54Oh, I'm surprised.
25:5511 cents.
25:57I guess that's about it.
25:59So I only made 11 cents,
26:01but I saved this vacuum cleaner bag,
26:03and there's another nickel.
26:05So I'm 16 cents better off.
26:07I've saved a couple dollars in the bag.
26:09What could be better?
26:10With only 16 cents from the vacuum,
26:13Jeff needs to find more funds for dinner.
26:15So he heads into town to prospect for loose change.
26:18I'm a big believer in bicycling.
26:21People don't realize how much owning a car costs.
26:24The actual cost to own and operate a car
26:27is about 15 cents to a dollar per mile.
26:31I've ridden at 90,000 miles since the 1970s.
26:34By my calculation,
26:35that saved me over a quarter of a million dollars.
26:41Eureka!
26:42Eureka!
26:4450 cents.
26:46It's my lucky day.
26:50Time for the tape measure.
26:52It's great for fishing around.
26:54Now it's a quarter.
26:56This thing is like a dirt pile of an ATM.
26:59I think I'm looking for lost change.
27:01I've sort of studied it almost as a science.
27:03Laundromats are a great place to look for change.
27:06Somebody didn't check very carefully.
27:08They fish down between the machines.
27:11I feel like a treasure hunter.
27:13Even lint traps you can find change in sometimes.
27:16Can I harvest till I'm content?
27:19Absolutely.
27:20I would imagine between these washers,
27:22probably a couple of dollars.
27:24It's probably not as much as what you think.
27:26You want some more?
27:27I'll take as much as, since I'm here,
27:29I'll take as much as I can get.
27:31What I like to do is I like to use it to start fires with
27:33because it's very flammable,
27:34so I use it for my wood stoves.
27:36One of the things I do, I call it cushion mining.
27:39I very stealthily look for lost change
27:41in cushions of shears.
27:44When you're in a public place,
27:45slide your hands down like this.
27:48You want to be subtle.
27:51When you think about it, people are losing change,
27:53and unless they're a cheapskate like me,
27:55they're too proud to go fishing after.
27:59Nothing.
28:02Nada.
28:02Nothing.
28:03Nothing.
28:05Nada.
28:07Apparently folks around here don't carry much spare change.
28:10Unfortunately, the cushion mining didn't work out well.
28:15Coming up, Jeff turns found change
28:18into the ultimate cheapskate dinner.
28:20The real delicacy is the eye.
28:26After riding around town all day scavenging for change,
28:29extreme cheapskate Jeff pulls into a local convenience store
28:33hoping they'll cash in his dirty coins
28:35so he can purchase dinner.
28:36I was having such a great day,
28:38I gave up counting as I went.
28:40Can you change it in for me?
28:41Let's see what we got.
28:42You know, I hate going to like a coin store kind of place
28:45because they take a cut.
28:47I have this theory about a penny saved is a penny earned.
28:51A penny that you find is actually worth
28:53a lot more than a penny,
28:54because a penny that you earn,
28:56you have to pay taxes on that penny,
28:58and you have to spend all kinds of money to earn that penny.
29:01It's not so much the amount,
29:03it's the principle of the thing.
29:074.95, 9.6, 9.7, 9.8, 9.9, made it to $100.
29:11It's like a miracle.
29:14We got seven.
29:15So I'm $7 plus,
29:18A little extra.
29:19A little extra for me.
29:21I'm gonna go do a little shopping.
29:22Even though I'm on a fiscal fast,
29:24I'm gonna do a little bit of shopping,
29:25maybe some meat for dinner.
29:28I create my menus around what is least expensive.
29:32I like organ meats,
29:34livers, kidneys, that is very inexpensive.
29:37You got any livers?
29:38I got regular beef liver.
29:39He comes in here a lot.
29:41He's looking for the kind of crazy things,
29:43kind of things that most people would not buy or eat.
29:47Any hearts, deer hearts?
29:49Not deer hearts.
29:50Nothing is sort of off limits,
29:52particularly something like cow's heart
29:53that is very inexpensive.
29:55I really do love this stuff.
29:56I mean, I've eaten it all around the world.
29:58It's in the car taste.
29:59Boy, they both look good.
30:00Is there any way you can,
30:03I have about $7.50.
30:06Can you do that for me?
30:07Yeah, yeah, we can do that.
30:08You sure?
30:09Yeah.
30:09I did really well at the butcher shop
30:11and I ended up with two goat's heads
30:14that I'm gonna be cooking for dinner.
30:15I'll throw this in a bag for you.
30:17You have heads that will travel.
30:18There you go.
30:21I'm gonna go get some more meat.
30:23Okay.
30:27After 40 miles round trip
30:29to collect $7.50 worth of change,
30:32Jeff begins preparations for his goat head feast.
30:35I never throw away my tinfoil or my onion skin bags.
30:39I put the tinfoil inside the onion skin bags
30:43and use them as a pot scrubber.
30:47It'll last a lot longer than a steel wool pad.
30:53Any kind of citrus rind, again,
30:55is great for scrubbing the bottom of a copper pot.
30:58If you add a little bit of baking soda to that,
31:01it'll clean it right up.
31:03Jeff gets creative with food.
31:05Some of the food he eats,
31:07I just can't get myself to fathom eating.
31:12I decided to go ahead and boil them a little bit.
31:16They're looking pretty good.
31:18Good pair of teeth on that one.
31:20There might be some times
31:21when I will be a little bit afraid.
31:24She is not a fan of all of the types of dishes that I cook.
31:28Certainly, she's not a fan of many of the meats.
31:30So I'm gonna put a little bit of seasoning on them.
31:34Stick them in the oven.
31:39Sort of set it and forget it.
31:44I think I did pretty good.
31:45The goat's heads are looking good.
31:48This drives a guy like me crazy.
31:50A jelly jar like this that's almost out of jelly.
31:53Pour some apple cider vinegar into it.
31:56Shake it up.
31:56It's sort of the perfect salad dressing.
31:58It's a great marinade.
31:59It's actually a great dip.
32:00It's what I call my drippings jar.
32:04But there's more to a romantic dinner
32:06than just goat heads.
32:08Dryer lint is maybe one of the great,
32:10untapped resources of our time.
32:11I call it a cheapskate's velvet.
32:14I like to use it to start my fireplace.
32:16Nothing like the sizzle of dryer lint.
32:18Put in your compost pile.
32:19In some parts of the world,
32:20they actually weave with dryer lint.
32:25I'm really gonna roll out the red carpet
32:26and press, or I'm gonna serve a little wine.
32:29I got the box wine, but since it's a special occasion,
32:31I thought I would
32:35recant it into a fancy wine bottle.
32:39I mean, you see a bottle like this,
32:41I mean, you're thinking, I don't know, $40 a bottle.
32:45Nobody knows the difference, really.
32:52I think love is in the air when she sees this.
32:56Me breaking out the good stuff.
33:01You know, I got my dripping sauce here.
33:03I'm gonna actually use it on the goat's head.
33:05Hi, honey, I'm home.
33:07Hey, baby.
33:09How was your day?
33:10Good, what about you?
33:11Good, good.
33:12Something smells good for dinner.
33:15Ah.
33:16Ah.
33:16The good, the good stuff.
33:19Oh, wow.
33:21Oh, I just thought we ought to celebrate a little bit.
33:24So go have a seat,
33:26and I'm gonna bring out the main dish.
33:29I never know quite what might be
33:31on the dinner table when I get home.
33:33After surviving a whole week of Jeff's fiscal fasting,
33:36Denise has one more cheapskate dinner to sit through.
33:39Surprise!
33:40What is it?
33:43I got some goat heads.
33:45I got a really good price on them.
33:46Oh.
33:47Goat's heads.
33:48A lot of people think that's disgusting.
33:50These are, these are people
33:51who have never tried it, of course.
33:53Buy you some vino?
33:54Sure, why not?
33:56Only the best.
33:57You can always tell the good stuff,
33:59it pours so much nicer.
34:02Oh my gosh, that takes up your whole plate.
34:04I had to get the extra big plate.
34:06Look at.
34:06You're smiling at me.
34:08You sure you won't join me?
34:09No, that's all right.
34:10I'll let you have both of them.
34:14Mm.
34:15There's the tongue.
34:17That's the best part, really.
34:19It's a delicacy, I guess.
34:21Very interesting texture, perfect flavors.
34:24It seems like you must be able
34:24to do something with the teeth.
34:27I'm sure you can.
34:28I mean, eventually.
34:28Don't you have a couple missing?
34:30Eventually, if I need dentures,
34:33we know where to turn.
34:35Oh, and see, we have a fire in our fireplace.
34:37The first one of the season.
34:38Yeah.
34:39You know, sort of a romantic evening.
34:41You, me, two goat's heads.
34:43And Fireland.
34:44And Dryerland.
34:45And Dryerland.
34:46What more could you ask for?
34:49We get access to the brain through here.
34:53Oh, I think it's sticking its tongue out.
34:56Probably it may.
34:58I will let him eat,
34:59because I tell him there has to be
35:00at least one person ready to dial 911
35:03just in case he has food poisoning,
35:04and I'm the one who's prepared to drive him to the hospital.
35:08And of course, the real delicacy is the eye.
35:11I'll trust you on that one.
35:16But here's to a great fiscal fast.
35:19You ended on the high note.
35:20Here, he's looking at you.
35:25Coming up, we meet a cheapskate
35:27who saved over $20,000 on his wedding,
35:30but is so cheap, he's also willing
35:32to get extreme to save just 60 cents.
35:35One, two, and through and through,
35:36the Vorpal Blade went snicker-snack.
35:43Our next cheapskate takes us to Branson, Missouri.
35:46My name is Jordan Mederich.
35:47My dad is a pastor and my mom is a teacher.
35:49I guess you could say kind of humble beginnings.
35:51And so that kind of inspired me
35:53to create my own version of saving money,
35:55which ended up being bartering,
35:57really not asking for anything free.
35:59I just want to provide something valuable to you
36:02instead of earning a very large salary
36:04at a job that I have to work really hard at.
36:06I can barter and literally double my salary.
36:09And so then he shakes my hand right in the middle
36:11and we got ourselves a deal.
36:13My wife, Julia, married into it.
36:16Being married to an extreme barterer
36:18is very different than any lifestyle
36:20that I have ever been exposed to.
36:23Jordan prefers to avoid spending money, period,
36:26and does just about everything he can to save a buck.
36:30I invented a system that I have found to be
36:32very persuasive and very powerful.
36:35Step one, affirmation.
36:37You compliment the business.
36:38Hi.
36:39Hi there, how are ya?
36:39I'm doing great.
36:40What's your name?
36:41I'm Lori.
36:42Hi, Lori.
36:43And I love this shop.
36:44I come here all the time.
36:44Step two, when you hit him with a barter.
36:46I'm wondering, are you a fan of poetry?
36:51If it's good.
36:52Are you a poetry fan?
36:52If it's good.
36:53Well, I'm gonna give you guys a little something
36:54that hopefully you will just so lovingly
36:57allow me to consume a raspberry donut.
37:00As a line of people wait behind him,
37:02Jordan barters for a 60 cent donut.
37:05Beware the jabberwock, my son,
37:07the jaws that bite, the claws that catch.
37:10Beware the jub-jub bird and shun
37:11the frumious bandersnatch.
37:14One, two, one, two, and through and through
37:15the vorpal blade went snicker snack.
37:17Come to my arms, my beamish boy.
37:21We just wanna get a donut.
37:22Some guy goes on a big old craze.
37:24We're like, okay, hurry up, we're hungry.
37:27I do believe that that is definitely worth it.
37:30Every one of us barter every day anyway.
37:33It's called money.
37:37But Jordan doesn't just barter for donuts.
37:39He goes after big ticket items too.
37:42Our wedding is the biggest thing he's ever done.
37:45He got us a wedding that was beautiful
37:48and just way out of our price range.
37:50He bartered for every aspect of their wedding.
37:53The dress, the tuxedos, and even the chapel.
37:58Had the couple paid full price,
38:00their big day should have cost them over $22,000.
38:04The total cost of our wedding after we had everything
38:06taken care of was about $1,825.
38:10After saving big bucks on his own wedding,
38:13Jordan wants to help his newly engaged friends.
38:16Our friends, Jonathan and Angela,
38:18they've helped us out a ton with our wedding.
38:21Angela helped us with the planning,
38:22and then Jonathan and his musical group sang for us.
38:26So we'd love to pay them back.
38:29Jonathan and Angela would like to have an engagement party,
38:31but they can't afford it.
38:32So Jordan is going to teach them how to barter.
38:35What's really special about Jordan
38:37is he's doing it as a favor to us.
38:38He's doing it, he's helping us learn how to do this
38:40because it works for him,
38:42and he wants to share that skill with us.
38:43Their first stop is a cake shop,
38:45where they hope to get a cake and an outdoor space
38:48for the party, all for free.
38:50I had never thought of using my vocal talent
38:53as a bartering tool to get someone to give me something.
38:57Are you a fan of opera?
39:02Yes.
39:03Do you like opera?
39:04I like, I'm not crazy about Wagner,
39:06but most of the Italian operas.
39:09She knows the names, that means something.
39:11If I sang, would you be willing
39:13to knock the price down a little?
39:14To get the cake and the venue for free,
39:17Jonathan pulls out all the stops.
39:19You know, what I actually have in my pocket here,
39:22sorry, I have to reach down and get it,
39:24I have two free tickets to see the 12 Irish Tenors.
39:28Oh, are you in that show?
39:29And that's actually the show
39:30that I'm a part of here in Branson.
39:32So I could offer you that free tickets there,
39:34and then sing the aria for you here, bring you a CD.
39:36I think I probably have to take that.
39:38Where would you be comfortable seated for the performance?
39:40I don't know.
39:43Ma il mio mistero è chiuso ai miei.
39:49Vincerò!
39:59Bravo!
40:01Woo!
40:02And thank you.
40:03She seemed really, really happy
40:05that I was standing in her bakery
40:07and singing an opera aria to her.
40:09And she was more than happy to say,
40:11sure, I'll do this for you.
40:13They just knocked it out of the ballpark.
40:14It really impressed me.
40:16Literally, everybody won.
40:18Thanks, Jonathan.
40:18With the food and location set for the party,
40:21Jordan is hoping to make one last barter.
40:25Unwilling to shell out $25 for a haircut,
40:29he tries to make the salon an offer they can't refuse.
40:32I'm looking for a little, a little trimsy on the hairs.
40:35A little trimsy?
40:36Hey, Alicia, can you do a trim?
40:38Yeah.
40:39Okay.
40:40Oh, hi, Alicia.
40:41Nice to meet you.
40:42Hey, I'm wondering, and maybe this involves all you guys,
40:45I'm wondering if I can kind of take care of the haircut
40:48and maybe take out some trash
40:50or clean sweep some hair for you.
40:51Thought I'd try a little bit of a little bartering technique
40:54that's, you know, service for service.
40:56I think they're definitely shocked, a little scared.
40:58Well, you look like you might do trash well.
41:01I do.
41:11Has anyone's, like, famous head rested on here or?
41:14Um, not, well, maybe locally famous.
41:20Whoever said this was easy was a joker.
41:22You can see a smudge here.
41:25Just wipe this down, because when they get out of it.
41:27Oh, yeah.
41:28There you go.
41:29Well, there it is.
41:29Good job.
41:30Nice.
41:31I've officially cleaned the bed,
41:33swept your floor, and took out your trash.
41:35With that warrant, a little trim.
41:37Okay.
41:38All right.
41:39Fair enough.
41:40A little trim.
41:41A little trim time.
41:42He came in here, did a little hard work for us.
41:45I respect the young man for going out
41:47and trying to work for what he gets,
41:49and I welcome him back next time.
41:51I'll save the trash for him.
41:53All done.
41:54Nice.
41:58We got a venue, which would have been a $400 cost
42:00to rent this place out for four hours.
42:02On top of that, the cake.
42:04She also allowed us to get some more finger desserts
42:07and get some eclairs and some truffles.
42:08It's completely free.
42:10It's perfect.
42:11It's exactly us.
42:12It's very well thought out and planned,
42:16and all our favorite people are here.
42:18You can't really ask for much more.
42:20Ladies and gentlemen,
42:21to Jonathan and Angela at Future Peak Hill.
42:24Woo!
42:24Woo!
42:25Woo!
42:26Woo!
42:27Woo!
42:28Woo!
42:29Woo!
42:29Woo!
42:30Woo!
42:31Woo!