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30 People With Cheap Parents Share the Ridiculous Things Their Parents Did to Save Money

Roy R. Jan 13, 2024 01:00 PM EST

Cheap parents

Ah, the art of penny-pinching parenting—a saga of budgeting brilliance and questionable financial decisions. Picture this: you're scrolling through a hilarious gallery of memes that expose the thrifty tactics of cheap parents, each one making you appreciate your own upbringing. Embark on a comedic journey through 35 memes that unveil the quirks and tactics of growing up with frugally minded parents. From coupon calamities to DIY disasters, these memes provide a humorous lens into the world of cheapskate parenting.

Cheap parents When my dad moved into his house, he had a guy come over to do a free demonstration for a water filter that goes under a sink. The guy used a bar of soap for his demonstration and left it when he was done. My dad called at least 4 other companies for a free demonstration just to keep the free bar of soap, and never intended to have a water filter installed. He does things like this, and it gets worse as he gets older. But I just let him do his thing. — Save

Cheap parents My mother tried to convince ticket seller that I was 6 years old (actually 12) and my brother 12 years old (actually 19) to save 6 bucks for a hop in hop off bus ticket. Needless to say my mother did not get the reduced price. Especially because of the reason my brother was smoking a cigarette. — Save

Cheap parents The exterior of our family minivan must have been 70% duct tape by the time it was retired. It was a running joke that we'd put fresh patches on before a big event like a wedding or prom. — Save

Cheap parents My ex step-mother was like every Disney step mother ever. She was loaded but was super stingy, when we all stayed at her house she made my dad bring our own food every time. One time we forgot, and she fed us 65c tinned tomatoes. — Save

Cheap parents I've been getting re-gifted present for Christmas since I was a kid. And not like presents from other people that were then given to me. No. We're talking my favorite jacket goes missing for 6 months only to be found under the tree as one of my presents. Just had my 30th birthday- gifted a Swiss Army knife I had when I was a kid. — Save

Cheap parents When my parents had the family home refurbished, Pa would carefully extract the nails from the ripped-out woodwork with a claw hammer, and then hammer them straight again and put them in tins for re-use along with unused nails. For years afterwards, every third or fourth nail you used from his workshop would bend like a banana on first wallop from a hammer and you'd hit your thumb. — Save

Cheap parents When my Grandmother and Grandfather got married they did their gift registry with Sears; that was back in the day (Late 1940's) when they had a 'lifetime guarantee' on almost everything they sold. My Grandmother has moved house almost 10 times since then, but she has kept every single flattened box and warranty for every appliance she got when she was married. About two years ago I drove her to Sears to get her iron replaced, she brought all of the boxing, and paperwork from all the way back in the 1940's to get a new one. They actually did fulfil the guarantee and gave her a new iron! I think it's hilarious, but she literally 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 she always insists 'Lifetime guarantee means lifetime guarantee' I kind of feel bad for Sears because our family are notoriously long lived (her father lived until 104). I sometimes think that maybe this is the reason why Sears is doing so poorly, a ton of cheap old women cashing in on their lifetime guarantees. — Save

Cheap parents My father would drive literally across town, several miles out of the way to save 2 or 3 cents per gallon of gas. He would also drive 60 miles to the casinos for a "free" meal but was too cheap to go a restaurant and buy one. — Save

Cheap parents My parents taught me never to buy drinks or dessert or snacks when going out. Those things are much cheaper at the grocery store in bulk, and you just have to wait until you get home to enjoy them. I miss my parents. Bonus: uncle would put drumsticks in shrink wrap and hide them in his pockets to take to the movies. Then again, our family still has a picture of him from college in the 1960s, a new immigrant to the US, holding a bag of coins at the pay phone, with a huge smile on his face. His dorm mates surprised him at Christmas with the bag of coins so he could call his parents overseas, just for a few minutes. Thank you, Baylor University. — Save

Cheap parents Ex-wife was a frugal spender and always tried to save money or make extra money where she could. After our divorce, my family would still gift our children clothes on the holidays and their birthdays, until I found her selling the clothes on Craigslist and then go to the goodwill to get cheaper clothes for them. Now my family makes sure I get the clothes. They go stay with her with what they were sent with. — Save

Cheap parents my mom used to tell me that peanut butter and tortillas are what jesus ate — Save

Cheap parents Mom would date richer guys around the holidays so we could have Christmas presents to open. — Save

Cheap parents My dad always refused to buy me a fish supper from the chip shop. Said it cost too much, and I could have fritters instead. Not really a big deal. Until a stray cat moves in to his house, he decides to keep it, and regularly treats it to fish suppers. EDIT: My Dad and I regularly joke about this now. He says I was a fussy eater and would have never ate a fish supper. I make up for it by drinking all his beer when I visit him now. — Save

Cheap parents Parents would pick a place when going out that had some sort of "Kids under X years old are free" and I had to be 3-4 years younger than I am for the day — Save

Cheap parents My girlfriend's parents went to McDonalds on their first date and used a coupon. — Save

Cheap parents My parents weren't really cheap. They were just frugal. They'd spend money on nice things; but couldn't stand the idea of wasting any. We had a pool, plenty of electronics, and typical middle-class luxuries--but cut our own hair and made our own toothpaste. That sort of situation. My dad would spend 2 hours fixing a $5 pizza cutter, but we had a boat. Anyway, when I was in middle school, a few friends and I built a fort in my backyard. We mostly used cardboard but also tarps and whatever we could find. We held it all together with duct tape. My dad thought it was great, but when we were done, my friends went home, and it was time to take down the fort, my dad says, "make sure you save all the tape that's still sticky." He seriously had me make a "role" of used duct tape that he would suggest I "use first" before using any new duct tape. Not too long after that, the battery cover to my electronic football game broke and I made it stay on using used duct tape. — Save

Cheap parents My dad returned a video game i got on my bday so he could buy it cheaper from the middle east (there was arabic language option). So after playing a little bit on my birthday i had to wait another week until it was delivered. — Save

Cheap parents l used to get ants in my cereal boxes and my mom would still make me eat it. They don't do that anymore but it made me realize how financially stressed my parents were until 10 years ago, because now they waste more food than I do. — Save

Cheap parents My dad wouldn't let us eat on Sundays, we had to fill up on free samples from Sam's Club. It was humiliating. He isn't even hurting for money, he's just selfish with it and spends hundreds on himself (computer parts, games, in-game purchasing.. Ect) — Save

You've just experienced the thrifty rollercoaster of cheap parent memes. Each click revealed a new facet of frugal upbringing, from budget shopping adventures to ingenious money-saving schemes. Welcome to the world where every penny mattered. Hungry for more frugal laughs? Explore our vault of Budget-Friendly Chuckles, Thrifty Tales, or Financial Funnies. Dive into the world of cost-cutting comedy.

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Posted by Roy R. About the author

Roy has been one of the internet's meme tastemakers for more than a decade. He and Phil started Thunder Dungeon in 2012 by posting the stuff they found funny, and it grew into viral photo and video creations, one of the largest meme community apps and one of the best sites for daily meme content. If you've spent any time online, you've probably laughed at one of his memes.