Penny-Pinching Pointers My Father Has Given Me

My father lives a very comfortable life, but he has always been a thrifty man. While it is possible that his position in life has been achieved as a result of his attention to financial details, his desire to squeeze the greatest value out of the tiniest capital brings to my mind the image of the family dog growling over a bone when no one else has the wish to steal it.

My father is a very loving man and is the best father that any son could have, but he has certainly elevated penny-pinching to a fine art. It would be a shame to keep this penny-pinching wisdom a secret from the public, so I have decided to share precious information which up until now has remained private within our own household.

1.) Saving Ketchup

My father is a generous man, and will often buy fast food as a treat for the family. I like to be with him when he does this, because I like to see him use his coupons and senior discount at the counter. Also, I like watching my father load up on the free condiments offered by the restaraunts. He often requests a separate bag just so that he can fill it with containers of salsa or ketchup. I still recall one quiet afternoon several years ago at the house, when I discovered my father refilling a ketchup bottle with this packeted ketchup from the fast food restaraunts.

2.) Reused Toothpicks

I may not be the most savvy shopper, but I do know that toothpicks are not expensive. You can buy 500 of them for close to a dollar. So, if we divide 100 by 500, we end up realizing that a single toothpick carries a value of perhaps 1/5th of a cent. I would like to take this moment to honor my father by stating that he is not a man to waste 1/5th of a cent. If possible, he will attempt to reinvest this 1/5th of a cent, so that it will increase to up to 3 or 4 cents in value. I am not sure what my father's idea of the "lifespan" of a toothpick is, but I do know that my father has used a toothpick close to 20 times before my mother has forced him to throw it away. Perhaps my father somehow even made a profit off of toothpicks by recycling them in this way.

3.) Gathering Recyclable Cans . . . While Jogging

Just as others were in early 80's, for a while my dad was caught up into the jogging craze that swept the nation. Only, my father did it his way. While losing weight and keeping his body in shape from jogging, my father came up with a plan that would allow him to also fatten up his wallet.

He decided to pick up cans while he was jogging.

At first, he only picked up the cans and carried them to his destination as he jogged. However, this soon began to look ridiculous as my father began finding so many cans that he could not jog without dropping them. So, he got into the habit of jogging with grocery bags. Toward the end of his course, he looked sort of like a man who had just stolen a bag of merchandise from a nearby store and who was being chased by the police.

4.) Wearing The Same Shirt For 35 Years

When I was born, my father had a new burgundy shirt that he wore in photographs of the time. Until my mother retired this shirt a few years ago, my father insisted on wearing frequently, whenever he was spending a day off at the house. Maybe my father associated the idea of a "day off" with this shirt. In any case, he was very attached to it.

Near Christmas last year, I was able to find the shirt, and I surprised my dad by stuffing it into a bag with one of my gifts for him. From the smile on his face, I think he liked the shirt more than the gift. My mother probably groaned when she saw the shirt back in my dad's hands again, but I know that to see it again brought back a lot of memories for him. It did for me, too.

It's easy to buy a new bottle of ketchup every month, or a new box of toothpicks every year, or buy a membership at the gym, or buy a new shirt every season, but I am very pleased that my dad has practiced pinching his pennies. He has taught me that life is a valuable thing, and that its value should not be wasted.