Devils advocate here. (Since I have never actually been in a laundromat, homeownership FTW) If they are in a laundromat, they likely have less disposable income than an average middle-class or higher person (at least here in the midwest which is what I have to go on). So the fact that they are not spending an extra $50-$100/m is the issue. They likely don't have that money to spend. so it is not an issue of convience or opportunity cost, it is an issue of flat not having the money.

As far as tipping goes, since I don't like to tip for someone doing something as simple as opening a bottle of beer for me, I usually don't order alcohol when I go out. Call me cheap, but it means that I can take my family to a sit-down family resturant and only spend about $40 instead of $60 because I don't waste the money on booze I can drink a lot cheaper at home. FYI I usually tip about 30% but I refuse to tip on an already overpriced beer just because someone opened the bottle for me.

This is what pisses me off about most cheap people. They will nit up or splurge randomly in spots. When I'm in Vegas with non poker playing friends it is the worst. For example we will gamble and they will be willing to lose $100-300, but then we will walk 30 minutes back to our hotel at 4AM to avoid splitting an $8 cab 4 ways.

For using a church key or pouring a beer? **** you.

Wait does this mean you're willing to do this? You might be cheaper than everyone talked about in this thread, haha jk

Uh, the rooms are nicer at the IP than they are at the MGM Grand. It's cause of fish like you that they can charge $30 more for an inferior product. I stayed at El Cortez downtown last time I was in Vegas for $40/night and it was the nicest room I've ever had in Vegas. It was seriously as big as some "suites" I've stayed in other places.

Newsflash: You wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between the 5 EUR wine and the 7 EUR wine anyways. Your friend knew this and saved you both money. What a cheapskate.

Damn, lots of douchebags in this thread.

Cheap people suck.
People who complain about cheap people suck.
People who think they are better than cheap people suck most.

Burrito guy = very cheap

Chips and salsa = meh. as another poster said, many places have this for free and some people may not even particularly want it. they just assume its free, like peanuts at the bar.

.50 tip = standard. i see people do this all the time at bars if they just order one drink. its just easier to take the dollar instead of dealing with the change. bottomline, no one likes to carry around change. now, if someone got a $4 drink, got the dollar back and then left .50 from their own pocket and took the dollar... yea, thats cheap.

But what struck me more about all this is that you complain about getting a 14% tip. i usually tip between 20-25%, but i really wish i knew who u people were beforehand so that i would leave u nothing.

exactly. if you want a bigger tip, make the beer $3.25. i'm not throwing you a buck just cuz you decided to make some ****ty beer 3.50 in hopes of getting a buck from me.

or $4. That would all but guarantee a dollar.

I understand and sympathize with your sentiments but if *anybody* ever took the time to add up what all their 'little' extra spending habits added up to over the course of years they'd likely be very shocked. That's why so many 'How to become rich' books tell you to cut them out as much as possible. Plus, anybody that plays live will have already figured out what tipping costs him/her. Adding an extra dollar to your standard tip is out of the question but your standard tip very often looks very cheap to the rec. player.

people who skim and save like this over a lifetime end up with quite a bit more money in the end (relatively speaking) than people in similar financial circumstances who are more free with their money.

do some quick math and see

I know tipping a dollar on a 3-5 beer is standard, but that doesn't mean it's not ridiculous. It's 30 seconds of easy, unskilled labour.

Amen.

Mexican restaurants that charge sit-down customers for basic chips and salsa should burn.

+1

Too late on the bolded part.

Also, LOL at the sense of entitlement for you reaching into a tub of ice, popping open a beer, handing it to me, and expecting a buck for that. Don't get me wrong I'd always tip the buck in that spot but I'm not happy doing it, and 50 cents is PLENTY of compensation in my mind for that level of effort.

This is a really far-fetched scenario. How often does that exact set of circumstances (family with hungry, starving, whiny kids) actually happen? I'd be willing to bet that in that scenario the family usually pays to placate their hungry, starving, whiny kids.

three friends and i were pretty much the only people at a pub the other night and our first round came to $18 for the four pints we ordered. i gave the bartender $60 and we drank free the rest of the night.

tipping big obviously has it's advantages, but if it's a bottle of miller lite that some bartender ordered for me at a busy bar, $.50 is plenty.

I think we need more details on this fluff and fold service. I only go to the laundromat if I neglect doing laundry for a month. When that happens, I have probably 50+ pounds of laundry. At almost a $1/pound at my laundromat for fluff and fold, I would be paying $50+ for it. It takes me maybe 2.5 hours to go through ALL of my laundry and it costs less than $20 in the end. So...like...obviously in this case it doesn't make sense to use fluff and fold IMO.

I have used it before, but that was in my 1st year of college and at a place that was like 40c a pound, and it was well worth it. But even that place took there prices way up eventually and I've never found another place so cheap.

So yeah, basically if I were spending $12 to wash my laundry, it would not cost $20 to fluff and fold it.

EDIT: Another thing...you are not actively working when doing laundry. I may be at the laundromat for 2.5 hours, but I am actively putting stuff in or taking stuff out for 15 minutes if that. Folding takes the longest, but usually my girlfriend does it anyway since I can't fold for **** and to makeup for me doing the laundry in the first place.

So...yeah, I'm saving about $10/hr AND I'm mostly just reading a book anyway.

EDIT 2: Also, I don't think I'm cheap. Tip the dollar and when you get another drink, leave 4 quarters, ldo.

perfect explanation

lol, i'd lose my mind if my friends did this and probably never talk to them again.

If everyone started taking advantage of the $20 laundry service, it would quickly cease to be $20, DUCY?

Unseen Hand FTW!

You know poor people exist, right? Lots of people are living paycheck to paycheck with very little left over from each paycheck after rent, bills, and other necessities. Some people seriously have to choose whether they're gonna spend that $2 on spinach or chicken cause they only can afford to spend money on one or the other.

Even if the guy's not that poor, it just sounds really clear that he has a specific budget and has allotted a specific amount of money for his meal.

Chips and salsa should be free at any restaurant. Also, you shouldn't get upset when someone leaves you a .50 cent tip on a $3.50 beer. Times are tough right now, were in a recession. Sorry...

agreed

.