This Makes Me Sound like a Cheapskate, but...
Other
...I absolutely refuse to pay to use the loo. No matter where I am, in the UK or abroad, it just pains me to part with money just so I can spend a penny. I’d rather hold it and find some other location where I know there are facilities to cater for my needs, free of charge
And I don’t like paying for condiments. If I’m at a takeaway or chippie and they won’t give me ketchup for free, I will just go to another one that does give it to me for free...or I use up all their salt and vinegar to co pens are for the lack of ketchup (Yes, I am that bad!)
Are there situations or do you have anything you absolutely refuse to pay for?
Quite right there is no such thing as a cheapskate anymore just people who are careful and the majority of the population who are spendthrifts who have the brain the size of a pea when it comes to saving money and the ones who end up Bankrupt , debt collectors at the door etc - In Slovakia where I live 6 months of the year being tight is seen as shrewd and clever!
I found 23p on the floor of my local BP garage today and no one picked it up , they looked but were obviously too scared to look like a tightbutt and pick it up - people seem to be so scared to be seen to be saving money or tight call it whatever - Me I have no shame and I am 23p up lol
i Am the same ha ha. I refuse to pay 30p to go the loo. Glad I’m not the only one 
30p is an odd amount. The stations in central London were trying to charge 50p to £1 - what a con! It’s not like they had heated seating and quilted tissue either
hspexy if they had heated seating and quilted tissue I might consider it in the winter 
I tend to avoid use public washrooms unless just to wash my hands. Or well, if I really need to take a number one then I will.
Anyway, vinegar on fries? Oh God, no.
Lol I love lots and lots of vinegar - I completely drench them on chips. Not so much on fries, as they don't soak up the vinegar well, but I would if I don’t have a ketchup or some other condiment to use
hspexy I honestly never liked vinegar chips even though they're edible. I'd rather take ketchup, jamon, salty, traditional, bacon or any other flavor over vinegar. Just too rancid for me.
But I stopped eating chips/fries these days although if I do buy a pack of 'em, I eat the whole thing while watching a show or a movie. lol
I don't pay for the condiments either. My husband will take the mustard and brown sauce sachets when we go out for dinner as it is something he likes but always goes off before he uses it all. I also don't buy bottled water unless I absolutely have to. I don't mind being called a cheapskate! I actually enjoy saving money. I moan at my husband when he forgets to bring the bags when we go shopping because I don't like paying for bags!
Lol I’m the same - I hate the idea of paying for bags! I’d stuff whatever I buy into the handbag if I find myself without my tote, so the handbag is a bit stretched these days, but I saved the pennies 
I don't buy newspapers anymore. I either pick up the free ones or just checkout the news online. Not sure how newspapers can survive this day and age
Same here - I’m ok with reading the Metro and Evening Standard for free. There’s usually a lot of nonsense in the paper, so just as well as I ain’t paid for it
hspexy free newspapers are super handy to cover the floor while painting among other uses. I'd never trust the news from a newspaper but had it been like 10-20 yrs ago it'd be different.
Quite right. I really don't see why you should have to pay to use public loos. It seems like nowadays that profit is more important than peoples' health.
I loath the 'Sparkling or Still, Sir?' over-priced mineral water trick in restaurants, especially hotels, where you are expected to say yes without even knowing the typically extortionate price (+ service charge + tax!). What is it, snowman's tears?!
Very often the mineral water comes from hundreds (even thousands) of miles away. How environmentally unfriendly is that?
Typically I'll say "no thanks, just iced water please" or I'll request a bottle of the local mineral water. It's very easy to get seriously ill from the poor quality ice in some countries.
I'm very happy to pay to use the loo in some countries, especially in Asia where in standard loos there's a squat toilet, a hose, a soaking wet floor, and NO toilet paper.
If there is a cubicle with a toilet and a seat, then there will be filthy footprints on the seat (where the locals have squated on top of it!) and it too will be soaking wet.
I have yet to master the art of 'pulling my pants down' and keeping my shorts completely off the soaking wet floor. I have learnt the hard way that the cubicles in public loos also have no loo paper (because someone will nick it) and that you have to collect some from the machine at the entrance. Where I guess more people can see how much paper you are 'stealing'! Not much as it breaks every two sheets!
A clean, paid for toilet? With paper? Bliss!
Worth every 'penny'.
Johnny
In south east Asia, you may find that you’re being charged to use filthy squat pans...just as well it’s in my genes to do the Asian squat 
Before yesterday I had to bought a pack of toilet paper rolls and got the cheapest one because the thought of buying something i'm gonna use to wipe my you know what just seems like a waste of money, we shouldn't have to. At least when cleaing your mouth and nose it's different case.
Same goes for clean water, kept empty bottles and then refilled them at a well.
To save on hot water, I take baths with normal/cold water. I've gotten used to it by now so it feels natural to my body's temperature.
I can see why old folks need it, as we all get older our bodies become fragile in ways.
Yes showering in colder water does take some getting use to, but once the body does climatise, you’re alright. Colder water is better for you as well
Why they charge for the loo??? I think should be free to make people to follow the etiquette and can go when the nature calls them. What will we archive with charging for everything? THE CITY OF PEE SCENT
I agree. If they want to keep a town clean, they need the appropriate facilities. Otherwise, you will get people defecating on the streets, which is highly unhygienic
The city of pee scent is actually VENICE!
There are no public loos that we could find and the pubs etc all charge you to use the toilets - the few of them that have them so all the tourists go and pee in the alleys - some of the places stink to high heaven - i thought Venice was meant to be beautiful until i actually went there its falling apart , stinks of wee and is full of asylum seekers selling knockoff fake italian leather handbags and pickpockets at every turn - then you have the £10 a coffee restaurants and thats cheap!
garygemmell oh dear, there goes the illusions of the city of romance! No gondola rides for me then, Lol!
hspexy Yeah i speak Italian and the Gondola guys were extremely rude about the females in the boat but i kept my mouth shut i didnt want to end up in the canal with some bloke in a stripey top lol
Its worse if its raining as it was when i went as it makes the dried pee become even more pungent!
Just a heads up for ya.
Oh and watch out for pickpockets on the RIALTO bridge and all the tat shops selling venetian masks made out of paper mache for 20-50 quid.
Must admit i was looking forward to Venice but it was a big disappointment.
Its not what you see in the bright photoshopped pictures on holidya websites.
Its falling apart , packed to the gunwhals so pickpockets are rife as are all the African con men on every corner - We actually saw a fight between a police officer and one of the black guys punting the leather bags my poor old mum got such a fright - sad way to end the day it was so no i dont recommend it at all!
Malcesine and Garda on the other hand were lovely as was Limone and Lake Como!
Pop over to Gargnano and you can see Mussolinis villa now a TRES EXPENSIVE HOTEL with high fences all around - Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were staying when we sneaked in to take a few photies lol
garygemmell thanks for the tip. Definitely the kind of places I’d like to visit when Im next in Italy 
AgnesFaludi Belgium is horrible yes you are right we were in Charlerois - quite dangerous and I am able to handle myself but it was very unpleasant atmosphere especially with a blonde 6 foot girlfriend all the dirty looks and comments not a nice place!
hspexy Remember to go Verona and see the balcony of Romeo and Juliet and rub the statues boobs - its good luck lol
You have to pay to go stand on the balcony and its not even real lol but all the Americans were sure it was genuine lol £10 wasted!
hspexy Watch yourself though i did warn my good pal Gwendolyn not to talk to the Africans in Rome when they approach you - she did and had all her stuff in her handbag nicked.
All my Italian friends say that ROME , MILAN , NAPLES are now very dangerous at night and during the day its mobbed with African pickpockets and criminals - so much for the wonderful mrs Merkhel lol
Places to watch are the bus stations and train stations and all the attractions as they congregate en masse around these places waiting for poor old folks who try to be polite - the problem is as soon as you are polite they take you as a mark - You actually have to tell them to "f" off its the only way to get rid of them - I was told that 20 years ago when I went to Amsterdam for my first time and i didnt take the nod and got pickpocketed £250 - once it happens to you it will never happen again!
Sad but you have to be tough these days or you will get taken for a ride!
garygemmell lol thanks for the heads up. I grew up in a fairly rough part of London, so I’m pretty streetwise. And funnily enough, it’s very well known that there are professional pickpocketers in Italy - my dad said when he was in uni (so this was in the early 70s) a few of his friends went on a trip to Europe, and they were warned to be extra careful in Italy. That being said, I’ve heard about being careful in China, but I found that they’re more likely to take the mickey out of you being a tourist (as with most places) rather than rob you for all you’ve got
Since wee had to pay 5p carrier bag at the supper market. They have got rubbish.can't put and thing in with out coming out the bottom. And the day I was at the supper marker and asked for a 5p bag I was told the 5p bags had stopped and now it was only a 10p bag, so I take my own shopping bag.
Yes I have noticed that a lot of the 5p bags have disappeared too. But at least the longer life bags can be replaced if they split, as most of the shops will let you do that without further costs
Honesly, I do not recycle since this happened....I do this work and they make plastic bags out of it and they make me pay for it. Somewhere I feel it is not fair and then they take our rubbish, what we also pat for and trash into the Ocean...Am I the only one think something is nasty with this?
AgnesFaludi I understand what you mean. A lot of the waste that’s meant to be recycled often just gets shipped over to poorer countries to deal with - and that’s what the problem is, as it often isn’t dealt with at all, just thrown around different places. It’s very sad to see
I now refuse to pay for bags. When the rule came out, I always used to pay for them. I do a £100+ shop every week, so you can imagine how many bags I need. One day I was shopping with a cousin, and she saw me scanning 10 bags and said ‘You pay for bags??!!!! I don’t, I just take them and walk out’
I was shocked because I could imagine store alarms going off and that I would be ‘stealing’. I eventually convinced myself to take a bag & not scan it. Walked out of the shop, and Tadahhhhh... no alarms, no security checking. After that day I refuse to pay for bags. I’m already paying extortionate prices for my groceries & bought 100’s of bags over the years. I now no longer do.
Some may class it as bad, but I refuse to pay for something that was free all these years, and instead of paying the supermarket for the bags, I nicely stack them at home and re use them as much as possible, and take good care of them. I think I’m still doing my bit for the environment, more than I would be by paying 5p or 10p at a supermarket.
lol I understand what you mean, as there is certainly a principle behind it. I know someone who bought an Apple Watch to collect from John Lewis and when he arrived to sign for it, they just gave him it in just the box it came in. He asked for a bag. They said he’d have to pay for it. He argued that surely they ought to have provided a package that he could carry the item in safely hom, and also surely for security reasons, it’s better they gave him something that would conceal what the item was. The shop assistant had no choice but to hand over a bag
I certainly don’t understand why the shops who do the click and collect service are unable to provide the items in a package that can be carried...but that’s another issue
hspexy Hmmm. I understand if it’s 1 or 2 bags you have to pay for, but if I’m spending over £150 on my weekly groceries and already gving the supermarket so much money, I don’t see why I shouldn’t be allowed a few bags. The whole point of the paying for bags scheme was so that people reuse and look after bags and take care of the environment. So by making them pay for bags it was supposed to teach them to look after them, because they paid for it. Regardless if I pay for my bags or not, I still stock them up at home and reuse again and again, so I don’t think me not paying for bags is bad. Because the aim is to reuse, thats what you pay 5p/10p for. And I’m doing that either way.
In America they place the goods inside a paper bag but that never became a thing in European countries. Ironically, America was colonized by Europeans so that's something that could have been brought back or at least to UK.
Then again, is it profitable? No. If there isn't money to be made, why should they give it away for free! 
hspexy because the government made this law!!! You have to pay for the bag and the shop assistant can not do anything about it.
AgnesFaludi well actually, all store assistants can exercise discretion. You will find that if you go to most large shops, you can haggle for a discount, depending on how confident and cheeky you can be. Most assistants, with the managers approval, will waive 10% from the full price. The staff may be trained to charge the 5p, but if you cause enough fuss over it, they will waive that charge
AgnesFaludi Yeah but the government made the law to make people aware of plastic wasteage and plastic in the oceans etc. The charge is there so people don’t abuse bags etc. I do sometimes pay for my bags, and I sometimes take mine from home, but I also sometimes don’t pay for the bags because I initially bought soooo many, and as mentioned already, I take good care of my bags and recycle and reuse, so I think that’s what the government wanted from this paying for bags thing. So I don’t believe I’m doing anything wrong.
AgnesFaludi no, they’ll just give it to you for free...but that’s in their discretion
most of which depends on the value of your shopping
if it’s a click and collect scenarios, you can always just tell them that based on the additional charge for the bag, you want an immediate refund, and as they know it costs them more than 5p to process it, they won’t waste their time
I mean overall I actually support the government’s move in trying to get people to change their habits, so in theory the 5p charge is reasonable, but as you’ve stated already, the execution of what the intention of the move has not been fulfilled
I hate to think of the poor countries that have all the items we have supposedly recycled - so sad
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