Rational Tightwaddery

My paternal grandfather had a tendency toward tightwaddery that I suppose he would rather have called frugality. One of his tightwad practices simply spread the cost of a moderately good watch out over decades, rather than using up cash flow in one big lump. I wondered about how that worked for years, but finally embraced the principle a few decades ago.

Every now and then, the cheap Timex watch Granddaddy wore daily would fail, likely for similar reasons to why wristwatches fail on me: no matter what the mechanizm or claims of being waterproof or being impervious to this, that, or t’other I “eat” wristwatches. A really nice all stainless steel case “waterproof” watch? Eaten in a couple of years’ use, corroded away. WHen one of his cheap Timex watches failed, it went in a box for grandkids to play with, and he bought another, usually at a local “fell off the back of a truck” store (salvage, overstock, reclaimed, etc.) for quite a bit less than retail.

So, cheap plastic watches for me, the cheaper the better (and oh what a blessing when I discovered “salvage: watches in the $1 bins at my fav “fell off the back of a truck” store!). But when applied as a principle, Granddaddy’s “watch box” can be useful for other items. Take Wayfarer sunglasses (PLEASE!) for example. . .

$200 for a pair of Rayban Wayfarers OR $1 for a pair of knock-offs at my fav “fell off the back of a truck” salvage/reclaimed/overstock/returns store. Hmmm, I think I’ll purchase a few pair while they have them in stock. Should last me a few years. Sweet! They even fit over my glasses!

And now I have 5 pairs of “Stylin’ Sunglasses­™” and $195 left over for other uses.

*heh*

2 Replies to “Rational Tightwaddery”

  1. Knock offs are great in that way. Some snobs might turn up their noses, but I do like the principle. And the price ratio is hard to beat.

    If only I had a decent “fell off the truck” store.

    1. Well, my fav lil “fell off the back of a truck” store is experiencing a lot of woes since CwaZy (pervy, racist) UnKa JoE, ZOMBIE POOPY-PANTS President in Name Only’s puppetmasters began throwing monkey wrenches into the economy. Like a lot of smaller businesses, now, they are having supply chain issues. I spoke with the owner the other day (he also owns the longest-running independent grocery store in the county), and the problem is finding trucking. Heck, even though WallyWorld has its own fleet of trucks to deliver from its warehouses to its stores, IT is having difficulties with some suppliers who are in a crunch getting THEIR supplies delivered and delivering to WallyWorld. . .

      And that on top of my fav economy store having to raise the prices of its $1 bins to $2 just to maintain a profit margin. It’s a good store with a trongly positive impact on our community even if just in the number of entry level jobs it provides, and it’s struggling. Really chaps my gizzard.

      And WHY are the Dhimmicraps (in particular) so focused on ruining the economy? Because they hate us.

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