Frugal to the Max
Stories from the Front
I was fairly new at the school. It was lunchtime, and I'd sat down with a a new friend.
As we were talking I noticed someone in the lunch line filling up plastic containers. I didn't say anything, but, my lunch mate noticed.
“Oh. That's Rick. He always does that. He's the cheapest man alive.”
Over time I was able to learn how he had mastered the art of maximum frugalization.
Here are the highlights.
Rick had once worked at a boarding school. He openly spoke about his time there.
Rick didn't leave the boarding school for three years. In his fourth year, he made a single trip.
He ate every meal at the school for three years, as the meals were free.
Weekends only came with two meals, so the food was placed in containers through out the week.
I'm summary, Rick didn't spend a penny on food, transportation, electricity, internet, etc for three years and most of a fourth year.
The school had a coffee shop, he never once used it.
Rick never bought a cookie for fund raising.
He was a master.
At the new school, and it was a normal day school, Rick's exploits in savings motivated a few staff members to try to get him to spend money.
A group of teachers thought they could get Rick to travel from school to a Starbucks by highly incentivizing the venture.
The teachers went to Starbucks and purchased a gift card. The gift card was worth around $20.00.
They placed the gift card in an envelope and left it in Rick's mailbox.
The experiment this group was conducting went as follows:
Will Rick spend the $3.00 for bus fair to get to the Starbucks and back, or will he just never use the gift card?
Will Rick consider investing $3.00 to get $20.00 worth of free items?
Rick never went to Starbucks. I actually told him I heard some people got gift cards from students. He told me he wasn't interested.
Rick's discipline in savings was unparalleled.
You might think he made a bad choice, but gift cards aren't really assets and they often push people to spend over the limit.
Rick knew the slippery slope of the gift card.
It was this story that truly enlightened me to the saving potential of boarding school jobs. Boarding schools are more work than most people realize, but the financial benefits of having a near-zero cost of living are significant.
This post is not a mockery or a joke. Rick is honestly the most frugal person I have ever met, and he is inspiring if you accept the challenge of being frugal to the max.
I would like to know if anyone has a frugal story that beats this one. Comment on the post below if you think you can out do the master.
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Why is this SubStack called, Pancake on a Stick?
Pancake on a Stick is the single funniest story I have ever heard in my life. In about a year from now, the event will be reenacted and recorded. I named the SubStack after the story, because every time I think of the name, I smile and laugh. This helps with my writing and tone, and makes me always remember the most important things in life.
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info@tonydeprato.com
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