Post: #101

(10-29-2015 12:28 AM)samsamsam Wrote:  This dude budgeted $21/week.

A few observations.

1) I think he is one of those annoying hipster types, that thinks whatever he says is golden
2) The amount of time spent trying to make this work, you could spend your time making more money
3) However, challenges are enjoyable, so #2 can be ignored for the sake of the challenge.

But based on this first episode, the teaser part of it, he made some good shit cheap. BUT! I think he might also be a chef or something. I don't think he lifts so he wasn't as concerned about protein.

But I am gonna watch to see what he makes.

I wonder if there's a way to figure out when supermarkets and other stores will discount their "older" meat?

The way I eat meat on a budget is always look for those yellow or discount labels at Target, Walmart, etc. and buy the cheap steaks that expire in 2-3 days because they're up to 40% off!

Post: #102

Making my own lunch and bringing it to work is probably the best money and health saver I ever came up with.

Substitute pastry with fruits like bananas for desserts save a lot too, though damn them French make fucking awesome cake.

Post: #103

Self-haircuts.

Not so much to save money but also to learn a DIY skill. What I've done recently is do two cuts on my own (clippers + scissors), followed by a quality cut the third time to get the shape and style back on track.

Post: #104

Paid 4000 towards my high interest student loans via credit card, got 4000 points for doing so and I now have a year of zero interest to make payments on that instead of paying the 7%

Post: #105

I am on a short budget atm so here is how i manage to get around:

1. control those fucking impulses. Do i need it? no? okay then why waste my cash on that.

2. if you really want it, make sure it is easy to sell in case you don`t want it anymore. That way if you get bored or think it is useless after a month or so you can re sell it. Extra points if you bought it in a huge sale or something like that... you can even get money off of it.

3. Buy used stuff. You want a LED 70" TV that is around 7,000$. You will have to camp in ebay and lurk around for a good deal. The best deals i`ve made are because I waited for the best seller to come, usually people that have to travel to another city and need to get rid of their stuff.

4. Buy the best food for the best price, avoid going out to dinner so much.

5. Take advantage of the market. Slowest day for the movies is on wednesday. you really want to go out for a movie, go that day. You want to go out for a drink, take advantage of the happy hour and so on.

6.NEVER BUY FULL PRICE.

7. Got spare cash? put it into a savings account or buy something you can resell with it. That way you are getting profit and saving at the same time.

Post: #106

When buying clothes, doing this only during seasonal sales (Christmas, summer) is also a good way to save money, especially if you don't have problems with finding the right size.

Post: #107

(10-30-2015 10:28 AM)DJ-Matt Wrote:  

(10-29-2015 12:28 AM)samsamsam Wrote:  This dude budgeted $21/week.

A few observations.

1) I think he is one of those annoying hipster types, that thinks whatever he says is golden
2) The amount of time spent trying to make this work, you could spend your time making more money
3) However, challenges are enjoyable, so #2 can be ignored for the sake of the challenge.

But based on this first episode, the teaser part of it, he made some good shit cheap. BUT! I think he might also be a chef or something. I don't think he lifts so he wasn't as concerned about protein.

But I am gonna watch to see what he makes.

I wonder if there's a way to figure out when supermarkets and other stores will discount their "older" meat?

The way I eat meat on a budget is always look for those yellow or discount labels at Target, Walmart, etc. and buy the cheap steaks that expire in 2-3 days because they're up to 40% off!

I mostly shop at Safeway due to proximity and I once asked the meat dept workers when they put meat cuts on sale. Every store varies according to this guy. Mine usually marks down on tuesday morning. Picked up sandwich kits and certain cuts for 50% off and more just this past Tuesday night.

Post: #108

I go to the dollar store and buy things there that I would have normally bought at CVS or the grocery store. Everything from toilet paper, tooth paste, paper towels etc.

I also sign up for credit cards with big sign up bonuses. In 2015 I didn't pay for a single flight and got several free hotel stays and car rentals. Probably saved me around 2k.

Post: #109

I have a few tips. We could rename this "The Miser's Lounge". I haven't read the thread so if there are repeats that's unfortunate.

1. Set up a clothesline somewhere in your apartment and line dry your clothing. It only takes a few hours to dry enough to wear, and you save about 30-50 cents you didn't have to piss away on running a dryer. Or $1.50 - 2.50 depending on the laundromat you go to. Clothes also last much longer because they're not getting beat up in the dryer. I went for months without using a dryer in Germany and can state with confidence that clothes will dry in a cold basement or barely heated garage in winter.

2. Buy a thermos, bring your own coffee.

3. Manually unplug whatever you're not using. Even if it's not on, a little waste voltage ekes into the machine.

4. Resist the impulse to go to a store. I googled how to get oil stains out of clothing and came up with vinegar. It worked. Practically any household cleaning can be done with baking soda, vinegar, bleach, or soap. You could probably unclog drains with it.

5. Turn the heat down and wear a sweater. Heating all the air in a house is terribly inefficient.

6. Buy a pressure cooker. Dinner is done in half the time with half the fuel. I recommend Kuhn Rikon.

7. Make sure your fridge and stove are separated. I'm not sure why they're side-by-side in most houses.

8. Buy protein at MyProtein dot com. I get it in 22 pound batches. They're the cheapest and the best quality. Look for coupons online. If it's cool and dry it never goes bad, and it's cheaper than almost any meat product. You can mix it instantly.

9. Make fewer "dumb trips" to the store. I only go every two weeks at the most.

10. If you don't use a phone that much, get Ting. A phone bill is only like 9 bucks a month for talk, text, and data (somewhat limited). You pay based on what you use. If you have a smartphone, you can use wifi to make long, wasteful calls via Google Voice.

11. You need discipline for gains, not necessarily a membership. Sandbags are great fun to train with. A pullup bar is 15 bucks.

12. I have lived within walking distance to school or work for years now. It's the best way to live. Still have a car but it doesn't get used much.

13. Do you smoke? Roll your own cigarettes. A machine is 50 bucks (I use a Top roller), papers are three bucks for 250, and tobacco is about twenty bucks a pound. I have found all cheaper online (you can get tobacco as cheap as 5 bucks a pound in bulk). Even if you only smoke on the weekends you're a fool to pay those cigarette prices when you could just get a 3 dollar hand roller and twelve bucks worth of bagged tobacco and papers. It would pay for itself by the second weekend and several times over by the time you run out.

Post: #110

No give any tips. It's amazing how this saves 20 bucks when eating out.

I kid, I kid.

Post: #111

Right after Christmas and Thanksgiving there are usually amazing deals on hams and turkeys. Last time I got turkeys for 50 cents a pound and ham for a dollar a pound.

Move closer to where you spend the most time driving to and from. For most people, this is where they work. An average commute costs 50 cents a mile, this accounts for gas, maintenance, wear and tear and the inevitable death of your car.

Eliminate the stupid disposable shit in your life. Wear glasses instead of contacts. Use rags instead of paper towels. As far as toilet paper, a bidet is not a terrible idea but it scares most Americans.

When cooking, attempt to use as few ingredients as possible in your main dishes. The majority of what I eat uses no more than 5 ingredients; oftentimes it's 3 (not including spices). This makes it easier to remember what you buy (in bulk) at the store and eliminates unnecessary trips to get a quarter teaspoon of whatever the fuck it was you forgot to get last time.

Stop buying processed horseshit and learn how to cook from scratch. It's cheaper and healthier. You're also one degree closer to knowing what's in your food and where it comes from. The average American eats a lot of soy because of this very reason.

Keep a book of the cheapest prices you've seen your staples listed. When you go to the store, let the sales dictate what's for dinner. I don't personally keep a book, I just keep a mental tally. I've seen chicken go anywhere from $1.69 a pound to $5 a pound in the same year so I tend to buy it in mass quantities at $2 a pound or less.

If you use something every day (at least every week) and it breaks, replace it with something that won't. Bike's fucked? Spend some real money and get a good one.

Use the manual version of appliances, like using a bucket and plunger to wash your clothes. I used to do this for my work clothes because of how filthy they'd get, but it wouldn't be a big deal to do it for all of them. I still split firewood with a maul, sledgehammer, and wedge. Haven't figured out how to get around without a chainsaw, though. Instead of buying a standup mixer that you'll only use once in a while, use a whisk. Easy examples.

The less shit you own, the less time you spend moving. Owning less shit saves time and money. This is another reason why I tend to get semi portable versions of things (ie don't get a heavy ass coffee table).

Post: #112

Quick tip for the frugal guys: if you have a problem with a product, let the producer know. I've had a few instances where I contacted customer service, and it paid off:

1. I refinanced my student loans with SoFi, everything was great, but I didn't get my referral money, and the website wasn't clear about my referral bonus. No problem, they said it'd take 6-8 weeks. Then they sent out a survey, I responded, "why is my referral bonus taking so long, there's no confirmation on the website." They called me a few days later, asked about my referral, said there was no bonus listed. We got it cleared up and I had cash in my bank account the next day.

2. I've used Clear Care contact solution for five years and never had an issue. A few months ago I had a contact case that kept fucking up and not clearing all the solution, even after 8 hours. I contacted customer service, mailed in my case, and found out it was a faulty disk. Two weeks later I had a box full of fresh Clear Care sitting at my doorstep.

3. I was buying some new laces for my Timberland Butters, but Timberland only had one pair available. I bought it along with some cleaning supplies, but when the customer survey was sent out I let them know "hey why the fuck is there only one pair of laces available? I easily would've bought three or four." They emailed me and said that two are in the mail.

Post: #113

Lets be honest here guys, many of us are penny wise, pound foolish. We're talking about saving a few bucks a month here and there, while ignoring the big ticket items.

- Impulse purchasing: Buying unnecessary supplements on Amazon, clothes, etc. I used to read a lot of lifestyle blogs which encouraged me to buy shit I don't need. Now I almost never go on Amazon, and I never buy new shit unless it's absolutely necessary.

Most of our economy works by playing off our insecurities and encouraging us to buy stuff that won't add any value to our life. Looking back on a lot of the stuff I've bought which I thought would add value or status to my life was largely pointless.

The one exception I make is clothes, but I only get what's needed. A blazer, a few high quality dress shirts, high quality jeans, chinos, nice shoes, and a nice watch are all that's needed to look great wherever you go. It's a big outlay at first, but should last years, and you only need to replace items as they wear out. People treat you better if you look better, so it's worth it to me.

Many of you have recommended asking yourself "How will this add value to my life?" before purchasing. I think that is golden wisdom right there.

- Going out: Over the years I must've wasted thousands of dollars on bars and restaurants of marginal value. This is a massive expense for the young single guy, and, in my opinion a huge waste. In my experience, most people go to the bar and then stay and talk with the exact same people they went out with, no attempts to meet new people at all. If you're gonna do that, just split some alcohol with close friends, crash at someone's place and spend 1/4 the money. In a pinch, pregame at home and get a water between drinks. Either way, alcohol is a massive expense.

Going out to eat is also expensive, and it's easy to run up a bill that's north of $20, for something that could be made for $3 at home. Many guys talk about hating getting ripped off in taxis by being overcharged $3, yet they rip themselves off $17 every time they go out to eat.

Whenever I make any purchase now, I think about what value I'm getting, and if I'm ripping myself off. Instead of eating in the nice restaurant, can I get the same experience at a local place? Can I make the same meal at home with little effort? Unless you have to spend a lot more time and effort to save an extra 50%, it's almost always worth it to seek value.

- Housing: This is often the biggest expense for something most people only get to enjoy for less than a 1/4 of their waking life. It's worth paying a little extra to significantly cut a commute or be closer to the action. A huge chunk of money can be saved by having roommates.

Once the big expenses are taken care of, it's easier to focus on the smaller savings. After a while though, one reaches a point of diminishing returns. Always good to get in the habit of seeking value though.

Post: #114

Dumped a GF

Post: #115

Glad this was bumped, I have a new one just discovered this week: Target food section is legit for clearance items. Half-off tons of great stuff like the premium big-can campbell's soups. Those heat-up egg and sausage/bacon breakfast dishes, also had pot roast and turkey selections. All for $1 or less each.

Speaking of $1, also check out the dollar tree's food selection, but READ THE LABELS. Skip "food" made with high fructose corn syrup and other shit ingredients. Some of that stuff is made with complete garbage and filler, but there are many things that are premium brands that make me wonder how they wound up there.

(09-18-2014 09:57 AM)DJ-Matt Wrote:  I bought my camper for $2k under book because I was willing to drive 3 hours to pick it up (then deal with the hassle of an out-of-state purchase).

Patience is very overlooked as a way to save money.

Quoting myself because I sold this about 2 months ago after buying a motorhome to replace it. I sold it for $1000 over what I paid for it and that was after using it for almost 2 years! Basically I got to rent a camper for free. Always buy RVs in the fall, and sell them in the spring. After the first warm weekend my phone was ringing off the hook from the craigslist ad.

Post: #116

A lot of these frugalities are very time consuming.

Before engaging in this behaviour I think it's important to try and put a monetary figure on your time, to work out if they're worth the hassle.

Even if you have no scope to exchange extra time for more $$ (you have a job that has fixed hours), your free time still certainly has a value.

Post: #117

Going to quote these out of order and put my comments/emphasis in BOLD inserted below:

(04-08-2016 12:58 PM)CrashBangWallop Wrote:  A lot of these frugalities are very time consuming.

Before engaging in this behaviour I think it's important to try and put a monetary figure on your time, to work out if they're worth the hassle.

Even if you have no scope to exchange extra time for more $$ (you have a job that has fixed hours), your free time still certainly has a value.

This is absolutely HUGE. I repped this poster for noting this subtle but vastly undervalued concept. You always must consider your time/energy investment in something when valuing it.

As an example, a guy working in the oil sands making solid income with a very physically demanding job and who really needs his rest and downtime should probably buy high quality ingredients that can be made into tasty dishes in a crock-pot or other low-time investment prep/cleaning method OR he should pick up the phone and order food for pick up or perhaps even delivery. The lack of need to significantly prep food, actively cook it, and then clean the resulting mess is of very high value to someone who needs lots of rest/downtime to maintain his high income job.

Another example is a guy making minimal income in a relatively low hours/non-manual labor environment. That guy has much more free time and can save significant money with more time investment, such as shopping for cheap high quality ingredients, full food prep, and cleaning up the mess afterwards. He can also do things like scour the internet for cheap items that he can resell for significant profits (to him) in his free time.

Vastly different situations that you need to calibrate for. One guy can probably roll into a budget department store and buy a bunch of decent stuff for cheap and the other guy can spend hours and hours searching out nice clothes that fit him well at various thrift stores and spend next to nothing monetarily.

(04-08-2016 08:52 AM)thoughtgypsy Wrote:  Lets be honest here guys, many of us are penny wise, pound foolish. We're talking about saving a few bucks a month here and there, while ignoring the big ticket items.

- Impulse purchasing: Buying unnecessary supplements on Amazon, clothes, etc. I used to read a lot of lifestyle blogs which encouraged me to buy shit I don't need. Now I almost never go on Amazon, and I never buy new shit unless it's absolutely necessary.

It's a good idea to always consider whether buying something new is a big difference in cost versus buying something used. An easy example is a car. It's nearly the same time to research and find a reasonable price on a new car as it is to find the same car even just 2 or 3 model years old and the one 2 or 3 model years old will have huge cost savings. Other items there may be little difference in cost savings and your time investment will be vastly different.

Most of our economy works by playing off our insecurities and encouraging us to buy stuff that won't add any value to our life. Looking back on a lot of the stuff I've bought which I thought would add value or status to my life was largely pointless.

Huge benefit to minimizing your life. Having less stuff around immediately gives you a sense of peace that is pretty incredible. Less stuff to spend time searching through, organizing, or moving around is a big boon.

The one exception I make is clothes, but I only get what's needed. A blazer, a few high quality dress shirts, high quality jeans, chinos, nice shoes, and a nice watch are all that's needed to look great wherever you go. It's a big outlay at first, but should last years, and you only need to replace items as they wear out. People treat you better if you look better, so it's worth it to me.

Many of you have recommended asking yourself "How will this add value to my life?" before purchasing. I think that is golden wisdom right there.

Especially true in all cases

- Going out: Over the years I must've wasted thousands of dollars on bars and restaurants of marginal value. This is a massive expense for the young single guy, and, in my opinion a huge waste. In my experience, most people go to the bar and then stay and talk with the exact same people they went out with, no attempts to meet new people at all. If you're gonna do that, just split some alcohol with close friends, crash at someone's place and spend 1/4 the money. In a pinch, pregame at home and get a water between drinks. Either way, alcohol is a massive expense.

As I've stated before, it's a huge cost savings to buy premium liquor/beer at budget stores and pre-drink at your place. In many cases it's cheaper to buy everyone of your friends a couple rounds at your house AND share an uber than it is to go to the bars and buy even one single round of well/rotgut liquor for them. If you give them a couple rounds at home, you may even drink for free the rest of the night.

Going out to eat is also expensive, and it's easy to run up a bill that's north of $20, for something that could be made for $3 at home. Many guys talk about hating getting ripped off in taxis by being overcharged $3, yet they rip themselves off $17 every time they go out to eat.

Whenever I make any purchase now, I think about what value I'm getting, and if I'm ripping myself off. Instead of eating in the nice restaurant, can I get the same experience at a local place? Can I make the same meal at home with little effort? Unless you have to spend a lot more time and effort to save an extra 50%, it's almost always worth it to seek value.

- Housing: This is often the biggest expense for something most people only get to enjoy for less than a 1/4 of their waking life. It's worth paying a little extra to significantly cut a commute or be closer to the action. A huge chunk of money can be saved by having roommates.

Once the big expenses are taken care of, it's easier to focus on the smaller savings. After a while though, one reaches a point of diminishing returns. Always good to get in the habit of seeking value though.

Post: #118

Over the years I've gotten a ton of sloppy T-shirts as gifts or just old shirts that I've since upgraded from. Whenever I come home from work, or if it's a weekend chore day at home, I switch into an old T-shirt and socks. This way I'm able to keep the stylish clothes I like to wear in public lasting longer. If I'm at the gym, changing my oil, or painting a room, I don't want to use one of my fashionable V-necks.

When the shirts finally start getting worn out, I'll give them to one of my women. To them it's a gesture of ownership and an intimate gift, and I've always gotten a positive reaction from it. Theres also something sexy about watching a woman cook in your oversized T shirt.

Post: #119

Alright so I read through this thread and noticed a lot of members dropping cable for Netflix. While a smart move you are still essentially wasting 8-12$ a month which can be wasted at http://www.condomdepot.com/ for a bulk pack of 54 condoms for when rawdogging just doesn't seem right.

I'm going to give you guys a once an for all solution to cable called TVMC. What is this you might ask? Well here is an article explaining essentially what TVMC is, article. The easiest way towards video piracy. Did I mention it also works for sports?

Here is an installation video for you guys, while simultaneously listening to Beat it. It not only works on computers but also on smart TV (not on smartHUBs) and anything Android oriented.

Post: #120

I spent the extra $2 to get roadhazard insurance for my tires. Sure enough, I managed to gouge one of the tires enough for them to put a new tire on my car (plus some cost on my side as it is prorated by wear). The guy at the tire place didn't give me any hassle and it wasn't any major damage. On the roads that I drive, it was an inevitability that something would happen.

Post: #121

Whenever I have several large purchases to make, I save them up to do in batches on a new credit card for maximum miles/cash back, plus extra float time to invest the money and pay it off before interest hits.

I almost never eat out, and have actually planted some veggies in my own yard to eat organic without the cost of buying organic in the supermarket.

I had to replace a fridge that broke down recently. Ended up getting one that cost about $1200 at Best Buy. Before I bought it, I went on ebay and bought a 10% off coupon off any one item, and stacked that with my rewards credit card and Best Buy Rewards Zone. Ended up getting the fridge for about 17% off sticker price plus free deliver. It was also on sale for additional savings. Installed it myself instead of paying for someone else to do so.

I always make a point of showering at the gym, reducing my water bill at home.

Also, whenever I'm out and about, I always drop a duce in a public toilet of a company I don't like, like Comcast. I love using their toilet paper and water. I'm not even a subscriber. Take that evil bastard monopoly!

Post: #122

Nice thread, I'll bump it


Here is what I do:


- I get creative with dates. Instead of going out for dinner, for example, I go with my plate to an ice cream parlor. We buy ourselves one, and we take a walk. Or we enjoy in the park. Fuck dinner dates, waste of money.


- I buy supplements in bulk, and only when on sale. I recently bought like 8 kg of mass gainer for cheap, so I will be OK for a few months at least. If I bough like 2 kg every month, I would have to pay much more (double the price I have paid).


- I eat before I shop for food. I try to buy in bulk, or when something is on special offer (and if it something I like).


- When some of your relatives are trying to get rid of their car, buy it from them (they will give it away at a silly price, just to get rid of it). I got my Mum's car that way (Peugeot 206, 2003 model). A bit old and faggy, but, its mileage is quite low for a 10+ year old car, and it can be customized. And is wide enough to fuck inside properly.


- Use pay as you go method for your cell phone. If you need an internet, go near your Fagbucks (for example) and enjoy... .


- Cancel your cable. Use Netflix. Or good old Pirate Bay and Demonoid (thank God, I do not need to hide my IP).


- Several people mentioned taking a shower inside a gym already. If the sanitation ain't the best, I use some cheap Crocs replica slippers.


- Buy used. For example, I have mentioned that I paid less than 300$ for my high end suit collection (and every single one is like 1000$ new), and 100$ for a lightly used Tissot titanium watch (with box and papers, and had it authenticated at AD beforehand), which is normally around 500$ new. Let someone else pay a full retail price.


- Back in Uni, instead of spending tons of money in the local restaurant ( a full meal was like 10$), I spent like 2$ a day on bananas (and sometimes, other fruit), and a small bottle of chocolate milk (and coffee sometimes). If I ever get a corporate job, I will do the same. People will laugh at me. But...guess who will eventually have the last laugh ?


- Do not be a sheep. Buy what you need, not what others think you need.


- I use a shaving machine to shave your beard, chest and balls instead of razors and foam. Of course, I clean if after.


- I buy 1,5L bottles of refreshment, instead of cans and smaller 0,5L bottles. Do not buy anything in gas stations and 24/7 shops.


- I carry cash when going out, to avoid impulse shopping.

Post: #123

Has anyone cut the cord, just internet? I plan on doing it just on principle and send a message, plus I know a lot about Kodi and free TV sources.

What I don't get is the BS comcast "installation fee" that they are trying to get me to shell out ($50) just to come and connect my modem to a socket.

Anyone know how to get around that? Where to ask them to waive the fee or negotiate it?

Post: #124

This thread is awesome!

I already do Costco but I've seen the idea of buying giftcards there so naturally I'd have to try it out.

I am currently fasting and while roughly saving $50/day in food costs isn't much add it up over a lifetime and you'd have quite a deal. I learned this from Tim Ferriss and supposedly cancer cells die off in the absence of glucose. I do have to say my head hurts and I have hunger pains on day 2. I can't stop fantasizing about eating ARGGGGG!!!!!

* Make my own food. I even brew my own coffee and am shocked to see people pay $5 for a disgusting cup of Starbucks.
* Take public transportation as much as possible. This is key since walking is way too slow.
* Doing what redbeard said since I have friends in the food industry.
* I don't drink booze and even when I have FU money I wouldn't want to.

Important edit:
Being extremely frugal can make you do stupid things that really screw up your health. A very intelligent buddy of mine eats peanut butter sandwiches but I don't want to be an asshole to him by saying peanuts contain omega 6 nutrients that can screw up your health. It's one thing to not want to get ripped off at Whole Foods, but it's another thing to buy wild caught fish at Costcos. How else would you get your Omega 3's and protein?

(08-24-2014 11:36 PM)redbeard Wrote:  Ever since reading GManifesto I've always been keen on "the art of the grease." Mostly at bars, I'll always help out the staff in order to gain some advantages in the field. But GMan takes it to a step above that. In some of the situations he describes, it would seem out of place if average joes like us started dropping $20's.

But today I saw it at work.

I've become a regular at my grocer of choice. The cashiers recognize me and don't say anything. But the butchers and deli workers, they notice me. I always get good meat and chat with them during weighing. They can tell I'm in the know because I'll spend a good amount of time deciding what to get instead of getting some premade, overpriced BS like most would.

I always thought about dropping some cash on these meat guys, but I guess I won't have to.

Today I was chatting with the deli man. He rang up my half pound of roast beef perfectly, so I exclaimed, "hey we got the best deli in town here!" He prints the label, doesn't remove the meat from the scale, and busts out more sliced beef and throws it on the scale. 1.2 pounds. He goes, "that's for being good to us."

Post: #125

For service people, like your butcher deli guy, just being human and chatting with them, learning their names, patronizing the same place, goes along way. At a restaurant, I’ll tip 20%, sometimes more, but if you write a note to the manager like “fantastic service on the back of the charge slip, and sign it, that’s even better. That’s much more rare. The waiter asked to turn it in at the end of the night to cash out, so the manager will see it.

When I was in college, to save money on books, I check them out from the University Library. My university had a rule that said if a professor wanted to use the textbook, the publisher had to send a copy to the library. Often times it was just one copy, and you were only allowed to check it out for a few weeks. You can apply for extensions and pay late fees, that was a lot less money than buying the book