Cheap Charlie Stories

[britgent]

The biggest round dodgers I found are teachers. Stand there grinning at you waiting for the next free round.

[britgent]

Or the american freeloader who wanted a couple of us to invest $$$$$$$ in his new business idea even though he was putting $0 into it. Do you reckon he might just want us to fund his life out in los? Surely not!

[jocko]

Ask theblether, he's a Scot

We scots are a warm and generous bunch....even to those less fortunate folks who try to cast us otherwise.

I worked with a Pom years ago who claimed that the 'frugal Scot' thing was actually a Welsh plot, and that it was the Welsh who were tighter than a fishes proverbial. I just try not to tread on Celtic toes where possible - they tend to be attached to large Celtic feet

The true story is, the legend of Scots being tight was a self inflicted wound.......back in the days of the Music Hall a Scotsman called Harry Lauder was a mega star, probably the biggest star in the UK at that time. One of his running gags was a punchline which went this " nearly as deserted as a Flag Day in Aberdeen ".

A Flag Day was a charitable collection day, so the gag was that people from Aberdeen were misers.......unfortunately in the minds of the English audience it came to pass that all Scots are misers.

So thanks for that Harry!!

To be honest it doesn't bother me.....there's far worse things can be said about a country than being careful with money......just ask those Welsh sheep shaggers.

Harry Lauder started that rumor and it didn't help in the 50s when the movie Scrooge come out he was played by the great Alastair Sim another Scottish legend

[rene123]

I tease a friend of mine all the time and say he's a "cheap Charlie" but he just laughs at me. Of course, he always pays his own way and he knows what I say is just in jest. He just doesn't waste his money on unnecessary stuff. He would rather sleep in an inexpensive 350 baht room out of town rather than a fancier one down town for 500 baht. He would rather eat noodle soup on the street for 25 baht than an American breakfast in a nice restaurant for 100 baht. He won't buy lady drinks at bars because he doesn't want to take the gals home. But still, the women all like him and are always trying to attract his attention.

But, there is a difference between being frugal and being cheap. Frugal is being sensible; being cheap usually means you don't always pay your own way.

[kennedy]

Frugal? I once new three frugal guys. Four of us went out to dinner one night. One had just gotten a promotion at work so he decided to buy dinner for everyone but wouldn't tell anyone.

So now it comes down to ordering dinner. As usual they ordered by price. I ordered what I wanted.

When the check comes and he says he's paying, you should of seen the look on their faces.

Frugal is like saying your a little bit pregnant.

[mca]

Saw a couple of Indian blokes on Sukhumvit offering a tuk tuk driver 55 baht when he wanted 60.

When I worked in a hotel one of the bell boys ruefully smiled and told me that the German guy whose cases he'd just lugged down 20 floors tipped him 2 baht.

[jambco984]

I have a mate who when on holiday still wont relax and is constantly saying how much is this one, how much is that one when ordering practically anything.

1 evening 3 years ago in a restaurant in BKK 3 of us eat and have a few beers all having 1 main each and a starter each and 2 beers each.

Cheque came and it was for arguments sake 1200 baht with tip so my mate and I get out 400 expecting our mate who I will call Geoff (yes thats his real name) to get 400 out also....

Here you go 320 and a 10 baht tip. Then the excuses well mine only cost x,y and z so thats right. My mate and I look at each other and add the extra to his end.

We leave the restaurant and explain that when on holiday relax and just split the bill. He said ok but didnt want to play ball for the next 2 weeks on Phuket and our travels. Last night in BKK we stayed at a posh hotel. Mate and I nagged him and said just bloody split the bill in our first bar, no budge. We went back to the executive hotel bar on the 20 something th floor and he said ok we can split the bill here.

I was on the beer and my mate was on the brandy and cokes. Tight arse on the other hand got on the single malts.

What a guy.

Anyone tighter??

[Scully]

I rented a lovely big teak house for several thousand baht a month, I urgently needed to fly home so stored my stuff in a 1500 baht thai room while I was away. Returned put the bed up set up the computer and laptop onto witeless, cupboards up etc, neighbours are lovely I have a wondeful view over the mountains,

P,s my mum is from Scotland and dad from Yorkhire, but seriously I love it here and this is in Issan so its probably twice the size of a Pattaya condo.

Edit to add how many rich people are cheap charlies?, they are rich for a reason.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Scully

[rene123]

Frugal? I once new three frugal guys. Four of us went out to dinner one night. One had just gotten a promotion at work so he decided to buy dinner for everyone but wouldn't tell anyone.

So now it comes down to ordering dinner. As usual they ordered by price. I ordered what I wanted.

When the check comes and he says he's paying, you should of seen the look on their faces.

Frugal is like saying your a little bit pregnant.

I've seen that before. The look on their face is priceless... like they just missed the lottery by one number.

[rene123]

There is "rich" and there is "wealthy". They are just not necessarily the same.

I'm rich. I'm rich in health, rich in friends and rich in experiences. I enjoy life every day, and every new experience adds to my pleasure. That includes the experiences that I don't want to repeat. But, I'm not wealthy. I have enough to live on comfortably for as long as I want providing I don't go crazy spending.

Wealthy is having a lot of money or material possessions. That doesn't always make you happy or fulfill your life.

Cheap Charlies are too miserly to really enjoy life.

Edited February 25, 2013 by rene123

[Jimbo]

I have a few stories like that:

1) I have the tendancy to not smoke my ciggies all the way down. Found out months later that a Canadian guy would empty the ashtray at my local watering hole after I left and then smoke my 3/4 finished cigarettes.

2) My friend used to own a restaurant and a few of the local expats wanted to take their own bottles of wine from home instead of buying his wine. So he told them that there was a 100 THB corkage fee. They got angry and left their bottles in the car. One however later sneaked one bottle into the restaurant and hid it under the table and poored himself drinks when he thought no one was looking as he didnt want to pay the corkage fee.

3) Another guy at the same place didn't want to pay 50 Thai Baht for a bucket of ice at the restaurant so he would try to sneak with his glass to the ice chest behind the kitchen to fill up his glass with ice.

4) I was having dinner at one of the more expensive restaurants in town and an expat I know took a girl there on a first date. When it came to pay, around 2000 Thai Baht, he refused to pay the entire bill and insisted that this girl would pay her own share. She didn't have so much money with her yet he still refused to pay for her. I felt very sorry for the girl.

[StreetCowboy]

Every so often i wash my own bike. But sorry, its not a cheap charlie story, its a quality control story. The wash guys just use a jet washer and the only way i can get certain parts of the base clean is to physically scrub it.

Please keep in mind the average age of readers. You are going to overly excite some of the gents and perhaps cause some to faint as they consider the image of a sultry vixen covered in bubbles in tight hot pants cleaning her motorbike?

And a scrubber, to boot

[akspace]

Saw a couple of Indian blokes on Sukhumvit offering a tuk tuk driver 55 baht when he wanted 60.

When I worked in a hotel one of the bell boys ruefully smiled and told me that the German guy whose cases he'd just lugged down 20 floors tipped him 2 baht.

Last time I was on Phi Phi something similar happened. There are no cars on the island so the bell boy will haul your luggage from the hotel to the pier (in a push cart), well three women and I left the hotel at the same time. We we arrived the three women put their heads together and produced 10 baht for a tip.

[Dancealot]

There is "rich" and there is "wealthy". They are just not necessarily the same.

I'm rich. I'm rich in health, rich in friends and rich in experiences. I enjoy life every day, and every new experience adds to my pleasure. That includes the experiences that I don't want to repeat. But, I'm not wealthy. I have enough to live on comfortably for as long as I want providing I don't go crazy spending.

Wealthy is having a lot of money or material possessions. That doesn't always make you happy or fulfill your life.

Cheap Charlies are too miserly to really enjoy life.

@Kuhn Rene... I agree with you but how would you classify your self then?I identify with your self description.

Further i say: Let the Cheap Charlies be! They are quite inventive you know.. Wouldn't admire someone going so far as smokin' half smoked fags, though..

Edited February 25, 2013 by Dancealot

[rene123]

Dancealot, on 25 Feb 2013 - 09:06, said:

rene123, on 25 Feb 2013 - 07:43, said:

There is "rich" and there is "wealthy". They are just not necessarily the same.

I'm rich. I'm rich in health, rich in friends and rich in experiences. I enjoy life every day, and every new experience adds to my pleasure. That includes the experiences that I don't want to repeat. But, I'm not wealthy. I have enough to live on comfortably for as long as I want providing I don't go crazy spending.

Wealthy is having a lot of money or material possessions. That doesn't always make you happy or fulfill your life.

Cheap Charlies are too miserly to really enjoy life.

@Kuhn Rene... I agree with you but how would you classify your self then?I identify with your self description.

Further i say: Let the Cheap Charlies be! They are quite inventive you know.. Wouldn't admire someone going so far as smokin' half smoked fags, though..

Like I said, I'm rich. I actually enjoy giving what little I have away to people who need it more than me. It seems to come back double in good karma. As long as I have enough to feed myself and sleep in a good bed at night I am happy. I smile a lot and the Thais seem to like that. I make allowances for others lack of education, and understand that a poor education does not mean they are stupid. Many are very street smart... even though they can't read a map or point out where they live. I shake my head at Thais who apologize because their English is not good. I just laugh and tell them their English is a whole lot better than my Thai.

[Dancealot]

@Rene. That is very impressive.

Dancealot, on 25 Feb 2013 - 09:06, said:

rene123, on 25 Feb 2013 - 07:43, said:
There is "rich" and there is "wealthy". They are just not necessarily the same.

I'm rich. I'm rich in health, rich in friends and rich in experiences. I enjoy life every day, and every new experience adds to my pleasure. That includes the experiences that I don't want to repeat. But, I'm not wealthy. I have enough to live on comfortably for as long as I want providing I don't go crazy spending.

Wealthy is having a lot of money or material possessions. That doesn't always make you happy or fulfill your life.

Cheap Charlies are too miserly to really enjoy life.

@Kuhn Rene... I agree with you but how would you classify your self then?I identify with your self description.

Further i say: Let the Cheap Charlies be! They are quite inventive you know.. Wouldn't admire someone going so far as smokin' half smoked fags, though..

Like I said, I'm rich. I actually enjoy giving what little I have away to people who need it more than me. It seems to come back double in good karma. As long as I have enough to feed myself and sleep in a good bed at night I am happy. I smile a lot and the Thais seem to like that. I make allowances for others lack of education, and understand that a poor education does not mean they are stupid. Many are very street smart... even though they can't read a map or point out where they live. I shake my head at Thais who apologize because their English is not good. I just laugh and tell them their English is a whole lot better than my Thai.

I am very attracted to this point of view and after reading more of your posts i suspect you really have a heart of gold.

You flabbergast me, Rene.

[CMTourist]

Was with a group of teachers from a very prestigious private school in the UK. We paid business class flights for them from the UK, put them up in a 5 star hotel and arranged a limo and driver to take them to see the sites.

We went out of Bangkok to a small town and were viewing a temple. In the grounds was someone selling fresh fruit juice. I ordered one and paid the 20 Baht asked for. The teachers then went over to the fruit juice seller and came back with a fruit juice and were all cackling about how they'd managed to get it for 15 Baht. Delighted they were that they'd managed to keep 5 Baht from this fruit juice seller.

And on this trip, when we asked them who was coming to discuss business with the company, thinking one or two people would be coming, they sent a list of 12 people and many of them were just husbands and wives with no other relation to the school.

So they got a free luxury holiday and managed to save 5 Baht by beating down a fruit juice seller, but they lost all respect in a wide circle of wealthy Thais who heard about it and I'm sure several Thai parents reconsidered sending their kids there.

Find that a lot with teachers though, pathologically cheap even though they're often very well paid and of course have great benefits.

[elliss]

are the welsh muslim ?

hislamb

[britgent]

I seem to be nectar for teachers of the female variety whether they be european or thai and I can confirm they are the tightest I know bar the stingy 'travel the world but hang on to every rotten penny' backpackers.

Teachers seem to think that because they have some skanky degree from a terrible university they are entitled to roam the world bestowing their knowledge upon the lay people who must offer forth their wares for said wisdom.

Why on earth did your company allow 12 people to be paid for when they expected 2 and only 2 were to be of use?

[CMTourist]

I seem to be nectar for teachers of the female variety whether they be european or thai and I can confirm they are the tightest I know bar the stingy 'travel the world but hang on to every rotten penny' backpackers.

Teachers seem to think that because they have some skanky degree from a terrible university they are entitled to roam the world bestowing their knowledge upon the lay people who must offer forth their wares for said wisdom.

Why on earth did your company allow 12 people to be paid for when they expected 2 and only 2 were to be of use?

The sister of the owner had a kid in the school and as a Thai company that meant that no-one junior in the company would query anything and no-one senior was involved in the bookings.

No one said anything but I could tell they were really annoyed that the school had taken advantage of their hospitality to such a degree. The school was interested in following up, and even paid for their own flight and hotel for the bursar to come over the next time, but there was zero interest on the Thai side after that

[qdinthailand]

Or the american freeloader who wanted a couple of us to invest $$$$$$$ in his new business idea even though he was putting $0 into it. Do you reckon he might just want us to fund his life out in los? Surely not!

What? American Free Enterprise at its finest. They are revered Entrepreneurs! Job Creators!

Usually though, they try to fund their new business idea with a government grant or contract. Just taxpayer money - not really hurting anyone.

[doggie888888]

Saw a couple of Indian blokes on Sukhumvit offering a tuk tuk driver 55 baht when he wanted 60.

When I worked in a hotel one of the bell boys ruefully smiled and told me that the German guy whose cases he'd just lugged down 20 floors tipped him 2 baht.

Last time I was on Phi Phi something similar happened. There are no cars on the island so the bell boy will haul your luggage from the hotel to the pier (in a push cart), well three women and I left the hotel at the same time. We we arrived the three women put their heads together and produced 10 baht for a tip.

at the risk of starting a war over"the right amount to tip", frankly I do not consider people who do not tip to be cheap Charlies. There are cultural differences to consider and also maybe the staff damaged the suitcases when dragging them complete with surly faces, who really knows. The real cheap Charlies are the hotel employers who do not pay their staff adequately and do not train their staff that when a tip is inadequate, never blame the customer.

[rene123]

I was guiding a couple of Canadian friends for an afternoon up Doi Sutthep. We arrived at the base of the mountain in a Tuk Tuk and were transferred to a red bus (SongThaow?} to go up the mountain. There were the 3 of us and 3 young French women. The driver wanted 50 baht for each of us because there weren't the required 10 passengers he needed to make the 24 km journey worthwhile for him. The 3 French broads (I reserve that term for women like them) didn't want to pay more than 30 baht each. I just shook my head, made a few nasty comments in French and paid the difference for everyone for the driver. Not one of the gals would look me in the eye after that. Of course, they COULD see the scorn on my face. It was worth the extra 100 baht on my part just to point our their cheapness.

[uptheos]

Some great stories........you couldn't make them up.........or could you?

[chiangmaikelly]

I'm a cheap Charlie. I make bread pudding. I like fresh bread. After a couple of days I won't eat it. I freeze it till I have enough and then put in eggs, sugar, vanilla, a bit of cinnamon and bake it for breakfast bread pudding.

[rene123]

uptheos, on 25 Feb 2013 - 19:49, said:

Some great stories........you couldn't make them up.........or could you?

Why make things up? Truth is stranger than fiction. It just shocks you when it happens. But, that is all part of the enjoyment of life here in Thailand. I lived such a cloistered life in Canada where everything is regulated and structured to the very last degree. Every day is another story for a journalist if you take time to watch and listen. And frankly, the more interesting stuff goes on in the seedier parts of the world.

[uptheos]

uptheos, on 25 Feb 2013 - 19:49, said:

Some great stories........you couldn't make them up.........or could you?

Why make things up? Truth is stranger than fiction. It just shocks you when it happens. But, that is all part of the enjoyment of life here in Thailand. I lived such a cloistered life in Canada where everything is regulated and structured to the very last degree. Every day is another story for a journalist if you take time to watch and listen. And frankly, the more interesting stuff goes on in the seedier parts of the world.

I said "you couldn't make them up", with a question added...."could you?"

I'm sure no-one makes things up on the forum.

Edited February 26, 2013 by uptheos

[FDog]

Me and 7 friends at a restaurant for dinner. End of the night we just split the lot. Except for 1 guy who insisted he didn't have a bread roll so deducted $1 from his bill. He didn't get invited to another dinner.

Went snow skiing with a mate for 5 days. He insisted be be at the mountain and at the ski lifts when they were to open. He also wouldn't leave until the ski lifts stopped. He even carried his own lunch box so he didn't have to buy any lunch and could get the most out of his ski pass.

Dinner each night was paid for as part of the package and he would fill his lunchbox for the next day. Never once did I ever see his wallet.

His gf later told me that he also turns his car off when going down hill to save petrol and steals toilet paper from work. I presume unused.

Never saw him again after that trip.

[rene123]

uptheos, on 25 Feb 2013 - 20:13, said:

I'm sure no-one makes things up on the forum.

Well maybe just a LITTLE bit.

[akspace]

Went snow skiing with a mate for 5 days. He insisted be be at the mountain and at the ski lifts when they were to open. He also wouldn't leave until the ski lifts stopped. He even carried his own lunch box so he didn't have to buy any lunch and could get the most out of his ski pass.

Nothing wrong with that, I'm far from cheap and I do that every day I'm on the slopes! Of course I don't bring a lunch box, I stick a sandwich in my pocket so I can eat on the lift without stopping at all! A water skin inside my coat so I don't have to stop for a drink either!