'The company I work for won't buy us pens': 20+ Cheapskates who couldn't resist saving every penny

There's being frugal, and then there are these people, who have let their penny-pinching get a bit out of hand. In a thread started by u/curcigm, more than 17k people shared their funniest stories of "levels of cheapness" that astonished them. The OP started it off with their own eyebrow-raising story — their GF's mom revealed that her birthday dinner was going to be year-old leftovers from a rehearsal dinner. It's one thing to eat very old food, but it's a whole other thing to brag about it and tell your guests just what they're snacking on. 

For people who grew up during or just after Depression times, saving every penny was very important. But it can lead to some quirky habits that can quickly spiral out of control. I've had my own experiences eating very out of date lunchmeat and cheese (as a kid I didn't notice or care…but I do now!). Some people really do go by the edict of, "If it's not moldy, it's okay to eat," which is safer for some foods than others. 

Check out these people's most eye-opening stories of frugality that pushed the limit. Up next, this person revealed the one thing you should never say while talking to customer service representatives. 

'[My] friend wraps what’s left of Karen’s hair in a towel': Customer insists hairdresser style her hair, is infuriated when her hairdressers' warnings come true

Hair stylists do an amazing job at making you look your best, but they aren't miracle workers. Not every hairstyle can be accomplished in one day, as this customer found out. 

Apparently, one recent hair trend has been women who want to have Kim Kardashian's long silvery-gray hair. What they don't know is that it's most likely a wig…and their own hair will take a lot of processing to achieve the same color as Kim. 

At least these women know what style they want for their hair! It's always good to show up with a few photos of hairdos. That way, you and your stylist can be on the same page about how to get that new 'do. 

Hair stylists can perform wonders — the right haircut really is transformative. But even with their best efforts, they can't make jet black hair become bottle blond in a single day, nor would most recommend doing that transition at all. Even if you really want blond hair, is it worth it to sacrifice the health of your hair? You can have that blond look, but if your hair looks and feels like dry straw, you might not get all those compliments you were hoping for. 

Up next, this person planned way ahead for a double birthday set at a restaurant — but the place still didn't have a reservation for them when their party of ten arrived to celebrate. 

'My job took away our chairs': New manager reprimands employees, makes them stand for full eight hour shifts

It should be required to permit sitting down when needed for any and all jobs. Let's just get that out of the way first. Most corporate employees do not understand the concept of what it means to be on your feet for eight hours at a time with minimal to no breaks. In this case, we have employees at a gift-wrapping store who only really needed to be standing when they were actively working with customers. That requirement is understandable. However, requiring employees to stand the entire time, especially when there are no customers in sight, is ridiculous and borderline unsafe. How do you expect employees to interact well with customers when they're physically exhausted from having to stand for no good reason?

 

This Redditor explained that a former coworker with serious back problems was able to negotiate chairs for everyone once upon a time. However, after that coworker left, management at the store changed and the new boss felt that employees were abusing this privilege and should be using downtime between customers to reorganize and restock. OP made it clear that employees were already doing those things; there is only so much to reorganize and restock in a gift-wrapping store. Still, the manager would not budge and moved forward with his plan to remove any and all chairs.

 

Keep scrolling below to see how the Redditor and folks in the comments section responded to this ruthless act. When you're finished, here is another story about the downfall of a manager who did not allow employees to discuss wages.

‘I was fired on the spot’: Top Reddit Stories of Employees Getting Fired

If you've never gotten fired, have you even lived? I remember the absolute shame and frankly, heartbreak (I was 16, and very dramatic) I felt when I was called by a manager and promptly fired after being accused of fighting with his wife on the job. The story goes as such: I was looking for a job while I was in high school. I was not a very good student and didn't attend any of my classes, so there were weeks I would stay at home, instead of going to school, and boy was it boring. Eventually, I looked for a job, so I could earn a little cash. I got an interview at a fish restaurant and was overjoyed, but also super nervous. One of my friends was working there, so I thought we'd have a blast. I was interviewed by a lady who I got a feeling didn't like me very much and was told that because I was still in high school, she didn't want to hire me. 

Take in mind A. my friend who was also in high school was working there and B. she agreed to interview me whilst knowing I was in high school. I think it's safe to say that my suspicion that she didn't like me was all too correct. After being rejected, her husband, the owner of the restaurant, gave me a call and invited me in for a few shifts. When I showed up, she was there, and asked me, 'What are you doing here?'. I blubbered some sort of response, finished my shift as she glared at me the entire time, and then received an angry, rude phone call that blew my mind in the evening, where the owner was telling me off for arguing with his wife, which I definitely didn't do. Long story short, one decade later, I still hold a grudge. Scroll down for similar, infuriating stories. Next, an employee whose pay was docked, then filed for unemployment.

'I told you to give me a different room': Front desk worker maliciously complies with rude guest's room request

Traveling can take its toll on the senses. After twelve hours cramped into a flying tube net to a snoring odorant stranger, you arrive at your hotel only to discover that you've been booked into a room next to a family of unruly children whose shouting and banging on the shared wall threatens to sever your last thread of sanity. To make matters worse, you're right across the hall from the ice and vending machines, and each time either is dispensed, it's as if each cube of ice, each soda, is dropping directly into your brain. It's enough to make even the most reasonable of us unreasonable and the unreasonable—well, more unreasonable still. 

Front desk workers have long had to endure the meltdowns of weary travelers who are barely hanging on to reality, and they've seen behavior that would make the tantrum-throwers mother's blush.

This worker shared how they maliciously complied with a rude guest's aggressive demand that they be changed into a new room… by placing them into the one directly beneath it instead.

Read on to see their account of events as they originally shared it with Reddit's r/talesfromthefrontdesk subreddit, along with reader's reactions below.