7 ms·

The author and I ascribe different meanings to "penny pinching" ... Also, > Imagine you are in your car driving and you notice someone in another car, alone,

by nanis 5y ago

The author and I ascribe different meanings to "penny pinching" ... Also, > Imagine you are in your car driving and you notice someone in another car, alone, wearing a mask. This is during the covid pandemic so seeing someone wearing a mask is not overly surprising. But then you stop and think wait a second, this person is alone and wearing a mask. Isn't that odd? In fact it seems downright ridiculous. Why would anyone wear a mask in their car when they are alone? > ... > Doesn't it makes more sense to just give yourself a blanket policy that says "I put my mask on whenever I leave the house, and don't take it off until I get home." That beats trying to keep track of who needs me to wear the mask, chances of dropping the mask, dirty hands touching the mask, losing the mask, etc. > I'm not trying to suggest here whether or not people should wear their masks in the car when by themselves. This begs for "I Wear My Face Mask in the Car"[1]. A penny pincher is the person who goes to dinner with a dozen people and ends up spending an hour trying to "fairly" divide the check among everyone. Or, the one who says a few days later that you should treat him to lunch because he only had a single glass of wine whereas everyone else had two or some such. Sure, it is a good idea to follow useful rules of thumb to minimize cognitive load, but it is also important to be able to know when a rule of thumb should be discarded. Whether the rich are rich because they do this stuff or because we notice it more when a rich person acts this way is not clear. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DDXG-dHugc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DDXG-dHugc

lotsofpulp 5y ago
> A penny pincher is the person who goes to dinner with a dozen people and ends up spending an hour trying to "fairly" divide the check among everyone. Or, the one who says a few days later that you should treat him to lunch because he only had a single glass of wine whereas everyone else had two or some such. Alcoholic drinks in most popular cities are $10+ per drink, if not $18+ in tier 1 cities. If someone that does not drink alcohol is called a penny pincher for not wanting to spend thousands of pennies for others’ alcohol consumption, then what is a person who expects others to spend thousands of their pennies for their alcohol consumption called? Same situation with vegetarians going out with meat/fish/poultry eaters, since meat dishes cost a decent amount more. Very odd to me that expecting someone else to pay vastly more for your consumption is considered OK, effectively ostracizing the budget constrained people in your network from dining out with you.
- j7ake 5y ago
  I think it also depends how many times a year you are in this situation. If you go out with big group 5 times a year and end up paying $10 more than you should, you end up down $50/year. If this is a weekly or daily event, it makes sense to make this more fair. In my opinion, stressing about anything less than $100/year is penny pinching.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    Of course, but it is never $100 per year. It is just crazy to me that with all the price increases and increase in income/wealth gap, and increases in variety of diets, that it would still be considered taboo to not want (or even be able to) pay for others’ excess. I go out of my way to make sure if I am having extra to chip in extra, but I certainly would not look down on anyone that insisted on paying for only what they consumed.
    - j7ake 5y ago
      I read the article as a guide for my own behaviour, rather than as a template to judge others. Definitely true one should not judge when you see someone insisting on paying their fair share. You never know the details of their personal lives.
- nanis 5y ago
  > penny pincher for not wanting to spend thousands of pennies Yes, literally, the dictionary meaning of a "penny pincher" is one who does not want to part with his pennies. The author of the article, on the other hand, seems to call people "penny pinchers" if they do not adopt rules of thumb but instead painstakingly analyze all alternatives. Sure, paralysis by analysis can be bad or there is nothing wrong with focusing one's cognitive energies sparingly etc, but there is very little in the article about penny pinching. You preferences may say "it is more important for me to save seven bucks in this context." That does not compel other people to enjoy your preferences. In my life, I have been in groups where if a few people consumed some relatively more expensive food or drinks, they are responsible enough to take care of that. Also, when you go out with a large group, you do tip the wait staff generously, right?
cardiffspaceman 5y ago
A penny pincher is someone who takes money out of the communal meal payment (deposited on the table like a poker pot) because it represents more than 5% tip. In other words, they effectively reduce their own tip below 5% because someone else tipped a higher, more socially-acceptable percentage.

by nanis 5y ago

lotsofpulp 5y ago

> A penny pincher is the person who goes to dinner with a dozen people and ends up spending an hour trying to "fairly" divide the check among everyone. Or, the one who says a few days later that you should treat him to lunch because he only had a single glass of wine whereas everyone else had two or some such. Alcoholic drinks in most popular cities are $10+ per drink, if not $18+ in tier 1 cities. If someone that does not drink alcohol is called a penny pincher for not wanting to spend thousands of pennies for others’ alcohol consumption, then what is a person who expects others to spend thousands of their pennies for their alcohol consumption called? Same situation with vegetarians going out with meat/fish/poultry eaters, since meat dishes cost a decent amount more. Very odd to me that expecting someone else to pay vastly more for your consumption is considered OK, effectively ostracizing the budget constrained people in your network from dining out with you.

j7ake 5y ago
I think it also depends how many times a year you are in this situation. If you go out with big group 5 times a year and end up paying $10 more than you should, you end up down $50/year. If this is a weekly or daily event, it makes sense to make this more fair. In my opinion, stressing about anything less than $100/year is penny pinching.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  Of course, but it is never $100 per year. It is just crazy to me that with all the price increases and increase in income/wealth gap, and increases in variety of diets, that it would still be considered taboo to not want (or even be able to) pay for others’ excess. I go out of my way to make sure if I am having extra to chip in extra, but I certainly would not look down on anyone that insisted on paying for only what they consumed.
  - j7ake 5y ago
    I read the article as a guide for my own behaviour, rather than as a template to judge others. Definitely true one should not judge when you see someone insisting on paying their fair share. You never know the details of their personal lives.
nanis 5y ago
> penny pincher for not wanting to spend thousands of pennies Yes, literally, the dictionary meaning of a "penny pincher" is one who does not want to part with his pennies. The author of the article, on the other hand, seems to call people "penny pinchers" if they do not adopt rules of thumb but instead painstakingly analyze all alternatives. Sure, paralysis by analysis can be bad or there is nothing wrong with focusing one's cognitive energies sparingly etc, but there is very little in the article about penny pinching. You preferences may say "it is more important for me to save seven bucks in this context." That does not compel other people to enjoy your preferences. In my life, I have been in groups where if a few people consumed some relatively more expensive food or drinks, they are responsible enough to take care of that. Also, when you go out with a large group, you do tip the wait staff generously, right?

cardiffspaceman 5y ago

A penny pincher is someone who takes money out of the communal meal payment (deposited on the table like a poker pot) because it represents more than 5% tip. In other words, they effectively reduce their own tip below 5% because someone else tipped a higher, more socially-acceptable percentage.