CHEAPASS IS A WHOLE ANOTHER LEVEL THAN FRUGAL

It's Friday, so here's one of my random rants. Sometimes I just don't get people that are cheapasses. Frugal is one thing. You're cautious about money because things are tight or you want to save up for that new house, car, or whatever. Some of my close friends are pastors or don't have high paying jobs, so that's cool.

What I don't understand are people that are making over six figures with no strong commitments (e.g. mortgage, wedding, kids), but are the worst cheapasses on the planet. It's to the point of offending people and taking advantage of your friends. Here are some of the best stories I've come across over the years:

- One person I know (call him Carlos) was traveling a lot for work and had a roommate. These were typical bachelors who never went real food shopping. Carlos would buy drinks and snack food, go on his business trips and come back to find his food almost gone. He assumed his friend and new roommate would just restock. He took off again, came back and found the fridge and kitchen empty. So he went to the grocery, bought stuff and took off for the week and came back to find his stuff gone. He finally brought it up to his roommate and asked him to go buy groceries for both of them and to split the bill. This never happened and the disappearing food continued on for a few weeks. Finally Carlos was forced to put cases of softdrinks and chips in the back of his Range Rover.

- I heard of a friend's friend who was notorious for always leaving a fraction of his bills when he was in groups. The bill comes out to about $50 bucks each and he gives $25 without saying a word. Last year some friends told me that he ordered a bottle of hard liquor while they were out drinking in NYC. The bottle was at his side of the table so most of them didn't know about it. They expected the bill to be a couple hundred and saw a bottle that cost almost $400. The dude left $50 on the table and left early.

I'm cool with a few dollars short or sometimes even more. I'm always the one covering the shortfall on bills if necessary since my high school days, but I never like it when people take advantage of someone or these situations. I definitely would have had a open talk with this dude.

- My personal experience... My wife and I went to dinner with a large group of people, but had to leave early to attend a work function. Our portion including tip totalled $50 but I gave $60 since I didn't have a ten and told this guy I know it was extra just in case the bill came out to more. A week later I'm with my friend and this guy. I get the lunch bill and the guy says, "Hey, you owe me $30 from last week, so let's just call it even here."

"What? $30? How did it come out to $90?"

"Well, we ordered two bottles of wine."

"... Umm. We left after you guys ordered the wine."

"Well, it's $30, so let's call it even."

"You're serious?"

(silence)

Unbelievable. I didn't want to argue with the guy. A couple days later he jacks two of my friends on a dinner bill. It came out to $60 per head, so $120 for this guy and his girlfriend. He leaves $40 on the table and takes off early. Messed up.