Super Scrimper

Has anyone see this Channel 4 show? It's all about people that know how to do things on the cheap, so they become 'scrimpers'. It seems like a really good idea for all those people, like myself, that generally find themselves short on cash and this prog shows you how you can save a few pennies here and there.

My initial reaction is this is great, the general public's wacky ideas on how to save money like using a child's toothbrush because they cost about 20p, or using odd socks to make them into sweat bands, or even hanging old curtains over your original ones when the weather starts to get cold, all seem quirky, but quite clever. That's all very well and good, but if you've paid through the nose for some designer curtains that specifically match your carefully picked decor then you don't really want to be hanging grotty old ones over the top just to save you a few pennies.

What gets me is that all the people on there are upper-middle class, so they can probably afford to not penny pinch in the first place. So it's maybe not that they're 'scrimpers', it's actually that they're tight. For example there was a family on there that were all penny pinchers - the father made a mud guard out of guttering for his mountain bike, the mother made a model village out of old bits and bobs (ok, that was pretty impressive), and the daughter made some tea-light holders using jams jars and some wire. All very resourceful I agree, but as my housemate very rightly pointed out if you were broke why would you waste your money buying tea-lights in the first place? And if you can afford a mountain bike, that probably cost at least £250 if not more (and it did look like a decent one), then why on earth can't you spare the extra fiver to pay for the mud guard? Slight contradiction I think.

Having said all that, we were addicted to the little old dears ingenious tips and tricks to save a few quid here and there. Am such a sucker for crappy TV!

Till tomorrow...

RoseC