My dad.
As I may have referenced in the past, my father's a doctor, and quite a successful one at that. But, as I'm sure you've noticed by now, I am far from being posh- I grew up in what amounted to a basic middle-class environment, buying clothing from K-Mart and all the rest.

See, my parents are of that WWII/Depression generation that considers thrift to be chief among virtues, bar none. To put it nicely, Dad's tighter than a duck's arse in January.

We lived in Rochester NY from about 1975 onward. Dad also had a small practice in the Adirondacks, so we went up there every weekend. We went along the Thruway, up Friday and back Sunday, for all of my teenage years.

(Go take a look at Google Maps to see what I mean. The Thruway is Rte. 90, and we went from Rochester to Utica.)

The Thruway is a toll road, and if memory serves it cost $1.15 to drive that stretch of it. But Dad had gotten a Thruway Pass, which gave you a discount in that you could ride up to 30 miles without paying a toll, then paid a reduced fare when you exited.

You can see what happened, can't you?

Dad only did it once with me in the car, because I laughed at him for getting off every 20 miles or so and doing a U-turn to get back on, and doing this six times over the course of the trip to save $1.15. I pointed out to him that it had added a good 15 minutes to the trip, and that I thought our time was worth more than $4.60/hour.

I think he still does it now, though.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Thu 23 Oct 2008, 19:03, 1 reply)

Sounds like me
But it's not to save money, it's the joy of beating the system.
(knackerz is skinning up, Fri 24 Oct 2008, 5:22, closed)