The Student Room Group

Why are some people so tight with money?

I'm curious as to what is the psychology behind excessive selfishness and shrewdness with money. I've got a great friend who is very popular and a totally sound person in all respects except for when it's his turn to buy a round. He insists, often embarrassingly, on paying separately for literally everything. Coffee, beers, food, everything is hurriedly payed for separately and if there is a chance to save money (if it means being anti-social, or awkward) it will be taken up with both hands.

The thing is that he's the richest person I know, well his parents are yet he is obsessed with money. He is a genuine good person, very selfless and warm to people but as soon as money is involved the atmosphere turns sour.

I am all for being careful with money and being on top of your finances but I've never had a problem with sharing possessions, buying a round of drinks or lending close friends a bit of money. Yet this seems to be a problem for some people and it can be seriously ugly at times.

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People with money tend to care more about it than the typical middle class person, and frequently have parents who are very frugal/cheap which influences their attitude. Additionally I don't like to get involved in buying things for other people because it just tends to lead to people asking you to pick up the bill for them all the time because your family has money. Of course if you are doing something like buying rounds and they refuse when it comes around to their turn that's just stupid.
Reply 2
I don't like buying rounds either, id prefer to just buy for one or two people at the most and rotate. it just seems like they may take advantage of it.
Reply 3
Thats why hes so rich
It depends on their background/upbringing I suppose. I'm from a working class family and I never spend money on what I want, only on what I need (food, toiletries, clothes etc). It's just the way I was raised - I don't spend my cash on other people unless they are my family or very close friends. Sometimes (occasionally) I'll splash out on a treat for myself but only if I've specifically saved up for it. It's not 'tight' it's just sensible, otherwise I'd be living on the streets lol!
somethingbeautiful
It depends on their background/upbringing I suppose. I'm from a working class family and I never spend money on what I want, only on what I need (food, toiletries, clothes etc). It's just the way I was raised - I don't spend my cash on other people unless they are my family or very close friends. Sometimes (occasionally) I'll splash out on a treat for myself but only if I've specifically saved up for it. It's not 'tight' it's just sensible, otherwise I'd be living on the streets selling drugs lol!


This!
Reply 6
I would be described as careful with money simply because I've never had very much of it. Not a fan of alcohol either so have no desire to subsidise everyone else's drinking when it cost three times more than a diet coke.
Reply 7
I don't like buying rounds either. To get everything square you need to either drink more than you might wont to or carry it over to next time, which might cause arguments. If everyone buys their own then everyone pays for what they drink. Can't say fairer than that can you. Not to say I don't buy friends drinks - I do, but I do it because I want to, not because of some odd pub etiquette.
Reply 8
Being tight with money is the difference between having 3 meals a day or having a meal every 3 days.
Reply 9
Maybe he wants to avoid sponges who take advantage of other people's generosity- trust me there are plenty of those around. I work hard for my money so that's why I'm wary- I'm only happy to do drink rounds with people I trust.
Reply 10
That's probably why his family are rich, or, he thinks people are after him only for money.

We all have a limited supply of money and (especially for students) we need it to live! I can't speak for anyone else but I don't want to spend loads on a certain expenditure and then have nothing left for everything else, or spend it too quickly on one thing and then realise that I wanted to buy something else more, that makes me reluctant to buy things at times, but I'm never tight when it comes to people's birthdays and christmas etc.
I have often wondered this as well. I'm not especially rich, but if I drop 10p I wouldn't expressively go back to pick it up, wheras most of my friends save every last penny like they are bars of gold :lolwut:

I also have a friend who never, EVER, buys food or drinks for herself. You have to nourish yourself, ffs.
we all have personal quirks. just accept your friend for who he is and move on.
somethingbeautiful
It depends on their background/upbringing I suppose. I'm from a working class family and I never spend money on what I want, only on what I need (food, toiletries, clothes etc). It's just the way I was raised - I don't spend my cash on other people unless they are my family or very close friends. Sometimes (occasionally) I'll splash out on a treat for myself but only if I've specifically saved up for it. It's not 'tight' it's just sensible, otherwise I'd be living on the streets lol!


True that - I'm the same. Saying that, since I graduated and started working I tend to splurge more often :redface:)
I hate spending money on other people. My sister always used to extort me when I was a kid - she'd eat half an icecream, then swap it for my whole icecream. Stuff like that.

These days I'm very tight with what I lend/give.
My family is reasonably well off = not really rich, just above average - and I'm really...well careful with money. I simply dislike spending money. I used to buy cheap food I didn't like much at the school canteen - or skip lunch even - to save money, lied to people that I didn't have money so I didn't have to lend them money and many more things like that. I just couldn't stand spending it. I liked having money. I always put money into my bank account for university too, so that I physically couldn't get it back.
I was just odd. I liked collecting things - got obsessed with collecting things - and money just happened to be one of those things, I guess. Good in the long term for university though!
Reply 16
I've never bought a round in my life. Where I'm from, people just get their own drinks. :s-smilie:
Some people just don't like spending money. I don't think it is anything restricted to class or whether they are a decent person or not.
maybe e wants to save his money for after uni when he wants to buy his ferrari
Reply 19
Walkin'Butterfly

I also have a friend who never, EVER, buys food or drinks for herself. You have to nourish yourself, ffs.


You mean whenever they are out?
Heh, yeaa... that's me. I never buy any food or drink at all when I am out, it is just so much more expensive than the food and drink you have at home from the weekly supermarket shop. Seems such a waste and a luxury. But then I was just brought up in a family that really couldn't afford anything outside the weekly shop.

I have only been at university for a day and already someone has invited me for coffee tomorrow.. when they said that I felt so strange.. like, oh, I am actually going to go and buy a coffee that costs something like £2. Weird weird feeling. I still definitely won't make it a habit, just you can't sit and talk with someone in a coffee shop (or pub for that matter) without buying... That only works when I'm with my bigger groups of friends.