Time columnist Joel Stein asked The Cheapskate Blog for tips on living cheaply for a week—and then fell victim to a classic blunder, right up there with being suckered into buying stuff online because of a free shipping promotion and getting involved in a land war in Asia.
(Any Princess Bride fans out there?)
While chatting with Stein, I mentioned that Ikea was giving out free breakfasts. Then, as Stein writes:
Of course, an Ikea breakfast normally costs 99¢. And after eating our $1.98 in savings, we bought $102.98 worth of Ikea products. I do not remember what a Trojka is, but I am relatively certain we did not need it. I was starting to think Tuttle’s cheapskate philosophy is to trick other people into having breakfast at Ikea so he can borrow their Trojkas for free.
Borrow? I want my own Trojka for keeps. I think I earned it—and don’t try to pawn off responsibility for buying all that other Ikea stuff on me. I didn’t hold a gun to your head while stuffing a Trojka in your shopping bag.
A Trojka (Trojkas?), if you’re interested, is a pair of scissors. Ikea sells them in sets of three for $1.99—so when factoring in Stein’s free $1.98 breakfast, each pair of scissors cost him one-third of a penny. (That’s about what it costs your cell phone provider to send a text-message, by the way.)
You’re welcome.