I'm a professional cheapskate, I clean my house with rainwater and won't make tea or coffee at home

Daily Mail​

07-05-2025

A woman who describes herself as a 'professional cheapskate' her tips on how to keep cost the cost of living down.
Taking to her TikTok Diary Of A Cheapskate, the woman, who lives in a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Yorkshire, with her husband and two children, showcases her money saving hacks.
The 32-year-old, who describes herself as a 'big fan of cheap hacks, reusing, living frugally', claims to be mortgage free thanks to her frugal life.
She revealed how she stocks up on free food, only drinks tea and coffee in work and collects rainwater to flush her toilet and clean.
Sharing five tips to save money with her followers, she revealed the 'little frugal things I do daily', saying she replies on the Olio app for free food.
In a clip, which racked up more than 440,000 views, she explained that she uses the app which facilitates the sharing of surplus food and other household items among neighbours.
She said: 'Here are five things I did today as a cheapskate to either save me money of stop me spending money.
'I started the day by going to pick up a bag from the Olio volunteer that lives near me, I said it before but Olio is free to use, anyone can use it, you don't need to be means tested.
'It's for anyone to pick up free food if you have a volunteer near you. This is the selection I got today just a little bit of bread, some fruit, broccoli and some mini wraps.'
Elsewhere the frugal women said she also made some money by selling items on Vinted, however she made sure to not waste any money on packaging.
She said: 'I'm not going to be one of those influencers who tells you to buy one of those pretty pink envelopes to put your parcels in.
'Use whatever you have laying around, if you have holey plastic bags or cardboard boxes use them.'
The TikToker also revealed how she has bought period pants, so she doesn't have to pay for sanitary products every month either.
She explained: 'It's one of those sustainable swaps I'd been putting off because it costs money to buy them in the first place.
'But these were from Next and I had a gift voucher so technically they were free. I'm not completely sold on them, I don't wear them all the time, if I'm at work I don't bother, I just need to get more of a gage on how long they last without any leaks.'
Another cost-saving method she shared was when her toilet is broken and won't flush she uses a bucket of rainwater to get it going again.
She said: 'Our upstairs toilet has decided not to flush again because it broke, we do have a downstairs toilet so it's not too much of an issue but for now we are using this bucket of water to flush it.
'Of course, the cheapskate in me loves this because we're not using paid-for water to flush the toilet, we're using rainwater.
'I'm not calling a plumber out to fix it we will have a go at fixing it ourselves. It seems simple enough to do.'
Then she explained how she won't ever buy tea or coffee at home and waits until she is at work to have one, as the company pays for it.
'Now that I'm at work, I'm taking full advantage of the free coffee. I've said before I don't drink tea or coffee or anything other than water when I'm at home, but when I'm at work and it's free, I might as well.
'I'm the one who buys the tea and coffee for work so I may as well buy the ones that I like and I always use my Co Op card as well so even though I'm using work works card to buy it I get the points.'
In another video she revealed that she collects rainwater in her garden which she uses to clean and water the plants.
She said: 'I use this water butt outside to collect rainwater, I use it to water any plants or flowers I have in the garden, I also use the water to clean anything I need to clean outside.
'I never realised some parts of the world don't need to pay a water bill but here in England we do, so this is free water.
'I'm using it today to clean the trampoline , it's gone a bit green from just not being used in winter, so I just used some water and this scrubbing brush.
'I didn't use any cleaning products and it still came up clean.'
Many rushed to the comments with their own thoughts on the TikTokers frugal lifestyle.
One person wrote: 'Why won't you drink tea or coffee at home? We're allowed a little treat you know.'
To which she replied: 'Water is free(ish)! I don't like drinking money or calories.'
Another said: 'Free food should be for people who are struggling.' To which another replied: 'It's a food waste app. Not a food bank hun.'
Someone else quipped: 'May this lifestyle never find me.'
Meanwhile other were impressed with her level of frugalness, with some saying they have taken some tips from her.
One person wrote: 'I'm the complete opposite to you - I love spending money and luxury however, I can never skip your videos.
'You fascinate me. Thank you for introducing me to olio! I've decluttered so much by just listing stuff on the app and people come pick it up! Keep doing you and posting. Your content is very interesting.'
Another said: 'I love your content and completely get it. You have your priorities and work with that. I think it's just too odd of an idea for most people to grasp.'