As Australia's cost-of-living crisis continues to squeeze households, many people are becoming more open about cutting corners, hunting for bargains, and trying to stretch their money further. But according to a growing online discussion, some of the stingiest behaviour Australians have ever witnessed has not come from struggling households at all — it has come from rich people.
Reddit Exposes Wealthy Frugality
A Reddit thread asking users to share the most outrageously frugal things wealthy people had done was quickly filled with stories ranging from mildly eccentric to genuinely unbelievable — exposing the strange relationship many affluent Australians have with money.
Dog Poo Bags for Sandwiches
One of the most jaw-dropping stories involved a rich man living on the Gold Coast. 'A friend's dad goes to the dog park opposite his penthouse to collect the dog poo bags,' one person wrote. 'He takes them home and uses them for sandwiches. He doesn't have a dog and thought he should get free bags too. He's a multimillionaire to boot, stingiest s**t I've ever seen.'
Shared Teabags and One-Slice Sandwiches
Another Australian said their wealthy aunt and her partner had elevated stinginess into something almost philosophical. 'My rich aunt and her partner share a teabag,' she wrote. 'If you're unfortunate enough to be invited to lunch your sandwich will only have one slice of bread.' Despite their extreme frugality in daily life, the couple reportedly spend much of the year travelling on luxury cruises, including annual trips aboard the famous Queen Elizabeth 2.
But even their luxury travel came with bizarre money-saving strategies. 'One time their cruise boardings didn't align by a day, so they spent the entire 24 hours in a McDonald's in Singapore so they didn't have to get a hotel room. People like this love being stingy. They really enjoy it.'
Op Shop Underwear, First Class Flights
Others said wealthy people often become strangely obsessive about saving money in highly specific areas while spending extravagantly elsewhere. One Australian described a relative who regularly buys heavily discounted underwear from op shops despite flying first class overseas every year. 'I have a relative who buys boxers from the op shop — not used, the corporate donation ones — but flies first class overseas at least once a year,' he wrote, adding: 'Rich people are stingiest in the weirdest ways.'
Reusing Envelopes
Another story involved the owner of a multimillion-dollar company who became fixated on reusing envelopes. The commenter explained they used to hand-deliver invoices to business clients while starting out in business nearly 30 years ago. One day, the office manager of a wealthy company made an unusual request. 'They asked me if I could please stop writing their name on the envelopes because the owner wanted them reused because there was no postmark on them.' Eventually, the invoices were reportedly addressed in pencil so the company could erase the names afterwards and recycle the envelopes indefinitely.
Pocketing Tips and Stealing Office Milk
Some stories centred less on saving money itself and more on the strange psychology surrounding wealth accumulation. One woman recalled her notoriously stingy aunt quietly pocketing tip money from a family dinner. 'A few of us had kicked in tips. My aunt counted up the bill and slid the tips into her purse while we watched.' Another person claimed a politician would allegedly take the office milk home every Friday afternoon. 'Mate you're the highest paid employee in the office,' they said.
Deeper Attitudes Towards Wealth
While many of the stories were shared jokingly, the conversation tapped into something deeper about Australians' complicated attitudes towards wealth. In Australia, there is often cultural suspicion around overt displays of money, but there is also deep resentment toward wealthy people perceived as unnecessarily miserly — particularly during periods of financial hardship. At a time when groceries, rent, mortgages, and utilities are placing enormous pressure on ordinary households, stories of multimillionaires hoarding free dog-poo bags or recycling envelopes can feel both absurd and strangely symbolic.
Psychologists have long noted that extreme frugality is not always about financial necessity. For some wealthy people, saving money becomes tied to identity, control, or even the competitive satisfaction of 'winning' against unnecessary spending. Others simply never lose habits formed before they became wealthy. But many Australians in the discussion argued that there is a fine line between being financially careful and becoming consumed by stinginess itself. And according to most, some rich people crossed that line a very long time ago.
