Is this opportunistic...or just plain tacky?

Thank you all for reaffirming my belief in humanity. This guy prides himself on

paying the least amount for the best/most of...whatever. He seems to have a very high IQ. Here are some of the ways he's saved money (I am impressed with these, by the way).

1. He took a $200 one-day 8-hour course handling hazardous chemicals and got himeself certified to purchase strong lawn chemicals that normal schmoes aren't permitted to buy. Now he treats his own lawn for pest (such as termites) and weeds and avoids maintaining yearly termite inspections and monthly lawn treatments.
His savings: over $1000 a year.
2. He bought a Prius when they first came out and found a kit online to convert the car to 100% electricity. Then he installed a solar panel (receiving government rebates and tax incentives) on his house and recharges the car from that. His gas bill for the Prius was $4.
3. He had a large house built while the market was climbing and made himself the general contractor. He ordered the best of everything and when it was all done, he and his wife lived out of boxes in a single room in the house, including wearing socks to avoid scratching the wood floors and eating McDonalds to avoid using the kitchen. They lived this way for over a year until the house sold for $1.5M.
His profit: $500,000

The guy is 32 and could retire tomorrow.

 
Yep...we lost a multi-multi-million $$ satellite because a field tech switched

out four screws for ones that were 1/2" longer.

Those longer screws ended up touching metal and shorting out a circuit board, which ended up shutting down a major component controlling the x:y:z positioning of a GEO satellite, which ultimately ended up being unable to move into its permanent slot.

And they just don't make extension ladders that reach 22,236 miles.

 
Marilyn, this says a lot about why he is doing this...

he sees this as perfectly legitimate since the bakeries are pricing and selling these cakes to him. Pointing out, as you did, that they do this at a loss to provide a service, was the best thing you could have done. I'm sure, the bakeries know that people do this every so often and build that into their cost of doing business. I have heard of people doing this before as well, especially when the samples used to be free--and that is the reason they aren't now.

 
Maybe he has a mental illness.

I wonder what would happen if you showed him this thread. The comments are 100% disgusted with his behavior. Would he even entertain the idea that he could be doing something wrong?

 
Hahahaha! But I have to wonder how his wife felt about living in one room of a beautiful home

she was not allowed to enjoy, and getting pre-frozen sample cake for Valentine's Day. (What does he do for flowers? I'm afraid to ask.)

Whatever environmental satisfaction he may derive from the 100% electric Prius is totally negated by those lawn chemicals leaching carbon into the atmosphere--but then for him the Prius was probably only about the financial savings.

He sounds a bit OCD to me--no one I'd want to go on vacation with!

 
So take him to a headshrinker!

We're disturbed, we're disturbed,
We're the most disturbed,
Like we're psychologic'ly disturbed.

 
Amen! The one word "pride" says it all. He will be surprised to learn he can't take it with him

 
Sounds like it's just a big (sick) game with him. Glad to know...my niece makes cakes in the Orlando

area as a side business. I'll tell her about this guy and maybe she can pass the info along to any other caterers that she knows.

 
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