When penny pinching gets extreme

Saving money is a great idea, especially at this end of the year when there's so long to wait between paydays. However, there's a fine line between sensible money-saving, and crazy penny pinching, and there are plenty of people who have overstepped that line - dramatically.

We have tracked down 15 bizarre habits of extreme cheapskates.

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1. One reddit thread asked people to share tales of cheapskates they know. The stories included the tale of the couple who eat out once a week at a restaurant that offers baskets of free bread rolls to have with dinner. They take enough rolls home with them each time to freeze and have for lunch every day.

2. Another user doesn't just take tiny toiletries when he stays in a hotel - but all the toilet roll too.

3. One user said his parents were in the airline industry, so spent a lot of time in hotels. He wrote: "My "goodie bags" at every party were whatever free stuff they'd nicked from the hotel they stayed at over the past year. Because 8-year-olds love shower caps, shampoo and mini soap."

4. One wrote that his father keeps refilling soap dispensers with water until there's no soap left in them at all.

5. Another said his wife's aunt will rinse out cereal packets and use them as sandwich bags.

6. One said her office had a celebratory day where staff got free pizza. One of her colleagues had the day off - but came in anyway for the food.

7. One admitted to walking into hotels and taking apples from the complimentary basket for guests on the front desk.

8. Another admitted to visiting friends when it was cold and he didn't want to put the heating on.

9. In the US the TV series, Extreme Cheapskates, highlighted some incredible penny pinching, including the man who goes through cinema bins for empty popcorn and drinks containers, so he can take them inside for a refill.

10. Another takes her family scavenging for roadkill to cook up for dinner.

11. One couple shares everything - including a toothbrush and razor. When they die they even plan to share a coffin.

12. And another man visits the butcher and asks for the off-cuts - returning home with heads and bones to transform into dinner.

13. On Dr Phil a few years ago, they ran a segment on a man who wanted to be known as the 'world's cheapest man'. Perhaps his oddest tip was when he goes out, if he sees people have left food on their plate and haven't asked for a doggy bag, he asks if he can have their leftovers.

14. He also visits the bins behind the crematorium, to pick up discarded flowers for his wife.

15. He admitted he takes grapes off the stems and discards the stem before he goes through the till, so he's not charged for the waste.

But what do you think? Would you try any of these methods, and do you have any extreme penny pinching habits? Let us know in the comments.