Will Ieuan win Channel 4's hunt for Britain's tightest person? (From Western Telegraph)

Will Ieuan win Channel 4's hunt for Britain's tightest person?

11:10am Friday 9th January 2009 in

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Saving money is high on the agenda as the credit crunch bites, but a Crymych builder taking penny-pinching to the extreme is set to take the title of Britain’s biggest skinflint.

Ieuan Butler has been voted into the final of Channel 4’s The Hunt for Britain’s Tightest Person — a search for the country’s most dedicated scrooges who devote their lives to saving money in extraordinary ways. Ieuan is so stingy that his girlfriend Ruth won’t live with him, despite the couple having a daughter together.

He said: “We are deeply in love, but she likes the good things in life and I just like things to be practical.”

The cost of driving to visit her in Fishguard means they only see each other a couple of times a week, and Ieuan says a compromise needs to be reached so his girlfriend of five years can move in with him.

Dad-of-five Ieuan, who also has two stepchildren, was voted onto the show by his 19-year-old son Daniel, and the 42-year-old is the youngest person to feature in the programme.

His work boots, which started out as ‘smart boots’, have lasted long past their natural life, as he wraps them in gaffer tape each time his toes threaten to come through.

Ieuan told the Western Telegraph: “After the filming I thought to myself, I am slightly different to most people, but I won’t change much, that’s just how I am. I’ve been like this for 20 years.”

He added: “A lot of it is just common sense, people waste a lot of resources. I’m not a scrooge, I’m just very careful.”

The programme airs on Channel 4 at 7.35pm and will be shown on S4C in the next couple of weeks.

Share your best money saving tips by adding them below.

Comments(2)

Andrew Lye says...
12:55pm Sun 11 Jan 09

Well done Ieuan, even though you possibly take it too far.
My tips:-
1. Check your bank statement to see what d/d's you have going out each month as you may be paying for things you dont need/use.
2. Join Pembrokeshire Freecycle and you can offload items you dont need any more and someone else can use them and they collect them. Saves your time and fuel, taking them to the tip/recycling centre. You can also get things for free, that other people want to give away, eg an old TV. You can also ask for things you want - FREE, again!
3. Paying too much for your gas/electricity? Look at web-sites to see if you can save money by changing supplier. Its the same gas and electricity!
4. Go to charity shops, car boot sales etc... You can get good labels and once washed, look as good as new. You are also giving to charity, rather than big business.
5. Use price comparison web-sites for larger purchases.
6. Shop on-line, whether its eBay or company web-sites. You save time, money and hours wasted, walking rounds boring shops and if its delivered to the door, you save your fuel and car parking costs.
7. Try Aldi and Lidl to buy some of your food and household items, before buying the rest at your normal supermarket. Supermarkets are often expensive.
8. Take advantage of BOGOF's, if you can store the 2nd item for future use.
9. Shop around the supermarkets to take advantage of their offers and see how prices vary considerable for many of the day to day items. Buy items they sell of cheap as the sell by date has been reached. Reduced items will still last for a few days. Get to know when supermarkets reduce bread, meat, fresh foods ...
10. Pay for your gas and electric by D/D as utility companies give a discount to pay by that method. You also spread the cost evenly. Ensure they dont charge you too much!!!
11. Just because you want an item, think where you can buy it for the best price, or any alternative, or even ask yourself if you really need it!
12. Take a UK holiday. No hold ups at airports. Car storage fees. No language barriers or money exchange charges (especially this year as the Pound is doing badly against the Euro). Keep the jobs WITHIN the UK and supports the UK economy and you can go home if your get bored!
13. Sign up to exchange your home for another in the UK, for a holiday. Being in Pembrokeshire, we are a holiday resort, to start with! You then have a holiday in a house in the UK at no charge, apart from travelling costs .... Your house is also less liable to being burgled, if occupied.
14. Just think. The list is endless....

Well done Ieuan, even though you possibly take it too far. My tips:- 1. Check your bank statement to see what d/d's you have going out each month as you may be paying for things you dont need/use. 2. Join Pembrokeshire Freecycle and you can offload items you dont need any more and someone else can use them and they collect them. Saves your time and fuel, taking them to the tip/recycling centre. You can also get things for free, that other people want to give away, eg an old TV. You can also ask for things you want - FREE, again! 3. Paying too much for your gas/electricity? Look at web-sites to see if you can save money by changing supplier. Its the same gas and electricity! 4. Go to charity shops, car boot sales etc... You can get good labels and once washed, look as good as new. You are also giving to charity, rather than big business. 5. Use price comparison web-sites for larger purchases. 6. Shop on-line, whether its eBay or company web-sites. You save time, money and hours wasted, walking rounds boring shops and if its delivered to the door, you save your fuel and car parking costs. 7. Try Aldi and Lidl to buy some of your food and household items, before buying the rest at your normal supermarket. Supermarkets are often expensive. 8. Take advantage of BOGOF's, if you can store the 2nd item for future use. 9. Shop around the supermarkets to take advantage of their offers and see how prices vary considerable for many of the day to day items. Buy items they sell of cheap as the sell by date has been reached. Reduced items will still last for a few days. Get to know when supermarkets reduce bread, meat, fresh foods ... 10. Pay for your gas and electric by D/D as utility companies give a discount to pay by that method. You also spread the cost evenly. Ensure they dont charge you too much!!! 11. Just because you want an item, think where you can buy it for the best price, or any alternative, or even ask yourself if you really need it! 12. Take a UK holiday. No hold ups at airports. Car storage fees. No language barriers or money exchange charges (especially this year as the Pound is doing badly against the Euro). Keep the jobs WITHIN the UK and supports the UK economy and you can go home if your get bored! 13. Sign up to exchange your home for another in the UK, for a holiday. Being in Pembrokeshire, we are a holiday resort, to start with! You then have a holiday in a house in the UK at no charge, apart from travelling costs .... Your house is also less liable to being burgled, if occupied. 14. Just think. The list is endless.... Andrew Lye

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Andrew Lye says...
1:02pm Sun 11 Jan 09

15. Smoking 20 cigarettes a day at £5 a pack, equates to £1825.
I wonder if that will make one or two smokers try to quit?
Just imagine if they smoked 40 a day and cut it to 20 or stopped altogether ...

Will Ieuan win Channel 4's hunt for Britain's tightest person? (From Western Telegraph)

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