The Miser

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 586.

MALCOLM STACEY, 38, is a part-time BBC journalist and author of two books about money. He earns £50,000 per annum. He lives in York with his wife Jo, 32. They have two young children.

'I never buy luxuries and I never buy a round of drinks. When colleagues go out to the pub, I'll stay in the office and say I'm expecting a phone call. I'll never invite people to dinner, but I never feel guilty about accepting their invitations. I know they invite me to have someone interesting to talk to. The meanest thing I've ever done was to go to a wedding without a present. I just took some wrapping paper and a tag saying 'Love from Malcolm' and put it onto the table with the other presents. I got a thank-you letter from the bride. She obviously thought she'd mislaid the present.

People don't believe I can be so stingy. I'll organize an office collection for earthquake victims but I won't give anything myself. I've put a wishing well in the front garden. I would never ask passers-by to throw money in, but I collect it when they do. I hardly ever use my car; we grow our own vegetables and werecycle everything. We never buy new clothes, we get them second-hand from charity shops for about £2 a garment. We can live on £5 a week.

I've always been mean. When I was a child I would never buy flowers for Mum, but I'd give her a bouquet from her own garden. My wife getsembarrassed by my meanness, but we never row about money. People think I've got a fortune stashed away somewhere. I don't care what they think.'

Ex. 3f) Figure out the words by their definitions:

· to use something again, often for a different purpose

· a piece of clothing

· a lot of money

· ashamed of something and worried about what other people will think of you

· a well into which one drops a coin and makes a wish

· unwilling to spend, give, or use a lot of money

· something expensive which is pleasant to have but is not really necessary

· the quality of being unwilling to give or share things, especially money