Metals & Alloys

Well, I do have a friend at work that managed his budget so closely that he calculated out the cost for feeding his girl friends cat out and then adjusted its diet for minimum cost. He managed to get the cat down to 17 cents per day of dry cat food... I have another friend that when he takes his wife out to dinner, doesn't buy her a plate but makes her pick off of his plate...

I'm a very cheap engineer professionally,apart from saving costs for my organisation in technical concerns,I try to travel low-frill,stay in cheaper hotels,the lot.And I end up bugging a lot of my colleagues too with this jabber!

But I see in my industry that the scientist is so far away from "cost-concerns" that the next step in the process,i.e. us,the engineers have to reallyrun into the battlefront!So,I actually appreciate my "thrifty" status!

For the most part engineers are more cost conscious than "cheap". I minimize my purchases to what I need and what I use. I do not waste money but I also do not deny myself things I can enjoy. I think that the self discipline required to be an engineer supports this habit of conservation and frugality and it is a habit that others should imitate and not denigrate. I am extremely annoyed when I am told by my siblings that I'm lucky because I have a home where I live and a condo in Hawaii. While I was working on my home and living frugally, they were skiing and vacationing and spending every cent they made. Now they have nothing but credit card debt and I have what I have....... People.....it isn't luck! I respect hard work and frugality as long as my family is well cared for it is my perogative to be who and what I am...My wife agrees and she isn't an engineer.

I tend to focus on the actual goal of my job, and disregard the costs under $1MM. I have worked with many engineers that think a $300 savings is worth twenty hours of additional work. I am about progress. I get paid more than $300 in a day, so I try to recognize when I can make an impact and try to step out when I can't. I actually work inside the fenceline of the plant as well. All that really means is that I pay attention to process safety with personnal interest. When I come across a project manager that tries to drive down cost by cutting inherent safety features, typically metallurgy, I have a heart to heart with the operations superintendant or the technology department manager. Usually, we spend the money to do it right the first time. As an engineer, I would say I am far from thrifty. I take the same approach to my personnal finances, so I can't say that I differ on and off shift.

My wife wanted me to take her someplace expensive for her birthday. So, I took her to a gas station. She wants me to take her on a cruise. To make her happy, I told her we could go as soon as the check arrives from my friend in Nigeria.