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@savingforboba/TikTok

‘Did he save 2 pennies’: Man takes peel off banana to ‘save money’ in grocery store

'The plastic bag costs as much as the peel.'

 

Maya Wray

Trending

Posted on May 23, 2023

An Australian couple went viral on TikTok after posting a grocery store hack aimed at saving money.

“How my frugal boyfriend saves money on his bananas,” the video’s text overlay read.

In the video, users Mason and Mai (@savingforboba) film themselves removing peels from bananas in the grocery store. According to the checkout machine, one unpeeled banana cost them 51 cents. 

The clip has garnered over 70,800 views since it was first shared yesterday.

@savingforboba the secondhand embarrassment tho #lifehacks #savemoney #straya #australia ♬ original sound – Lips Unsealed

“The secondhand embarrassment tho,” Mason and Mai captioned their video.

The couple received criticism from viewers, who called the hack a “red flag” and encouraged Mai to break up with her boyfriend.

“That’s not frugal, that’s a penny pincher,” one commenter argued.

“Frugal honestly means you’re broke and rather do broke things than make more money,” another user said. 

“Instead of slightly lifting the bag so the banana doesn’t weigh that much he does this,” a third noted.

One user claimed that banana prices are determined by quantity instead of weight. “Goes to show you ‘frugal’ people are just dumb af,” they wrote.  

Others encouraged Mason, claiming that high grocery prices in Australia required people to spend frugally. “My mother snaps the stalks off the broccoli… she says, ‘I don’t eat that part so I’m not paying for it,’” one user shared.

“He’s right. You’re paying to eat the banana and not the peel,” another wrote.

The Daily Dot reached out to Mason and Mai via TikTok comment.

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*First Published: May 23, 2023, 2:49 pm CDT