Vermont Man: Cheap and Proud of It

Roy Haynes said his wedding to wife Lisa cost $70. They ate McDonald's on the way home and neighbors threw rice -- which Haynes scooped up and cooked for dinner.

(Courtesy Roy and Lisa Haynes)

From Frugality Comes Profits

The couple is welcome at the Bridge Street Café in Richmond. Owner Marvin Carpenter finds Haynes' unique ways may be a sign of things to come.

"It's going to be a long winter," he said. "The economy is going to be so much tougher. … There may be a line fighting for the table scraps."

For Haynes, saving money and economizing is half the fun. Figuring out clever ways to earn money is the flip side of his coin. From bartering with neighbors and stores for goods to turning donated clothing into cash by reselling them, he is constantly stretching every dollar he earns.

Never one to waste, he rips two-ply toilet paper in half in order to get more use. And he not only reuses his paper towels more than once, he also washes them clean after use and hangs them on the clothing line to dry.

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He's also not shy about digging through other people's garbage. The self-proclaimed professional Dumpster diver said he's literally turned trash into treasure.

"There's those scratch-off lottery tickets that people, if they lose, toss them right in the trash. That's the wrong thing to do because they have a second-chance drawing," Haynes said. "We won that great trip to Maui, Hawaii, all expenses paid, just by investing a few postage stamps with someone else's discarded tickets."

Haynes' passion for "waste not want not" extends to animals that have been cast out, and more frequently, abandoned because of a dire economic situation.

Roy and Lisa Haynes share their passion for pets. They run a charitable organization called Save Our Strays.

"The bad economy doesn't really affect me at all because I've been living as if there was a depression or recession on anyway," Haynes said. "I am a firm believer in getting something for nothing. If it's free, it is for me."