I’m such a cheapskate I removed my teeth at home rather than go to the dentist, I even get my husband to remove my moles

IF KAREN Hearn can avoid spending money she will, whether it’s eating out of date food or getting her husband, Grant, 64, who’s an electrician to perform medical procedures on her.

She even got him to extract her tooth in 2014 when it needed removing, rather than pay the dentist to do it.

Karen Hearn is a proud cheapskate who has never spent more than £62 in one transactionCredit: Supplied-Karen Hearn

She refused to pay to have a tooth extracted, instead persuading her husband Grant to do perform the procedure at homeCredit: TLC

The pair picked up the tools for the job at the local carboot saleCredit: TLC

And Karen who has never spent more than £62 in one transaction, has no intention of changing her extremely frugal ways, no matter how rich she might get.

Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, Karen, 59, says: “It’s an honour to be known as a cheapskate.

“I wouldn’t start splashing out even if I was a millionaire.

“The idea of spending money makes me cringe. My husband tells me I’ve gone too far sometimes and my son Cameron, who’s 30, says I’m obsessed but he’s thrifty too.

Growing up cheap

Karen’s money saving ways have been with her for as long as she can remember.

She explains, “My grandmother had 17 children and lived through rationing.

“She was extremely poor so she taught me her thrifty ways, such as bartering.”

From the moment Karen left home she started putting her grandmother’s ways to good use.

And now she lives mortgage free with her husband, Grant in a three-bedroom house in Chatham, Virginia – where they only heat the room that they’re in and she was only ever in debt to establish her credit rating.

Karen can sadly no longer work due to health problems but when she was well enough she even turned her money saving ways into a job, giving advice on how to budget successfully.

She says, “It was an absolute joy to help – though they aren’t as extreme as me!”

Tightening the purse strings

Karen is certainly extreme.

She admits, “The most I’ve ever spent on one item is £62 ($79) and that was for an office chair for my husband.

“My clothes are all from charity shops and the most expensive thing I’ve got is a £2.30 ($3) pair of trousers.”

She will spend hours scouring the internet for bargains and visits car boot sales on a regular basis.

She explains, “I don’t know why anyone would pay hundreds on a designer purse when you can pick one up for £1.50 at a yard sale.

“Everyone can find the time to look for bargains, coupons and competitions.

“I memorise how much everything usually costs so I never overspend. And if something is particularly cheap then I stockpile it.

“When the pandemic came along I wasn’t caught short having to panic buy essentials at a premium price as I had an eight month supply of paper towels and two years’ worth of loo paper.

“You can always do that for non-perishable goods. I once had a year’s supply of food for our five cats for virtually nothing because I had so many coupons.

“I do the same with cleaning products and then sell them on to people who need them, cheaper than they’d find in the shops but for enough that I make a profit.

“But I give things away too – I like to help others in need.”

Karen is also happy to eat out of date food to keep costs down.

She says, “I used to get the stuff that stores were chucking out, but sadly that’s illegal now.

“I don’t inflict my ways on my husband and child. They eat food within the date because they prefer it, so we’ll often sit down to different meals.

“The most I’ve ever gone over was two years on a protein bar, it tasted the same and didn’t harm me.”

Extreme measures

Some of Karen’s biggest savings have come through her medical care. In 2014 she was suffering from an agonising toothache.

In her desperation to dodge hefty dentist bills she tried remedies such as clove oil. But when it didn’t work, after two weeks of excruciating pain, she went to the dentist only to be told she had an abscess and needed root canal treatment costing nearly £1500 ($1800) or an extraction costing £145 ($185).

Rather than just choosing the cheapest option she went one step further and googled how to take out your own tooth.

WARNING - DO NOT TRY AT HOME

There are lots of reasons you shouldn't perform medical procedures on yourself at home, but these are the key ones:

Bleeding Removing a tooth or cutting yourself when performing a procedure at home could lead to excessive bleeding that you won't be able to control. A professional would be able to stem the flow of blood in a safe and sanitary way.

Infection There's a reason hospitals are so clean: with medical procedures comes the risk of infection. Performing surgery on yourself, or injecting yourself, at home could put you at risk of blood or skin infections that are potentially fatal.

Dodgy Equipment No matter how good you think the scalpels, needles or pliers you've ordered online are, they won't be anywhere near as good as those used by professionals. What's more, you won't be able to chemically sterilise them the way medical professionals do, upping your risk of infection.

In the end she enlisted Grant’s help and with the aid of youtube videos and tools bought from a yard sale – so ancient they needed to remove the rust with cola and aluminium foil – he did it at home.

In total it cost them just under £8 ($10) and the excruciating scene was captured on TLC’s Extreme Cheapskates.

Karen admits it was painful but says, “Pain only lasts for a short time, saving money lasts much longer.”

And it’s not just dentistry equipment that she’s bought from yard sales but she suffers from sleep apnoea, and rather than fork out nearly £2000 ($2500) on a new CPAP machine to help her breathe, she picked one up at a car boot sale for £11 ($15).

She also gets her husband to freeze her own moles using home made dry ice from a fire extinguisher.

And uses natural remedies like pickles to treat a bite or sting – then carefully puts them back in the jar to reuse.

She says, “When we were growing up my parents couldn’t afford sun cream so I have troublesome moles, so my husband removes them – it saves money and is effective, though I’m sure the health professionals wouldn’t endorse it!”

Karen also uses a bartering system to get things for free – her old neighbour was a mechanic, so he’d service their cars, while her electrician husband helped him with rewiring.

She says, “You have to think about what you can offer and what you need and make arrangements, either with friends or on local Facebook groups.