Francisco is a Cheapskate

  "Please, help me! I'm going to lose my house!" The old lady screamed at the top of her lungs. Francisco listened to the elder woman. He blinked a few times before yawning and looking at the clock on the wall. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he groaned and looked at the papers on his desk.

  "Okay, Ms. Bloom. I would certainly suggest that you stop visiting the casino. That goes the same for the underground gambling areas," Francisco mentioned calmly.

  "But I need to go to the casino! I'm trying to make it big so I can commit to my dream and retire like one of those Hollywood millionaires!"

  "Well, how long have you been trying?"

  "I would say about 25 years," the old woman calmly stated.

  "Yeah, you need to retire in your home... before you lose it. Next!" Francisco yelled out loud, dismissing the startled old lady.

 "I'm having a hard time paying off my debt," a guy with glasses breathed out.

  "Well, I do see you do eat out a lot. I would suggest buying groceries, maybe at a warehouse club. I also found you're donating an awful lot of money. Is this some charity that you are supporting?" Francisco squinted his eyes at the computer screen.

  "Oh, we can't touch that. That's Amy's money," the client snapped his fingers.

  "Who's Amy?" Francisco's eyes shifted side to side.

  "She's like this really huge streamer. I can't believe you haven't heard of her."

  "Bro, you have student loans," Francisco stated bluntly. 

  "I need to support her career!"

  "...How many subscribers does she have?" Francisco sighed deeply; his eyes kept darting over to the clock on the wall.

  "She just hit 1,000,000!"

  "Oh, wow! Really!" Francisco's face glowed. He shifted back to normal, indicating that he was simply being sarcastic. "Have faith in the other 999,999 simps to support her. Next!" Francisco waved the simp away.

  "You got to help me! I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I feel like I'm living hand to mouth as it is," a woman with a fur coat expressed loudly.

  "Okay, give me one minute while I look for any discrepancies," Francisco muttered.

  "I do have a smoking habit. Maybe it's the cigarettes I keep buying!"

  "...I don't think that's the issue, but that will save you some money. Honestly, I'm seeing that you shop... a lot. What are these?" Francisco turned his computer screen to the overzealous woman.

  "Oh, those are boutique! I only buy name-brand products."

  "Okay, yeah, I would suggest shopping at thrift stores. Maybe sell some of the stuff you bought because you have at least 10,000 dollars spent on clothes in the last few months," Francisco sucked air through his teeth.

  "That's ridiculous," the young woman raised her voice. "It's obviously the cigarettes. It's a bad habit."

  Francisco stared blankly and changed his glance back to the clock. He confused the woman for a while because he started glancing at the wall and floor. "Yeah, it's definitely the cigarettes." The woman smiled briefly as Francisco agreed with her. "Honestly, it affected your decision-making skills exponentially. That much smoking did some severe brain damage."

 "You are so rude!" The woman left in an angry huff.

  Francisco Alvear is a financial advisor for a reputable bank. He excels in creating budget plans, managing funds, and evaluating financial situations. His clientele has shared improvements in their day-to-day spending as well as their crippling debts. Though they have also complained about his customer service...

  "Explain these charges. What is Horror Hero Hangout?" Francisco questioned, his eyes widened at the amount of charges.

  "Oh, it's this fun gacha game!" The young male pulled out his phone and began explaining the mobile app with bright eyes. "So you roll for these characters, and you want to try aiming for a rare hero. It combines both horror and waifus. It's currently trending!"

  Francisco nodded his head and listened to the client's ramblings. "Wow! It's almost like gambling. This is single-handedly the dumbest thing I have seen."

  "W-what!?"

  "Can you eat it? Do you need it? You're showing me pixels right now. Delete the app." Francisco turned to his computer and began typing.

  "B-but I don't ever spend that much-"

  "In the last 3 months, you have accumulated $2,500 towards this game. Keep in mind, the game has been out for 8 months but has seen a spike in popularity just recently." Francisco glanced over at the gacha client and shook his head. "You are just riding a trend. You need to stop before you end up spending another $2,500 on another app game because Tumblr told you."

  "Tumblr's not even around anymore! And this is just my entertainment expense! Like you don't have one of those!"

  "Nope. Delete the app. Our time is done."

  "You're a cheapskate."

  Francisco Alvear certainly was not exaggerating. He rarely spent any money on himself. The financial advisor knew exactly how to pinch a penny. His co-workers were worried about him for a moment. For three straight months, they noticed Francisco bringing only a cup of noodles for lunch. They reached out to help him as they figured he might've been struggling financially. As it turns out, he bought several boxes of ramen that were discounted at his local grocery store.

  Francisco bought 180 cups of ramen on sale for forty cents each (which were originally priced at ninety cents). He saved $90 by jumping on this sale. He ate noodles in a cup for lunch and dinner the following three months. By eliminating his regular grocery budget and eliminating any need to eat out, Francisco managed to save $888.

  The co-workers often speculated what Francisco did for fun. Inviting him outside of work is a challenge in itself.

  "Hey, Francisco! Want to go catch this movie?" One of his co-workers asked.

  "I'll wait until it's at the dollar movies," Francisco muttered back.

 "Hey, Franky! Pull out your phone, I got to show you this cool video," a co-worker yelled, his arm on Francisco's desk.

 "I can't play videos on my phone," Francisco groaned.

  "What do you mean?" Francisco pulled out his flip phone. "What the f-?!"

   

  "Francisco, we're thinking of going to the water park this weekend? Want to come?"

  "The beach is free, you know that, right?'

  The other employees twisted Francisco's arm and managed to make him accompany them a sit-down restaurant. "Francisco, you didn't like your food? You barely ate," a bubbly co-worker noticed.

   "I ate half. I'm going to eat the rest of it tomorrow. This was incredibly expensive," Francisco complained. The waitress came over to the table with a hearty smile.

  "Will all of this be on one check?" The waitress asked politely. This question caused Francisco to abrupt into a loud laugh. His sides hurt as he slammed the table. He sooner came to a stop as everyone at the table looked at him awkwardly.

  "Oh, it wasn't a joke?" As the check came, the coworkers started laying out their cards.

  "Franky's such a cheapskate, I bet he's not even going to leave a tip," a co-worker grinned.

  "I don't like leaving a tip," Francisco admitted.

  "Wait a minute. You still left a 35% tip!" One of the co-workers snatched his receipt.

  "I don't like leaving a tip. That doesn't mean I'm not leaving a tip," Francisco stated.

  "Yeah, right. I bet you just have a crush on the waitress. She's not going to fall for someone so cheap and broke, you know?" The bubbly co-worker interjected. Francisco sighed and nodded his head.

  Francisco certainly was mocked by his peers. He could overhear them making fun of him every time he picked up a penny off the ground or even ordered a glass of water at restaurants. He became familiar with the snickering every time he made a frugal choice. However, they respected his budget planning and his financial achievements with the banks' clients despite the complaints that followed. Even then, he initially hated his job.

   Francisco stared at the clock, his fingers twirling a pen anxiously. He did not find comfort how people spent their money so loosely, especially when they had responsibilities. The young man was great with math but he found his job incredibly boring at times too. He desperately stared at the clock every day while his clients rambled about their financial issues– even when the solution is simple. "Stop spending!" This mantra is what Francisco would shout in his head throughout his work shift.

  As it was close to five minutes until his shift ended, his co-worker visited his cubicle. "Hey, Frankie. How's it going? Any clients have poor decisions?" He said with a mocking grin. He only asked because he loved hearing how Francisco handled his clients.

  "There was a newlywed couple that needed help with financing their honeymoon. I told them they first needed to settle the student loans and credit card dept between them before they do anything. The bride was not happy when I suggested selling the wedding ring and getting a substantially cheaper one," Francisco muttered.

  "Wow, that is harsh! Well, serves them right! Relationships cost money, and that's why I'm single!"

  Francisco noticed the clock strike 5pm and began gathering his things. He sighed before looking at his co-worker. "You ordered take out twice this week while having ten ongoing Klarna payments, one of them being a Rolex that you haven't worn in a couple of months. I personally think you should get into a relationship because you probably won't be spending so much on yourself." As Francisco began leaving, he could hear his co-worker berate him.

  "I told you that in confidence, you cheapskate!"

                                                                                                                                 Francisco settled down in his studio apartment. He slouched down on his sofa while staring at the ceiling. Looking around at this apartment, visitors will assume Francisco is struggling. Most of his furniture still has the discounted stickers on them. The financial advisor did his best to find most of his home items at thrift stores, off-price retailers, or even garage sales. Of course, he would spend hours cleaning the furniture before using it. Francisco had a big box TV from the early 2000s that still worked fine. Of course, his co-workers teased him when they forced him to host a pay-per-view.

  He glanced down at his discounted coffee table and stared into his spaghetti dinner. Spaghetti is a cost-savvy meal that he could always count on. By visiting his local dollar store, he would get a can of sauce and a bag of noodles for less than $4! Tonight, he did not feel like eating this victorious meal. For motivation, he pulled out his flip-phone and messaged his bank for his account balance.

   Francisco immediately got a response. His face was hit by the subtle blue light. The message read: 'Hello, Francisco Alvear! Your account balance is: $102.09. Your savings balance is: $199,505.07. Anything else?' He sighed before putting his phone down. Francisco slapped his cheeks before picking up the plate of spaghetti and chowing down. "Just need to save a little more," he grumbled.

  As he finished his mouthful, he heard a knock at the door. It was pretty late so he wasn't expecting company. His apartment didn't really motivate guests to visit again. Getting up, he answered the door and saw a sad man in a hoodie.

 "Hey there, Franky. I need to borrow some money."