History Main / AllJewsAreCheapskates

Simply put, the stereotype that Jewish people are thrifty with their cash and liable to [[JewishComplaining complain]] about having to spend it. Being smart with money actually is part of Jewish culture, for various reasons, but this trope is about exaggerating that aspect to comic levels. Jews aren't just good with money, but really cheap. They won't spend money if they don't have to, even if it's a necessity. They would haggle with anyone over anything (especially since JewsLoveToArgue). This kind of joke comes [[SelfDeprecation especially from Jews themselves]] ([[NWordPrivileges so doesn't always carry the]] UnfortunateImplications of [[GreedyJew similar tropes]]).

* The ''Literature/LeftBehind'' series [[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2010/12/15/tf-fly-like-a-g6/ uses this trope]], falling firmly on the UnfortunateImplications end of the scale.

* Music/{{Macklemore}} caught some criticism for performing in a costume that a lot of people saw as an anti-Semitic stereotype (it included, among other things, a hook nose taken from a witch mask). He claimed the UnfortunateImplications were a coincidence, but it didn't help his case that the song he was performing was "Thrift Shop", a song about picking up goods on the cheap.

That day, Rabbi Finklestein comes in to get his payoss [sideburns] trimmed. "What do you want I should pay you?" "Nothing, for a man of God such as yourself." And the next morning, what do you know? The barber finds on his doorstep –- a dozen rabbis.

Parsimony is also seen as a peculiarly Prussian trait. It's also broadly associated with Germanic people as a whole, especially Switzerland and Germany. Switzerland is well-known for its banking system, and the European Central Bank is located in Frankfurt, Germany, which is itself a major financial hub (Germans also tend to support austerity measures toward other EU countries). In Northern Europe, the Dutch and the Finns tend to have a reputation of frugality.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'', Creator/ArtSpiegelman's dad is...well...a walking racial stereotype, going to comical lengths to avoid spending money (including taking back half-eaten boxes of cereal to a supermarket and harassing the manager until ''he actually gets a refund for the uneaten portions''.) This brought some heat that the book was promoting racism, except Art [[RealityIsUnrealistic was simply chronicling things his father did while he wrote the comic]]. The first pages of the second book [[LampshadeHanging shows]] [[StopBeingStereotypical Art's fear of portraying his father's behavior]], and he frequently brings up his discomfort with the idea that he is perpetuating the GreedyJew stereotype in his attempts to give his father an honest portrayal. Vladek defends himself by saying he's obsessive over money because careful manipulation of ''very'' scarce resources is what saved his life many times. Vladek's wife Mala, on the other hand, comments that they both have Holocaust survivors in their families, and Vladek is the only one they know who behaves this way.

* Surprisingly averted in ''Literature/{{Ulysses}}'' despite being written a hundred years ago. Other characters assume that Leopold Bloom is this when he doesn’t pay for drinks, but he’s shown to in reality be generous.

[[caption-width-right:350: תמונת עמוד? מה אתה משוגע? יש לך מושג כמה עולה רוחב פס?[[note]]Page picture? What are you, crazy? Do you have ''any'' idea how much bandwidth costs?[[/note]]]]

** Kyle himself gets this in "Fun With Weapons;" he thinks he should dump his weapons so he can deny he ever had them, but Cartman smirks and tells him he would never allow himself to throw away something he spent money on. [[JerkassHasAPoint He's right]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Page picture? What are you, crazy? Do you have ''any'' idea how much bandwidth costs?]]

* Sam the shopkeeper is very ill, and might be dying. His family sit around his bedside, hoping against hope that he'll get better. Sam opens his eyes after a scary moment ere the family think he might have slipped into a coma. He says "Ruth, is that you?" and Ruth, Sam's wife, says "Yes, it is me, Sam". "Good, good. And is that you, Naomi?" "Yes, it is me, father" "Great, great. And do I see my son, Ben?" "You do, father". Sam then slowly and laboriously lifts himself onto his elbow and says wryly "Well, if my wife is here, and my daughter is here, and my son is here, could you please tell me who the heck is looking after the shop?" Collapse of said family!

* Brazilian comedy show ''Escolinha do Professor Raimundo'' had Samuel Blaustein, highlighted by his {{Catch Phrase}}s "Up for any business!" and, after his answer to the teacher's question (usually highlighting his penny-pinching ways) was wrong, "well, better a zero in my grades than a loss in my account!"

** In "Road to Germany", Mort gets sent back into the past and mistakes the presence of his relatives as that he's in heaven, going out of his way to add titles of cheapness to their names, such as frugal, thrifty, and "didn't like to spend a lot of money on anything."

In France, the Normans have this reputation; in Germany it's Swabians, Westphalians and (among Westphalians) people from Lippe; in Spain, the Catalans; in Sweden, Smålanders; in Denmark, the Jutes.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'', Creator/ArtSpiegelman's dad is... well... a walking racial stereotype, going to comical lengths to avoid spending money (including taking back half eaten boxes of cereal to a supermarket and harassing the manager until ''he actually gets a refund for the uneaten portions''.) This brought some heat that the book was promoting racism, except Art [[RealityIsUnrealistic was simply chronicling things his father did while he wrote the comic]]. The first pages of the second book [[LampshadeHanging shows]] [[StopBeingStereotypical Art's fear of portraying his father's behavior]], and he frequently brings up his discomfort with the idea that he is perpetuating the GreedyJew stereotype in his attempts to give his father a honest portrayal. Vladek defends himself by saying he's obsessive over money because careful manipulation of ''very'' scarce resources is what saved his life many times. Vladek's wife, Mala, on the other hand, comments that they both have Holocaust survivors in their families, and Vladek is the only one they know who behaves this way.

* In ''Film/{{Humoresque}}'', Leon's Jewish father doesn't want to fork over $4 to buy Leon a violin at a thrift store. It's $4 in early 20th century money, but still. A bit of humor follows as Leon's father tries to convince him that a kazoo and a music box are just as good.

'''Angel:''' Why, cost? The Ten commandments don't cost anything!\\

* An older example is the Jewish Doctor in ''Literature/ArabianNights'' sub-story "The Hunchback's Tale" who thinks about money when he hears a patient comes to visit, but is portrayed as a sympathetic character and a competent doctor.

* ''Series/TheDailyShow'': Jon Stewart makes jokes about this, like with comparing Yom Kippur to Lent: "Forty days, to one day. Even in sin, you're paying retail!"
* Jerry's family in ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''. His father takes particular pride in finding merchandise that is so cheap that it might be stolen. However, he also InsistsOnPaying for everything when Jerry is around (because he and and his wife refuse to believe Jerry isn't broke). Jerry himself is actually a subversion; he's immensely generous with his money and often givens thoughtful and expensive gifts. It's one of the character's few redeeming traits.

* In ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'', Larry David, despite being a half-billionaire, is portrayed as being even worse than George Costanza, his ''Seinfeld'' alter-ego, when it comes to money. Larry is rather often characterized as a "cheap Jew" in his endless quibbling and penny pinching over tips, bills, and other minor sums that he shouldn't really care about in his financial position. In contrast, on the show, the ''actual'' Jason Alexander (who is also Jewish) is shown tipping both generously and anonymously, much to Larry's annoyance. He usually "justifies" it by [[SeinfeldianConversation going on tangents]] about various social conventions, riffs on which ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' and ''Seinfeld'' run on.

-->'''Alan:''' ...Did you hear about the Jewish hotel keeper? He kept a fork in the sugar bowl.
* ''Series/TheTwoRonnies'' snuck in a joke about Disraeli combining the stereotype with real 19th century politics.

* In ''Series/TheSopranos'' episode "[[Recap/TheSopranosS6E16ChasingIt Chasing It]]", where Tony's debts with his Jewish friend and loan shark Hesh grows out of control, he complains about him fitting this trope to his shrink. She responds by saying that it's an ugly stereotype. In "[[Recap/TheSopranosS1E6PaxSoprana Pax Soprana]]", Hesh ''does'' almost spoil Tony's and Johnny Sack's plan to bail Hesh himself out of some hock with Junior, who has instituted a retroactive tax on Hesh's businesses upon becoming boss. Junior listens and "magnanimously" lowers the rate, and the back taxes owed to "three hundred". Before anyone else can react, Hesh says, "Two-fifty!" There's a moment of brittle silence, and then Junior smiles. "What did I tell you? Hang on to your cock when you negotiate with these desert people!"

I got the wamp wamp when I move it its still damp\\
Mildew-ish when I heat it, it turn bluish\\
It cools to a tight wad, the Pyrex is Jewish''

* Creator/SpikeMilligan wasn't slow to write this trope into ''Radio/TheGoonShow'' as a recurring gag. He invariably referred to the sound-effect of a cash register in operation as ''playing the Jewish piano'', for instance.

* The Merchant class in ''VideoGame/PokemonClover''. Aside from being designed after the stereotypical GreedyJew and having Jewish names, they are the only trainers that won't give you ''any'' money when you defeat them. This is most obvious when you rescue them from [[ThoseWackyNazis Polk]], when they still refuse to give you anything despite the fact that you saved their lives.

** In "Road to Germany" Mort gets sent back into the past and mistakes the presence of his relatives as that he's in heaven, going out of his way to add titles of cheapness to their names, such as frugal, thrifty and "didn't like to spend a lot of money on anything."

* Ends up in ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' of all places. At Frieda's Chanukah party, the lights go out (due to super villain hyjinks) and one of the guests, who is presumably also Jewish, jibes Frieda's dad that he was probably too cheap to pay the electric bill.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Deconstructed and partially justified in the case of Grunkle Stan. When first introduced, Stan appears to be a greedy miser who uses his own family to make an extra buck. By the time the Author is introduced, we learn that he's so preoccupied with money because he was homeless for much of his life and had to turn to crime to survive, and now that he owns the Mystery Shack, he has to pay the mortgage on it to [[spoiler:have a chance of seeing his brother again]]. Notably, we don't get any hints that he's Jewish until "A Tale of Two Stans", when a mezuzah is seen on his childhood home. By this point he's become a sympathetic character. Contrast his actions in the finale with the archetypal GreedyJew, [[Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice Shylock]], who cares more for money than his own daughter. [[spoiler:Stan responds to Bill's offer of money and power with a MegatonPunch, proving he puts his family first.]]

In France, the Normans have this reputation;
In Germany it's Swabians, Westphalians and (among Westphalians) people from Lippe;

In Spain, the Catalans;

In Sweden, Smålanders;

In Denmark, the Jutes.

->''I'm very proud of my gold pocket watch. My grandfather, on his deathbed, sold me this watch.''

** And then subverted majorly in "Margaritaville" when he uses his American Express credit card (with no spending limit) to pay off the debts of all of South Park, much to the dismay of his mother Sheila, who say he's ruining himself. However, this is almost a [[DoubleSubverted double subversion]] as the entire episode has Kyle as a [[MessianicArchetype Christ allegory]], equating his taking on said debt with Christ's martyrdom.

* Via Creator/StephenFry's grandfather: "Do you know why [[SelfDeprecatingHumour we]] have such big noses? Because air is free."

in Germany it's Swabians, Westphalians and (among Westphalians) people from Lippe;

Parsimony is also seen as a peculiarly Prussian trait. In Northern Europe, the Dutch and the Finns tend to have a reputation of frugality.