I am what you might call “dusigrosz” or “sknera” in Polish. In other words, I’m cheap, as in “I’m a cheapskate.”

I travel on a budget, drive an old car (but I keep it running perfectly) and I don’t like to spend money on things I don’t need. If there are things I do need and I have to buy them, I tend to buy the high quality stuff, because it will last and I won’t need to replace it for a long while.

Even though I consider myself a tightwad, I don’t mind spending money on food. Because eating right keeps you healthy and being healthy saves you money in the long run.

So that’s my odd “sknera” philosophy. I save where I can but within reason.

I stuck to my budget principles when coming to Warszawa this weekend. PKP (Polish Railways) had a weekend deal to Warszawa - almost 50% off. And that’s on InterCity, which is, supposedly, the fast train. Which had a 30-minute delay by the time we got to the capital.

In Warszawa I chose to stay at Hostel Kanonia. It’s a lovely hostel located just a short walking distance from Zamek Królewski (the Royal Castle). And because I’m a cheapskate who likes her privacy, I decided to book prywatny pokój z łazienką (a private room with a bathroom). That room turned out to be a massive attic-like space on the top floor. It was spotless. The bathroom was squeaky-clean, too. The hostel kitchen, where I’m sitting right now, has wireless internet access. And the whole thing set me back all of 140PLN. But a bed in a dorm room can be had for as little as 50PLN.

I’ll definitely be staying here again.

And this was the view from my room.

• oszczędzać (pieniądze) – to save (money)
• skąpić (czegoś) – to skimp (on sth)
• sknera (noun, masc. pl. sknery) – tightwad, cheapskate
• dusigrosz (noun, masc. pl. dusigrosze) – literally: one who squeezes every penny (grosz), so – a penny pincher
• skąpiec (noun, masc. pl. skąpcy) – scrooge