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Jeff Yeager Saves Money By Eating Fish Eyeballs On TLC's 'Extreme Cheapskates' (GRAPHIC VIDEO)

Huffington Post     First Posted: 10/29/12 EDT Updated: 10/31/12 EDT

Some people love being a cheapskate, but it can leave a bad taste in the mouths of their relatives.

Take Jeff Yeager of Accokeek, Md., who is so cheap that he rides a bike everywhere and takes his family on vacation only where he can "couch surf."

He said he's managed to save $50,000 this way and has turned his cheapskate behavior into a cottage industry that includes blogging for The Huffington Post and by hosting "cheapskate bootcamps."

But his cheapskate ways also manage to gross out the family of his good friend, Tim, on an episode of "Extreme Cheapskates" airing Oct. 30 on TLC proves.

"I cooked them a couple of salmon carcasses," he explained on the episode.

"Can you stop using the word 'carcass'?" Tim's wife, Stacey, asked.

"What would you prefer?" he asked. "Skeletons?"

Yeager's cheapskate chowder simply uses pieces of fish that he can get for practically nothing, but he said it's harder to make these days.

"It's crazy and sad that fish has gotten so expensive, because it's so healthy for you," he said. "It used to be dirt cheap -- sort of the poor man's meat. Now it's very expensive."

Yeager tries to get the most for his money by devouring every possible part of the fish, including the heads.

"The thing with these carcasses that you have to remember is that there's a lot of fat," he told Tim's family.

At one point, he holds up the fish eyeball for his family to see before he gobbles it down, much to the disgust of Tim's son, Isaac.

"I had to get up, it was so awful," he said.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said that the family in the clip was Jeff Yeager's family. They are the family of his friend Tim. The story also incorrectly listed the quote, "Can you stop using the word 'carcass'?" to Yeager's wife, Denise, who does not appear in the clip. That remark was made by Tim's wife, Stacey.

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11:57 PM on 11/06/2012
Piscine spongiform encephalopathy. Mark my words.
11:44 AM on 11/06/2012
Considering the guy from Bizarre Foods does this on a regular basis, I don't see this as anything special.
09:26 AM on 11/06/2012
Eyeballs of fish and fish heads are a delicacy for Chinese people. We eat them all the time. Not sure what the big deal is.
But I don't like being "cheap" because it takes all the fun out of life. Don't waste money, but if you obsess over it, you are only cheating yourself.
10:41 AM on 11/02/2012
Apparently times are tough for some folks. Eye balls for dinner it is then.
http://scooprocket.com
02:45 AM on 11/01/2012
He's never been to China! Fish head soup is a common meal, and is not cheap! My 3 y/o daughter ALWAYS takes the eyeballs when she gets to the table, even if it's the whole fish, not just the head. It's not disgusting, actually, but the lens is a bit hard - so just spit it out.
06:20 PM on 10/31/2012
He's a man after my own heart