Waste not?

This morning I am thinking about things. Not about the things so much, but more the people who use them.
Some people find themselves to be super thrifty. You know the ones. They get to the end of the chapstick and start to search for something to dig that last little bit of it out so that nothing is wasted. They do the same with toothpaste. The tube is clearly gone, but is it? Maybe if I find the dictionary and put it on the end of the tube pressing down firmly....aha! There is some more of that gel coming out after all, just enough for one more brushing.
I think there must be a feeling of satisfaction in this behavior. Or......is it pride? "Look what I got from something the average person would have just wasted!! I am the craftiest and thriftiest of them all!!!"
But then....maybe it is an identity issue. Does one feel he or she is somehow more valuable because of the  money saved with such cleverness?
Perhaps it all boils down to what one values in the first place. When all is said and done, is the time spent devising a way to get every last drop out of a two dollar item worth anything?
At the end of the day, I find greater satisfaction in knowing that I threw the chapstick away and went on with living. But there lies the danger, for there is my pride. After all, if I were to criticize and judge the toothpaste squeezer or the chapstick digger, wouldn't that be the biggest waste of time?