: One notable participant, Patrício Campanha, lives in a "sustainable" house without appliances or a bed, sleeping in a tent and cutting bath towels into four pieces to save on washing. Profiles of Extreme Frugality

: Tactics include eating leftover food from mall food courts or seeking out items near their expiration date.

A woman posted her strategy for weddings: bring a Tupperware in her purse. During the buffet, she’d fill it discreetly. “That’s lunch for the next three days. The couple is already spending R$150 per guest — I’m just optimizing.”

While the show provides entertainment, it also raises questions about the psychological boundary between being "economical" and being a "muquirana". Assista Muquiranas Brasil Temporada 1 Episódio 3 - HBO Max

Not everything is celebrated. The group has intense debates about where “smart saving” ends and pathological stinginess begins.

Born from a 2015 post on a frugality forum, the group now boasts over . Its premise is deceptively simple: users share extreme, often hilarious penny-pinching tactics. But beneath the memes and jokes lies a raw, unvarnished look at Brazilian economic reality, survival strategies, and a redefinition of what it means to be “stingy” in a country with chronic inflation, high interest rates, and deep income inequality.