Sentence:  "Son, excuse me, but the woman was as <WSD>tight as a tick</WSD>, as my grannie used to say. The reason I didn't work on that car of hers is because the one time I did, I charged her a hundred forty-four dollars for a battery, which as you know is the cost to me. She said I was gouging her." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Unwilling to spend money.