Someone who is "cheap" is a person that is reluctant to spend money. It's a negative way to describe a person.
Some people are reluctant to spend money and can be called "cautious", that is a more positive way to describe a person. For example, you have bills to pay so decide to cook instead of going to a restaurant. This is positive because it's responsible to be careful with your money.
A "cheap person" is a person that is ungenerous with their money.
For example, I want a pair of $50 Nike shoes, but my mom buys me FAKE Nike shoes that cost $15. Yes, the fake Nikes are cheaper, but their quality is poor. Most people would prefer paying the extra money for the Nikes because they are of higher quality and will last longer, but my mother doesn't care about that. My mother is cheap because the only thing that matters to her is to spend as little money as possible.
Someone can be rich, but be cheap. For example, billionaire Donald Trump buying his wife a Ford when she preferred (and he can afford) a BMW.
"It is/was a great day to be alive" simply means that the speaker believes that this particular day was a day that he enjoyed. That is, he is glad that he was alive on this particular day. It's a fairly common phrase used to express joy about some event or experience. It is used to describe all sorts of events, from things very personal to things very general.
Like, "I looked out over the beautiful fields, filled with flowers, and the majestic mountain towering in the distance. It was a great day to be alive."
"I just head on the news that the war is over. People are pouring out into the streets to celebrate. This is a great day to be alive."
"Today we have all sorts of conveniences to make our lives more pleasant, from the automobile to television to microwave ovens. This is a great day to be alive."
It does not normally mean that the speaker has narrowly escaped death or anything like that.
"Shoot" is simply an interjection, a word used to intensify an expression. It is a very mild word. It can be positive or negative. "Shoot, I lost my pencil." Or, "Shoot, my favorite TV show is on." If used in more extreme situations it is seen as quaint or a deliberate under-playing. You wouldn't normally expect someone to say, "Shoot, the doctor just told me I have only three weeks to live." If someone did, you'd either take that to mean that he was deliberately downplaying the seriousness of the issue, or that he is someone who is particularly mild-mannered or who does not use strong language.
Best Answer
A "slam dunk" is a term from basketball; it is a particularly easy shot, one that is difficult to miss. Thus "no slam dunk" means "not obvious, not simple, not particularly easy".