Ok, this is a light topic. Are you the type of person or have you done things that are like penny wise but pound foolish. e.g. You would spend hours cutting grocery coupons but won't think think twice before buying that $500 designer handbag?
I am no exception. I like to splurge on parties, but would not pay for valet parking as little as $5. I Guess it also depends on priorities but I find it silly of me to do that when I think about it. There are many more such cases. :)
One of my friend's would spend a lot of money on travelling (air tickets) but would not get the smart cart even if she has lot of luggage as it costs $5. We usually laugh about it.
Do you have any?
I am not sure if many of you get the point. Of course my friend can afford the $5 cart. If she can spend $5000 on airline tickets without searching for deals, how does saving $5 help? I myself do silly things like that. The point is not that you cannot afford small conveniences, but you would think many times about them but would spend much more on luxury items without thinking twice.
I don't really consider it penny wise, pound foolish. There are things you can buy on the cheap and there is no difference between that and the expensive versions. Some high end things there is no cheap version. So even though I do a lot of what you are describing I am actually getting exactly what I want for the least amount possible.
Sure, I buy $23 a pound Manchego cheese, but get all pissed off that a carton of milk cost $2!
:)
I get what you're saying. I'm very frugal but with some things I'm stupid. ie: I can't stand spending much on clothes. So $100 seems crazy to me for a very nice pair of pants that will last years yet I love to eat out so we routinely waste $100 on family dinners out that are over in an hour. The best was when I needed a new car battery so to save something like $30 for installation at a place like Sears, I made another trip to an auto supply place to buy one and then had my boyfriend, now husband, install it but didn't have a place to dispose of the old one so carried it around in my trunk till I figured out what to do with it. In the meantime, it leaked fluid and ruined the trunk carpet. All for $30.
Well, if you spend all your money on the small things, you won't have the money for the occasional large-ticket items. So, it makes sense to me.
This is a small, stupid example, but I thin I know what you mean. I will rather pay full price for Viva paper towels than any other brand on sale. And there seems to be no "generic" comparable to Viva!
I will spend decent $$ on good quality shoes, yet get 10 pairs of reading glasses from the dollar store rather than pay $25 or 30 for a halfway decent pair...
No, I never pay full price for anything. =)
My view is my time = money
I never, ever valet.... I'll walk. I see in the Dallas area what Valet personnel do with cars. I drive a high end sport Mercedes and NO WAY do I let a valet driver touch it. So cheap? If you want to call it that .. Ok I call it protecting my investment.
Sure I can afford the valet charge but a valet does not treat a car like his/her own. I am super picky.
As for other things. I am real. You don't save money clipping coupons if you drive all over town to get a deal. Hello?? Think gas plus wear.tear on your car?
Airlines? We are frequent fliers. Never paid a bag fee and I am strong enough( although a size 2 and travel with 16 ye old daughter size 0 plus black belt) to not need a cart or aide wanting a tip to help me to my car.
I don't spend $5000 o airline tickets either. I know the game and I play it.
Well, I suppose that is why person can afford a designer bag is b/c they are massively couponing ,or to travel and skimp on the cart. They cut back in some areas so they can afford others. We can not afford anything nice right now :)
I do have a friend like this though, she will spend $400 on like 80% off clearance racks and brag about how great of deals she spent on clothes. They live in a luxury home, luxury cars... but wont go anywhere without a coupon. We just laugh.
I think I get what you mean, and I think we all do that to some degree or another. I think it is just more of a priorities thing. Some people like to splurge in certain ways that makes them feel better, while splurging $ on this or that other item just don't give the same feeling, so it FEELS more like a waste.
I coupon at the grocery store (and anywhere else I can, lol) and try to make reasonable cost efficient choices about food. But we eat out a lot. I KNOW I could "save" $150 a month just by cutting back on our meals out away from home... but we value the lack of stress and time that would go come along with the alternative more than that $150. I don't save $150 in coupons at the grocery store every month (to cover the expense of eating out), but if I was blowing money hand over fist at the grocery store it would just compound the problem and I'd feel badly that I was "wasting" money when I could save it easily. It doesn't affect my feelings about grocery shopping to use coupons, in fact, it makes me feel better that I am trying to save $ for our family. But eating out helps me be a better mom/wife in other ways sometimes and cutting out that expense from our monthly budget would not "buy" me $150 worth of stress free family time.
Does that make sense? Now, I just used the grocery store/eating out example because that is one of MY things. But you could apply it to others and their "things" too, like your friend with the airfare and luggage cart. She probably LOVES flying and travel, but abhors paying for something she can do herself so easily.
And if handbags are your thing, then you probably get a much bigger "bang" for your buck when you spend $ on one of those, rather than on a cheaper one. If you get that big of a thrill/that much enjoyment out of designer bags, and you can afford it, then enjoy! There really isn't anything "foolish" about knowing what sort of spending "speaks" to you. Now, if you don't give a hoot about handbags and just want something that does the job, then spending $500 on a designer one and clipping coupons for groceries would seem odd.
We all have our "things". ;)
I won't even carry a purse and no way would I pay more than about 10 bucks for one. I don't care much for clothing, won't buy make-up, won't waste more than maybe 10 bucks per year on the lottery, use plain label for most groceries, eat at fast food because I don't have the money to tip nicely, will NOT pay much if anything for flowers, don't like to spend a lot on Christmas, I will NOT pay for texting on my telephone....
But I will pay most anything needed or desired for electronics, learning items, books, and toys for my daycare. I refuse to shop thrift stores unless it's for something very specific that doesn't matter if it's not new. I can't stand garage sales and I'll throw something away before I'll bother taking it to a thrift store. In fact, usually I'll just post an add on CL and give something away rather than try and sell it.
No.......i loathe pricey handbags, shoes and scarfs....taking coupons, rolled coins or a food stamp card out of a micheal kohrs purse is very silly......I have a friend that does that very thing.
I do, however, buy snobby food..but if i can find that highend stuff on sale i jump at it!.
$300 is not a lot of money for a designer handbag, but I get your point. Regardless how much money anyone has, everyone should save and shop smart in every way they can. Maybe your traveler friend went over her vacation budget on her trip, so she didn't want to waste $5. She obviously manages her money well, she is able to travel.
Not really. Sometimes I wish I was more "pound foolish". Most of the time our "yard stick" has to do with time. If it's going to cost more, but take significantly less of our time... worth it. Yes, it would be much less expensive to cook all day tomorrow for my husband's family reunion (15 people), but it's a more enjoyable party when I have it catered!
