Stuff and Nonsense

[talon]

Know that possessions, debt and obligations don't equal fun. Spending for lifestyle doesn't equal fun. But gathering experiences and sharing them with family and friends does. - Clark Howard

It's true. Having things just to have them isn't fun, and once the glamour wears off, it just takes up room and makes you unhappy. You get even unhappier if you notice that you no longer use or enjoy the item while you are still paying for it. And if you tally in the interest (assuming you charged it), you're not paying retail for the item you no longer like or use, you're paying interest on that retail price, driving the cost up by 50% or more.

If that doesn't make you unhappy, then you have far more money that sense.

Don't buy little things on credit. Pay cash. I'd recommend setting a limit and anything under that limit is cash-only. Or perhaps make a list for things you'll only pay cash - coffee, soda, lunch out, gasoline, snack foods... I consider a debit card to be cash spending, but even there, I have my lower limit. It has to cost over a certain amount before I'll bring out the debit card. There are a few things for which I will always use the debit cared - gasoline is one, hotels another.

Never buy something automatically. Especially never buy something out of habit. Don't buy something you'll regret buying an hour later - or that you won't remember buying an hour later.

If you pause before you pay, you'll have a chance to decide if you really want it.

I know there are experts who say if you touch something, you've "taken ownership" of it and are more likely to buy it. I don't think that's true. If it's an impulse buy, if you pick it up and carry it through the store with you, before you get in the check-out line, spend a moment to look through all the things in your basket, When I do that, I usually put half the stuff I picked up back because I realize I have no use for it, I never really liked it that much and I know now I don't like it at all, I've remembered where I can get the same thing elsewhere for less, my enchantment with it has ended already, I realize I can make a better one for far less than its sticker price, and/or I don't know anyone who would want it. I think stores should have a "regretsies" bin where customers can stack the things they decided not to buy without having to roam the store replacing it all or abandoning them randomly throughout the store. Of course, I can understand why they don't - it encourages customers to spend less, just the opposite of what they want.

Don't shop somewhere out of habit. We've all been indoctrinated into believing Wal-Mart is a cheap place to shop. It really isn't. Last weekend, just to confirm it for myself, I shopped at 2 of my favorite ethnic stores. I timed how long it took to shop at both stores together as well as how much I spent. Then I timed how long it took me at Wal-Mart and checked how much it would have cost me to buy the same things. Turns out, it took 45 minutes longer at Wal-Mart alone than both of the ethnic markets, and Wal-Mart didn't have 8 of the things I buy regularly - for 5 of them, Wal-Mart didn't even have something I could substitute. I spent just under $35 between the 2 ethnic markets. Had I bought those things at Wal-Mart, I would have spent nearly $80 - and do without 5 things and settle for substitutes for 3 of them.

Shop around or negotiate for big ticket items - anything over $1,000 qualifies in my book as negotiable. This includes things like home repairs and remodeling, furniture, car repairs, cars, boats, high end electronics, and so on. Pay cash for these, too, even if it means having to wait a bit longer for them. Exceptions are urgent car or home repairs - usually ones caused by accidents.

Oh, and that brings up carelessness as a money-sink. If an accident was preventable on your part, and you have the accident anyway, you've just cost yourself a lot of money you didn't need to spend. I understand that sometimes you are the object of an accident and not the cause, which is why I'm only addressing preventable accidents. If the item you're replacing could have lasted longer with proper care (Mr. Howard's famous 17¢ disposable razors that last him at least 6 months instead of 1 week; a car that only lasts 5 years instead of 15 - most cars can run well for 15 years, giving you at least 10 years of no car payments), you're wasting money.

It's also true that sometimes you have to spend money to save money. Buying things you use regularly, like toilet paper, in bulk can reduce the per item cost substantially so you'll make an initial investment and reap the savings for some time. Buying better quality items that will hold up to wear longer, like 300 thread count bed linens as opposed to 180 thread count bed linens, may cost more up front, but you'll save by not having to replace it as often and being able to recycle or repurpose it later - bed linens usually wear in predictable patterns so part is threadbare while the rest looks virtually unworn. The unworn edges can be repurposed into pillow cases, undergarments, embroidered shirts or blouses, and so on. (Here's a hint: thread counts lower than 200 pill and wear out quickly and don't offer much to repurpose. Thread counts over 400 don't last appreciably longer or feel any differently than 250 or 300 thread counts, even if they cost substantially more. 300 thread count sheets are the most cost effective, comfortable, long wearing, and repurposable.)

To recap: Pay cash as much as possible, especially for the small stuff, don't waste your money on things you don't really need or want, don't buy out of habit, don't shop somewhere out of habit, shop around and negotiate for big ticket items like home repairs and remodeling, buy in bulk, buy for quality, and recycle or repurpose as much as you can.

If you do these things, you'll save money without feeling deprived or that you're cutting corners. You'll save money, have less stuff you don't want and certainly don't need, and you'll have more time and money for fun and happy stuff in life.