So, what does this odd picture have to do with saving money you may ask? The photo is of my dog Sheba relaxing in the middle of our living room floor now stripped of its carpeting. The significance lies in the fact that there is no flooring covering the cement and there won’t be until we have money to pay for it. What started as a project to quickly remove the old flooring in preparation for the soon to be laid tile is now on temporary hold until we are financially ready to begin the process. In fact, I’m still debating about having it done or getting down on my hands and knees and doing it myself. While that sounds painful, going into debt for a floor sounds even more painful month after month after month.
I drive a 1995 Camry that is in fairly immaculate shape except for one small issue, I cannot open the driver side door from the outside. Fixing this problem will set me back $425. A trifle amount you say, but for our budget, it would temporarily rack-up some credit card debt. No, the month after next is November, the month when things will settle-up on our account and I can pay for the repair with cool hard cash.
But why wait when you can have it now…a new floor, a fixed car and oh yeah the slick new iMac I’ve been drooling over?
Don’t Spend It Twice
Well, I try not to spend my money twice. Sounds crazy but I bet it’s more common than you would think. When payday, a bonus, or a tax refund is coming your way, how many ways do you think of using that extra money? I know between my wife and I, we have a long list of potential objects for our financial affections. On more than one occasion we made purchases with that influx that totaled twice the amount of the check thereby putting us in the hole instead of ahead at the end of the month.
Make Slow Decisions
I was listening to the radio this weekend and heard a commercial from a car dealer. They promise to put you in a new car within 90 minutes of walking on the lot. Of course they don’t mention how quickly you are shackled with a car payment every month for years in that short amount of time. Most financial commitments I’ve made that I’ve regretted came from quick decisions. My wife and I actually signed on two houses and backed-out almost immediately before settling-in on the house we finally had built and currently occupy.
There are many down-to-earth, practical ways to save big. The first step is to slow down and give careful consideration to the long-term affects of your decisions. I wrote a related post offering some other interesting ideas back in early June. Read "Huge Money Saving Tips" for more money saving tips.
Do you have any other helpful guidelines you’ve found that have returned significant savings?
Powered by ScribeFire.
5 Comments
Great advice. Thanks to growing up with nothing, and living for years where I literally carried everything I owned on my back from duty station to duty station, I don’t need much. I also have turned into a big cheapskate (read thrifty).
I have been lucky not to have a car payment for the last several years, and I really like it. I drive a 98 Cherokee that runs great, and a 84 CJ-7 that, well, runs. I can relate to you about not fixing broken things right away. After all, if they don’t affect the operation of the vehicle or the safety of the passengers, then they can wait.
My piece of advice for saving money would be to make sure you really need something before you buy it. Sure, I would like a number of gadgets, but do I really need them, no I don’t. My life is fruitful without them.
The other piece of advice, and this may only be something I experience, is that buying things for your family is not necessarily providing for them. I think it is a relic of my childhood, but I want to buy things for my wife and kids, because it makes me feel like I’m a good provider. The fact is, they don’t need most of those things, and the money will be better spent securing their future.
Thanks for the post Phil. Caused some sparks of thought. Hey, “sparks of thought”, that might be a good name for a blog.
Mike, Thanks for the good ideas. Totally agree with you on the need vs. want thing. The second piece of advice is great fodder for a blog post. Very profound statement about what it really means to provide for our kids. That one, while I would echo as something I do in our life, is something I want to think deeper on. I’d encourage you to post about it. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts on the subject. Good stuff.
Thanks Phil, I will.
So true, Phil. It’s much easier not to buy things now that I don’t work. I do think that I had gotten to the point where I was rewarding myself for working. And I need to rip up our carpet, too. Well, at least part of it. It’s so unsightly, can no longer actually be cleaned and I’m sure, smells.
Kelly, Yes the constant nagging needs of running life never seem to end do they? It’s the lot of most of us unless you are filthy rich, but then you spend all your time worrying about keeping and building your wealth and how much fun would that be? Well, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad
One Trackback
[...] September I wrote the post, “Delayed Purchases Pay Huge Dividends”. It featured a lovely picture of my dog laying on a concrete floor in my living room. I decided [...]