Six T-Shirts and a Car: My Spending Philosophy.

I can never decide if I’m tight, frugal or a spendthrift. I seem to have developed characteristics of all the spending groups. In a nutshell I’m a bit of a consumer paradox. Take the other week.

My wife Suzie and I were out shopping for a pair of trainers for my grandson. I happened to spot a t-shirt that caught my eye, and the best part was the price: it was discounted by a whopping 70%. The quality was good and in my mind It was a great deal, and so I purchased six of them. I admit Suzie’s heavenwards eye roll nearly changed my mind.

This kind of purchase I suppose can be viewed in a couple of ways, depending on your perspective. You could see it as profligate spending—buying six of the same item seems excessive to some. Or, you could look at it from my point of view: I was simply optimizing a great discount opportunity.

For me, the decision was simple. I spend a majority of the year in shorts and t-shirts, so having multiple copies of a comfortable top makes getting ready in the morning a breeze. I don’t feel the need to stress about my daily wardrobe choices, as long as I know what I’m wearing is clean and fresh. To my mind, that’s a perfect example of a smart purchase. It’s simply buying what you need, when it’s at its best value, and without overcomplicating things.

I don’t consider myself a frugal person, but I definitely need to feel I’m getting good value for my money, and once this tipping point is reached I spend freely without a second thought. It’s a mindset that influences many of my decisions, especially when it comes to big purchases. For example, my last few cars have all been second hand one year old with very low mileage. I would find it stomach-churning to watch 20% or more of a new car’s value disappear the moment I drive it off the lot. I also pay in cash to avoid interest charges.

That same principle applies to everyday things. I like to tinker and fix anything that’s within my skill set. To me, paying someone to do a job I’m capable of doing myself just doesn’t compute. But once it’s outside my comfort zone professional services are called upon without batting an eyelid or having any regrets.

Even when it comes to getting to the shops to purchase something I regularly use public transport. First of all it’s cheap and saves me money, this soothes my tightness/frugality gene and it’s just really convenient with no need for fussing over finding and paying for parking space , I guess it helps that I don’t mind public transit one bit—especially trains, which I genuinely enjoy traveling on, it’s a great people watching opportunity and you overhear some interesting conversations…this satisfies my nosy streak, my only problem would be if I see good value discounted trainers, might be difficult getting six pairs home on the bus! But who in their right mind would buy six pairs of trainers anyway?