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“We lament the grocery-store coupon left at home, and yet we’ll raise our bid for a house by $10,000 without a second thought.”
This was one of Jonathan’s quips that appeared at the top of the blog a few months back. I immediately was reminded of a day spent with my pal Kenny and his wife in Las Vegas, sometime in the early 1990s. Ken and I were seated at a $5 blackjack table when his wife approached, asking Ken for some more money. She had blown through the hundred bucks she brought with her, and needed a $50 cash infusion.
Later, driving home, Ken’s car needed an infusion of gasoline. Ken pulled into a gas station to fill-er-up, and his wife went absolutely bat-do-do crazy because the store across the street had fuel for $.05 less.
I am not immune to such behavior. I will squeeze the last molecule of toothpaste from the tube, while never passing up an opportunity for lunch or dinner with friends.
How about you? Any irrational or contradictory spending decisions in your life?
I’ve walked through a casino, but never spent a nickel in one. I was once in a casino in Monaco and was told I needed to pay 10 Euro to go past a particular doorway, so I left. Like Edmund, I squeeze the last line of toothpaste from the tube, pound that container of sunscreen for the last few squirts, and do my own repairs (when I can). But I bought a new car with cash last summer because I wanted the new safety features and better economy at the gas pump. Sometimes, after filling my tank, I’ll pass a gas station selling cheaper gas and berate myself for missing out on a savings of 60 cents. We’re all wired differently, and I’m often surprised when people describe a decision process that is absolutely at odds with how I do things. It keeps life interesting!
Yesterday I picked up some slightly bruised peppers from the reduced section at the greengrocers — 10 cents each. After oven roasting them for dinner last night, I finished them with a drizzle from a single-origin Italian olive oil — $100 a bottle.
Dan, I suffer from the inverse of this behavior. So, I too, get the last bit of toothpaste and dab of shaving cream, along with a host of other behaviors learned from family and from my own days scraping together every penny to pay debt and invest. Though I’m not particularly “green” by intention, in practice I’m positively verdant. But in reality, I have the mean sto have a bit more. My wife is worse, but I remind her that she can afford to ease up on the purse strings.
Possibly irrational:
Buying a house because you have four dogs and there’s no way anyone will rent to you.
Buying a custom-made van to transport your four dogs.
Having a home that you describe to other people as, “a dog kennel that the dogs are kind enough to let us reside in.”.
I wouldn’t change any of it.
No no no, Kristine. Your examples belong in a post about using your money wisely for life’s good experiences.
I do have a dog related story that might qualify, but I was reluctant to judge, because these folks truly loved these hounds. Let me know your thoughts.
It was a married couple, about 60, whose business went under, and were on the verge of bankruptcy. They didn’t have enough money to pay me for their tax return, (I still did it). They also shared pictures of their two Newfoundland Hounds. The care and feeding of a pair of 140 pound dogs was a huge drag on their limited resources. I don’t know if I could have done anything different in their situation.