I can’t help but draw a comparison between good financial decisions and good eating habits. I’m not sure which is more important. I’d have to lean towards good eating habits simply because money isn’t too valuable if you are dead. (I suppose your heirs might beg to differ with you, but you get the point) Anyway, last weekend was brutal for my goal of eating well. I think I probably shaved a few years off my life. I won’t go in to the details, but needless to say, I added a couple pounds. This would be really bad, except for the fact that I’ve been sort of following the Weight watchers plan. I say sort of because I’m not actually enrolled in it, but I am using their tips and tricks to manage my food intake. Anyway, because I’ve been following this for a few weeks, it won’t be too dificult to recover from this binging.
So, how does this have anything to do with good money management? Well, just like eating habits tend to include the word moderation, so does good financial management. While I was busy eating until I couldn’t move, we also spent a little money this weekend. Nothing too drastic. We bought new silverware from Costco. Did we need it? Well, not really. We got about 8 years out of our last set. I think of it as renting. We also bought that set at Costco and I believe they had an average cost of about $6 per year ($50/8 years). If I can average my cost down that low on everything we buy, I think we’ll be in good shape. How could we have been extreme on this purchase? Well, we could have bought the really expensive brand from a major department store and spent 5 times as much. Would that silverware have made my food taste five times better as it went in to my mouth? Nope. Would my friends and family have been 5 times as impressed with my silverware? Nope. Would I have felt better about myself using really expensive silverware? Nope.
I think that the silverware we bought is the good stuff because it says “China” on the back of every piece.
Of course, the other extreme you could have taken would have been to buy extremely low-quality silverware that would not have lasted as long (or had as low a price per year) as the set you did buy. Ah, trying to find the middle ground.
Of course the cheaper silverware probably has lead in it or some such thing which should certainly be consumed in moderation.
I for one believe that everything should be done in moderation, including moderation. :)
I look at many expensive things from the perspective whether or not they would provide 2x, 3x or 5x the pleasure/enjoyment/utility of a lower-priced item. Take cars for example. Does a BMW provide 2x the gas mileage, durability, resale value, enjoyment, etc… of a Honda Accord? Certainly not for most of these factors (except perhaps enjoyment, but that wears off, whereas the payments don’t), so why spend twice the money of a Honda Accord to buy the BMW?
In regards to your silverware purchase, I did the same thing last year when it came to plates. My old set of plates was still viable, in that they weren’t chipped, cracked and could still be used to eat/microwave, etc… However, the old plate set was showing its age in the form of scratches, minor discoloration and other cosmetic flaws. Consequently, I decided it was worth another $30 to buy a new set, and donated the old one to Goodwill. That way, my old set could go to someone that would still get some use out of it.
Well, from the point of view of a gal who spends an inordinate amount of time each week gleefully tweaking both her diet/exercise and her budget and finances, I think that good financial decisions and good eating habits are equally important.
Another way to look at the occasional non-essential expense is to think in terms of healthy and unhealthy foods. Sure, you could buy 30 boxes of macaroni and cheese on sale for under $15 and feed yourself for an entire month, but you would be bored, sluggish, vitamin-deficient, probably 10 lbs fatter after 30 days, and possibly tinged bright orange, not to mention setting yourself up for health problems in the future.
It’s worth it to pay a little more for the lean meats, veggies, fruits, and grains that will enhance your health, help you maintain a healthy weight, and keep your palate interested.
And when you really think about it, what you are doing when you are overeating is overspending your food allowance. By dividing up an oversized restaurant meal into two servings instead of one, you are effectively cutting the cost of the meal in half. ;)