If you’re anything like me, you find it hard to resist a great deal. In our infinite wisdom and need to show our shopping smarts, we usually end up just spending more of our money on things we don’t really need in the first place. This is the key behavior that warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam’s Club bet on. Sure the prices are lower and you can buy in bulk, but you’ll find yourself buying things you didn’t plan on just because the price is good. You might leave with some nice Nautica polos at half off, but that’s actually $100 more than you had planned to spend going in. Is it still a great deal then? Maybe you succeeded in the shirt department, but you failed your budget.
Discipline is the underlying key to any successful budget and financial plan, and a big part of that is eliminating impulse spending. Admit it, it feels good to blow a little money every now and then when you’ve been saving for a while. It’s the equivalent of the double cheeseburger after you’ve been working out and eating healthy for 3 weeks. It’s so bad, but it feels so good. Finding the balance between giving yourself a little reward and setting yourself back can be hard to manage sometimes. Our society is built on capitalism, and marketing is more aggressive than ever. Malls are designed specifically to offer you a ton of buying options right in front of your face. All the sales of the day are splattered all over your field of vision just to convince you to buy that item that you really weren’t looking for, but for some reason really think you could use now. When I go to the mall or store I’m usually really good at being focused on what I’m there for. I’m in and out in just over the amount of time it takes to find my item and pay for it. It gets a lot harder though when I’m there with my wife, my son, or both.
Part of the solution is letting go of our own pride in finding great deals. The thing is, rarely is a deal at a major retailer a great one anyway. I used to work for a national retailer when I was in college, and putting those sale signs out every week taught me a real lesson. The sale price was the real price, it just so happen that it was only available on weekends and special weekdays. The rest of the time the regular price was some ridiculously marked up amount that masqueraded as the MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price). So if you do plan to buy something at a large national chain like that, make sure it’s on the weekend!
I’ve been trying to get better at controlling my urges to spend, but it gets difficult. The worse one of all? My friends recently closed on their new house, and it’s beautiful. They got such a good deal due to the falling housing market, and it made me want to start looking at houses! How crazy is that? We just bought ours a year ago! Needless to say, my wife thinks I’m crazy, but I’m looking at the possible long term benefits. I’d love to be able to get a bigger (and nicer) house while renting out our existing one. Anyway, that’s a post for another day I guess. It just goes to show that no matter how hard you try, sometimes it’s hard to resist trying to get in on that great deal.
April 15th, 2008 at 4:59 am
[…] Know The Ledge: If You Don’t Need It, It’s Not A Great Deal […]
April 16th, 2008 at 8:18 am
[…] If You Don’t Need It, It’s Not a Great Deal, where Joe D. has a post that is similar to my Free Is Almost Never Free and Avoiding Impulse Buys posts. He also points out that we need to let go of our pride in finding a great deal. If we don’t need a particular “thing,” why are we even trying to make a deal on it? The current “thing” he is thinking of dealing for, though, is a bit ridiculous given his current situation. You will have to read his post to find out what that is. […]
April 17th, 2008 at 9:04 am
I found you through the Festival of Frugality and I so agree with this post. I’m afraid of warehouse clubs like Costco for exactly this reason–even though last time I went, I spent $60 and have really used everything I purchased. But I know my own tendency to want to buy something just because it’s “such a great deal!” when it’s not something I would normally purchase.
April 20th, 2008 at 8:38 am
[…] your lifestyle” was published along with other great tips. Check out “If you don’t need it, it’s not a great deal” and “60 minutes a week can save you […]