My Finance Blog

I’ve tackled a lot about saving up and living only within your means in this blog before. When I read back, I can’t help but feel I’m beginning to be a cheapskate. However, I believe all of my arguments were valid and every piece of advice I gave — a great help to anyone who wishes to implement it. However, I will digress from the usual with this post and instead convince you NOT to save up. It might seem out of place here, but I felt the time was ripe.

I remember a month ago or so, I was watching Rachael Ray when they featured this woman who was so tight-fisted; her children had branded her as the “Cheapest Woman in America.” The woman never bought anything not from a sale and her dresses ranged from around $1 to $14 or so. Rachael then challenged her to shop for a dress without looking at the price tag. After fitting a handful of dresses, she decided on one and it was revealed later that the dress costs $399 — a far cry from the usual cost of dresses she owns. Which brings us to the question, does cheap always equal savings?

My answer to that would be, not at all. Let’s say you’re buying a hand bag. You go to Wal-Mart, find a nice handbag for $9.99, pluck it off the bin containing more $9.99 handbags and take it home. In a few months, you find the handbag in tatters. You go and buy another handbag for $9.99 — the cycle repeats itself. Now, say for example you go to Macy’s instead, find a nice bag for $99.99, lift it off the shelf and take it home. I’ll bet it’ll last a lot longer than the $9.99 bag. In short, don’t always settle for less. Find quality at a reasonable price and when you find it, go for it — it’ll save you boatloads of money in the long run.

Filed under: personal finance