What will you do for money? How far will you go? This guest post by David Bakke of Your Finances 101 brings up these questions. David also wrote the personal finance book “Don’t Be A Mule”.
Now that I have progressed to the point where I am saving in just about every area of my financial life, from time to time, I hit certain “crossroads” where I am not sure if I am crossing the line into areas that are affecting my self-worth rather than my net worth. In a sense, the question I find myself asking is “How much is too much?”
Some examples:
Surveys – I invest a certain portion of my free time into filling out surveys on the internet for compensation. In the beginning, there were probably five or six sites that I subscribed to. Once I took a hard look at it, I realized that the sites that offered next to nothing in the way of compensation were a waste of my time. Actually, not a waste of my time, but that my time could be better spent elsewhere (i.e. quality time with my wife). I have since dropped this down to two sites, and am considering going down to one site because of the reason I just mentioned.
Coupons – When I was looking for every way possible to cut my spending, I thought that a surefire way to do this would be to clip Sunday paper coupons to save on my weekly grocery bill. I reviewed every ad that came in the mail during the week, and always made a special trip out on Sundays to get the paper. Scouring through that would take an hour in itself. I did save on groceries, don’t get me wrong. However, again, when I looked at how much time I had to invest in this project compared to the amount of money it saved me on a weekly basis, I determined that my time could be better spent elsewhere (outside playing with my son).
Tipping – Since adopting a more frugal approach to life, the number of times that my family has gone out to eat has been reduced considerably. However, when we do, the thought often crosses my mind that I could save myself some money by leaving less of a tip — even if the quality of the food and service is just fine. I think I actually did this once (ie. reduce my tip). At first, I worried that I would look “cheap” in front of my friends/family. However, that was not the issue at all. The fact of the matter is that I left the restaurant that night feeling cheap. I vowed then and there that this would never happen again.
Return Policies – If you try hard enough, you can get around just about any return policy that you want to. Need to use something just a few times and don’t want to pay for it? OK, just keep the packaging in good shape, use the item for what you need it for, pack it back up and return it. Have you broken something that is outside the parameters of the return policy (i.e. past the 30/60/90 days?) No problem. Just buy a replacement, pack the broken item back up in the new item’s packaging and return this. I could go on and on with ways around return policies. The point is that it’s just not worth doing. These practices are what drive up the price of retail items for all of us. Better to gain a good relationship with a local store near you, shop at their stores often, and that way when you do have a problem, you can be honest and straight up with them and they will more than likely make an exception for you.
Net Worth vs. Self Worth: Money Isn’t Everything
I am all about saving as much money as I can, all about spending as less as I can on the things that I do buy, and also generating as much extra income as I can in my daily life. However, not too long into this whole lifestyle change, it became apparent to me that there are limits to everything and there are lines that are not worth crossing. I very quickly learned a couple of lessons:
First, that time is much more of a precious commodity to me than money is. I have a young son at home, who is only going to be two years old once; he’s only going to be three years old once, etc. My “play” time with him is far more rewarding and gratifying than any amount of money that I can save (or generate) during that same period of time.
Second, that there are a ton of things that you can do to impact your personal economy, and you can probably get away with just about all of them, but at the end of the day, the question remains: Are they worth doing? Scamming your way around return policies and all the other situations that probably come to mind that border on being unethical (and sometimes illegal) are simply not worth doing.
In the end, I guess that what I have come to realize over the recent past is that my self-worth means more to me than my net worth.
Author Bio: David Bakke is the guy behind the personal finance blog YourFinances101.com. He is a graduate of the University of South Florida, author of the recently published book “Don’t Be A Mule…”, and currently resides outside Atlanta, GA with his wife and son.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
“Better to gain a good relationship with a local store near you, shop at their stores often, and that way when you do have a problem, you can be honest and straight up with them and they will more than likely make an exception for you”
Sadly, this isn’t always the case. We spend somewhere between $5000 and $10,000 at the local Target on an annual basis (diaper, toilet paper, laundry detergent, children’s clothes, etc. – that stuff adds up in a hurry) We don’t return many items, but when we do, it is often a time consuming process, even though we have receipts. Make an exception? The employees don’t even acknowledge the fact that we’re in their store at least once a week
I’ve had good experiences with other retailers, though.
What I hear you saying is you need to have priorities right. Keeping time with family is a great investment. We each do have to decide if the return we get from what we do worth it. Good post.
I don’t think your suggestion about return policy is going to work. They have the record of the serial number of the original machine. Besides, I don’t think it’s a good thing to do. If you felt bad after leaving less tip, then I can just imagine the feeling that you’ll have after doing that.
Jason – you missed what the article was saying. David said it wasn’t worth it and drove up the price for everyone.
I’ve cut back on the survey companies as well. I’ve found it too much work as well for the little payout for most.
I disagree with you regarding grocery coupons. I cut them out and organize each Sunday during commercials while watching football. It doesn’t take any more time than I would spend anyway and I save a lot of money throughout the year.
I remember the first few years after I graduated I knew exactly what my bank account was, exactly how much I could spend… If not I couldn’t be sure I had the money to spend on my next meal. And I would do quite a bit to save a few dollars. I thankfully don’t have to do that anymore.
I think some people that do carry on habit that they don’t need to, that they developed when every dollar was more important. I see it more as gaining an understanding of what you can afford than self worth. I had self worth then. Now I just know I can chose not to chase after $50 for opening a checking account, or whatever. It isn’t worth the hassle. But I retain my focus on saving and spending wisely. I just now can spend wisely a bit differently as I have more money to spend. If my situation reverses and I need to be more frugal then I can. And my self worth won’t suffer.
I think we need to balance what our priorities are and what is important for us. But we cannot weigh both on the same scale. So our returns on investment will vary based on it.
Wow, you guys have a lot of great content on this blog. David, I really agree with you that saving money is great to a point, but after a while your time and enjoyment of life is far more valuable! I really like and appreciate your perspective.