How I Rationalize Ridiculous Purchases
Posted on | March 18, 2010 | No Comments
Here’s one of my rationalizations you might find entertaining…
I’m standing in WalMart drooling over the flat-screen LCD TVs. I figure I’m trying to save money, so not going out so much and starting to do movie night at home is a great way to save a little money. Gotta have a high definition flat screen for that, right? I mean, RedBox is only $1 a night. Why shouldn’t I splurge a little on a TV if I’m going to be using it a lot?
Well, WalMart didn’t have any of the TVs I was interested in. The only ones they had were $800+ and I didn’t want to spend that much, so I went to Target. They were having a sale on Westinghouse LCDs and I wanted one. I ended up buying two. A 42″ for the living room and a 32″ for my bedroom. Ok, so my brand new flat screens are freakin’ sweet in my little one bedroom apartment on the third floor by the airport, but I had a friend over for movie night last night and she says that I’m an idiot. “What makes you say that?”, I asked. “C’mon, you make fun of those people with $3,000 worth of rims on a $1,500 mini-van, don’t you? Isn’t this the same thing? I mean, you have $1,000 worth of TVs in a $500 a month apartment. You don’t see anything wrong with that?”
Touche, my friend. Touche.
I’m keeping the TVs, though. 
Staying Busy Saves Money
Posted on | March 13, 2010 | No Comments
It seems to me that laziness makes me spend money.
I’m also a huge fan of Calvin and Hobbes.
There are some more obvious example of this such as hiring a maid. It’s not necessary, but if you don’t want to do your own dishes, laundry, or general cleaning, a housekeeper is convenient, but really expensive. I was paying $160 for a maid every week, but I’m currently paying $80/month for a maid to visit every other weekend. That $80/month savings pays for my electric bill (most months) in my little one bedroom apartment.
Food that you prepare yourself costs less than food that you buy pre-prepared. I’ll make another post about saving money on preparing food and trying to stay somewhat healthy (I’m also trying to lose a little weight).
Here I am on a Saturday morning trying to decide on something to do today. I could (and probably will) go into work and spend my time there, but I literally had a craving to go clothes shopping or something today. I think I’ll compromise with myself and go to one of those do-it-yourself car wash places and clean out my truck. That will waste about an hour and cost about $5.
Someone should really put together a comprehensive list of things to do that are really cheap or free. I don’t mean like what your mom used to suggest (e.g. clean your room, draw, go outside and play, etc.) but a really good list of free and cheap things to do that keep you busy and out of trouble.
Maybe I’ll work on that.