“I went to the grocery store and saved $68!” Have you ever said someting like that to your husband or friend? I have on numerous occasions. It’s a thrilling thing to get a great deal! Quite frankly, it’s one the reasons I love shopping so much! You could liken it to men and hunting. They hunt for animals, we hunt for bargains. It’s really the same concept…the thrill of the chase. It can be a lot of fun!
All fun and games aside though, spending money is not saving money. I might have saved $68 at the grocery store, but I still had to spend money in order to receive that savings. Advertisers work hard to get us to purchase their product or service by throwing around terms like, “look how much you’ll save” or “generics will save you money” or “save your money and buy our product”. The truth is, in order to save as they are purporting, you are going to have to spend money. Spending money is not saving money, no matter how good the deal is. I know this sounds like a simple concept, but if you think on it for a while, it will change the way you spend money.
No deal is a good deal if you don’t have the money for it. You will not save money by spending money you don’t have on anything, whether you need it or not. A good idea when shopping for anything is to put it in your cart or over your arm, and then just before you check out go through what you are planning to buy once or twice or thrice (if you need to) and whittle down your purchase to what you can afford. Little stowaway items we don’t really have the money for or need often creep into our shopping carts.
Enjoy spending what you have available to spend and remember you are spending when you are “saving”.
Katina is wife to Graeme and mom to eight fun-loving kids. Some of Katina’s favorite hobbies are bargain shopping and couponing! She is excited to share good deals, fresh money-saving ideas, budgeting tips, and ways to use what you already have so you can best use your resources to further the gospel of Christ. She believes the first step to a healthy financial life begins with a grateful heart. American Christians are an extremely blessed people!
Comments 1
I agree. I hear many ladies talk about the money they saved by buying mulitiples but you don’t have the money to start with, you won’t use the stuff for months, so for me it is more economical to buy as needed unless I have extra and am buying for something special, such as holidays. I buy now before the prices jump.