How To Save A Dollar…

Frugal shoppers check the swimming pools at Costco, but save their money…….

If not, well then I’m not getting the purchase and we’ll spend the day at home hanging out. We rarely spend money that’s key. We already live on one income and save the entirety of the other.

Going out = spending money (even a $1 is too much for DH). He’s compulsive. Got some serious OCD. I do love him though. My way is to bike and not pay gas. And you don’t buy anything because it’s darn heavy to carry on a bike (or public transit even).

So next time tell your hubby to sit at home and enjoy the summer and call the places. That way you and the kids don’t have to tag along. too amusing, you sound like DH’s parents, although they were both your hubby.

not to mention the fact that i came into our relationship with $40K of debt between credit cards, student loans and car payment, and because of his frugal ways that’s all gone and we have no debt besides our mortgage… to a girl who couldn’t get it together financially who married a guy who had it all figured out, watching his slow process makes me stop and think… maybe he’s onto something.

And didn’t it make most of us examine how long WE personally would want to spend researching a purchase before we buy it? This works for them, and many others, but it wouldn’t work for me, or a lot of others, and it makes us examine our own spending habits and relationships with our significant others.

That said, as far as the Internet shopping I praise so highly, many places offer free shipping, so I wouldn’t discount the Web without doing your homework!

A victim of ‘frugality.’

I don’t know if I would be able to live with a man who behaves in the realm of spending money like Mr. Darling does, but to me that’s not the point. Mrs. Darling is happy in her marriage but I am quite sure she wasn’t suggesting that every other couple adopt the shopping habits that she and her husband have developed over the years. Every pair needs to come up with ways of buying major items that suits them, and I personally believe that the word “compromise” should be part of that formula, no matter whether the couple is in a conservative or more liberated (monetarily speaking) relationship.

As for myself, I am a widow, so when I make spending decisions, literally, the buck stops here. In a way, it’s nice to be able to spend (and save) as I desire, but in other ways, making the big decisions alone is intimidating. I could go on about wives learning how to take care of family finances, just in case, but that is probably taking what is discussed in this entry pretty far afield.

Personally, and not just because she’s my niece, I enjoy Mrs. Darling’s writing. She is good at poking fun at herself as well as writing her good-natured description of her husband’s spending ways. I’m glad that J.D. posted her article here. It’s good to get differing viewpoints, especially when it comes to how varying people, or couples, spend (or don’t spend, as the case may be).

For those of you that expect JD to do better I do hope you remember that it wasnt JD who wrote this. I wrote this on my lowely blog that sees only about 200 people a day. Most of those are long term readers and half of those I know personally. So they totally got this in the way it was meant.

There is no way that I can write like JD. I dont even try. So dont blame him for the substandard quality. I take full blame. However, I do think if you all really read this with more background info it would read differently.

If I had read this post in the proper context I would not of had the same reaction.

You have to look at your post from the aspect of some of the readers of this blog. Many of us are on strict financial “diets” and a first read of your post describes the type of activity that got us into this situation in the first place.

Again, without the benefit of context, all that stood out was an entire day spent searching for a bigger TV to go with the already huge HD to put in a house that you just added 1400 square feet to. The only vehicle mentioned was an Expedition which you were looking to get an accessory for.

I wasn’t passing judgment, Kate, just commenting that it seemed inappropriate to post a story about a shopping junket on this blog. It is unfortunate that this type Sunday activity is all to common in this country.

I totally research everything to death, too!

It reminds me a little of Oscar Wilde. No one gets out unscathed, including the author herself.

Cheers!

What’s the moral? If read literally, it’s “Marry a controlling, conservative man, take your pittance, and be happy there’s a roof over your head, you impulsive ninny.” If read as satire, it’s “Save by not spending! You people think too much!” I think what you’re shooting for is “Don’t go to extremes”, or “take it all with a grain of salt”, but it didn’t come through. If it’s humor only, you might have to warn some of us stodgy worriers upfront.

We all know that money is a huge hurdle in most relationships, and that attitudes toward money are different for everyone. I think the literal interpretation of this post is too close for comfort for anyone fighting about money at home, and Mrs. Darling’s follow-up post shows that there’s truth to the extremes she wrote.

I don’t feel educated or strengthened in my fight like I usually do after visiting the site. You can do better.

As for Seans comment, I’m not sure why you assume we could walk 15 miles to the town I was speaking of in this article or why you assume we drove our SUV. Actually we drove our 1993 Honda Accord that gets 35 gallons to the mile. Thats why the days gas amounted to $1.00. Our SUV is a 1997 model and it has 40,000 miles on it so that should show you how little we use it. We bought it to pull our three thousand dollar boat bought off of Craigs list and to have greater comfort when we travel long distance.

To Posco I say this; we had not been to those stores previously checking for the TV and the bike rack etc. I said he stops many times on his way home from work to check out sales. His job is in the opposite direction of where we were this day.

Many people have wondered why we dont just stay home and purchase the TV and pool and such over the internet. The answer should be obvious. Its cheaper to go to the store and purchase an item than it is to pay the shipping and handling over the internet.

luneray you hit the nail on the head!

Above all, people remember this; I am very happy with my penny pinching husband. We’ve been together 21 years and havent regretted a day of it! This whole thing is meant to show the humorous side of frugality.

My husband read it a long time ago and laughed with me. Maybe we’re both nuts but we are debt free and we are happy. Thats more than you can say for most people.

And for people who have hinted at a huge income that makes it possible to live on one income I can assure you it does not exist. My husband is a blue collar union worker working in the trades. He’s a pipefitter. So there’s no huge income here. Sorry, but I have to dispel that myth lest someone thinks they need a doctors income before they too can free themselves of debt.

Oh well. Subtlety is lost these days. Nice satire.

I see typical consumer driven, suburban family that drives everywhere (rather than walk) in one of the largest, and least fuel efficient SUV’s ever made. They live in a McMansion and take their TV watching VERY seriously.

I don’t see one financially healthy thing to take away from this post.

I imagine that the “one income” they live on is as large as their HDTVs.

Whether they sympathized with the husband or the wife or whether they “got” the humor–one thing we all agreed on is that just being in stores (buying or not buying) is pretty much hell.

Are you listening, retail? Anyone? Anyone?

Also, at first I thought the comment from K about subservient wife was a little harsh, but actually I don’t understand why she has to go back for the camp chairs later. If she has her own money, which she stated that she does, why can’t she buy the chairs? He might choose to research for months, but shouldn’t she be able to make her own decisions about her own money without having to go back later when he isn’t around? Makes me want to burn my bra.

You say you spent all afternoon going from store to store looking for a TV to buy. You’re beloved hubby had already done all his research (I do it, too), including PREVIOUS TRIPS to those stores. If he has already gathered his facts and physically looked at the units, why do you need to go to those stores AGAIN? Maybe he needs to take you to one store to convince you that 30 inches is big enough. Having failed that, what’s the point of the rest of the post?

Having looked at one bike rack, and concluding that he could build a better one, why waste any more effort on researching that particular product?

I could think of a half-dozen better ways of spending my Sunday afternoon with my family than by looking at things I want but will not buy.

If it’s a big purchase, I do some research and get on with it. I don’t think anyone’s money should own them, whether that means avoiding credit card debt or the other end of the spectrum, which would be researching purchases for months on end and never actually buying anything.

Still, this reminds me of your “Perfect is the enemy of Good” theory. At some point you have accept sometimes you won’t get the best deal ever and that 80% is good enough.

On the rare occasions that I do a research shopping trip, I do so on my own time, leaving stores empty handed if necessary. I don’t drag the kids along. Frankly, gas is too expensive for this. When I do shop (not go shopping mind you) I get in, and get out, buying just the things we need (groceries, supplies).

I don’t have the luxury to waste time nor money on gas running around from store to store doing research that can be done online. My time is very valuable.