I've been thinking about ways of spending and not spending money, and how sometimes it's good and sometimes it doesn't work out the way you thought it might. So starting today through Thursday, I'm going to discuss some of these aspects and how they play out in my own life.
Today, I'll mention a couple of recent times when I avoided spending money, and I think that was good.
For starters, I didn't buy the Flip camcorder when it was only $60. I've really heard only good things about these cameras, they're cute, and $60 was really affordable. But as I mentioned when I pointed out the deal, our Canon Elph has a video function that's adequate for our purposes. Plus, neither Marc nor I have the time to take 30-minute videos, upload them, edit them, back them up, and send them to family and friends. I was sorely tempted to buy the Flip anyway, because I know I'd love having one. But I wasn't convinced that I'd use it. And I've gotten pretty good at not buying things just because they're a great deal.
Another example of me not spending money is that I haven't sent myself a custom ringtone yet. I was so excited when Briana posted a tutorial on how to make ringtones in iTunes. (And I told you about it over at CFO Reviews.) I spent an hour getting it exactly right. But, when it was done and I was ready to send it to my phone, I had to admit that I wouldn't get much use out of it because I always leave my phone on vibrate. And even though it only costs 10 or 25 cents on our plan to receive the data message, I wouldn't get even that much use out of it.
These examples are polar extremes, in that one involved a $60 expense while the other involved less than a dollar. But they have the same lesson: Don't spend money on something that's not worth it.
3 comments:
I totally agree! I do the same thing, I really think through my purchases, even the small items.
You're definitely better than me! I would have totally spent the money on the Flip camcorder. I love electronics and talking myself out of them is often quite hard. Although, in my case, I'm currently battling the urge to go out and eat fast food. Since I'm on Nutrisystem, this serves two purposes. 1.) I'm saving money, and 2.) I'm sticking to my weight loss resolution. Even if I do eat out, I'm learning what and how much of something I can have, so I'm not wasting anything. I'm also not wasting the NS food, since I can just eat it another day. It's been a challenge, but considering my purchases really helps.
Great post!
That ringtone thing sounds like something I would do...spend an inordinate amount of time working on it and then realize I don't actually use my ringer - lol!
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