What Are You Willing to Spend Money On?

October 07, 2016

As I write this, I’m surfing the web looking for my next “gym” to join. I use quotation marks because I most likely won’t join a traditional gym. I have a pretty functional gym in my basement where I can do all the strength training and cardio I care to do.

I’m looking at gyms that are a bit more specialized. One is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym, one is a MMA gym, one is an indoor rock climbing gym and one is an American Ninja Warrior obstacle course gym. I like to switch up my fitness routine periodically and take on new challenges. Worst case scenario, I try something new and either don’t like it as much as I think I will (that rarely happens) or I end up taking on a pretty tough physical challenge and end up with a battered body that requires either rest or surgery. (That happens more than I care to admit.)

I’ve noticed that with gyms, pricing is all over the place and it doesn’t make sense to me. Some of the places with longer hours and more diverse offerings are lower priced than some of the ones with more specialized offerings and fewer hours. That befuddles me. Lately though, I’ve been befuddled by more and more things as I go out and look around at ways to better spend money. Here are a few examples:

A new car: My son is driving now and not that long ago, he, my ex-wife and I all chipped in some cash for him to be able to buy his first car. Within our budget, he and I did a pretty thorough search of a few car search engines and narrowed the field down. We saw a huge disparity in the years and mileage of vehicles.

The beautiful part about shopping for cars online is that you can sort in various ways. We sorted by newest, we sorted by lowest mileage and we sorted by lowest price. Eventually, we found the right combination in a car that he absolutely loves.

Cell phone plans: Do I need to say any more than that?  With several iPhones on my plan, pricing with various carriers is a complete hodgepodge of choices. Minutes, data, texts, price of new devices, contract length (or not) — there are a lot of variables that make picking the right plan a bit complex.

“Cutting the cord” television plans: I’ve been contemplating being a “cord cutter,” but as a self-avowed sports and news junkie, I’m having trouble finding a combination that gives me what I want at a price that makes giving up what I currently have feel worth it.

What’s my point in talking about these different products/services? A lot of financial blogs and articles and “experts” will talk about how to cut costs and save a few bucks on various products and services. I’m not a big believer that the lowest price is always the best thing though.

When looking for ways to save money, make sure that you aren’t doing yourself a disservice. Do you REALLY want to drive a car on a bridge built by the lowest bidder? Do you want the lowest cost heart surgeon to operate on your loved ones?   

Figure out which of the many variables in the pricing decision is the most important to you. I rank the features from most important to least important and focus my search on the top two or three variables. With the TV, it’s having an ample supply of news and sports channels. It’s not just about cost. That’s how I stay current with what’s going on in the world and with my favorite teams.

For cell phones, it’s about having enough data for my kids and I to do our work, school and fun stuff without needing to worry if we are exceeding our limits. With us often being in different cities (me on the road for work, my daughter away at college, and my sons at home), our data usage is how we all connect at various times. With cars, here is my thought process.

Take a look at your monthly expenses. See which ones you want to take a look at replacing with a lower priced option.  Then determine the top two or three variables and go out to make a decision that best fits your lifestyle and your budget.

Go Simple. Go Small. Go Now.

February 03, 2014

A lot of people have asked me how my wife and I are able to live together and travel around on a small, simple boat only 25 feet long. It’s true that it’s not a lot of space and doesn’t have many creature comforts. And when it comes to boats, there’s always something bigger and fancier with more complex systems to tempt you.   Continue reading “Go Simple. Go Small. Go Now.”

What Eating the World’s Largest Lollipop Can Teach Us About Spending Money

August 02, 2012

Last week, my fellow Financial Finesse planner Michael Smith wrote a blog post titled “What the World’s Largest Lollipop Has to Do With Our Financial Problems” about how the “bigger is better” mindset can lead us down the path of debt. The problem is that a desire for growth and improvement in all areas of our life, including materially, is arguably ingrained in our culture, if not our very DNA. Don’t we always want to become more fit and healthy, more educated and knowledgeable, more liked and respected, more financially secure and yes, more materially comfortable? Continue reading “What Eating the World’s Largest Lollipop Can Teach Us About Spending Money”

What I Learned About Overspending From Grand Funk Railroad

June 25, 2012

The beer commercial “find your beach” is very popular and with reason — a reason that ends up unknowingly costing us money.  The basis of the commercial if you haven’t seen it or one of the many iterations is this: an attractive couple sits with their backs to us in a couple of Adirondack chairs with a low table between them and an ice filled bucket containing cold beers and limes.  They are sitting doing nothing – not a care in the world on a tropical beach in paradise.  We’re told to find “our beach.” Continue reading “What I Learned About Overspending From Grand Funk Railroad”

The Day After Black Friday

December 09, 2011

What is the day after Black Friday called? I have no idea if it actually has a name, but after reading news stories and seeing things all over the internet and on Twitter, I have a few suggestions. “Retail hangover Saturday?” “How much did I spend yesterday” day? “Look at all my new store credit cards” day? I saw a lot of stories, blogs and tweets about people spending money and opening up new credit cards in order to get an extra 10% or 20% off of their purchases. Many of them plan to close the cards immediately upon getting their first bill. But is that a wise move? It might be, but let’s look at the options you have for recently opened credit cards, and how your credit score might be impacted. Continue reading “The Day After Black Friday”

The Dollars and Sense of Holiday Gift Giving

December 07, 2011

The holidays are upon us, and it is often said of gifts that it’s the thought that counts, but have you ever received a gift and said to yourself, “What were they thinking?!?”  If you’re like me, you’ve spent a fair amount of money on gifts that didn’t quite hit the mark, so allow me to share with you some of my personal worst gift ideas so that you don’t end up spending money on something that really isn’t worth the hard earned money you paid for it: Continue reading “The Dollars and Sense of Holiday Gift Giving”

Priceless vs. Pricey

June 01, 2011

You’ve probably seen the commercial. A father and son enter the ballpark as the voiceover says:

Two tickets = $46

Two hot dogs, two sodas, two popcorns = $27

One autographed baseball = $50

Real conversation with eleven-year-old son = Priceless Continue reading “Priceless vs. Pricey”

You Don’t Have to Look Shabby Just Because You are Frugal

May 09, 2011

You don’t have to look shabby just because you are on a budget.  That is exactly what we told my son Rick, I was going to say the family gave him some tips but it was actually more of an intervention than that.  Rick was planning a trip to Spain to see his girlfriend who was spending the year abroad – Rick had the money for the plane ticket and got some spending money for Christmas but otherwise is a frugal college student living on a very limited budget.  His older brother took him aside and said something like, “You can’t go to Spain to see your girl looking like that – seriously.  She is around all the European men and you need to measure up, man.”  Continue reading “You Don’t Have to Look Shabby Just Because You are Frugal”