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When you try to cut costs on something and it ends up costing you a lot more (in money or time) in the long run...
I tend to be pound wise, penny foolish.. I may be able to scrape by a little more by being penny wise but I'd rather put the extra free time to better productive use.
To me this has nothing to do with frugalness. This is just plain common sense. It's amazing how often it is lacking. My company spent nearly five million dollars redoing office space to condense it from two floors to one and a half. It saved them about $20,000 a month in rent. Hmm, I wonder if that was a wise investment.
Slightly off on a tangent, my dogs eat the very best available. It costs a lot more than Old Roy from WallyWorld, but I figure I save it all back by never having any vet bills.
My dog loved Old Roy ... and never had any vet bills.
To me this has nothing to do with frugalness. This is just plain common sense. It's amazing how often it is lacking. My company spent nearly five million dollars redoing office space to condense it from two floors to one and a half. It saved them about $20,000 a month in rent. Hmm, I wonder if that was a wise investment.
Over ten years, that saves $2.4 million, not factoring any time-value-of-money calculations. That also does not include reduced utilities or other costs. Was there a lot of redecorating and upgrading involved in the project that needed to be done anyway? It's not hard to see where the investment could have been worth it.
To me this has nothing to do with frugalness. This is just plain common sense. It's amazing how often it is lacking. My company spent nearly five million dollars redoing office space to condense it from two floors to one and a half. It saved them about $20,000 a month in rent. Hmm, I wonder if that was a wise investment.
Ouch.. a pathetically low IRR even assuming no inflation!
Over ten years, that saves $2.4 million, not factoring any time-value-of-money calculations. That also does not include reduced utilities or other costs. Was there a lot of redecorating and upgrading involved in the project that needed to be done anyway? It's not hard to see where the investment could have been worth it.
Remodel was not really needed. There are other not-so-easily measured factors that made this an unwise choice. We went from being an office full of large full height cubes and individual offices down to tiny half-height cubes and no offices for anyone. So the loss of productivity alone thanks to these changes easily outweigh any gains in utilities savings. I have a feeling some outside consultant sold the facilities department on the open concept work spaces without actually consulting anyone who worked in those very spaces.
I think we cross the line from frugal to stupid when we deny ourselves something we really want — and can well afford — but don't get it (or do it, like a vacation) just to put away more money. If I die with a full bank account but fail to have enjoyed my life, I'm an idiot and my so-called frugality has become an addiction of a sort.
Also, we cross the line from frugal to cheap when our "thriftiness" hurts other people. For example, not tipping properly, never spending money to please a child or a spouse, not paying your fair share of restaurant or drinks bills, not chipping in for office parties, etc. I'm a great believer in "we get what we give — emotionally as well as financially.
They are two separate, unrelated activities. I was showing how in one activity someone can be stupid while in another completely unrelated activity they can be frugal.
The way I look at it is that being money smart encompasses your entire economy. That includes money coming in, money saved, and money spent.... and time.
I look at it in terms of savings and convenience. Look at all the money you can save by doing your own laundry (not dry cleaning). I mean seriously, how difficult is it to throw clothes into a machine! I never paid for trash pickup ($30 a month now) and instead tossed it in the neighborhood school dumpster. I figure, over all the years I've lived here, I've saved over $3,000!!! My dance teacher said "If you watch your pennies, your dollars will watch themself"
A natural gas furnace still requires electricity to operate. We have fireplaces should the power go out.
We have a backup propane stove. It's not a furnace, it requires no electricity and it heats the entire house just fine (if you leave all the doors open).
20yrsinBranson
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