Loading ...Penny Pinching versus Living Life
photo by Porrota and Errachy Curry ^_^
As I listen to the Dave Ramseys of the world, I cringe when I hear his catch phrase, “Save today, so you can live like no other tomorrow” or something to that effect. On New Year’s, I learned that a young man I had met in passing two nights before had died in a freak accident the day after I met him. Stuff like that will shake you; especially when the person is the same age as you. Throughout history the “Scrooges”, cheapskates, and ultra frugal have been scorned for their tremendous discipline. The question I ask of you today is, is being cheap really a virtue?
Has being cheap interfered with your way of life?
- Let’s face it, if you are on a first date with someone and all they did was complain about the cost of the meal, it would be safe to assume the second date is pretty unlikely to happen.
- How about the last time you bought a steak from the store, were your kids complaining about how tough the meat was?
- What I’m getting at is that there is a difference between being smart and cheap. The smart person is knowledgeable enough to know that there is a better deal somewhere else. A cheap person would rather save $.05 cents and will argue with the waiter to get it down.
Most things in life that people enjoy are relatively cheap:
- Personally, the things I like to do are relatively cheap. Blogging, exercising, video games, being with family; the most that these things cost is a little bit of your time.
- If you can’t afford a nice family vacation, that’s fine. I think your wife, spouse, or girlfriend will understand. However, if you have been giving the same lame excuse for 10 years then you may need to look at yourself in the mirror.
Everyone can blame the economy on their particular circumstance. The key I have found is to curb spending without making life miserable. What is joy without pain? If it takes a second job to go on that Vegas vacation, do it. If it takes a brown bag lunch everyday to get your wife that Coach purse, do it. Just remember to live life.
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Tags: Personal Debt, Personal Finance
I completely agree. Sometimes it’s a fine line, but there’s definitely one there! We never know what’ll happen and so we need to start allowing for some enjoyment before it’s over with.
What happened to you happened to me once. While working at a Ren Faire, I met a guy and we started talking online as friends. He even got on myspace because of me; then one day, a friend had posted that he’d died in a car crash on his way back from Thanksgiving with his family. He was young, also, which always makes it worse.
If stories like these don’t do it…nothing will stop the cheap from always crossing that line.