As we’re trying to get out of debt and be more responsible with our finances, one of our goals is not spending extra money on unnecessary things. We don’t go out to eat on a regular basis. We don’t buy a lot of clothes and shoes. We don’t buy books and music unless we have an Amazon gift card to pay for it. But I’m finding myself regularly fighting five little spending traps. See if any of these sound familiar.
“We always go out to the steakhouse for my birthday. A good birthday steak is a tradition.”
“It’s Easter, so we need new outfits for church.”
“It’s a thrift store/garage sale, so it’s fine.”
“But our _________ (you fill it in) is so old/ugly/broken and needs replaced.”
“But we work hard. We deserve it.”
Let’s take a quick look at each of these and some alternatives to keep us from allowing little leaks in our money-saving habits.
The Tradition
Traditions are fun. They add meaning and memories to the everyday. It’s so easy to slip into tradition without considering the impact on our family’s bottom line. Sure, the steakhouse tradition is fun. It’s something to look forward to. But it’s also pricey. Even if it’s not a steakhouse, it’s still more expensive than eating at home.
The Alternative: We’ve started cooking a special meal at home when we’re celebrating. For Emma’s birthday this year, we allowed her to choose the menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on her birthday. We didn’t have to buy many special ingredients, and she thought it was so fun to be able to request whatever she wanted for her birthday. For the grownups, we like to buy something that we might not usually buy for dinner… like steaks. We still spend WAY less than we would if we went out, but there’s a special meal to honor a special day or a special someone.
Holiday Splurges
Oh I’m so guilty of this one. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught myself in the mindset of needing something just because it’s a holiday. Really? Need? You mean I can’t go to my closet and find something that looks really nice (or even just nice enough) to wear to church? For an hour?
The Alternative: I used to be one of those people who would make sure that we ALL had something new to wear on Easter Sunday. Do you really think that God cares if your blouse is new? Now I try to remember what we’re celebrating and focus less on what we’re wearing.
The Thrift Store/Garage Sale Trap
Thrift stores and garage sales are fun places to explore. We just went to a consignment booth-type store when we visited my mother-in-law a couple of weeks ago. The place was filled with all kinds of STUFF. As we walked through the store, I caught myself thinking about how we’ve been trying to get rid of stuff. The only thing that appealed to me in the whole (and it was HUGE) store were the books for Emma. That’s what we walked out with.
The trap that I see with thrift stores and garage sales is that things are inexpensive. But inexpensive = spending money. If you’re trying to save money, get out of debt, or just make ends meet, spending money isn’t the answer, even if it’s only a little money.
The Alternative: If you truly need something (jeans for the kids, etc.) then a thrift store might be a good place to shop. Otherwise, I’ve found that avoiding them is much easier. If I do go, I make sure that I have cash on hand and that I stick to only spending what I had planned to spend.
Must-Replace-It Syndrome
I have a friend whose grill just died. Can you imagine going into the start of the summer grilling season grill-less? Well that’s just what she’s going to do. Even though they could go out and buy a grill, they don’t have money designated for a grill purchase right now. They have other plans for their money. So guess what they’re doing. They’re NOT buying a grill. They are quite capable of cooking indoors, and that’s what they’ll do until they decide that it’s time to buy a grill and have the money set aside for it.
The Alternative: I’ve seen it too many times – and been guilty of it myself. We see something that’s broken or getting older or maybe even just downright ugly. We want to replace it. But if we stop and think about it, it most likely doesn’t need to be replaced. I’ve started asking that question whenever I’m up against a decision. Is it a want or is it a need? Want to guess what the answer usually is?
What Do We Deserve?
I’ve saved my favorite one for last. This is the one that gets under my skin, and if you’re sensitive, you might want to protect your toes. I have a feeling I just might step on someone’s. But it needs to be said.
Yes, we work hard.
No, that does not mean that we are entitled to anything.
Working hard doesn’t mean that we deserve to go out to eat. Working hard doesn’t mean that we deserve to own designer jeans. Working hard means that we’re willing to work hard. Working hard means that we can take care of our families and keep our jobs. Working hard means that we’re serving God by giving our best each day.
The Alternative: If working hard happens to mean that we earn enough money to budget for eating out and designer jeans, then by all means we should be able to choose to buy them! But just working hard does not mean that we’re entitled to anything. Let’s not allow our hard work be ruined by the false premise that we’re entitled to spending money.
I’m sure that there are lots of other traps that we can fall into. I know that we’ve ‘leaked’ way too much money over the years on things that weren’t necessary. I’m learning that paying attention to my actions and my attitude usually keeps me away from the traps, but I have to stay focused if I want to avoid them.
I’m sharing this post at:
:: Tip Me Tuesday hosted by Tip Junkie
:: Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family
:: Thrifty Thursday hosted by Coupon Teacher
:: Finer Things Friday hosted by The Finer Things in Life
:: I’m Lovin’ It Fridays at Tidy Mom
:: Frugal Friday hosted by Life As Mom
What a great post! I love your willingness to wait even if it means sacrifice. And what you said about thrift stores…yes! That is always how I’ve felt. I am getting rid of junk, why do I want someone else’s (unless, like you said, it is something I am specifically looking for). I don’t need the temptation to go home with yet another set of punch cups that I might use someday in one of my kids’ weddings. LOL! Thanks so much! Lisa~
Well said, Lisa! We’ll keep committing to specific junk only. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
What a great post. Thanks for sharing!
The three most beloved men in my life have always been able to boil down the truth to its most basic form so they would say:
Thrift Stores or Garage Sales – “You can go broke buying bargains.” – (Grandfather) Spending what you don’t have on what you don’t need – “Life’s hard enough without kicking your own tail.” – (Father)
Entitlement – “I don’t deserve God’s grace and I don’t deserve to go out to eat.” (Husband)
That’s some of the best advice I’ve ever heard! LOVE it!
Thank you for sharing! I sometimes get caught up in the “I deserve it” trap. 🙂
I’m with you, Shelly! It’s so easy to do. We do work hard, don’t we? But sometimes the work itself is the reward.
In my household, the ‘I work hard, so I deserve it’ phrase seems to be said a lot around impulse items. I call it the ‘likewantgive!’ syndrome. So now I’m trying to use that thought as a cue to back away from the purchase for a week or so — most of the time, I’ve completely forgotten about whatever it is I HAD to have in that moment.
Great post! 😀
Ooh what a GREAT self-monitoring idea. I know exactly what you mean. I think I could justify just about any purchase. 🙂 Thanks for sharing this tip!
I guess I’ve questioned every purchase for so long that these questions aren’t really trouble for me.
When it comes to garage sales, I limit myself. I go to a community garage sale that is held twice a year, and I go with a list and a set amount of money (last time it was $30). I have found things not on my list that our family needed, but they had to be within the budgeted amount that I already brought.
I only go into a thrift store if I’m looking for a specific thing. For example, if something is broken, the thrift store might have a good replacement for it, if I cannot repair it or go without. First, though, we see about repairing items.
We’ve done without a grill for 5 years. It’s been okay, though–we also haven’t had meat to grill! It works out just fine.
I like your point about how long you will be wearing a new outfit at church 🙂 Since we go to church every week, church clothes will definitely get worn again. “New” outfits are fine when children have outgrown something, but it could be new from the next size up box we have, new hand-me-downs, modified hand-me-downs, etc. My oldest girl doesn’t have anything in a bigger box for church, so I did make her a dress this year–using fabric I already hand on hand. My oldest son needs a short-sleeved dresss shirt for this summer, so I’ll be shortening the sleeves on a hand-me-down dress shirt for him.
My first thought is to see if we can make do with what we have. It serves us well.
Great examples! It’s amazing what ‘deals’ you can find when you ‘shop’ at home instead of heading to a store, isn’t it?
This post is a great reminder of how easy it can be to justify extra spending. Thanks for reminding me of these traps!!
You’re welcome, Tracey. I think it was a good reminder for myself too. They’re easy to fall into!
I do pretty good until #5. I don’t think I have a huge entitlement problem but I do sometimes wonder how we got to this point in life, been so frugal for so long and still have to watch our pennies and pass up on that bottle of wine or Frappuccino, etc. I want to be able to afford to take my kids out for ice cream without trying to figure out where the money is going to come from. Ugh! Budgeting just gets old sometimes.
Totally understand where you’re coming from. In fact I’m thinking about starting up a budgeting series again… more for me than for readers. 🙂