Sigh! The Value of Money

I've been saving money like a mad woman for my trip this fall, yet I've been spending money as if I have a better paying job. In the past six months, I've bought several high ticket items that I've questioned, yet have decided was worth the cost. Let's recall, I'm not usually a big purchaser of techy items. Cable doesn't exist in my household; my DVD player is from 2000; and yes, I still have the same VCR from 1995. So I was pleasantly surprised to receive a coupon for a new phone from my cell provider, but Mich reminded me, it wouldn't be a true discount because of how expensive new phones can be. I had upgraded my phone 18 months ago to a smart phone, but still one of the cheaper ones because I felt I didn't really need all the extra bells and whistles on my phone. And I paid for that mistake. I had repeated issues, phone replacements, etc. with my cheaper phone, which drove me crazy. So I wandered into the store, after doing some in-depth research, I am after all a librarian. As the sales guy showed me all the features on the one phone I was really interested in, I tried not to drool as I decided to purchase a new Droid phone. These are not cheap phones, they're the equivalent of buying a new laptop, but I had my excuses in my head for why it was acceptable to spend the money: my old phone was acting up again and would need to be replaced, I could stay better in touch than I already do, I could take the 0% payment plan, and I was absolutely jealous of Mich's phone when she visited. While the sales guy rang up my purchase, he actually offered me a better deal on my rate plan. Of course, the payment plan will now replace the savings I would have gained from the new rate plan, but oh well. I've now had the new Droid phone for 3 weeks and have to say, I do not regret spending the money. I can't say enough about how much I love this phone. It was a worthy purchase for my needs. Do you have any buyer's remorse or joy stories?

I Swear I Saved

Over the past few months, I've been scrimping and saving for my fabulous fall road trip with Michelle. I even have a sign on my front door reminding me not to spend money. I've been throwing away the L.L. Bean catalog as it arrives and ignoring all those email offers, in the hope of saving money. I was getting excited watching my savings grow. Then real life hit. Of course, as soon as you put a little money away, something has to break. Right? I had a nice visit with the eye doctor where for the third year in a row, my prescription changed enough that I needed new lenses. Plus, I've been squinting without sunglasses, so I had to buy new ones and their lenses, so I walked away with a nice big bill. Next was the visit to the car dealership for routine maintenance. Wiper blade replacements and hailstorm damage to the windshield set back my savings account again. I'm wiping my brow now, thinking I'm safe, but finally have to admit that my point and shoot camera is no longer functional. And I love my photos, so that is a required item. I can live without cable, but not the camera. And of course, I forgot that all of our annual insurance renewals happen this time of year.

I shall remain calm and remind myself, I still have another 3.5 months to save again for my trip. Especially cause it will be an amazing adventure!

Making Cents

A colleague of mine was shocked the other day that we would send a bill for $0.40. The individual stated, anything less than a dollar should be waived. I stared at the person in shock, before raising my jaw off the ground and tried to explain the concept. If we waived any bills under a dollar, it would add up to thousands of dollars of lost revenues over a year. And in our world of constrained budgets, every cent counts. It was terrifying to me that this individual didn't understand this. The person thought I was just being overly conservative about money.

I remember the first time my father explained why every cent counts. I had questioned why he drove across the street to get gas for one cent less than the gas on our side of the street. To my childish mind, it made no sense. My father asked me to figure out how much money he would save over a month or year by saving that measly one cent and what I could buy instead with that money. It was a concept I learned rather quickly as a child.

I guess I should have used the same explanation to my colleague. If we receive a hundred research requests a week and thirty of those bills are less than a dollar, how much unrecognized revenue would accumulate over a month or year.

I truly hope this colleague never is placed in charge of our budgets because this is fiscally irresponsible in difficult budgetary times. But it does make me concern to think how many other people believe it's no big deal and to round up or down when it comes to cents. Don't get me wrong, I don't nickle and dime everything in my life, but I think this is a reasonable concept to use in a work environment. Has anyone explained this concept to the next generation who may not understand the idea of decimals and the importance of making every cent count? Just food for thought.