Saving. Wanting. Saving. Wanting....
Smart Savers find a way to make their wants happen without sacrificing savings. I fully believe that there's a big difference between wants and needs - yet anyone can make their wants happen with savvy saving.
I know that headline is too crazy to resist, right?! A boy in China sold his kidney to get an iPad 2…what? By American standards that parenting has to be questioned, but it did bet the question by SavvySugar.com - what body parts can you sell for cash?
So the Nate Berkus show is also all about saving today…noticing a pattern in daytime tv?! Nate confesses that he’s never used a coupon. One has a shopping order that is more than $600, but post coupons its $3 (roughly). The other lady has an order that is $292 and gets it for $6.92 - the chicken alone was $6 which means everything else was $0.92.
Confession: I always thought I was saving money by purchasing store brand products, but they never have coupon’s for those. Turns out by maximizing coupons you can have as many name brand productions as you want.
Question: I am wondering if these lovely ladies ever by produce. Maybe it’s just me, but I never get coupons for produce. Do you?
For more coupon secrets you don’t know…visit the Nate show.
And the rich get richer by making smart decisions: Like saving.
Saving…or savings? We all need savings. Yes. Yes we do.
I’m addicted to coffee. Not just any coffee, but soy lattes. And, mocha lattes. My husband loves cinnamon dulce lattes. He’s cute. Espresso is my lifeblood. Especially during the school year when I watch the sun rise from my classroom and days end long after the sun’s gone down.
But, I have a coffee maker. Coffee has caffeine. I don’t NEED a latte. I don’t NEED to pay $4 (for the double shot, of course). (Why does coffee taste better when someone else makes it?)
Ever read the Automatic Millionaire? Author David Bach writes about the “Latte Factor” where he believes that it’s not a single choice to buy a latte, but a choice of how you spend your money.
Therefore, while I firmly believe that I can continue to enjoy one of life’s simple pleasures at home buying an espresso maker isn’t need. It’s a want. I want one real bad. So I’m saving for one. It extremely creative ways. I’ve already “earned” $5 (see below). Plus, aren’t little espresso cups the cutest?
What are you saving for?
I once had the cheapest boss. Cheap does not even begin to describe this little penny pincher. I could get 18 quotes for a project, show him the lowest (and already negotiated lower) price, and he would cancel the project because it would cost too much. While saving money is smart (and savvy), you can take it too an extreme and frugal can turn into the wicked little brother: Cheap. Cheap is really not fun for anyone; however, even savvy savers have their moments.
I have a new “want.” My coveted espresso maker, to be mentioned soon, costs a lot of money. While we save a lot each month, and could easily buy this, I don’t want to take money away from savings for a “want.”
Here’s the situation. We live in a large condo building. Occassionally people will put things out by the trash that are good - they just don’t want and don’t want to put the effort into donating. Enevitably someone will pick it up and keep it…or someone puts it in the trash. I really don’t know.
So, my husband saw a combination corkboard/markerboard beside the “trash” cabinet and brought it home for my classroom.
My classroom is bursting at the seams and I decided pretty quickly that while good intentioned I didn’t need it. It lingered in the guest bedroom for a few days before I had flashbacks to my old, cheap (CHEAP!) boss. During high school his “job” was making money by getting things out of the free section of the newspaper and selling them. CHEAP!
Can you see what’s coming?
I firmly believe that I could sell even my toenails on Craigslist and listed this little corkboard/whiteboard combo for $5. Yup. Sold!
Now, I have a little plastic bag with a $5 bill in it that says: My ESPRESSO Machine. This one way to make my “want” happen without busting our savings plan. Love it? Hate it? I caved into a uber cheap moment!
Me:
Husband:
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