Do you watch your money, or just buy on impulse?

[DesertIguana]

Had nitrating experience the other day had got to met friend for Cigar & conversation in a different Cigar Shop then normal. Noticed this place was pricy on every item the were selling. The one item that I kew for sure was a line of lighters as friend is prep, and I know costs, shipping, and volume discounts.

The item inquisition has a MSRP of $24,99-$25.00/unit, the item has normal keystone markup, volume discounts, and last freight. This shop was selling at RETAIL of $50.00 twice retail. The Lighters in question are really available online, and other B & M for $18.12-$23.00ish all day long.

Guy had nice shop, nice humidor, good selection of beer n wine, nice place but even his Cigars were mark way over MSRP.

Hate over paying, hate what I call shady business people, hate hearing SUPPORT your Local B n M, when they are not competitive. Like I told someone years ago, you say support your local B n M, but I seen you going your vendor for nickel n dimes.

 

[Barley]

94% of the time, I watch my money. 6% of the time (when I am on vacation) I just don't worry about it, and consider the exorbitant prices I pay part of the experience.

 

[DesertIguana]

Well I have not left State where I live since, 2014. Last time I was in Las Vegas was 2008, have friend who go to Vegas Annually to work convention, and trade show. All I hear is how the City of Las Vegas is become so expensive to do trade show, and then the cost of rooms + resort fee, and food is getting to point of insanity.

GREED is killing everything that use to be fun, recall going to Disneyland first time in 58, last time was over 10 years ago. Seemed Disney's business made was empty guest wallet, and run up credit cards.

We had a FREE AIRSHOW last weekend, at USAF Base. Parking by base was run buy I do not know who ran, but was $40.00/Car. Know this as we were going shopping Sunday on base, and traffic at 0800 was nuts. No we did not stay for airshow, shopped, and went home.

 

[Ravenonrock]

I watch my money, so when the impulse strikes I buy guilt free.

 

[House Boy]

I try to do business with these independent run stores but the more upscale the area is the more I'll have to pay for goods and services. If this store is in a strip mall setting the person running the store is being financially raped by the building owner/s, the person running the store better have very high walk in volume.

 

[Hopalong]

I always watch my money, and always have. That's why I have money.

 

[Mojo88]

In no way being judgmental, but I know of situations where friends will have mortgage payments well into their late 70s. They decided to make that step up to the larger home and now are stuck as they can’t sell due to the interest rates. And to boot the average payment is over 2k a month.

We never did the multiple 10k Disney trips like some families in our neighborhood. We did spend money but it wasn’t impulsive. Also we never spent or hid money from each other.

 

[Sideburns]

My parents were part of The Greatest Generation. Dad served but never went overseas. My sister's a late War Baby and I'm an early Boomer. They were always thrifty, not to say frugal and passed it on to us, although more me than her.

 

[mcee_sharp]

Most of the time I'm very budget conscious and don't spend outside my means. I loathe a credit card balance. I look at the small unit price text on grocery store shelf labels and save money where I can. My dad always drilled into me that debt should be avoided when possible.

That said, I have no issue with "treating" myself to a luxury on occasion, seeing the intangible benefits of hobbies that cost $, or spending more on a quality item if that results in less $ spent long term.

So I guess as far as cost/benefit of my shaving hobby, I've run the numbers and approved them!

 

[Firemonkey]

I am a cautious and deliberate spender above a certain threshold, but below that threshold I will make what feels like a minor purchase on impulse. That threshold has moved over the years along with my earnings and liabilities. However, I have zero debt whatsoever, so I don't have to feel guilty over buyers remorse on an impulsive purchase.

Commenting on the previous mention of Vegas - I was there twice in the last 6 months. I used to go there once a year for work, and agree that it's absurd how things have changed. Parking used to be free at most places, now only one casino/hotel on the strip offers free parking. And the sphere - a new concert venue - charges $100/ car just for parking!

I also live near Disney in Florida, and despite them raising ticket prices on the regular, the parks are still packed. A week at Disney staying on property for a family of 4 is easily $8-10K, (maybe 6 if you're really budgeting, not eating in parks, etc) and the place is still insanely crowded. US Credit card balances increased by $50 BILLION in Q4 2023, and are at a record high $1.13 TRILLION now, and higher interest rates don't seem to be slowing anyone down. Something, somewhere will eventually have to give - so maybe we all need to be more cautious?

 

[blethenstrom]

Living on a monthly budget makes me watch where I spend and I save up for when I need something a bit larger. Therefore like some earlier posters I do not feel guilty when I buy it either. Also I find that if I am in the process of saving up for something I many times find that I really do not need the item anyways.

 

[DesertIguana]

Well I had my own business 25+ years when I made major buy of equipment it was two thing that made sense, price, and availability.

Same with supplies, I always bought from mail order place, they beat local by 20-30%, even with UPS BLUE SHIPPING.

Only fill in, or speciality item need now got bought locally.

Penny save is penny earned.

 

[Hopalong]

My parents were part of The Greatest Generation. Dad served but never went overseas. My sister's a late War Baby and I'm an early Boomer. They were always thrifty, not to say frugal and passed it on to us, although more me than her.

Mine too. If I only had a nickel for every time they said "during the depression."
I was taught delayed gratification. If you want to buy something, save up. Do not buy on credit.
I have never paid one cent in credit card fees.
The only money I ever borrowed was for the house, and paid it off in half the term.
I bought a new pickup last year, paid cash. I belong to several truck forums and Facebook truck groups.
These kids nowadays, on a brand new truck, buy fancy new aggressive tires, and put expensive "lift kits" on them. Thousands of dollars spent extra for this stuff.
They were making fun of my "stock grandpa truck", called it "stupid"
I simply said, "which is more stupid, my stock grandpa truck, or your truck payment?"
The silence was deafening. LOL

 

[Rudy Vey]

I always watch my money, checking bank accounts and credit card accounts daily....never know what some might do - had some bad experiences, but thank god I was on top and nothing bad happened. Tip from my banker: never use a debit card for online purchases!! It is only used in my local shopping and maybe in a restaurant, so places I go frequently and know the owner of the restaurants.
Paying my credit cards of every month, so I never go into debt.
Check on all my buys, have not a problem dropping coin on stuff we like or need. But, always keeping an eye on your accounts. Had a colleague who laughed at me when I told him I check bank twice a day and CC daily once - he is no longer laughing now after someone took a lot of money from him.
Also, use Zelle and Venmo only if you know the person on the other end of the sale. If you fall for it, you never get it back - I leaned my lesson on a puppy purchase once, never again.

 

[Frito Ray]

I do think it is important to research and item and know it’s going price, but I also expect and am willing to pay ten to twenty percent more in a b&m, iff (if and only if) the service is good.

 

[njpaddy]

We married young, without jobs, almost 55 years ago, so it's been a struggle at times. We never had time or money for a honeymoon, but never missed it. I wouldn't call us frugal, but we probably spend more helping our daughters and grand-daughters keep their head above water, than we do on ourselves. Although I retired with a small pension and health insurance, we're fortunate in that neither of us have major health issues.

 

[Lightcs1776]

My wife and I are both frugal and budget minded. We were able to pay off the mortgage when I hit 51, though my goal was to have it paid at 50. This has allowed us to be more generous with giving to what we believe are good causes, within reason. We are currently saving cash for the next vehicle in order to avoid a car loan. It doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy things, we just budget for them, saving up until we have the cash in the bank. Once it is there, we put it on the CC to get the rewards and pay it off when the bill comes.

 

[AndyPanda]

I grew up in the 50's out in farm country, far from any city. I'd pickup empty pop bottles by the side of the highway and take to the fruit stands to get the 5 cent deposit back. I could trade 3 empty bottles for one full bottle of Orange Crush or Bubble Up (the pop was 10c and the third bottle was for deposit on the full bottle which I'd get a nickle back after I finished drinking the pop)

When my kids were about 12 or 13 they were asking for about $20 or so to buy something they wanted. I handed them a gallon jar full of coins from me emptying my pocket change. They acted like I was crazy! I explained how they could sort them into coin rolls and exchange them for folding money - but they didn't want anything to do with it, too much work. Hard for my 50's brain to even grasp this modern mentality.

I tried to demonstrate/teach and spent about 30 minutes rolling up all the coins and took them to the bank and got about $95 in bills (kept for myself - they didn't want to work for it). Showed my kids how much money was in the jar but they didn't seem to gain any insight from the demonstration.

I watch my money and I still bend down to pickup a coin on the sidewalk. The kids still complain that my generation got all the advantages and they got screwed in this world that they can never afford to live in.

 

[Mojo88]

The kids still complain that my generation got all the advantages and they got screwed in this world that they can never afford to live in

I worked nights, weekends and holidays for a long time. Interest rates were 18% when we bought our first house. It was a struggle, but we did it together.

I don’t discount things are difficult today, but we did without many things and didn’t have debt. We were told if we wanted something, work for it.

 

[DesertIguana]

I grew up in the 50's out in farm country, far from any city. I'd pickup empty pop bottles by the side of the highway and take to the fruit stands to get the 5 cent deposit back. I could trade 3 empty bottles for one full bottle of Orange Crush or Bubble Up (the pop was 10c and the third bottle was for deposit on the full bottle which I'd get a nickle back after I finished drinking the pop)

When my kids were about 12 or 13 they were asking for about $20 or so to buy something they wanted. I handed them a gallon jar full of coins from me emptying my pocket change. They acted like I was crazy! I explained how they could sort them into coin rolls and exchange them for folding money - but they didn't want anything to do with it, too much work. Hard for my 50's brain to even grasp this modern mentality.

I tried to demonstrate/teach and spent about 30 minutes rolling up all the coins and took them to the bank and got about $95 in bills (kept for myself - they didn't want to work for it). Showed my kids how much money was in the jar but they didn't seem to gain any insight from the demonstration.

I watch my money and I still bend down to pickup a coin on the sidewalk. The kids still complain that my generation got all the advantages and they got screwed in this world that they can never afford to live in.

Life experience teaches life lessons. Recall as maybe 7 year old working at a construction site for apartment complex of Saturdays. I got $0.50 to pick the site, if I found unused nails sorted, and returned to proper wood keg. The bonus was picking up discarded soda bottle for recycle fee of $0.02/bottle.

Think my life got big lesson on money at age 11 with paper route. Learned about dead beat, chiller, and all the fun of have a mini business where you learned to manage money, deal with losses, and buy your own supplies. Never made the projected income, because of move out, and dead beat who never paid for paper, or have to replace stolen paper out of profit money. Yes people would steal someone newspaper, and paper boy had to replace it.