On Being Frugal
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To be honest, I never really thought of myself as cheap. I like to save money; I have a budget; I put money away in my 401k every month. I am money conscious. I am savings savvy. I save enough to have fun, go on trips like the one I am on and still put money away for retirement. I think I am being intelligent with my money.
But. And there is always a big but, right?
When you travel with a “why not have fun and spend your money now in case you die tomorrow - you can always make more later” kind of person, you seem like less of an “organized saver” and more like a tightwad.
EXAMPLE: We go to the grocery store and buy (perishable) supplies of food for the next couple of days. We drive past a McDonald's.
He says, “Let’s stop and get a hamburger”.
I say, “We just bought lunch meat. Let’s stop and make a sandwich”.
He says, “But I feel like a hamburger”.
I say, “But the lunch meat will go bad.”
He says, “So we will buy more lunch meat tomorrow.”
Sigh.
Another Example: We rent a campervan for three weeks in order to drive around (and camp in) New Zealand. We decide to stay in City A. I check the camping ground booklet. Aha! There is a camp ground; it’s 6 dollars a person. We arrive in City A.
He says, “Maybe we should just get a hotel”.
I say, “But we rented a campervan and there is a camping ground right here and it‘s only six dollars a person”.
He says, “But I don’t feel like staying in the campervan.”
I say, “But we didn’t budget for a hotel. A hotel is 60 dollars.”
He says, “But a hotel would be nicer”.
Duh.
Oh the joys of travel. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. And sometimes you spend more on one night’s accommodation than you planned on spending for three day’s budget.
It's hard sometimes.
Are you frugal? Does your significant other agree with you when it comes to money? If not, how do YOU deal with it?
The A-Z blogfest is over, but I am still plugging on anyway. O is for "On". Stay tuned for P!