This article appears in the Carnival of Money Stories at Consumer Boomer. If you came from the carnival, welcome!
Sometimes we think we’ve totally shed our old consumer lifestyle and emerged as a truly frugal, consciously living person. We know we’re so integrated in this new lifestyle that, even if we won the lottery we wouldn’t go back to our old spending ways. We’re comfortably smug as we watch the Joneses keep struggling. Then something happens and our old self rears its ugly head and lets us know that we have to stay focused!
A few weeks ago my old refrigerator quit working. I emptied it out, turned it off, let it sit for a day or two and turned it back on. It worked for a few days and then quit again. That’s it, I figured, time to replace it. Not only did I decide that I was going to replace my fridge, I decided to replace all my appliances! They’re all sixteen years old, I reasoned, probably going out soon anyway, why not head that hassle off at the pass and just go ahead and get new ones? Just like that, I was right back where I started a year or so ago, ready and willing to spend money to replace something that still worked, for the sake of sheer convenience and opportunism.
I have another fridge in my shop and had moved all my food out there. I had some trips planned and decided not to do anything until I got back. Just like most other things, buying appliances in rural West Texas is difficult and I wasn’t prepared to deal with it just then. I did some research, made my decisions about what I wanted, and then put the plan on the backburner until a more convenient time.
Subsequent to my refrigerator failure and before I’d acted on my urge to buy all new appliances, I lost my job. Even in the face of this adversity I was still planning to replace the fridge, if not everything else. Basically for the sake of form, I decided I’d better at least call the repairman to come take a look. He visited me this week and, for $116 he fixed my fridge, proclaimed it good for at least another fifteen years and felt there was no reason the other appliances wouldn’t last a good long time too. This guy also sells appliances so no, he wasn’t drumming up future business for himself!
Why, one wonders, was this repairman visiting me a good six weeks after the fridge failed? After I’d spent countless hours picking out new appliances? Why did I think of him last instead of first? I thought I’d beaten that old, unconsciously spending person I used to be into submission a long time ago! It was a good reminder that I’m not quite there yet. Allocated budget for all new, unnecessary appliances - $3,500. Necessary expense - $116. Number of perfectly good appliances going into the landfill - 0. Lesson learned – priceless!
Have you ever lost your focus? Luckily circumstances stepped in to foil my attempts to derail myself. What about you? How far wrong did you go before you got yourself back on track? I got my wake-up call, what about you? What snapped you back? Isn’t it wonderful that we get to fall off the wagon and then are allowed to get back on?!
Friday, June 19, 2009
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4 comments:
Mary
We all fall back into this trap often. They way I get around it is to be focused or obsessed with something. For example, right now, I am just focused on writing and doing research for my blog. Hence, I
1. wear the same old clothes every week (wife gets pissed with that).
2. Can;t be bothered looking at changing our 8 year old card (too much hassle).
3. Have not done things like hang up pictures around the house!
4. Wife wants to change kitchen, but I just can't get mu butt moving!
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I use a combination of being obsessed with something and my old procrastination habit to prevent myself from splurging or getting into spending habits. That works for me.
Mr Credit Card
16 years is a long time to have your appliances but that doesn't mean they'll stop working soon. my oven/stove/microwave all in one thing is 30 years old and only the clock doesn't work on it.
Wise move!
LOL! I lose my focus about once a day. Maybe I need frugal eyeglasses!!
That $300 purse I bought a while back -- on the day the bosses were feting me for my longevity at the Great Desert University less than a week after they'd told me I would be canned! -- is the most recent lapse. To make things worse, I hate the thing: it's one of those bottomless pits that "disappear" everything you put into it. The other day I had to dump the entire contents onto the pavement next to the car to find the car keys!
@MrCreditCard - I think that's as good a technique as any!
@Carrie - I have a friend who just replaced her 30 yr old fridge too. We're such a throwaway society, it's good to have a reminder that somethings are still made to last!
@Funny - I wondered about that purse. It seemed so out of character for you. Even worse that it ended up not being something you love! Darn!
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