Delayed gratification: 2 secrets to saving money
Posted
Apr 01 2008, 08:34 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
It's been said that we Americans live in a world of instant gratification. We want the coolest gadgets and gizmos, the best food, the best cars, the best everything -- right this very second. We are impulsive, we are impatient and, most important of all, we fund our impulsiveness and impatience with lots and lots of spending.
You know who else knows this? Stores. There's a very good and profitable reason why tabloids and candy bars are at the checkout aisles. (One of the reasons self-checkout kiosks haven't become ubiquitous is that you can't sell someone high-margin items like magazines and candy if they're busy checking themselves out. Plus, the machines always break for some reason.) Anywhere you go, you'll also likely see small items by the register like trinkets or votive candles or whatever.
You know who else knows this? Salespeople. If you get a quote from someone to do work on your house, you'll often get a special one-day deal. You'll get an "awesome deal" that will be good only for the next three days. If you go into a store that sells furniture or other big-ticket items, you'll be offered six or 12 months of 0% financing if you buy today.
Advertisers scare you by showing a burglar breaking into a home and then flashing a telephone number for a security-system company. They show you beer and snack commercials during football season, and pizza-delivery commercials late in the evening. They know they can take advantage of your need for instant gratification and bypass your normal decision-making patterns.
They're smart, but you're smarter.
Remove the allure of instant gratification and you can save big money. You don't need that tabloid and your stomach doesn't need that Three Musketeers candy bar. You shouldn't take that contractor's awesome one-day deal because you can probably do better. Furniture will always have 0% financing. Always.
Here are two ways to remove instant gratification:
Shop around. If you always get at least three quotes before you buy something, you’ll save money even if you do nothing else. While this seems obvious for high-dollar contracting jobs, it works for things like DVDs and books too. There are two reasons why this is effective:
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You save money by finding the lowest cost among three similar vendors.
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By not buying immediately and waiting to see the price in at least two other places, you may re-evaluate how badly you need that item or the work. You could decide it's not what you want.
Take your time. Sometimes you need to buy things like airline tickets immediately. However, if time is not a factor, wait for the sales to come to you. There are plenty of bargain airline-ticket services that will notify you about the latest fare sales. The same applies to merchandise. For instance, Amazon has rotating deals on all classes of items. Wait until your item goes on sale before you buy.
So, the next time you want to buy something, take a step back and try to find three alternative stores -- or three alternative items that may be cheaper but serve the same function -- and consider whether time is really a factor. These two alone will save you a bunch of money you can better spend on a trip to Europe. Just remember to wait for the deals.
Other articles of interest at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:
"10 homeowner secrets that save you money now"
"Devil's advocate: Don't invest in the stock market"
"Pay-day loans have equally bad financial friends"
