http://www.whatareyousavingfor.com/2008/05/01/saving-or-sabotaging/ - a community of savers Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:37:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 http://www.whatareyousavingfor.com/2008/05/01/saving-or-sabotaging/#comment-118 ImpulsiveSpender Thu, 08 May 2008 13:13:17 +0000 http://www.whatareyousavingfor.com/2008/05/01/saving-or-sabotaging/#comment-118 Another good one is when you convince yourself to spend a certain amount on something and then find a cheaper alternative and think that you can use the money you saved to spend on other things. I recently bought a portable air conditioner (which, by the way, I charged to a credit card knowing I could not pay it off right away) for my bedroom since I sleep best when it's cold. I rationalized that this would pay for itself as I would not have to pay to cool my entire townhouse to a good sleeping temperature at night. So I spent over $300 for the portable air conditioner only to find that it was noisy and was unable to cool the room as I envisioned. I returned it and bought a ceiling fan instead, "saving" over $200. Though I had not saved the $300 that I initially spent, now I was thinking I could afford trail running shoes with some of the money I saved. Thankfully common sense won out and my impulsiveness passed and I am holding off on buying the running shoes until I save for them. Another good one is when you convince yourself to spend a certain amount on something and then find a cheaper alternative and think that you can use the money you saved to spend on other things. I recently bought a portable air conditioner (which, by the way, I charged to a credit card knowing I could not pay it off right away) for my bedroom since I sleep best when it’s cold. I rationalized that this would pay for itself as I would not have to pay to cool my entire townhouse to a good sleeping temperature at night. So I spent over $300 for the portable air conditioner only to find that it was noisy and was unable to cool the room as I envisioned. I returned it and bought a ceiling fan instead, “saving” over $200. Though I had not saved the $300 that I initially spent, now I was thinking I could afford trail running shoes with some of the money I saved. Thankfully common sense won out and my impulsiveness passed and I am holding off on buying the running shoes until I save for them.

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