2009.01.27
What to consider before you spend
Have you embarked on any shopping sprees lately? I did some major shopping just after Christmas at an outlet mall in Tennessee, where the sales were great.
Lately, I've been cutting back on what I consider fun shopping to save money. I'm sure I'm not the only one. These tips below about what to consider before you make that purchase just arrived in my inbox from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Financial Literacy Commission. They're important for all of us to remember.
Before you spend:
1) Check your inventory: Look through your closet and ask, "Do I really need anything?"
2) Plan ahead: Use extra funds to pay down debt and save for an emergency fund, particularly as the job market turns more uncertain.
3) Do the math: Beware of free interest or low monthly payments on large items, such as "no interest for 36 months" deals. If you miss a payment on a bargain item that's attached to a no interest deal, you could be charged a high interest rate and end up shelling out more money than you expected.
4) Make sure you are covered: Find out how to get warranty service or a replacement, for a purchase. If a retailer goes out of business, you probably won't be able to return an item.
You can visit AICPA's financial literacy Web site for more information and tips.
We haven't done any spending sprees at all in quite a while. Our largest shopping trips are for groceries at this point. I did splurge and buy some clearance Christmas items at Wal-Mart though. I bought 5 boxes of lights and 3 boxes of cards for next year, and spent a whopping $3.00 ($0.30 per box on lights, $0.50 per box on cards) total on all of it! We had been planning on buying an HDTV this spring, but that is being put off as long as our old TV doesn't die (which it could at any moment). When we do buy a new TV, we're going for a much smaller one that we originally planned on, since we figured that the viewavble space on our old TV is a mere 24" on letterbox, so we have no need to replace that with a 42" flat panel. a 32" at half the price will do just fine when we get to it, and will still be an upgrade from our current setup. Otherwise, we're saving up for some upcoming vet bills and a set of new tires for our SUV, and putting the rest into paying off old debts.
Comment by Other John — January 27, 2009 @ 3:04 pm
One thing I do before a shopping spree is make sure all my laundry is done. Then I feel like I have too much and won't spend as much on things I don't need.
Comment by Brandi — January 28, 2009 @ 12:06 pm
Same kind of goes for grocery shopping. If you eat before you shop, you buy less...or at least that's been our experience.
Comment by Other John — January 28, 2009 @ 11:24 pm
Brandi,
Doing laundry before clothing shopping is a good idea. I'll try that sometime!
Comment by Jenny — January 29, 2009 @ 9:53 am