- Image via Wikipedia
A recent Twitter conversation between Queen of Free, Keeping Feet and I highlighted a major frugal fail. We were sharing bargain purchases that were still unopened—mine was from Black Friday 2008! Oh, I’m sure I was completely convinced I needed it at the time, but I clearly didn’t.
In my defense, we did have a lonely television, but it broke before the DVD player was ever connected to it. How many times have we justified an unnecessary purchase with “it was a great deal!” when it was probably not in the budget? It’s a real struggle to balance the frugality of necessary stockpiling with wasteful spending. Buying something just because it seems like a good deal doesn’t help in the long term.
I love sharing coupon codes & deals on the things people need and love, but I don’t want you rushing to buy it just for the sale. There will always be another sale, new coupons and more awesome deals! Of course, I’m all for grabbing useless freebies—those can always be donated to avoid the clutter. The real key is to watch for bargains on things your family actually needs or uses.
Take advantage of a great deal on clothing you love, use coupons to buy supplies for current projects and snap up deals on items you were planning to purchase anyway, but avoid spending money just to save a few bucks on something you don’t need. What do you have in your home just because it was a good deal? Can anyone top my 2008 purchase?
Art of Couponing: Matching Coupons
Dining on Vacation
Make Money on Your Excess
Oh, my Black Friday TV was being put to good use as a computer monitor, but never as an actual *TV*- it’s still not hooked up to cable or an antenna, almost 3 months later. I’ve definitely made some of those “It was a good idea (and a good buy!) at the time” purchases!