Comments on: Money Saving Tips: When A Sale Item Still Isn’t Worth Buying

By: What Sizzled the Week of February 22nd? | Fiscal Fizzle - Money Blog - The Hottest Personal Finance Blog

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:02:32 +0000

[...] was excited to see different takes on topics I wrote about in February – the Passive Dad wrote on keeping focus during sales, while the paradox of spending vs. saving continued to be debated at Get Rich [...]

By: Kristin Harad

Kristin Harad — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:38:59 +0000

Great article. I love your bit about really thinking/planning into the future. As financial planner, I’m always trying to get people to think ahead – what will you need vs. what do you want – wand it’s okay to go for what you want, but putting things into the reality of the future can help us decide exactly what to spend now and what to leave and wait for on the future rainy day. Like this article says, if you wait to buy that thing you’re not sure you’ll need, or don’t need for a long time, you’re actually saving money instead of losing money, so the cash will be there if you decide you want to do ‘that’ project down the road. I always like to show my clients how small savings can add up to big money over time:

Save $1 per day = $30 per month = $365 per year

Save $50 week = $200 per month = $2,400 per year

By: Bella Casa

Bella Casa — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:02:35 +0000

Very good advice, Scott! I can’t tell you how much stuff I have bought “just in case” because it was on sale or clearance or at a garage sale. My basement and garage floweth over with purchases like these and in hindsight, I wish I would not have bought 80% of the stuff! The one good thing that this Recession is teaching me is restraint out of necessity…and it is a really good lesson that I needed to learn!

Great post!

By: Manshu

Manshu — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:52:13 +0000

That is one of the primary reasons I stopped visiting Costco. While it seemed that we were getting cheaper stuff, the lot size is so huge that most of the time we ended up wasting stuff. At other times eating stuff – just to finish it.

Its better to pay a little extra and buy stuff you need now rather than pay a little less for stuff you may need in six months.

By: PFI Weekly Updates - February 24 (2009) — Passive Family Income

PFI Weekly Updates - February 24 (2009) — Passive Family Income — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:26:53 +0000

[...] – Scott from The Passive Dad gives us some money saving tips – telling us why a sale item isn’t always worth buying. I can definitely relate to this [...]

By: Wojciech

Wojciech — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:51:20 +0000

I wrote up something like this recently, except for Circuit City, and came to the same conclusion. It’s difficult to keep focus when everything around you seems to be a deal, but it isn’t always, and you definitely don’t always need it. I like the idea of walking in with a list – I hadn’t considered it before. I always leave my wallet in the car when walking into a going-out-of-business sale. If I really need something, I will walk out and get it. It gives me a few minutes to think it over.