25 Things That I Do That DON’T Save Money-And Why.

Although I write about frugality, and try my best to watch my pennies, I admit that there are some things I do that are not frugal. Since writing “The 25 Things I Do To Save Money” I’ve been promising to fill you in on what I do that doesn’t save money, so here it is. I am doing this as a sort of reality check for myself, as well as to encourage you all not to feel guilty about your own choices. I hate to think that my frugality might actually intimidate some people-”oh, I could never do all that, so I might as well not try”. I’m imperfect just like everyone else!

Now, before someone writes in chastising me, I want to make the following disclaimer:

I KNOW that life is to be lived and enjoyed, and that there is no point to scrimp and save now and bank on enjoying life “later”. DH and I truly beleive in doing things that are fun and enoyable now, and not waiting until retirement. That is why we have made many of these choices. I have said repeatedly that my philosphy is to save money on the things that don’t really matter to me so that we can spend money on the things that do matter. Many of the 25 things I’m listing are things that we have made a concious choice to spend money on because for one reason or another we feel they matter.

Then again, some of the things are because I am just lazy, or haven’t spent much time thinking about them. Those are the things I need to improve.

Here we go!

1. We have 3 motorcycles, and buy all the associated shiny bits that DH can’t live without. This is one of DH’s main hobbies-he loves it. Going out for a ride on one of the bikes is his “mental health break” in the nice weather. This makes it worth it to us.

2. We have, counting the inherited antiques, 5 cars for 2 drivers. Again, one of DH’s hobbies, and the cars were from Pop, so have added sentimental value.

3. This year we paid a good chunk of money to have our camper at a local campground. Although we didn’t use it as much as we could, we enjoyed it as a family. Nana had the spot next to us (which she probably wouldn’t have done if we hadn’t also gone) and she LOVED going. We will probably use it a lot more next year.

4. I bought myself a $120 diamond ring to wear instead of my wedding set when my skin acts up. I could have bought a plain $30 band that would have served the same purpose. I just liked this one, it was pretty! I have never spent that much money on a piece of jewelry for myself (DH has spent more than that on me thought) and I just decided to do it. 2 months later I am still happy with the purchase.

5. We paid someone to paint the interior of our house before we moved in. Could we have done it ourselves? Yes. Was it ten times easier to have it done so we could just move in and not have to mess with it? Hell yes!

6. I still wind up throwing out produce that has gone bad in the fridge. It all just looks so good when I’m shopping and then I don’t use it up or freeze it sometimes. I have gotten so much better about this in the last 3 or 4 years, but it is still a challenge for me.

7. Our kids have more toys than they know what to do with. This is even with us trying consciously to limit the amount of presents we get them for holidays. Of course that isn’t really for frugality reasons, but rather to try to raise kids who aren’t spoiled. Still-with the lure of the holidays it is still sort of hard to resist.

8. When my sewing machine broke this summer I bought a new one for over $200. It doesn’t matter that I’ve only used it around 3 times in the last 2 years, gosh darn it a woman needs to have a sewing machine in the house. . . it broke about 2/3 of he way through making Princess her nightgowns that I promised for her birthday in, uh, April . . .

9. The yarn stash just keeps growing. It doesn’t matter that I have 2 big tubs full of yarn that I haven’t used, or that I don’t have a project in mind for the yarn I’m buying. . . especially when it is name brand yarn on sale up at the “Real Deals” dollar store in Norwich. After all, it’s only a dollar. . . . . . famous last words!

10. We have lobsters and steak (usually an expensive cut too!) for Christmas dinner every year-so the single home cooked meal runs over $50. (most times a meal for 4 runs just a few dollar total when cooking from scratch. . . ..)

11. Although I have plenty of clothing, as in I can’t get the dresser drawers closed, I still like to buy a few new pieces each season. In my defense on this one-I’m currently weeding out a lot of clothes that I haven’t worn for quite some time and will be selling them in the spring yard sale. Also my “buying new clothes” usually consists of going to the Salvation Army Thrift Store and picking things up for $3 or $5 dollars each.

12. I’ll spend $20 on stuff to put in a care package for my sister, and then spend another $20 shipping it to Iraq. Hey-she’s my sister, she’s deployed to the desert, and as a Veteran who has been deployed I know how much care packages mean. It’s worth every penny.

13. I fairly frequently return things late to the library and have to pay fines. Probably along the lines of a couple of dollars a month. I could fix this by paying closer attention to when things are due, maybe writing it on the calendar (videos are the biggest offender here, they are only out for a week and are a $1 a day late fee). I find it hard to be upset though, since for 10 years in the Army I didn’t pay any state taxes, and yet in each state I was able to use the local libraries for free. I figure it is just my way to support the library system.

14. Speaking of videos, I get Netflix. I don’t watch much regular TV so that is my entertainment. I could probably get many of the same items through inter-library loan, but I like the convenience and selection of Netflix. Especially the ability to get tv shows on DVD. And it is still cheaper than if I rented the same items through the local video rental place.

15. As I said, I don’t watch TV much. The kids watch Disney Channel or PBS, and DH watches mostly Fox News, and COPS on Saturday. I’m now watching the second season of the new Dr. Who on SciFi on Fridays. For those few things we pay for the entire cable package. We could probably cut out the cable, or downgrade it to basic, and DH could watch Fox on streaming video (work pays for the internet) the kids could watch PBS and I could wait to get Dr. Who on Netflix. But we don’t.

16. We send out about 80 Christmas cards each year. Although I buy my cards at the dollar store (they have some really nice ones if you buy early-arrghh! Christmas season creep again!) DH always writes a nice newsletter, and we print a full color collage of pictures on the back of it. . . .which uses a lot of colored ink. We could probably cut the list down by quite a bit-but it makes us feel good to have contact at least 1 time a year with old friends. Then again, maybe if they haven’t sent anything back in a few years they should get nixed!!

17. I pay to have Buddy in daycare 2 afternoons a week and Princess in after school care (I’m not counting Buddy’s mornings in nursery school because I feel that is very important). I do this so that I can either work at my little job (which doesn’t make me as much as I am spending out in daycare) or just have the time to do errands and projects. This is totally money I could save-but it is my time, and it saves my sanity. If money was tight, it would probably be the first thing to go, but since we can afford it, we do it.

18. I probably spend over $100 a month on evening baby-sitting. I pay $5 an hour. Sometimes DH and I are going out, sometimes we both just have activities/club meetings that occur at the same time. To us, both being able to do the activities we enjoy-such as his pool league, American Legion Riders etc, and my theater obligations, church groups, TOPS etc-is worth it.

19. I just restarted my gym membership, even though I didn’t use it enough to make it worth the money I spent last winter. But this time I have a PLAN! I have a girlfriend who does home daycare. Because she does after school care for a few kids, she isn’t full during school hours. I’m going to pay her to watch Buddy 2 to 3 times a week for an hour at a time so I can go work out. Important for my health, important for my self image, just important. Again, if money were tight, it could go. . .

20. I’m getting ready to shell out some $$$ for some “Creative Memories” brand photo albums for my childhood photos. If something happens to those photos, I can’t get them back. I want them stored in something that will keep them safe. I’ve always felt that if the house were on fire, and I only had time to grab one thing (assuming of course all the family was safe) I’d want to grab my photo albums. Of course, in reality I probably wouldn’t be able to carry them all!

21. My engagement ring cost as much as many used cars do. You are not going to see me offering to trade it in for a smaller model

22. We are going to put an addition on our house next summer. In all honesty, if we needed to we could live pretty comfortably in our house the way it is forever. But it will be very nice to have a larger bedroom and a separate office (aka our old bedroom) to free up the downstairs den for entertaining. . . .

23. We have a hot tub. I have no idea how much it adds on to our fuel bill in the winter since we plugged it in when we moved in and haven’t had it off since (well, ok I tripped the circuit once so it was off for a day.). We use it 3 or 4 nights a week year round, sometimes more. We bought it used 6 1/2 years ago, and when it dies we will go right out and buy a new one! Not only does it really help with muscle aches and pains, but the time in the tub is DH and my time. We just relax together, and talk about our day, the kids, whatever. We’ve even discussed “Area 51″ after staring up at the stars.

24. We don’t redecorate ad-nauseum, but when we buy furniture etc, we buy decent quality. Our bedroom and livingroom suite’s are Thomasville, bought new (and not on credit by the way-we saved up for it)

25. I believe in good shoes. My clogs & good summer sandals are Dansko ($89-$115 each) and I’ll be buying a pair of the clogs in black this fall, and sandals in brown next summer. I also have a pair of real Birkenstocks. My feet are worth it! Also, since they are high quality they last a long time (my Birks are almost 10 years old and still going strong)

If you’d like to write your own list just let me know by posting a comment and I’ll post a link.