Seeking a good deal is always a prudent thing to do. However, there’s a difference between a good deal and cheaping out. Finding a high quality item you need on Craigslist at a fraction of its retail price can legitimately be considered a good deal. Finding a similar item, at a much lower price that’s of lesser quality is when being a cheapskate can backfire. Thus, it’s useful to ask yourself questions such as, “Should I get a personal loan for credit card debt?” when you’re looking for ways to save money.
Half Price Isn’t Always a Deal
So, let’s say you’re in the grocery store and you come upon a huge sign that says, “Buy one, get one free—for a limited time only!” That could be a good on a product you use on a regular basis. However, two for the price of one isn’t a good deal if you would have never bought one in the first place.
In other words, allowing your purchase decisions to be driven solely on price, rather than taking your needs and the utility of the item into consideration is a bad idea.
Truth be told, that two for the price of one deal could end up costing you money—rather than saving you money—because you never needed the item in the first place.
Minimum Payments/Maximum Costs
Okay, so this time let’s say you’ve just opened a $5,000 credit card bill and you see the required minimum payment is only $200. Relieved, you transfer $200 to satisfy the account for that month and don’t give it another thought until the following month.
Here’s the thing though, “taking advantage” of that $200 minimum payment could end costing you over $3,000. Plus you’ll be paying off that debt for 11 years.
Minimum credit card payments are a trap, designed to extract the maximum amount of interest from a given balance. In many cases, you might be better off getting a personal loan and using it to pay off that credit card debt. In so doing, you’ll typically see a lower interest rate, which will result in a lower payoff amount.
Doing It Yourself Can Be Expensive
Replacing the rubber flappy thing that lets the water out of your toilet tank? Yeah, that can be pretty easy to do yourself. Replacing the entire toilet? Not so much. Here’s the thing, YouTube tutorials make everything look easy; because there are often nuances (such as the amount of time something actually takes to do) those videos overlook.
Often, in trying to take on such projects to save money; you’ll make the undertaking cost more than if you hire someone who does it everyday. After all, those people can typically get the endeavor completed in an expedient fashion;—without damaging other things in the process—saving you money in the long run
Deferred Maintenance = Expensive Repairs
You know you’re supposed to change the engine oil in your car every year; or every 7,500 miles — whichever comes first. Instead, rather than changing it, you just add a quart of oil whenever it’s low.
And yes, it’s true, that does cost less to do—for a little while.
However, the added wear this will place on your engine is eventually going to cause a pricey failure. Preventive maintenance is called “preventive”, because that’s exactly what it does—Backfire prevent. Thinking you’re saving money by not performing it, is setting yourself up for a far larger bill down the road; and is yet another instance in which being a cheapskate can backfire.