Sojourner
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2012
- Messages
- 2,595
A few days ago while at the grocery store, I had one of those little moments of sudden clarity where something I was doing struck me as what I’ll call “irrationally frugal”.
I was shopping for paper towels and was trying to decide between the generic store brand and the fancier “more absorbent” name brand. The store brand cost $2.99 and the fancier brand cost $3.99 for roughly the same square footage of paper towels.
So I stood there and thought about it, and I picked up each package and read the marketing verbiage printed on the side and tried to decide which one seemed like the better value. Of course, the frugal shopper in me was leaning in favor of the cheaper store brand. But then, I had the epiphany…
“You know, self, you only buy paper towels like this maybe 5 or 6 times a year. It’s not like you’re making this purchase on a weekly basis, so even if you buy the fancy name brand every single time, you’re only spending an extra $6 per year. That’s $60 per decade. That’s less than your monthly satellite TV bill! So maybe, just maybe, why not buy the name brand this time… or every time!”
So, guess what I did. I bought the cheaper brand! As someone with a science and engineering background, I like to think of myself as highly rational in most aspects of my life, but it seems like frugality wins out when it comes to paper towels (and many other things, too). For some reason, I find it very hard to pay a premium for something that seems so basic and common. Same goes for things like toilet tissue, shampoo, aluminum foil and foods like rice, canned tomatoes, frozen vegetables, etc.
Do you have any "irrational" frugalities like this? If so, have you just accepted them or do you find yourself struggling to be more rational and loosen up the purse strings whenever you notice them?
I was shopping for paper towels and was trying to decide between the generic store brand and the fancier “more absorbent” name brand. The store brand cost $2.99 and the fancier brand cost $3.99 for roughly the same square footage of paper towels.
So I stood there and thought about it, and I picked up each package and read the marketing verbiage printed on the side and tried to decide which one seemed like the better value. Of course, the frugal shopper in me was leaning in favor of the cheaper store brand. But then, I had the epiphany…
“You know, self, you only buy paper towels like this maybe 5 or 6 times a year. It’s not like you’re making this purchase on a weekly basis, so even if you buy the fancy name brand every single time, you’re only spending an extra $6 per year. That’s $60 per decade. That’s less than your monthly satellite TV bill! So maybe, just maybe, why not buy the name brand this time… or every time!”
So, guess what I did. I bought the cheaper brand! As someone with a science and engineering background, I like to think of myself as highly rational in most aspects of my life, but it seems like frugality wins out when it comes to paper towels (and many other things, too). For some reason, I find it very hard to pay a premium for something that seems so basic and common. Same goes for things like toilet tissue, shampoo, aluminum foil and foods like rice, canned tomatoes, frozen vegetables, etc.
Do you have any "irrational" frugalities like this? If so, have you just accepted them or do you find yourself struggling to be more rational and loosen up the purse strings whenever you notice them?