Thanks!

A catch phrase like Trent’s is fine if it works as a tool to help you think twice about what you’re doing, but to work as an effective tool it shouldn’t be fallacious. You shouldn’t be guiding your daily choices according to a principle that’s wrong, as this one is.

It is not true that “Every time you spend a dollar, you sacrifice a bit of your future.” Sometimes you spend dollars to build your future: for example, a dollar spent on high-quality education or on effective vocational training is a dollar that makes your future better. A dollar spent on a routine medical check-up or on a program to quit smoking is a dollar spent that makes your future better. A dollar spent on a book that opens your mind or informs your soul is a dollar that makes your future better.

It could be argued, as PaidTwice implies, that the very act of pinching every dollar pinches your life and your outlook, and that over the long run, the habit of limiting your horizons will limit your future.

If you need to restrain yourself from diddling away a dollar on a soda, a better device might be to ask a simple question: “Will this purchase benefit me?” About a can of pop, the answer’s pretty obvious: no, it will rot your teeth, jack up your blood sugar, add some fat to your belly, and take you another step down the road to diabetes and heart failure. Not making the purchase WILL benefit you by steering you toward a healthier beverage, incidentally saving you a buck or so.

The more I read the wonderful array of PF blogs on the Web, the more I think the point is not money (making it, keeping it, growing it) but quality of life and how we can manage our money and our thinking to make our lives good over the long run. While frugality and restraint play a part in that, it’s very different from and much more complex than pinching pennies.

Kathy

You can only spend a dollar once. Make the most of every dollar you have been given.

I think this is far better advice.

I have to agree with those who posted there is no balance in that statement. Today, I had to spend almost $10 to buy some pedialite for my 2 year old daughter who spend the entire night puking like college frat girl. Every 45 minutes. Dry heaves included. Bless her heart, she had a horrible night and can’t even blame herself for being stupid.

I wasn’t going to fight with my wife – we have some gatorade in the fridge. Water works. Some battles just aren’t worth the fight. However, I did jump on line to look for coupons before heading out the door.

Here’s the beautiful thing about zero based budgeting. I accommodate for all of lifes necessities now and accommodate for life’s pleasures now & later. But I do those to a lifestyle that is within my means. Its called making the most out of every dollar.

I have two SAHM in my FPU class now. Both of them are overjoyed because they are they are writing a zero based budget and putting money in the budget for them to buy clothes for themselves. Prior to this, every time they bought themselves a piece of clothing they felt guilty for spending.

I buy Mountain Dew and even paid cash to take the family to an indoor water park for day this winter and know my daughter’s 529 plan is being funded. Our Roths and our 401k are being funded. This is the beauty of Financial Peace. A written game plan for your money is not a limiting factor at all.

I’m all for being frugal. I’m all for getting a good deal (and believe you me I get incredible deals). I’m all for squeezing a quarter so hard it yields four dimes. But I’m for having a life as well.

GoingGazelle

If one has a good automatic plan in place for debt reduction/elimination, savings, investing, and insurance, to have peace about providing for ourselves and family, as well as charitable giving in order to live with an open hand and share with the less fortunate, the remaining monies (budgeted) can be spent without thinking “I’m sacrificing my future!!!” every time I spend a buck.

Perhaps it’s not your future you’re sacrificing; perhaps it’s someone else’s current need and you’re supposed to give that dollar.

Don’t be so frugal as to be miserly; even if you end up wealthy you’re still Scrooge.

Don’t be obsessed with “building bigger barns.” Jesus taught about that, and called the man a fool. (Barns for storing grain, representing wealth in agrarian society–today that would be money!)

(Assuming you’ve taken care of the basics first and have the cash for it): if you want that Dr. Pepper, have it. Don’t worry. Enjoy that sweet plummy, peppery taste, the tickle of the carbonation in your nose, the sensation of coolness in your stomach…ahhh, so refreshing…

Be Here Now!!!