Frugality Fails

I did something completely illogical upon realizing that I was financially independent. I doubled down. I conceived of a plan to slow down at work (which I enjoyed) and plotted up a scheme to stay at home, cook, clean, and do all the chores that we had hired out previously (Which I didn’t enjoy). I harassed my wife about getting rid of her car, and started to eye our monthly bills with a hatchet in hand ready for blood. But why? I was already financially independent. I already had enough based on my current spending levels. More than enough. So why was I trying to complicate my life to force even greater savings? I was heading down a path of frugality fails that has become even harder to correct as time goes by.

Why fails?

Frugality is only as good as it allows you to better allocate your resources for greater joy and less suffering. When you jump on the stoic treadmill and it no longer fulfills your needs, you might have just gone too far.

Charge Me Up

I have talked in the past about my one major stealth wealth fail. Well, the Tesla is also a major one of my frugality fails. This time it has to do with charging. I charge my car. Everyday. But I hate to pay the extra on the electrical bill. So I drag myself daily to the dealership charging station and plug-in.

It can take up to an hour or more to fully charge. Meanwhile, I sit in the passenger seat and am confined to doing busy work or writing a blog post. While not completely worthless, I could be doing better things with my time.

But I don’t.

All said, between travel and charging time, this may take up to two hours of my day. Two hours so that I can save a measly $3 dollars at most. That’s barely more than a thousand dollars a year.

Yet I do it. Consistently. Frugality fails to save me money when the cost of time is considered.

Comparison Shopping

We are big time comparison shoppers. We may travel to more than one shop to buy a simple household item. In fact, grocery shopping may fill up a whole Saturday. The cheapest fruit can be found at one store. While the best meat may be at another store all the way across town. And don’t forget Trader Joe’s. No shopping trip is complete without stopping at Trader Joe’s.

The amount of time and gas wasted probably makes this yet another one of our frugality fails. Any benefits of such careful spending is out done by the energy required to achieve these “wins”.

Yet we do it.

Satisfaction

It is no secret that these are frugality fails. That the price of pinching pennies may indeed be costing us dollars. So why do we do it? I think it has to do with satisfaction. There is a certain amount of positive feelings involved each time something is bought for less.

Maybe it is the thrill of the hunt. Maybe it is the habit.

The habit is one honed from saving huge on other purchases we haven’t discussed here. Because there are also the incredible frugality wins. The house hacks, travel hacks, and other efficiencies that we build into our lives that really do move the needle.

Once you turn on the thrifty engine it is often hard to turn it off.

Final Thoughts

Sometimes we take frugality too far. Sometimes our wins turn into frugality fails. I suspect we let habit get the best of us. After years of practicing impactful care in our spending habits, it is possible to occasionally go too far and have the exact opposite effect.

Like so many other aspects in life, we are imperfect.

Not a fatal flaw when taken in context.