Many times the way to frugality is PATIENCE. Many times if we are patient, we can purchase items at a discount or avoid extra fees by being patient. At these times, to be patient is to be frugal. Remember that frugality is a mindset, and as we become more and more frugal in our mindset or attitude, we will save more money in a variety of ways.
One of my hobbies is video games, though I'm not a serious gamer by any means. My favorite game on the Xbox is Halo 2, though I don't play very regularly. About a month ago, I started playing Halo 2 on live again more frequently. For those of you unfamiliar with Xbox Live services, one function of the service is to make content available for download. With Halo 2, new maps become available for download periodically. These new maps generally cost $4 for a set of two. Until you download the new maps, you can only play about half of the game types, excluding my favorites. Last month I was really tempted to pay the $4 and just have the maps so I could play whatever I wanted. I withheld though, knowing that the Halo website promised they would be free for download in early July, as the former map releases had become free a couple of months after release. Patiently I waited, and last night my patience paid off! I downloaded the two maps for free! Just $4? I know. But frugality is a mindset.When your cellphone plan comes up for renewal, what do you do? Do you run out and buy the latest phone that you've been watching on TV? Do you buy whatever your phone provider has on sale? Or, do you look around, see what's out there, and use some patience. Cingular/AT&T has different phones on sale all of the time. To buy whatever you want as soon as you are eligible for an upgrade is not frugal, for if you wait the phone you want will be on sale at some time in the next few months, saving you sometimes as much as $50 or more. The new Apple iPhone is $499 or $599 right now (4GB, 8GB, resp.). As history is a good indication, in a year it will be much cheaper. The LG Chocolate dropped 52% in its first year, the Samsung SGH-D520 31% in a year. To be patient is to be frugal.
High school students, when you take the ACT, you can get your scores online in just about 2 1/2 weeks instead of waiting the 4-8 weeks it will take to get them in the mail. But it will cost you an extra $8. That's 27% of what it cost to take the test!!!
When you order checks, or other items, do you select "Rush" Delivery and a quicker shipping method? On 2 boxes of checks through Checks Unlimited, I can choose standard delivery for $5.30 and receive my checks in 10-14 business days, OR I can choose to Rush the order for $5.95 and cut 2 business days off that time in plant, and then choose overnight delivery so that I get my checks in 3 business days for a total of $31.20, an extra $25.90 to save 7 days! That's a lot when the checks themselves cost $27.90. To be patient is to be frugal.
Frugality is a mindset, and one part of that mindset is patience. To be patient is to be frugal.
3 comments:
Just as an FYI, both my sons took the ACT over the summer and got their scores back within two weeks (without paying the fee for "quicker" online access).
I had the same experience back in the "dark ages" when I took the test. Though they have to give a "longer" wait as a warning, it usually takes less than a month to get the results back via mail.
So then what you're saying is sometimes we pay because we aren't patient, and then get nothing extra for the extra cost. Good point guys!
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