One of the Dumbest Financial Things I've Done

Growing pumpkins is NOT a dumb thing.
It's a source of frugal fun for me.

I'm cleaning out some of my kids' stuff this week and came across a large set of children's books. Doing this brought to mind some kinda dumb financial things I've done in my adult life.

I've done a lot of dumb things. But there are two of them that stand out in my mind for costing more money than the value provided. Here's the first one. When my son was a baby, I signed up for one of those story book of the month clubs. They sent us the first 3 books for about $2 plus shipping. Then every month after they sent 2 more books for $5-something each plus shipping. The deal was I was free to return any book we didn't want to keep, but I would have to pay the return shipping. And I could cancel at any time. Anyway, I was busy with a small baby and didn't get around to canceling for many months. While we did amass a nice collection of children's books, it wound up costing a lot more than it would have if I'd bought books like Golden Books from the drug store. These monthly merchandise clubs are often financially wasteful.

The other stupid financial choice I made was before I was married. I joined a gym with a 2-year contract that wasn't remotely convenient for me. I went for about 3 months, then never made the time to go again. Meanwhile, I continued to pay off the 2-year contract, even after I'd moved out of state. In hindsight, I should have asked if there was a shorter term contract, or even a month-by-month payment. I also could have found a less expensive way to get exercise, perhaps a YMCA or parks and rec classes.

The most costly financial "mistake" my husband and I made jointly. When we originally financed the purchase of our home, we qualified for both a 15- and 30- year mortgage. As is customary, the 15-year mortgage had a lower interest rate than the 30-year one. We knew we could afford the payment on the 15-year, but we went with the 30-year out of fear something could happen and we'd have a difficult time making the larger payment on the 15-year mortgage. In the end, we refinanced to a 15-year mortgage in 4 years, paying new closing costs. This fear-based decision cost my husband and I substantially more than either of my/our earlier dumb choices. At least this "mistake" of ours wasn't on dumb stuff.

Can you look at your past and see dumb or costly financial choices? Can you see ways that you could have done things differently?

Microwave Blackberry Upside Down Cake

And for no related reason whatsoever, here's another microwave recipe. I baked this over the weekend.

Microwave Upside Down Cake

(The recipe calls for canned pineapple, but I use whatever fruit I have. The one in the photo is a blackberry upside down cake, using half the butter in the fruit layer and granulated, not brown, sugar, but the rest of the recipe as written. Peach or apple upside down cakes are also delicious.)

fruit layer

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 8-oz can pineapple slices, reserve juice

4 candied or maraschino cherries, cut in half

batter layer

1  1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup soft shortening (I use a mix of butter and oil)

1 egg

liquid from pineapple plus milk to total 1/2 cup (if baking any other fruit cake, use 1/2  cup milk only)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

In 8-inch round microwaveable dish, such as a soufflé dish or quiche dish, microwave the butter to melt. Sprinkle sugar over butter. Drain fruit and arrange in dish. Decorate with cherries.

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix in soft shortening, egg, liquid, and vanilla until smooth. Carefully spread over fruit layer.

Microwave until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (6 minutes in my turntable 1100 watt microwave). Lacking a turntable in the microwave, rotate dish a half-turn midway through cooking. Total cook time could range from 5 minutes to 10 minutes, depending on wattage of microwave. Begin checking at around the 5 or 5.5 minute point.

Remove from microwave when baked. Cool 5 minutes in baking dish. Use a table knife to go all the way around the edge of the dish to loosen the cake. Invert onto a plate and allow to stand for a few minutes. Serve warm, if desired. 

This recipe makes 8 slices for my family. I place an upturned glass bowl over the plate of leftover cake as a cake dome to prevent drying out overnight. We finish the cake on the second day, and it's still very enjoyable.

The Frugal Person's Dilemma: Are You Still Frugal if You Spend More Than You Need To?

I had to show you this -- a licorice shrine.
Apparently, licorice is a very big thing in Scandinavia.

This may shock you: There are instances when I feel downright spendthrifty.  Our Wednesday day trip to Poulsbo, WA brought out my extravagant side. We spent more on a few purchases, some as gifts and others to enjoy by our family, that I definitely could have bought elsewhere for less. Surprising as this may be, you can even find souvenir t-shirts that feature the name of a town or attraction on Amazon for close to half the price as buying at that destination.  For these purchases, though, I wanted to support some local businesses, even if it meant I would spend more.

The choice to spend more for ethical, sustainability, or community-driven reasons presents a dilemma for frugal people -- the question of are you still frugal if you spend more to prioritize non-financial aspects of purchases in place of maximizing savings at all times?

It may be ethical sourcing that's important, such as not patronizing brands that use child or slave labor, or don't pay their employees a fair wage, or do something damaging to the environment in the production of their goods. Sometimes it's about shopping at businesses that are locally-owned, or are small businesses. And sometimes making a purchase from a non-profit will benefit a greater cause than simply profit. This idea of being selective with purchases extends to restaurants and other similar establishments. A person may prefer to support an independently-owned restaurant to keep money in their local area.

In my family's case the other day, we bought a Christmas gift for an extended family member, a men's t-shirt for my husband, and some salty licorice, pastries, and ice cream/iced coffee for us to enjoy. The Christmas gift came from a store that features items from Scandinavia and will be appreciated by a family member who strongly identifies with the Scandinavian side of our family. I could have purchased a Christmas gift for this family member on Amazon. But I wanted my purchasing dollars to benefit a local business. 

This was my husband's first visit to Poulsbo. I took our three kids there many summers ago, and bought t-shirts for each of them then. My son still wears his t-shirt, and my husband has admired it a time or two. We found the same shirt in several color choices at the maritime museum. Their merchandise sales keep this museum open to the public with free admission. We saw other t-shirts at retail shops in Poulsbo for a few dollars less. And I even found a couple of Poulsbo t-shirts on Amazon for several dollars less. But I wanted to help a non-profit stay open. So we made the purchase at the museum.

The food purchases all came from independent and locally-owned businesses. We could have gone elsewhere for the ice cream, breakfast pastries, or licorice. But again, I wanted our purchasing dollars to stay in the area. 

The employees we interacted with all live within a short drive of their places of work. The owners also live locally. My hope is that this town continues to have the same small town charm for many more decades.

There was a time in our family's story when we couldn't afford to prioritize anything but paying the lowest possible price. I'm blessed and can say that we sometimes can now make decisions in ways that help small businesses or non-profits, or keep profits local, or prioritize the way that products are made or harvested that benefit employees or environments. It's a balance, however. We can't make our choices in these ways all of the time. But when we can, it makes me very happy.

Being frugal is not always about saving the most money. Incorporating thoughtfulness in spending has a place in a frugal mindset. Personally, I like to use my purchasing power to help local businesses and their employees. I worked in retail when I was younger, and I think I connect with people working in shops and small restaurants. I want to have an impact on their day in some very small way. Giving them my business is one way to accomplish just that.

What do you think? Do you think a person is still frugal when they spend more in order to prioritize other values instead of maximizing savings? Can you think of other reasons a frugal person would be willing to spend more for a purchase or service?