I've always been a bargain hunter. But I've recently noticed just how much of my time is spent searching for bargains when I need to buy something. I'm not happy to just get a decent price, I have this overwhelming urge to get the absolute rock-bottom price.
Consequently, I spend hours and hours researching my purchases, be it a computer, auto insurance, or cable TV service. If I buy something, and later find out I could have gotten it somewhere else for $5 less, I get upset and brood about it for days.
Once, I bought a Gap scarf in Chicago for $20. It was a decent scarf, warm and stylish. I went home for break the next week, and saw it at the local Gap on sale for $9.99. No amount of discussion with the store management worked, and I wasn't able to get any sort of refund. I didn't have my receipt with me at home, so I considered buying the one on sale, then returning the $20 scarf when I got back to Chicago. I almost had a nervous breakdown thinking about all of this. Finally, my mother said to me, "How much time and gas money will it take to do all this?"
I'm working on letting go of "small money" as my parents call it. I probably spend more time worrying about $5-10 than it's worth, but it's so ingrained in my thinking that I sometimes have nightmares about falling prices-- after I've made a purchase.
Consequently, I spend hours and hours researching my purchases, be it a computer, auto insurance, or cable TV service. If I buy something, and later find out I could have gotten it somewhere else for $5 less, I get upset and brood about it for days.
Once, I bought a Gap scarf in Chicago for $20. It was a decent scarf, warm and stylish. I went home for break the next week, and saw it at the local Gap on sale for $9.99. No amount of discussion with the store management worked, and I wasn't able to get any sort of refund. I didn't have my receipt with me at home, so I considered buying the one on sale, then returning the $20 scarf when I got back to Chicago. I almost had a nervous breakdown thinking about all of this. Finally, my mother said to me, "How much time and gas money will it take to do all this?"
I'm working on letting go of "small money" as my parents call it. I probably spend more time worrying about $5-10 than it's worth, but it's so ingrained in my thinking that I sometimes have nightmares about falling prices-- after I've made a purchase.
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