Skip to main content

Why I Feel Being Stingy in Your Expenses is Also Stupid

iStock Photo

I remembered some time ago when I wrote about how being miserly is not a good option. It's not that I advocate being the opposite extreme and being a spendthrift either. What I'm trying to advocate is balance. I was reading through the comic strips of Simple Sum Philippines. Sometimes, we need to write things less academically to reach a wider audience. I think the Simple Sum Philippines manages to do just that--a more casual approach. One of the comic strips I've read talked about being stingy. What I'd like to think is the awkwardness of the situation based on experience.

It's one thing that the Chinese tend to be stereotyped as stingy. An Israeli could also be stereotyped as such as well. I remembered how the sitcom The Nanny even had the furniture covered in plastic. There was even a joke that the Israeli accepted the Ten Commandments because it was for free. It's only natural to want to save up money. However, it becomes a dangerous thing when one becomes a hoarder. It's too unfortunate that I've noticed absurd practices such as hoarding stuff, cooking the same food all over again because it's "economical" (never mind there's a lot of cheap, delicious food to try out), buying the same easily-broken brand all over again (because it's cheap), etc. Such people only care about short-term savings such as, "As long as I can't spend money." Such people can soon be easily exploited one way or another. Did they bother to compute for the long term?

If there's such a thing as compromising quality for a brand name--it's possible to compromise quality all in the name of saving ahem hoarding money. Such people may be prone to doing something illegal so they could keep hoarding money. Saving money for a rainy day is good. Hoarding money like that's all there is to life isn't. It's like the Aesop's Fable of The Miser and His Gold. The miser kept his gold in a secret spot and it eventually got stolen. Would have the miser placed his gold in the bank--maybe it would've been in better hands. That's why I don't like the idea of putting all your life savings in a secret spot or under your mattress. It reminds me of a Spongebob episode where Mr. Krabs got into a "cash coma" when his mattress (containing his money) but thrown away.

I think there's the problem of too good to be true. A miser may reject a Ponzi scheme but end up buying stuff too cheap to be true. I'd like to make some exaggerations for fun. For example, would you believe that I bought a smartphone for only PHP 100.00? Would you believe I bought a pair of shorts or pants for only PHP 10.00? Those are obviously too good to be true. Labor expenses in garments factories go from equipment, labor force, and all expenses related to the company's operations. No good garment manufacturer will sell at a loss. Making a smartphone isn't so easy either. Research and development are absolutely not cheap either. Somebody may be buying these because it's "cheap". However, that cheap smartphone may be prone to exploding, that cheap appliance may be prone to exploding, that cheap chair fell down and broke your spine, not getting insurance will compound the hospital bills, wearing torn clothes will provide huge embarrassment, and traveling abroad with broken luggage is a very huge disadvantage.

It would be very much unlike if I did this. If I bought energy-efficient equipment--my electricity would go lower so that I wouldn't have to wait for two months (getting a notice of disconnection) before I pay for it. Besides, not paying your bills until you get a notice of disconnection is highly disrespectful. Just remember the customer isn't always right even if the call is there to always treat the customer right. Politely cutting away electricity connection for unpaid bills isn't mistreating the non-paying customer--it's to save other good customers from getting bad services as a result of bad credit. If I bought a good smartphone (and no, I'm not referring to branded items) then maybe I could use it for two to three years before I get another phone. I still prefer to hold on to a phone for up to four to five years. I don't want to keep changing my phone too often either. Though, upgrades in technology may make it better advice to get a new phone if the technology gets obsolete. 

I find myself trying to strike the balance. I tend to overspend or become a miser. I feel like stingy people can be of bad effect. It could also cause serious health issues when one compromises safety in order to keep hoarding money. Instead, it's striking the balance. Thrifty is good. Stingy is bad. Easy to memorize. Very hard to do.  

References

Websites

"Don’t Stinge On These Expenses" (May 24, 2022)
https://ph.thesimplesum.com/dont-stinge-on-these-expenses/
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Yes to Filipinas Marrying Foreign Men, No to 100% FDI Shares Ownership?!

Today is Valentine's Day. I feel Valentine's Day is plain overrated. Some people just get a date for the sake of it--even if it means enduring that materialistic girlfriend or abusive boyfriend! Isn't romance a year-round thing? A few Valentine's Day ago, I wrote about Filipinas marrying foreigners and that FDI doesn't include Filipinas dating foreigners . This time to add some comedy, I wrote this post. It's something to say, "Yes! Somebody is married to a foreigner!" It's the hype to get job opportunities abroad or to marry a foreigner. Blossoms Why do Filipinos want to marry foreigners? The Blossoms blog writes down the following: Love and Affection: Love is often the primary reason for marriage, and Filipinas who marry foreigners may do so because they have fallen in love with someone from another country.  Financial Stability: Some Filipinas may marry foreigners because they believe a foreign husband can provide financial stability and secur...
Read more

Facts vs. Gossip: Did Vietnam (According to Filipino MARITESes) Develop from Its Own Treasury Before Opening Up to FDI?

Vietnam Youth Union It's been 80 years since Vietnam achieved its independence in 1945. Some time ago, I wrote about how Vietnam's Doi Moi actually disproves the Trust Me Bro School of Economics . I wasn't too accustomed to researching Vietnam's ironic economic miracle . Vietnam is a one-party state ruled by the Communist Party of Vietnam. The word Communism would evoke fear and terror. What I find funny is that some people are using Vietnam as an excuse not to open up the Philippine economy (read here ). Such misinformed  people think that Vietnam "won this revolution," supposedly self-industrialized from its own treasury before opening up to FDI. In short, some people either believe that (1) Vietnam is an example of how a highly protectionist economy works, or (2) that Vietnam made itself rich before opening to FDI. Both of them are lies. I'll focus on the second point for this new blog post!  Right now, some people say that I'm just another marites...
Read more

China's Real Great Leap Forward and Economic Cultural Revolution Under Deng Xiaoping

Nobody can dare deny that China has become a big superpower. I remembered I went to China last 2007 (which would be more than 10 years ago). China had become such a huge metropolis of power that I'm amazed at it. I was thinking about how Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing were truly magnificent cities before the pollution problem (which should call for eco-capitalist measures). I was thinking about how I never realized China was once dirt poor.  Did you know China used to be so dirt-poor? The "economic legacy" of Mao Zedong was a disaster with the so-called "Great Leap Forward". It was a great leap forward all right--a great leap forward to ruin. Mao seeking to avoid the use of foreign resources to launch China proved disastrous. The 1970s would see a dramatic change when Deng Xiaoping finally took over the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The beginning of the rise of Communist China under Deng's new political policy would pave the way to China becoming a great s...
Read more

Going from Tet Offensive in 1968 to Doi Moi in 1986

Foreign Trade University The Lunar New Year isn't just celebrated by the Chinese. Chinese New Year is one form of the Chinese New Year. Other forms of Lunar New Year follow   the Chinese New Year cycle, such as the Tết Nguyên Đán of Vietnam, the Japanese Lunar New Year, and the Seollal in South Korea. There's also the Tibetan New Year and the Mongolian New Year. I remember when talking about Vietnam celebrating the Lunar New Year together with the Chinese, my fellow Chinoy made the squity-eyed gesture to talk about most Vietnamese looking like Chinese. Should we even be surprised that there's a Vietnamese student who looks like the deposed Alice Guo, aka Guo Hua Ping?  What was the Tet Offensive about? Right now, I want to talk about the infamous Tet Offensive , which was a Lunar New Year attack of January 31, 1968. The Western concept would prefer to talk about it on January 31 instead of the Lunar New Year. A Filipino would probably say, "So what if it was Lunar Ne...
Read more

Ironically, COMMUNIST Vietnam Continues Improving FDI Conditions, Compared to DEMOCRATIC Philippines

Vietnam National University It's crazy how people don't realize the bigger picture between Communist Vietnam and the democratic Philippines (read here ). It's really crazy how Senator Joseph Victor Gomez Ejercito apparently thinks that delayed proceedings to Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio's impeachment trial could scare away FDIs. Meanwhile, Atty. Renee Louise Co of Kabataan Partylist could talk about economics, all the while Kabataan Partylist is still against open FDI. It's amazing how Raoul Abellar Manuel, a cumlaude in applied mathematics, still believes in #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics! Meanwhile, the biggest picture is that Communist Vietnam , while it's under a One-Party State of the Communist Party of Vietnam, is has the better picture of how to invite FDIs. In fact, the Constitution of Vietnam  is rather silent on economic restrictions . The CPV chooses to impose economic restrictions through legislation rather than enshrining them in its Constit...
Read more