Getting Stingy at the Cost of Fire Safety?

March is fire prevention month, right? If there are people who are too extravagant then I'd like to talk again about stingy people (read the article here). I've tried growing up with the stingy vs. extravagant extremes. Some people become stingy even with the necessities. It's one thing to deny a child a children's party since it's a want. It's another thing to deny a child stuff they need all in the name of saving money. Even worse, some people may be more than stingy enough to ignore fire safety.

A stingy person just wants to save. It's almost like the story of the Miser and His Gold or The Rich Miser. I really find these stories entertaining at the same time, irritating. The first story has the miser who hid his gold under the ground. Some people today are too distrustful of banks and investments. The second story has a rich man who even dresses in rags, denies his son's shoes, had his wife cook some cake only for him, and was so greedy he had it coming. The stories may end up in the issue of fire safety as well.

I could think of absurd ways that a stingy person can ignore fire safety:

Not setting up proper fire safety measures set by the fire department.
Buying cheap appliances (while ignoring the safety measures) so they don't have to spend more money now.
Getting super cheap repair services at the cost of safety.
Not setting up a firewall because it's too expensive.
Not buying fire insurance because it's insurance is "useless" and a "scam".

What would be commonly ignored is that such would cause damage in the long run. Try to talk to stingy people about the damages and they may start hurling insults, saying that they've got more experience, that the fire department is just squeezing out their money, etc. I'm really amazed at how being a stingy person can deprive anybody of good logic. That's why I say that being stingy is just as misguided as being extravagant.

The damage caused by the fire will be greater. A lot of the events and expenses could've been avoided if these were done:

Proper fire equipment would've probably prevented the fire from causing more damage.
Buying quality appliances at a higher cost can help save electricity, repair bills, and be more useful for long term.
Having quality repairs means fewer chances of having to return to the repair shop. Chances are some people "promote it cheap" so they can scam the person into returning several times.
A firewall would've lessened the chances of a fire.
If worse comes to worst, fire insurance means having the money you need for repairs.

This fire prevention month, think about it, "Am I too stingy to ignore fire safety?" If so, you can expect to lose a lot of money as if you gambled them all in a casino, in a pyramid scam, or in cryptocurrency. Think it over that you may end up spending a lot more money if you're that stingy to ignore fire safety.

Wanting Wealth WITHOUT Financial Discipline

Many people want to be rich, but not so many people want the discipline on how to be rich. Isn't that the plain hard truth ? As I do this sideline blog , I contemplated whether I should write another post after writing several posts years back, or when I wrote about Venezuela as a cautionary tale . Back on topic, I thought about how financial discipline is something often overlooked. It's easy to talk about Christmas since that's probably the most wonderful time of the year to be spendthrift , only to find out that one's broke by the New Year . The cycle of reckless financial habits tends to restart in January, even when January becomes that time of reckoning between debtors and creditors! January 2026 will end, February 2026 comes, and then the cycle of financial recklessness continues. It's the same cycle over and over! Last Christmas, I remember how DTI Secretary Christina Roque spoke about the PHP 500.00 noche buena, for a family of four . I called it tactless b...

Venezuela as a Cautionary Tale on #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba, Nationalistic Pride, Welfare State Economics

The Sunday Guardian Years ago, I wrote about Venezuela's pride and protectionism , under a more "formal" style of writing compared to my latest posts. I decided to use an even "less formal" and "less academic" tone since I'm not writing a term paper. Instead, it's like how a professor and a student discuss the thesis using first person over third person, using contractions, etc., while the thesis doesn't use such tones. Back on track, I thought about the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro can spark debate. Was it a violation of sovereignty? I'm no expert on international law. However, Venezuelans can be seen celebrating Maduro's arrest. Right now, I'm using Gemini AI and Google search to help me find some sources for this blog. It's because I don't want my blog to become another gossip central, but a place to discuss facts with my own personal opinions (making sure they don't derail the facts). I used Venezuela ...

Communist Vietnam's Great Leap Forward in Agricultural Production

I remember reading through Third World to First by the late Lee Kuan Yew. It's very easy to use the book to badmouth the Marcoses but not to learn from the rest of it. The book also talks about Vietnam and LKY's encounter with the late Nguyen Duy Cong aka Do Muoi. It's often said that Singapore only opened because of its lack of natural resources. On the contrary, Do Muoi decided to learn from Singapore how to turn the Communist Party of Vietnam into a powerhouse. Do Muoi, though a communist , was impressed by Singapore during his October 1993 state visit. Vietnam, unlike Singapore, is a country rich in natural resources. The third-world mentality said that MNCs are there to rape the resources . A very huge misconception especially if you know Singapore's history Some Filipinos on social media even say that FDIs will destroy agriculture and nature. This is a meme by the Philippine Anti-Fascist League on Facebook. They say that FDIs equals environmental degradation. Yet...

Filipino Manufacturing's Golden Age ENDED Because of the Filipino First Policy

Here's a picture from the Dose of Disbelief Page on Facebook. Here's something that it wrote: Filipinos once trusted locally made products more than imports. Before World War II, the label "Made in the Philippines" carried prestige, not stigma, reflecting a strong sense of national confidence in domestic production. Local products such as shoes, cigars, textiles, furniture, and food were often preferred over imports. This preference was rooted in the belief that local goods were better adapted to local conditions, tastes, and were often of comparable, if not superior, quality. This period showcases a strong historical era of consumer nationalism and thriving local industries. We need to look into the context of Filipino history If we look at the Philippine history timeline , we must account for 1935-1940, during which the Philippines was under the Commonwealth government. Independence was declared from Spain on June 12, 1898. However, there was a transition period w...

The Saying "The Customer is Always Right" isn't Right

I remember being chastised and said, "The customer is always right!" It became hypocritical because the same person who told me that later chastised me for yelling at the service provider in public . I'd admit that I screamed at the phone or even in person because things didn't go my way. My favorite excuse would be, "You said the customer is always right, right?" Going by the logic that the customer is always right, I'm right in doing the wrong that I did to service providers. It also reminds me of some rude manager lady (who I believe got fired sometime later, not going to mention her name or the company) who's heard to be highly unreasonable . She would scream in public louder than the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago. I'd like to give an illustration of the fault of that phrase. The news of a raging customer who threw hot soup at the manager can create debate . Was she in the right when she threw the hot soup at the manager instead of talking t...

Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

Search This Blog