Does frugality affect your productivity?

[dachs]

Dear Mustachians,

I've noticed that I sometimes spend way more time on some things that I probably should. For instance I wanted to buy toner for my printer and once I arrived at the store I thought "man, that price is ridiculous" and ordered it online. Well, that saved me like 3€ (the toner was 23€ with shipping instead of 26€, but I got a 3€ book "for free"). However, it took me like 1 hour to go to the store, decide not to buy the toner and then go back and order it online. Similar things happened to me on other occasions as well.

So I asked myself: "Was it worth it"? And my clear answer was "No!". There is a limit. I just cant't figure out where it should be.However, if I tried to be as efficient as possible with my time I'd have to eat out a lot since cooking does take time, which is not what I want either. Also I'd have to get a cleaning lady.

So how do you deal with that? Do you have a rule like "everything that saves me more than 5 bucks is worthwhile"? Or do you judge every time depending on the situations?

Thanks a lot!

[Gone Fishing]

Being frugal saves me loads of time.  Most non-frugal types I know spent countless hours researching, ordering, driving to the store, driving to the store again because they got the wrong one or need an accessory.  I do not mind spending a little time researching to save $3 if it is a product I buy repeatedly.  Buying frequently used items in bulk is not only cheaper by the unit, but it also helps prevent purchasing such items at a convience location in a pinch, and I don't even have to think about it as often.  Some folks assign an hourly value to their time, but I usually don't.

[deborah]

 It takes longer the first time you do anything. Also, you need to get a feel for what saves money/time and what doesn't. Different people have a different setting for the time versus money continuum. Soon you start to streamline your frugality, and it becomes much more productive.

[trailrated]

if I tried to be as efficient as possible with my time I'd have to eat out a lot since cooking does take time, which is not what I want either.

I can't remember which MMM blog post this came from but I will paraphrase: When you are going out to a restaurant to eat you are not just paying for the food. For that short time you are renting out the venue/table, you are paying the person that seated you, you are paying the person that took your order, you are paying the chefs that prepare your food, and you are paying for the food itself. When you think of going out to eat like that and the extreme luxury that it is, and having so many people cater to you, it puts things into a different perspective.

Although it can be nice at times... looking like it like that is not something I would call efficient or more efficient than cooking at home.

[lise]

if I tried to be as efficient as possible with my time I'd have to eat out a lot since cooking does take time, which is not what I want either.

I can't remember which MMM blog post this came from but I will paraphrase: When you are going out to a restaurant to eat you are not just paying for the food. For that short time you are renting out the venue/table, you are paying the person that seated you, you are paying the person that took your order, you are paying the chefs that prepare your food, and you are paying for the food itself. When you think of going out to eat like that and the extreme luxury that it is, and having so many people cater to you, it puts things into a different perspective.

Although it can be nice at times... looking like it like that is not something I would call efficient or more efficient than cooking at home.

When you go to a restaurant, my ethos is that you pay for the experience, not the food.  I love to eat out but it is at a carefully researched place for food that I can not usually cook at home.  Going to the cheesecake factory is not an enjoyable experience for me, but going to a Chinese Restaurant for roast meats is (something that is difficult to replicate at home).   

[lise]

Sometimes I research an item to buy and can find the cheapest deal online.  However free shipping at the site is $100+ with free returns.  So I buy the item I need for $40 and then something else for $60 and then return the $60 item when I get it.  Time suck, but I save on shipping! 

Is this nuts or what!

[kpd905]

However, it took me like 1 hour to go to the store, decide not to buy the toner and then go back and order it online.

Think of it this way: It took you an hour to go to the store and back, which is how long it would have taken you if you would have bought the toner at the store.  So you spend the same amount of time you would have, and ended up saving money anyway.

[dios.del.sol]

So how do you deal with that? Do you have a rule like "everything that saves me more than 5 bucks is worthwhile"? Or do you judge every time depending on the situations?

I've definitely thought about this since I can easily fall prey to paralysis by analysis if I don't trick myself. I do the following:

I have a rule of thumb for estimates: Get as many estimates as the number of digits in the price + 1. An $8k job has 4 digits, so I'd get 5 estimates. (Actually I'm a bit more geeky - I do round(log10(price)) + 1 - which is about the same.) It works really well as a way of balancing my time and my money, especially when there are many options and I can fall prey to paralysis by analysis.

So for something that runs around 26 euro, that has 2 digits, I'd get three prices and go from there. I'll get the lowest if it's a commodity like printer ink. I may go higher if it's a service and I feel that the lowest price is also lower quality.

[Hotstreak]

OP - In order to avoid this, set a threshold for yourself at which you will/won't shop.  Say if it's less than 40 you go where you think it's a good deal and JUST BUY IT! 


This works well for items you're going to get no matter what, like a new coffee maker, air filter for the car, etc. Anything you "want" to get but don't need/isn't replacing something you already use a lot should have a lower limit, like 10 or 20, so you think about it harder (but still don't spend time price shopping shoe-laces or candy bars).

[Bateaux]

I must say I'm much less productive since adoption of frugality.  I was always spending money on home improvement and doing projects before realizing the cost vs return just wasn't there.  When I had big bills coming in from spending I new fact in the face I had to bust azz at work to keep the money flowing.  Now with FU-Money I could give a rat's azz what my boss thinks.   I contribute minimally at work now.  Just well enough not to get fired.

[Emilyngh]

I assume you mean "negatively affect"?

B/c I'd say my frugality affects my productivity positively.   By removing the focus on buying and maintaining shit, I not only free up time, but mental energy.   I'm better able to prioritize only doing what I really value, and as such, I'm more invested in what I do, do a better job, and overall consider myself more "productive" in a truly meaningful way.

The tricks I've found to decrease time on frugality itself include: (1) buying/using less (eg., limit what has to be printed at home so I'm buying ink way less often), (2) setting up systems as much as possible so that I can put in the work once and not do it again (eg., we use refillable ink that I order online.   It's far less expensive than any deal I've ever found and I can just order it online in 2 minutes.   Also, each refill fills several cartridges worth, so it lasts forever.   Now that I've found and established  my "ink system" I can spend a grand total of 5 minutes a year (if that) on ink purchases).   I try to do the equivalent for as many areas of my life as possible (eg, automated payments, deciding what products are not even needed and never buying them again-like shampoo and styling products, deciding just not to do certain things at all-like sending xmas cards, etc)

[hybrid]

I have always tried to optimize my spending to some extent. But long ago I realized that spending an extra 10 minutes to save $1 on gas was a poor use of my most precious resource - TIME.

The calculus is different for many people because of their age, health, and financial well being among other things. For me recently the bar has moved again. I recently changed jobs and while I love the new job and the pay is much better, the hours are significantly longer. So my time has become even more valuable to me, meaning I will spend less of it pursuing the best possible price on some items. I will still research big ticket items, but I am not going to three different grocery stores to save a few bucks.

Overall, frugality for me manifests itself in not falling prey to conspicuous consumption. Fancy cars, the swankiest neighborhood, and unnecessary services just aren't where my salary is going because I want that hard earned money to buy me the thing I really want most of all - more time.

[EllieStan]

Dear Mustachians,

I've noticed that I sometimes spend way more time on some things that I probably should. For instance I wanted to buy toner for my printer and once I arrived at the store I thought "man, that price is ridiculous" and ordered it online. Well, that saved me like 3€ (the toner was 23€ with shipping instead of 26€, but I got a 3€ book "for free"). However, it took me like 1 hour to go to the store, decide not to buy the toner and then go back and order it online. Similar things happened to me on other occasions as well.

So I asked myself: "Was it worth it"? And my clear answer was "No!". There is a limit. I just cant't figure out where it should be.However, if I tried to be as efficient as possible with my time I'd have to eat out a lot since cooking does take time, which is not what I want either. Also I'd have to get a cleaning lady.

So how do you deal with that? Do you have a rule like "everything that saves me more than 5 bucks is worthwhile"? Or do you judge every time depending on the situations?

Thanks a lot!

For me, it's a learning process. Some things I know right away are not worth the time it would take me just to save a few bucks. For some others, it's trial and error, and I will establish my ''guidelines'' as life happens. Living in a rural area was a great learning experience on that matter. Now that I'm 30 minutes away from the grocery stores and malls, I have to plan each of my trips whenever I need something. It was time-consuming at first to plan everything, from my weekly meals to my appointment schedules to avoid driving back and forth more than necessary. But after a while, it increased my ''productivity''. The time I now spend online tracking the best deals save me both time and money because I do not have to shop around and drive around for hours.

[lexie2000]

Frugality to me has been kind of a "hobby".  Although we are not big consumers, when we have to purchase something, I enjoy being as "consumer-efficient" as possible....to a point.  When we need to buy something on the more expensive side, like an appliance, we usually invest more time.  A couple of weeks ago our printer crapped out and I knew I would need a new one to do our taxes.  I didn't spend much time trying to save an "extra" buck.  I looked in the Staples ad and fortunately they had one that we thought would do the trick for $69.  So far so good.

The only thing that I have to shop for regularly is groceries and I've pretty much got that down to a science.  Except for perishables (fresh fruit, veggies, and some dairy like milk and sour cream), I buy when what we eat regularly is at a rock bottom price and buy several in advance of need based on our usage and the "sell-by" date on the package or whether the product can be frozen.

 

[Zikoris]

No, the laziness factor kicks in really quick. The thought of having to do research leads to me deciding not to buy the thing more often than not.

Case in point: I considered buying a tablet on and off for about 3 years, never getting around to actually researching and buying one. I acquired one last week after a coworker offered to sell me her old one for $20, but otherwise it probably wouldn't have happened.

[HipGnosis]

You have to balance time frugality with money frugality.
You 'invested' an hour getting the store price of toner.  Now you have that knowledge to apply  to your future purchases.
Eating out and cleaning service might save you some time, but it's certainly not money frugal - unless you can make more money with that time.
For me, most meals are faster to cook at home because the time for; driving, parking, waiting to get seated, wait to place order, wait for food, wait for check, wait for change, drive home...
Being money frugal has helped my productivity because I have found the value for me in a lot of categories such as groceries, consumable items, etc. and now I don't have to spend any more time comparison shopping for those items.