I spoke to a friend recently. She mentioned that she helped her sister find a washer and dryer. The sister made some reference that she should buy the washer and dryer now because her tax refund was arriving. My understanding was the sister's washer and dryer were still working, but yet instead of saving the tax refund it was being spent on something that may not work in the future.
Isn't this backwards thinking? It is quite possible the washer and or dryer would continue to work into the future. It seems like that kind of logic will continue to cause problems and replacing things needlessly just because the money is available and on hand.
If I were to advise her sister, or my friend who seemed to agree with the logic, I would suggest at a minimum saving the cash until the need for a new washer and or dryer was necessary. I would also consider using the tax refund money to pay other bills before making a purchase of needless items.
If one's washer or dryer were to fail and you don't have hundreds of dollars to replace, you have to look at options outside of individual ownership. In this case, it would be less expensive to do laundry at friend's, relative's or laundry mat, while saving up for a the new appliance. I also would look at used appliances from a store, which might provide a type of warranty, or looking on Craigslist.
Have you heard of others who think about money backwards? Maybe you have done it yourself recently or in the past? What could you have done different?
Backwards Thinking
March 22nd, 2013 at 09:38 pm
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:07 pm 1363993675
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:32 pm 1363995160
I agree, that is the sort of thinking which will keep you poor.
March 23rd, 2013 at 03:12 am 1364008375
Since I've had some emotional distance from my best friend (her work schedule and my family life have had us living parallel lives that don't intersect too much), I'm amazed at her faulty logic. I guess having so much contact with her for such a long period of time, I saw her faulty thinking as normal. We just had a conversation about her moving ahead with her bankruptcy (last I heard I thought she had) and she is glad that she's picking up an extra shift at the hospital so she will have spending money on a trip to Denver? Huh? Whatever. Not my money life. Thankfully.
March 23rd, 2013 at 03:31 am 1364009519
About 7 years ago, my furnace died. When I had a company come out to install a new one, the guys were amused by the fact said former furnace was 18 years old. Who buys a new furance if/when the one they have is working and prior to dying never had any many repairs done to it and it worked fine? I am that way with MOST, if not ALL, the items I own. I just don't get it.
March 23rd, 2013 at 03:35 am 1364009739
March 23rd, 2013 at 04:03 am 1364011427
March 23rd, 2013 at 08:28 pm 1364070515
But then I thought, there is that chance that she doesn't have any of these problems, and just wants to splurge. Hey, if she wants to upgrade and can afford it, who am I to judge? Now chances are she doesn't have zero-balance credit cards and a healthy retirement fund. But maybe she does. So I suppose it could be OK. Not what I'd spend my tax refund on (obviously, since you all just read how I used mine to pay down debt and repair the computer), but I can see wanting shiny new stuff.
I have to say it took a lot of thinking to get to a point where I could think that though. My knee-jerk reaction is that she probably isn't thinking clearly and shouldn't be blowing the money on replacing working appliances when there are likely other big holes in her financial life that she's ignoring or doesn't understand.
March 24th, 2013 at 12:36 am 1364085370