I am currently away on vacation and David @ MoneyNing.com volunteered to write a guest article for me. David writes about personal finance topics that concentrate on “personal” just as much as “finance”. For more articles that help you live healthy financially and mentally, visit his blog or subscribe to his RSS feed.
I just came back from getting free coffee at Coffee Bean, a local coffee retailer, when Patrick asked me to write a guest post for him. The store called it “Holiday Open Celebration” which offered a free 12-ounce drink of choice. It was really the company’s excuse to get people in the store, because Starbucks offered free coffee a while back. These promotional events are always fun to go to because the stores are always packed with people, not to mention that we always get something free.
I’m not sure when I started going to these events to get free stuff, but I remember clearly one time when I came out of one of these events and thought to myself:
I’m not here for the free stuff. I don’t need it, and never will. I’m here because it makes me happy.
Ever since then I have made it a point to go to promotional events. It didn’t matter if I had to adapt my plans and adjust my schedule to accommodate it. It wouldn’t matter if I spent more gas to get to the event than the free stuff was worth. It was fun, and it’s worth the price of the world. (I need to confess here that I am lucky because my wife shares the same happiness, or else all this would not be possible).
David @ My Two Dollars recently told us that we cannot buy our way to happiness. So stop trying to use our money to do it. If we are getting invited to an event that makes us happy and it is free, why don’t we take advantage of it?
Takeaway
I’m not asking you to take advantage of everything that’s free from now on. All I’m saying is not to try putting a price tag on every object and every activity. Being someone who frequents personal finance blogs (that’s you and me), it’s easy for us to try justifying all our actions. “Is doing it worth it,” or “is it frugal enough” are questions we ask ourselves way too often.
So today I say “Live a Little,” because we are born to live. Leave those wealth gathering thoughts for another day.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. It’s good to have a reminder that there are things in life that are more important than money.
Good advice on a lot of activities, I think it can really boost your morale and self-esteem. But it has to be done in a smart manner. I think it’s a great feeling to save up a little to splurge on an item you would like, or head to that very expensive restaurant. But there are plenty of times when this shouldn’t be done and it shouldn’t become a habit. In moderation it’s great.
Totally agree, except for the “spend more on gas” part. I think, if the consideration were solely financial, then hands down I choose to live life. But when other principles come into play, then there are other considerations. I am committed to conservation, for example, so driving somewhere just to get a cup of free coffee is not a good trade-off for me. In the same vein, a free item from a company I didn’t like would also not be worth it.
That all being said, I am totally in agreement that getting free stuff can be fun!
Exactly right. I see personal finance as supporting your overall well being. If you forget the purpose for paying attention to personal finance (become obsessed with certain things – saving money…) you miss the value. The idea is to appropriately address personal financial matters to achieve overall success.