Save and Conquer

Our article, Revert to the Mean, was listed in the Carnival of Personal Finance #185: Cheesehead Edition. It seemed like the carnival was not as large as it has been in past weeks. Perhaps bloggers were busy celebrating the Holidays. Some of the articles I liked were:

Passive Family Income lists the various ways that retailers try to convince you that their deals are the best in Discount Shopping is not always perfect. He also mentions the trap of buying something because “it is such a good deal.” We should all live by the mantra, don’t buy it if you don’t need it.

Building a Better Mood about Your Money at Tough Money Love reminds us to be thankful for what we have. I am most thankful for my family. The last ten years may have been the America’s Lost Decade, and we have recently taken our share of losses. There will eventually be problems with inflation and other bubbles. But I look at my family and realize how lucky I am every day. with perseverance, we will make it.

Lottery Tickets – Our route to Wealth? at FIRE Finance tells about a frugal-appearing shopper at Walgreen’s who used her savings from coupons and generic drugs to purchase lottery tickets. Lottery Tickets? Sometimes we just shake our heads and move on.

Finally, I have to mention Yuppie Guilt and how to deal with it delecately at Fabulously Broke in the City. I agree with brokeinthecity that people should free to spend whatever they have earned and have no one can say anything about it other than good for them, but one of her friends felt guilty for having spent $600 on a pair of shoes.

OK, I am going to say something about it. I am glad that her friend felt guilty for spending that sort of money on shoes. Personally, I would feed cheated. I would say, “$600 for a stupid pair of shoes! What was I thinking? I use them to walk on the ground and keep my feet clean!” I could buy 4 nice suits at Men’s Wearhouse for that kind of money. (Yes, they are having their two-for-one sale right now, but even their most expensive suit on-line is two for $500.) I could feed our family for more than a month. Or we could take a nice vacation down to San Diego to visit Legoland and the Wild Animal Park for a week. It will cost $500 for the motel, gas, and park admissions. Add $100 for food cost due to eating out versus eating at home.

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