Be rational... think smart... cut-back wisely.

Ok, so I'm gonna shift gears a bit and try to get away from all the political junk. I'm sure most people know by now where I stand on politics. And if you haven't figured it out yet, just ask me. ;-)



We all know how the economy is right now. You can't get on any news sites, turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper without hearing about how bad the economy is. Personally, I think that even without any action by the government, everything would eventually level off and fix itself, but apparently the government thinks it can't. Anyway, so because of all the unnecessary panic, many are losing their jobs, people aren't spending as much as before, companies are losing money and cutting back staff, production, etc. and it's not the greatest financial time right now. So what are we to do? Do we need to panic? No. Do we need to change our lives and pinch every penny we spend? Well, yes and no. It's very simple. We don't need the government to bail us or any company out and we especially don't need to panic. We just need to be rational, think smart and cut-back wisely.

For example, we went out to eat tonight, and I noticed that we used A LOT of napkins. First off, any parent will tell you that before kids, you would use 1-2 napkins (depending on where you went....you'll never use only 1-2 napkins at an all-you-can-eat rib place!) So anyway, the napkins were very thin, 1-ply. They were as bad as public restroom toilet paper! They wouldn't soak up anything, it's virtually impossible to wipe anything off of your hands (or your kids') and using 2-3 at a time was just extremely wasteful! So here I was trying to clean my own hands off and thinking to myself (then saying to Nicole) I wonder if anyone actually thinks about these things. I mean, I'm sure that most restaurants have a catalogue they look at and have let's say at least a dozen different types of napkins they can choose from...and it seems that most places are opting for the cheap, thin 1-ply ones. The cheapest option they can get... so they can get a few thousand cheap napkins for just a few bucks. Sounds good, right? They can get a huge quantity for a tiny price. Ok, so that means that at this particular all-you-can-eat (AYCE) establishment, we literally used close to 30-40 napkins between us and the kids. Myself, Nicole and our two young daughters, but me especially -- I had some VERY messy, juicy ribs and used, I don't know... maybe a dozen or so just for cleaning my hands off only after eating those ribs, much less the rest of dinner!


So again, do they think about that? Do they think that maybe, just maybe if they had thicker napkins, a little more expensive, that people might actually use less quantity than the cheapo ones? I know for me, I could have used A LOT less had they been thicker 1-ply or even the same thickness but 2-ply. So if I could use less and I'm sure others would also use less, then that means they wouldn't run out as fast and wouldn't have to order as many. Not to mention how much less trash they would have.


Same thing goes for things like building a wooden fence. Sure, the 1x4 planks are cheaper than the 1x6 planks, but you use less 1x6's and in many cases, it's actually cheaper to go with the larger ones. See? Be rational...think smart. Think about the END result over a longer period of time rather than the immediate need. If it's better to spend a little extra on the individual items to save money overall, then that's what you should do. Whether you're just one person, or someone that orders things for your company.



And along the same lines of being rational and thinking smart, let's talk quality, dependability and price. I'm sure you've all heard the phrase "you get what you pay for." And in many cases, that's very true. So does that mean you have to buy the most expensive item to get the best quality? No, not necessarily. I'll give you a good example. I was reading a recent article in Consumer Reports about LCD TV's. In their 50" category (or maybe it was 51" and up) their top choice overall was I think $1700 or $1800. Their 2nd choice was close to 5-grand! Third was still under or right at about $2,000. Their prices were all over the place and the most expensive was rarely the best. In fact, even some of the lesser expensive of those they tested were some of the best ones as far as reliability, quality, etc. This same idea goes with just about anything you buy--especially cars, electronics and cookware.

So as far as cutting back wisely goes, think back to the napkins. What do you use now? Would cheaper ones do just as well, or would they make you use more? Women with shoes and purses to match particular outfits -- are they really NECESSARY, or just a want? Wouldn't it be a smarter investment to buy one or two purses / pairs of shoes that will better match multiple outfits? And when it comes to laying people off, let me point this out--Remember how the Dallas ISD laid off several hundred teachers because Michael Hinajosa get paid over $400k a year to do nothing but screw up a budget? Well, did you also know that the DISD recently had a job fair so that they could hire several hundred teachers because they didn't have enough? WHAT??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I mean, seriously -- are you that freakin' stupid??? You want to let several hundred teachers go because you can't afford them, and then have a job fair because you don't have enough teachers for all your students? What part of that makes any kin of sense? NONE OF IT! And they wonder why they have budget issues... apparently no one there knows how to think!!! Which is sad, if you think about it, because those people are in charge of EDUCATION!!! I'm glad my children aren't taught by those people!

Anyway, onto more thinking smart. Let's say you need to buy new car. Well, depending on your situation, leasing is almost always a better choice. Nicole, bless her heart, hears it from me all the time how I wish she would consider leasing a car rather than buying one. But I'll save that for another blog, perhaps. Anyway, I'm sure that may of us would love to have a Lexus or Mercedes in our garage, right? Well, first off, it's a well-known fact that cars depreciate. So no matter what car you buy, it'll never be worth what you paid for it. That being said, some cars depreciate faster/more than others. The sad part is, there are some really great cars being made by decent companies that will lose quite a bit of their value unfairly simply because of who they're made by. Hyundai for example. Have you seen their new Genesis? Holy cow that's an absolutely incredible car! They really outdid themselves with that one! But because of their shady past and the crappy cars they made when they first came onto the scene here in America (think your white Excel "turtle car" Ann) the Geneis will never get the full credit it deserves...and because it says "Hyundai" on it, it will depreciate quite a bit faster than if it were to say "Lexus" or "Infinity" or "Mercedes." So does this mean I'm telling you to go out and buy a Genesis? No, but you'd get a really good, quality luxury car for a heckuva lot less than the reigning "luxury" car brands. But do your homework...study everything you can find out about whatever you buy. See what something is really worth, how well it will hold up / how reliable it is, and how well it will keep it's resale value.

Oh, and speaking of that, when you buy a car, you may look at it and think that it's not worth it to get the upgraded aluminum wheel package when wheel covers will be just fine, right? Wrong! First off, wheel cover will break very easily and it's not the same to just to buy new ones and put on the car. Wheel covers look cheap because they are cheap. Aluminum alloy wheel are more expensive, but they hold their value a lot more. They increase the resale value of the car by quite a bit...plus they always look better than plastic wheel covers. Doesn't seem like a big decision when you're buying the car, but you can't exactly change your mind in several years once you try to sell the car. So think smart.

And back to the issue of cutting back wisely (think the DISD conundrum) just remember... it's not how much you cut back, but how you cut back. Think smart--do you really need to cut back on how much you're spending? Do you really need to cut down on the quality? Are you spending more money on higher-quality products and getting better results than if you were spending less on lesser quality and getting poor results? We all know you can get good quality generic / store brand foods in many cases that taste the same (sometimes better--like with saltine crackers for example.) And typically with things like green beans, you'll have a much smaller chance of getting string or stems in a name brand can vs. generic store brand. So it's a matter of trial and error in many cases. You just have to make sure you do your homework...do your research. Just like with the news and politics, don't let people decide for you. Don't let people (including me) tell you what's right and wrong...or good and bad. Do what you need to do in order to make your own INFORMED decision. Do that, and you will have nothing to worry about when it comes to using your money wisely.