by Tricia
A while ago when were hit with a pretty good snowstorm and I mentioned that when they happen we save money. I received the following comment from Elizabeth:
“I’m interested that bad weather keeps you from spending money. I live in NYC, and I think people order in more when the weather is bad. In my case, I could stay home tonight and rustle up something from my kitchen cabinets, or I could order in (that always comes to $20 with tip) or I could literally go across the street to the grocery store that’s open from 7:00 a.m. to 11PM. Not to mention there are 24 hour Korean markets just three blocks away, and I’m also sleepy. For some reason, a Starbucks or a Dunkin Donuts coffee at this moment is more tempting than coffee I make myself.
Food is *always* where I spend more than I plan, and this city is all about making it easy for you to spend. I’m going to make coffee and see if being more awake keeps me from ordering in.”
If I lived in NYC the bad weather probably wouldn’t help us save money. There are many conveniences there that I do not have where I live. I’ve never even been in a Starbucks or a Dunkin Donuts and the closest Starbucks is over two hours away. I guess you could say that I have fewer temptations where I live 🙂
It’s very true that we could order in for food, but in our case the only places that deliver are the pizza places. One of them doesn’t have very good pizza and the other one has good pizza but it does a doozy on your stomach so we do not eat it often.
I often think that location plays a big part in spending money. When we lived in a bigger city for a brief period of time, I went to quite a few stores and spent a lot of money easily. Now that we have less of a selection of stores, we don’t spend as much. And when the weather is icky outside, it’s not as easy to go shopping on a whim when you have two feet of snow to shovel out of the driveway 😛
My goodness, it’s almost hard to remember how geographically diverse this country is. I understand that not everyone works at Rockefeller Center (as I did until March) and passes several Starbucks on their way to work, and that not everyone goes out, or downstairs to the concourse, for coffee every afternoon. But you’ve never even been IN a Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts! Wow! I spend about $30-35 on coffee a week. Now, admittedly I’m a caffeine addict, but I guess I thought anybody in the US who had a blog would have at least stopped in at a Dunkin Donuts on a cross-country car trip or something. (And speaking of temptations to spend, I haven’t even mentioned that I can see Bloomingdale’s out my window, and that when I come up from the subway I can walk through it. Or that Bed, Bath and Beyond is a block from my house, and I can always use something there.)
Talk about temptation, right in the same building I work in there’s a See’s candy shop, a Michael’s Craft store and a WalMart. Not to mention the mall right across the street has a Bed Bath and Beyond and a Macy’s! It’s not safe to carry your wallet around here.
I stopped carrying my walet and nothing but emergancy cash. One of the things I also started doing was writing down every purchase I made and at the end of the week/month figured out where I was spending the money. That really shocked me and I changed my life style because of it.
You rock Tricia! My debt over the years was due to Starbucks,restaurants,and the rest of America’s stores. Thank God there are no Dunkin Donuts here! I am moving to your area, I would love it. My consumer mentality needs to be shut down! lol!
Sometimes I feel sheltered because I haven’t been in a Starbucks, Bed Bath & Beyond, Bloomindales, Macy’s etc. I see commercials on TV for stores that are hours away. At the same time, I know it’s best for us because there is less temptation to spend. In fact, our mall only has about 12 stores and we rarely go there.
nancy – if you like a lot of trees and few stores, you’d probably like where I live 🙂