How to Spend as if Your Life Depends on It

When you are unemployed, every penny starts to really count. I realize that there are lots of folks for whom every penny has always counted, but it's still true that for many of us, having to spend smart is a fairly new adventure.

Truth is, I've always made it a personal crusade to spend wisely - which isn't to say that I've been careful or conservative with my spending, but rather that I have always insisted on getting my money's worth. My spending "type" is called maximizer, which simply means I want to get as much as I can possibly get for my dollar. I want to find that perfect selection (which I believe is out there) of "as good as it needs to be" while spending as little as possible to get the necessary degree of quality and serviceabilty.

I've discovered several "tricks of the trade"... for example, if there is no contact information (800 number or website) on the packaging, give it a pass. This is a company that doesn't care to hear from its customers (at best) or doesn't want to be found by its customers (at worst).

Another dead give-away is when there is too much gimmick or sales pitch in the packaging. If a company needs to "suck you in" to get you to buy their product, then you can be sure that theirs is a product that you can easily live without. If your aim is to find the best offering out there (at the minimal level of acceptable performance), you can rest assured that it is very unlikely to be lurking within an "and wait, there's more" package. Then again, when a brand is offering you more (of their product) for less, that might just be a bargain - most likely they believe in and stand behind their product.

Surprisingly, there is an exception here, and it's found in "and wait, there's more!" Believe it or not, some of those TV ads offer a significant bargain, no doubt because their marketing and distribution costs are so low. So I'm not saying that all promotion and salesy marketing is bad, just that it is a red flag if you are shopping for value.

And I think that VALUE is what this blog is about, because value is so important to me. But then I've just started this blog, so who knows where it might lead? We'll see tomorrow... Unemployed now 120 days and counting...