The one that’ll drive an extra five miles out of her way to save five bucks on her daughter’s Halloween costume, even though gas is just shy of $4 per gallon.
Though, if I drive an extra 10 miles I can save six cents per gallon.
The one that’ll spend five hours trying to calculate how much she really saved by utilizing the $5 off costume coupon. Even though the trip included sitting in a gnarly traffic jam which robbed her of 20 minutes of precious time.
Make that priceless time.
Walking out of the costume shop with my daughter’s penguin get-up and five extra dollars in my wallet didn’t feel nearly as good as I thought it would. The traffic issue, coupled with the loss of time and money, gave me serious pause for thought. For as many times as I drive the extra mile(s) to take advantage of a coupon or sale, I’m beginning to wonder whether or not I am really saving a substantial amount of cash.
After doing a little research I’ve concluded: I’m going broke trying to save money.
And, I’m not the only one falling for this money-saving illusion.
According to financial experts, millions of Americans don’t realize that they are actually losing money trying to save it.
Could you also be a victim of this money-saving trap?
Here’s an example I found on dailyfinance.com that really hit home for me:
If you are paying $4 for a gallon of gas and your vehicle averages about 23 miles per gallon, you’re getting about 6 miles for every dollar you spend on gas. Now, let’s say your favorite grocery store, which is located just .5 miles away from your home, is selling laundry detergent for $5. However, you notice Wal-Mart has the same detergent on special for $4.50, but you have to drive 12 miles away to take advantage of the sale. Do the math and you’ll see that it will cost you an extra two dollars in gas to get to Wal-Mart, which negates the 50 cents you’re saving on the detergent.
In the end, you are actually spending more than you’re saving; not only in gas, but also time and wear and tear on your car.
If money is tight, calculate your drive first, so you aren’t going out of your way to snag a deal that may not pay off in the long run.
How often do you go out of your way to save money, but get burned in the process?
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