Weighing the costs of budget cuts
By Sharon Harvey Rosenberg
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Trimming fat from the budget could lead to extra pounds if I'm not careful. That's because I have dropped workout sessions — twice a week — led by a personal trainer. At $15 a class, the workouts were low-priced, but after crunching the numbers, I decided to crunch my abs without expert assistance.
In theory, my cutback could be a sound move if I work out on my own. But the fiscal maneuver could backfire if I fail to maintain an independent exercise routine. The health costs of increased weight and stress would offset the immediate gain of extra money.
This fiscal exercise prompted me to examine other choices. I've discovered an uneven mix of savings and miscalculations. Here are two examples:
My friend, however, is not handy with tools. And after calculating shipping costs and the expense of hiring an assembling team, she has decided that unassembled furniture is not a great bargain for her home makeover project. Instead, she is buying floor models from scratch-and-dent furniture outlets and used-furniture stores.
Loyalty programs remind me of school fundraisers in which parents buy enough candy or merchandise to qualify their children for "free" prizes and rewards. But a trip to a toy store may be cheaper. Of course, if you prudently accumulate points, customer loyalty programs can pay off. But it takes discipline and cost-comparisons to get real mileage out of many promotions.
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Sharon Harvey Rosenberg is the author of the "Frugal Duchess: How to Live Well and Save Money" — a coming-of-age memoir about money — and a contributing writer in Wise Bread's "10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget," both available on Amazon.com.
