Worst Justifications for Spending You Have Ever Heard

[LuxLiving]

"It makes me happy!"

You're happy about sweating how the CC is going to get paid next month????

[FrugalFish]

Years ago, before the era of super easy credit, a friend of mine had accumulated over $100K in CC debt. This did not include any car payments, no house payments, and no student loans. She was not even sure what kind of junk they spent it on- guessing things like clothes and eating out, or whatever she desired in the moment. She always said:

"You can't take it with you, so get as much as you can while you are here."

We always wondered if they would reach "critical mass" on their finances- when the credit was all gone and they could not maintain their lifestyle. It never seemed to happen though. I don't know what her finances are like now- don't care, but I suspect her mindset is still one of max-it-out and get as much as you can.

[poundwise]

Similar to Frugal Fish's friend, I recently heard someone state that if they have a purchase balance on a credit card and then die, they win. (i.e. - Having had the benefit of the purchase(s) without having paid for it.)

Pathetic.

[PrincessPerky]

"It was only X amount, how could I pass that up?"

even a penny on something useless is still a waste IMO, my MIL uses that line all the time when she buys something that doesn't fit...though in her defense she has the money to waste.

On the constant car payment, my FIL believes that as well, he figures once you pay off a car (or if you buy in cash) you should be saving the same car payment for the next one, and/or for repairs...but he isn't talking about always buying a new car or anything.

[Caoineag]

Ah yes, one I forgot "But it was on sale!"

Try explaining to them that it would be cheaper to pay full price than to buy on sale when you only make the min payment...

[SnoopyCool]

"I took a loan out on my 401k, but I'm paying myself back, with 6% interest."

[Snave]

Someone I know had a really nice car and I commented on it and said something like "That is really nice. I wish I could afford one of those." They told me that all I needed was to be able to make the monthly payments! Disney Steve, this was from a doctor I know. Come on, get the rest of your colleagues to start thinking more like you!

[disneysteve]

Someone I know had a really nice car and I commented on it and said something like "That is really nice. I wish I could afford one of those." They told me that all I needed was to be able to make the monthly payments!

I know someone who has had her car a couple of years (still making payments) and was looking at a different car a while ago. She said she might buy it because her payments would stay the same. The fact that she'd be making those same payments for several more years apparently never crossed her mind. She ended up not buying the new car that time. That same person just today said that she was going to look at a car tonight. Her father had a rental over the weekend that she really liked. If she could get that for the same payment she has now, she said she might do it.

Lots of folks operate on the premise that if they can afford the monthly payment they can afford the purchase.

[gamecock43]

Disneysteve- your story reminds me of someone I know who had a civic. She talked her parents into trading the civic for an SUV because she was planning to move from FL to MA and "the civic is dangerous in the snow". She gets an SUV but decides to stay in FL for 2 more years. Finally she moves to MA but once in New England she traded in the SUV for a SAAB that she drives now.
On top of all that, she had the nerve to cancel attending a mutual friends party and said it was because "it was suposed to snow that night and she does not feel comfortable driving the SAAB in the snow."

[PrincessPerky]

"it's only 30 cents more"

This is the constant suggestion with 'value meals' the drink is only 30 cents with the burger and fries, but in general I avoid pop or pop like products, so 30 cents or free it isn't something I want for me.

[cantretire]

When my Mother dies, I get an inheritance


Or something to that effect, by my ex, constantly for years. 20+ years ago. Yes, she is still very much alive, fortunately

[reflectionite]

once when i was visiting a friend in another state, she took me out shopping to our country's largest shopping complex. she was with me when i withdrew some cash and saw my bank balance (which was around $700, but i knew i had a $600 cc bill due the week later) she exclaimed "woah you're loaded" to which i explained the cc bill and she said "oh never mind that, just make the minimum repayment, i'm taking you shopping!"
later on i commented how i loved some of the brand Country Road's clothes as we were walking past their store. she goes to me "well you work hard enough let's go in there and buy you something". i said to her no it's fine, they are overpriced (at over $100 for most things) and she said oh come on it doesn't matter, you work.

hahahah!

dont worry i didnt listen to her at all.

oh and then a little while ago she came to visit me in my state. she told me that her dad was paying for the flights, and her granparents slipped her a few hundred dollars as well as her having money saved for the trip. while she was with me she was splashing her cash around, bought her bf a $110 jumper and spent around $400 on clothes herself. then she said to me the other day, because i am visiting the town where she lives, that she couldnt take a day off to spend with me(even though i had organised this six months ago and told her the exact dates) and when i mentioned i'd not only taken two days off to spend with her, but she'd only given me two weeks notice of an additional day i had to take off to pick her up from the airport, she got ****ty at me saying that it wasnt her fault that she had to save every last cent to come and visit me and that she was broke.

excuse me?

bah.
i told her not to worry about it, i won't bother her with the 'honest friendship' thing anymore, and i'd let her know if i was anywhere near her on my trip if she was available. i'm not trying that hard anymore for her.


bah!

so thats a bit of a friend-rant and stupid justification-rant as well

[poundwise]

It is odd how so many people fluctuate between a "just do it" and "I can't afford it" position.

I know a man who refused to go back to the doctor because he "couldn't afford" the co-pay and yet, just over a week later, purchased season passes to a local theme park because he works hard and wants to enjoy himself.

He also received a $1,200 tax rebate, which he told me about several times. Each time, was in conjunction with the fact that he needed the A/C on his car repaired. In other words, "Boy, I'll be glad when my stimulus money comes in so I can get my A/C fixed before summer." And yet, he received this money in the middle of May, doesn't have a repaired A/C, and now complains that he isn't sure where he'll come up with the money. (i.e. - He spent a big chunk of the stimulus money on... ???... pretty much nothing, so now, he "can't afford" to repair his A/C.)

Most of the people I know who whine the loudest about gas and food prices are the same ones who have no savings, payments on a flat-screen TV and a dozen other things, and who dine out or pick up fast food three or four times a week, burning through both food money and gas money... *sigh*... But they don't see it that way.

[rob62521]

It's funny, a friend of mine who shares the same outlook as most of us that saving is good, was talking about some people we know...very much like reflectionite's "friend" who thinks if they have some money it's there for spending. So I guess that's just another poor justification. If you have a dollar, spend a dollar.

[SnoopyCool]

I can't believe I didn't remember this earlier.

I have a friend who once bought a new living room suit because she liked the color of her cereal bowls so much that she needed to get a new living room to match.