Feelings are dangerous decision makers
Earlier this year, we bought a camper (RV) that cost us about $19,000 dollars. We had planned to buy one, sometime, but for some reason, we thought we had to have it right now. You see, the kids are young and we were afraid they wouldn’t be able to enjoy it with us when they got older. I’m not sure why this was so important to us at the time, because now, only six months or so later, I think we weren’t thinking at all when we made this decision.
We can afford the payments, but that’s the one thing that’s always bugged me about my husband. Affording the payments doesn’t in any way mean you can afford something. He thinks it does. I don’t agree.
- You have to look at all the things you’re going to have to forego to make those payments.
- In fact, you can take this a step further and say that if you don’t have the cash on hand to pay for the item without incurring debt, then you can’t afford it.
- And an even more conservative view would be to look at all your possible uses for those funds and decide that if you haven’t met every other financial goal you have that could possibly be considered a need, then you can’t afford it.
My ultimate goal is to start living under the cover of #3.
I should have used that monthly payment amount not for a camper on wheels, but for an addition to my emergency fund. As it stands, my emergency funds has exactly $167.44 in it.
It’s insane that we thought it was a good idea to take out a loan for this camper. I still can’t wrap my head around why we did it. I would love to be able to say I resisted the purchase, but the truth is that this was a joint decision and I didn’t stand up and say, “We shouldn’t do this.”
We went camping exactly 2 times this summer.
If I take the payments we made on the camper for the year (it’s unlikely we’ll go again until next spring) and calculate how much those two camping trips cost us, I’m embarrassed to say it comes to $1,215 per trip. That doesn’t even count the campsite rental.
What do I want you to take away from this post?
I want you to really think things through when you’re about to make a big financial decision, especially when it’s for something that isn’t a necessity.
When you put things into an easy to understand number, you can really pull yourself up short before you do something crazy.
If I had thought about how much I was paying per camping trip in advance, I believe I would have had a “Wait a minute here” moment or two before I decided to sign on the dotted line. Even if I had assumed one camping trip per month for the entire year, I would have thought twice about it. But I never connected those two numbers and never saw things in a concrete way. I spent too much time thinking of how I would feel.
Feelings will really get you in trouble when it comes to financial decisions.
It might be unrealistic to expect yourself to entirely take your feelings out of the decision making process, but if you can distance yourself from your feelings, you have to try. Your financial future depends on it. I know mine does. I’ve already proven it.
October 21st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Wow! I really enjoyed reading this post, but it sure cuts close to home. The more you look at what you’re saying, the more you see how it reflects in your own life and situation. Sadly, we make purchases all the time without truly “having the money”. I think, in some ways, it’s what the big bailout and world financial worries in today’s economy are about.
I appreciate your sharing this with us!
I’ll definitely be coming back to see what new advice you have for those still trying to wrap our heads around our own journey.
June 17th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I just found your blog this week and it is exactly what I have been looking for. I have been so depressed about my own situation, which is very similar to yours. Thank you for your honesty. It has motivated me.
June 17th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
It’s funny how being honest has liberated me from my worries of debt. Talking about this stuff has made it so much easier to stick to a plan and also to just realize that we all make financial mistakes sometimes but that most of the time we can recover if we put a little effort into it.
I’m so glad to hear that my own story is motivating someone else! That means a lot to me.