MPmomof3Little Buy Little
February 24th 2013 11:53
:
Small Purchases Add Up To big Bucks
Link: personalizedtoday.com
I am a people watcher. There, I admitted it. I am curious to know what makes people tick and what makes them fall apart. Although I am not trained in all the nuances of psychology, I am amazed by what you can learn about people simply by taking the time to listen and observe.
One thing that I have learned from my observations is that people usually don't think twice about buying something they want if they think it is cheap. While we all have our definitions about what we think is cheap, I would hypothesize that the vast majority of the population of the United States would think that one dollar is cheap. I would even venture to say that only a slightly smaller portion of our citizens would consider five dollars cheap.
Now, let's stick with this one and five dollar hypothesis and see how it adds up over time. First, lets start with some easy math. There are 365 days in one typical year (not a leap year). If the average American consumer were to waste only one dollar each day, that is three hundred and sixty five dollars.
Now, let's take that same three hundred and sixty five dollars and apply it toward getting out of debt. Lets say someone has a $1000 credit card debt at 14.67 percent interest (the average rate for an American with a blance according to www.creditcards.com). If this typical American paid a minimum amount of forty dollars a month on their 1000 dollar balance, it would take them over two and one half years to pay it off ( calulated using Crown.org repayment calculator). Now, lets apply that three hundred and sixty five dollars to that balance and still make the monthly payments. Doing so saves over one year of payments and cuts the title interest paid by more than half.
It amazes me how many people walk around day by day living in such blissful ignorance of how even the smallest decisions can drastically impact their financial bottom line.
One thing that I have learned from my observations is that people usually don't think twice about buying something they want if they think it is cheap. While we all have our definitions about what we think is cheap, I would hypothesize that the vast majority of the population of the United States would think that one dollar is cheap. I would even venture to say that only a slightly smaller portion of our citizens would consider five dollars cheap.
Now, let's stick with this one and five dollar hypothesis and see how it adds up over time. First, lets start with some easy math. There are 365 days in one typical year (not a leap year). If the average American consumer were to waste only one dollar each day, that is three hundred and sixty five dollars.
Now, let's take that same three hundred and sixty five dollars and apply it toward getting out of debt. Lets say someone has a $1000 credit card debt at 14.67 percent interest (the average rate for an American with a blance according to www.creditcards.com). If this typical American paid a minimum amount of forty dollars a month on their 1000 dollar balance, it would take them over two and one half years to pay it off ( calulated using Crown.org repayment calculator). Now, lets apply that three hundred and sixty five dollars to that balance and still make the monthly payments. Doing so saves over one year of payments and cuts the title interest paid by more than half.
It amazes me how many people walk around day by day living in such blissful ignorance of how even the smallest decisions can drastically impact their financial bottom line.
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