Second Cup: Enjoy being penny foolish

Don't sweat the small stuff if the big stuff is good

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to enjoy being penny foolish. If you've
got the big pieces of your financial life in good shape,
then there is no risk of you being penny wise

(00:30):
and pound foolish. You are pound wise, so why not
take advantage of that to feel a little profligate on
the small stuff? Just from time to time. Longtime listeners
have heard me talk about the importance of getting the
big things right for financial health. Buying or renting less

(00:53):
house than you could theoretically afford is one way to
create massive amounts of space in your budget. The same
goes for spending less on transportation. Perhaps you decide to
move to a lower cost of living area, or you
choose a district where you can send your kids to
excellent public schools for the cost of your taxes, which

(01:16):
you have to pay. Anyway, you've paid close attention to
your retirement account and you aren't paying exorbitant fees. Ideally,
most of it is in low cost index funds. If
you are doing all these things right, and the money
coming in is greater than the money going out. Then congratulations,

(01:41):
you are the opposite of that saying about being penny
wise and pound foolish. You are pound wise, so you
can probably be a bit penny foolish sometimes without it
being a problem. One of my favorite penny foolish things
to do is to buy red peppers instead of green

(02:03):
peppers in the grocery store. Red peppers are always more expensive,
so I am tempted to just go with the green ones,
which are generally fine, But then I realize I don't
necessarily have to buy the least expensive peppers. Then suddenly
I feel rich buying the red peppers for the price

(02:26):
of an extra dollar or so in the grocery store.
I have talked with various people about how they let
themselves be penny foolish from time to time. One person
decided it was okay to order dinner if her spouse
was out of town for several days. Another called an
uber rather than walk from the train in the rain.

(02:49):
Someone else told me he had bought that best seller
he was eyeing when it looked like the library hold
queue was going to take months. None of these were
per paricularly huge expenses, but these were frugal people. Who
tended to try to make wise choices with both pounds
and pennies, so consciously choosing to make penny foolish decisions

(03:14):
felt very decadent, which can be kind of fun. One
of my favorite quotes is from Pablo Picasso, who said
I'd like to live as a poor man with lots
of money. The idea is that the poor man could
still be delighted by little things, the sorts of things

(03:34):
that a lot of money would let him easily do.
If you are a pound wise person, being occasionally penny
foolish is about the closest thing to approximating the sentiment
behind that quote. I know I feel that way buying
my red peppers. It's such a little treat. If the

(03:56):
big pieces are good, then it's probably fine. In the meantime,
this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of our times.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can
send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before
Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four then Breakfast Pod.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

(04:36):
Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot Com that before Breakfast is spelled
out with all the letters, Thanks so much, should I
look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

(04:59):
favorite shows.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
Oh olgaggag