Tuesday, November 21, 2017

not original...

... but worth passing along for shop-a-holics to digest before the craziest retail day of the year occurs on Friday after Turkey Day here in the US of A. Adapted from an article I read in this week's TIME magazine.  Generally speaking I don't do any holiday shopping, and especially not on the weekend after Thanksgiving, when retailers believe those few days are their 'make or break' time for profits.

The short piece from the weekly news magazine, by Jeff Kreisler, would have you realize you don't need to consider how much the item is 'discounted' - but you should only purchase based on what it will cost you. The misleading mark down tags are there to lure you, deceptive marketing to make you buy a 'bargain'. Finding a shirt marked down from $100 to sixty isn't really saving forty dollars:  rather causing you to spend $60.

Kreisier also points out the danger of thinking in terms of percentages.  Your hard earned cash in your pocket is real, an absolute. Don't be fooled by sales people juggling dollar signs like rubber balls. "Whether it's 10% of a $1,000 sofa or 1% off a $100,000 renovation, or a bank loan: $100 is still $100".  Yours to keep in your pocket, or let some trickster at the county fair lift in the blink of an eye.

Jeff Kreisler, author of this short article is also co-author of a book on money management, "Dollars and Sense: How we Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter."     

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