My husband and I have been living an actively frugal lifestyle for almost three years. I recently had an experience that showed me how much my thought process has been changed by frugality. We saw a television commercial for a folder-type organizing system touted as a “portable workstation”, and it looked interesting. As most commercials do, this one illustrated the various ways the system could be used, and I have to admit, it looked intriguing. At the end of the ad, there was a toll-free number to call to order the system, and the company also listed a website. I made note of the website, and looked it up the next morning. The website featured a video of the same television commercial that had caught my attention.
As I watched the ad again and explored the website, I noticed the company was offering “an extra system “free!” (Just pay a shipping and handling fee added to the cost of the first system plus its shipping and handling charge.) I was also asked to choose “how many sets of two” I would like to order. I could have my choice of one of three colors: Red, black, and “designer plaid.” (I could not determine if the system was constructed of fabric or plastic of some type.) I was reminded again, on the website, of all the ways the system could help me organize:
–bills,
–important documents and papers “perfect for busy mothers”, teachers and students…(the only ones not mentioned, as far as I could see, were the family pets).
–business papers for busy executives,
–coupons,
–holiday cards and gift wrap,
–craft supplies,
–activities center for the children,
–the entire contents of a disorganized desk,
–planning parties and events,
–even store a laptop computer for easy portability,
and, I would also have a smooth writing surface…
all in a folder system that looked like an accordion file with a couple of zipper pockets and “handy corner pockets”, that could be compactly folded and stored in a drawer when I wasn’t taking it with me somewhere. Yes, indeed, it certainly sounded appealing to my sense of being “organized, on-the-go.”
Two or three years ago, I would have had very little hesitation in pulling out my handy charge card and placing my order for such an indispensable system. Fast forward to today, and enter my frugal mindset, which is well-established.
–We receive most of our bills electronically, and have for a long time; bills are paid mostly online, so there are few paper bills to keep track of. Our filing cabinet keeps the paper bills quite neatly out of the way, yet easy to access when they are needed.
–Important documents and papers? All are stored, quite neatly, in our filing cabinet already, and we use them in the office at our desks. We don’t take them anywhere else.
–coupons? Stored in my quite-a-bit-more compact coupon organizer, kept in one of the kitchen drawers where we can easily use them to prepare our shopping lists.
–holiday cards and gift wrap? We do not store these items. They are purchased as needed, when we find them on sale.
–craft supplies? We don’t do the sorts of crafts that require supplies that can be stored in the system.
–activities center for the children? That’s what the dining room table (in bad weather) and the back yard (in sunshine and fresh air) are for…
–the contents of a disorganized desk? If I had a disorganized desk, it would not stay that way very long, because I need to be able to find things quickly. And, if I can’t keep my desk organized, I do not need another “thing” to have to keep organized.
–planning parties and events? I do this quite effectively using my homemade party planner notebook, which cost only a minimal amount since I had most of the items needed to create it already.
–a laptop computer? I have a laptop bag for that already. As for a “smooth writing surface”, the surfaces of our desks and tables do quite nicely, thanks. If I am out and about and find a need to write, a simple purse-sized notebook and a pen or clipboard, notebook paper and a pen do very well. These, again, are items I already have.
So…as appealing as it sounded initially, I quickly determined that we quite simply do not have any need for this “amazing” product. We already have effective systems in place that do not require any further expenditures. This system, as “reasonably” priced as it may be, would not be a frugal use of our funds. It took me less than five minutes to decide to give this “bargain” a pass.
Karen Carter is a longtime reader of BeingFrugal.net and author of the soon-to-be-released book Saving Our Sanity: How One Family Learns to Organize, Live Frugally, and Gain Financial Freedom.
I bought one of these from CVS. Thought it was the bees’ knees for about 3 days. Now it sits empty in my closet. Wish I could take back that purchase. You didn’t miss anything fabulous, I can assure you.
I would never (at least to date) order anything that offered a second one free if I just paid separate shipping and handling charges. Those charges are (IMO) overpriced, and to be asked to pay double is unconscionable. A $9.95 item could wind up costing a small fortune. Nope. Not me. Keep my card securely tucked away. _Maybe_ I would have bought one (that’s a big _maybe_), but no way I’m going to pay to have two shipped to me. Besides, in my frugal and lack-of-clutter mindset, why would I want two of anything advertised in an infomercial?
One of the catches with these types of Infomercial purchases is the “shipping & handling” fees. These are usually outrageously priced and where the companies are making their real money. They mark the item for sale at a low and enticing price and tell us that we can return it, no questions asked for 100% refund. That’s all well and good because the item is usually a piece of junk. HOWEVER, you will not get one penny of the S & H charges back, plus you have to pay to return it. My dad bought a handy dandy drill with attachment that would rototill a garden by hand with ease. It was a piece of junk. The item cost $29.95. S & H was $69. I couldn’t believe he fell for that sales pitch. He was a smart man, but a wee bit impulsive. He ended up tossing the drill in the trash and learning a lesson the hard way. I told him, “Next time, Google it!”
Every time I see that commercial I think to myself how simple it would be to make something like that and for a whole lot cheaper than what they are charging. In fact, I’ve been thinking I might just make some up for Christmas gifts.
This has happened a lot to us over the last year. We now hesitate before paying for anything! Even with groceries – paying pennies at CVS has ruined us, lol – we will rarely buy anything unless it’s on sale and we have a coupon. In the past, we just bought what we needed and prayed for a sale!
I’ve been doing a lot of that myself lately. :) Keeping my hands in my pockets while strolling around in a store helps to keep my purchases way down too.
LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!
My DH does this all the time! Those infomercials get him EVERYTIME! Do we really need a NuWave oven? We have an oven (which I hardly use lol). Do we really need the Magic Bullet? We have a blender. He’s the one that says we need it, and I negate the need to a want.
Just a suggestion b/c you seem quite organized and it has come in handy for me BIG time since we got married. I got an organizer for $1 or $2 at a Christmas fair a few years back. It lists people’s names and addresses, phone number etc. There’s a folder in it for each month where you can put cards in it, and on the folder part, it lists the numbers of the days so you can put ‘so and so’s bday’ or anniversary so you always know when it’s someone’s bday. I LOVE IT! I go once a month to the card store by work that boasts about 50% off cards and I do my mass shopping for the month. It’s been such a life saver! My DMIL also bought a fridge one that has just the months and days and you add in birthdays so everytime we go to the fridge, someone bday or anniversary stares us right in the face. She got that for me for $1. The book of cards, etc is quite small, smaller then a notebook, but gets fat when you add in a TON of cards (as I do). :)
It just goes to show that a bargain isn’t a bargain (or an amazing system isn’t amazing) if you don’t need it.