All…or Nothing At All

Americans are enthusiastic people. We like to jump into thing whole-heartedly, go for it, give 100%.

This is great. This is to be applauded. Unless such enthusiasm leads us to the flip side of this characteristic...the idea that if you can’t “go big,” you shouldn’t “go at all.”

Far too many of us fall into the “either—or” trap.  We’ll do everything….or nothing. It’s not enough to get better at something. We have to be perfect, immediately, or forget it!

You see this in the person who wants to lose weight and get fit.  They eat nothing but vegetables, exercise to exhaustion and eventually give up. You see it in the kid who practices a sport incessantly, then dumps it when he or she fails to score high. You see it in the student who works for straight “A”s, then feel like a total failure if a B shows up on his report card....and quits studying.

And you see it in people who think they have to become the world’s most frugal person, right now, this instant, and if they can’t…..why bother?

I started thinking about such people when my friend Jenny (not her real name) complained to me one day about her electric bill.  Now, she does a lot of laundry and she dries a lot of towels. Like anything that generates heat, a clothes dryer is a huge energy hog. So I suggested she try drying clothes on a clothesline.

“I’ve got no place to put one.”

Which is true. She hasn’t room in her yard for a full-blown four-strand clothesline. But as I pointed out, she did have room to put up two posts about 10 feet apart and run a line between them. That would cost less than $10 and take about a half-hour’s work.

“I couldn’t dry much on one line.”

“Dry your heavy stuff , “I suggested. “Towels, jeans, sweats, blankets. The things that takes a lot of electricity to dry.”

Nope. Not going to happen. Someday, she’ll have a place where she can have a full-blown clothes line. Until then, she’s not going to bother with doing things “half way.”

This is absurd.

You don’t save money by changing your entire life overnight, but by finding a few small simple ways to save, making them into habits, then finding a few more.

Feel overwhelmed at the idea of home cooking all your meals? Then don’t.  Just home cook a few a week…and save.

Exhausted by the mere idea of replacing your’s light bulbs with high efficiency versions? Then don’t replace them all at one time. Replace a few each month until you’ve made the switch.

Can’t remember the dozens of techniques people use to save gas while driving?  Make a list and start by using just one technique until it becomes a habit. Then each week, add another.

Depressed at the thought of cutting up all your credit cards? Unless you’re in real financial trouble, there’s no need to be that drastic. Just leave most of them at home at first.

Bring your lunch from home once a week. Find one good used-clothing source and buy a few items.  Each week, try buying one store brand item instead of a national brand.

When it comes to handling money, don’t set absurdly unrealistic goals…..then use failing to reach those goals as an excuse to quit trying. Forming frugal habits is done step by sensible step. 

You'll have to excuse me now. As you can see from the picture, I need to get my towels off the line.