What You Say vs What You Spend
I found a fascinating piece on “money dials” via Modern Mrs. Darcy. The idea is that you can see what is important to someone based on how they spend their money.
Money Dials are an easy way to diagnose what you claim is important vs. what is actually important. In a nutshell, your money dials are the things that you are willing to spend extravagantly on by cutting back mercilessly on the things you don’t care about.
And to figure it out, he asks a question: “If you had $25,000 to spend on any of the above, which would you put your money into? Your answer—the one you instinctively came to within seconds—is likely your #1 Money Dial.”
Beyond necessities such as the mortgage, heat, and food, the vast majority of our spending goes toward the kids, especially their education. And when I say “education,” I don’t just mean college, though that is clearly our largest expense right now. I mean making sure they can pursue their interests or taking them places so they can have experiences.
After that, it’s books. As much as I use the library, I also buy myself books. Often. And books could probably be lumped under entertainment, including streaming services and our membership to the symphony.
So the kids and… let’s be fancy and call it “consuming art.” That’s what my spending shows to be my priorities.
What do you spend money on?
7 comments
I hoard my money like a goblin or a dragon. But if I had to, I’d buy a new (really nice) cashmere sweater and then donate the rest to some sort of employment support charity.
I immediately thought “into the bank!” before reading the article. And then I thought of using it to fix all the things that are broken in my house. Like most of the toilet paper holders are falling off the wall (because our builder put in the absolute cheapest kind there is) and I can only put them back so many times and my dishwasher soap dispenser is broken so every time I start the dishwasher, I set a timer and come back fourteen minutes later to dispense the soap myself, and my washing machine knob fell off so I can’t change the type of load any more. I’m sure I could find $25,000 worth of broken things in my house to fix.
Fixing the toilet paper holders is an enormous quality of life improvement. And a temporary fix with what they gave you plus a little extra hardware (like screws or adhesive or whatever it is that addresses the direct problem) is a really cheap fix. Have done this—completely recommend just setting a weekend day to watch YouTube videos, visit the hardware store a couple times (once when you think you know what you need and once when you find out what you’re missing), and then just fix it. Life changing! (See also light switches that pop off and towel holders that fall down.)
Future you can worry about optimizing the perfect toilet paper holder while now you fixes what you already have.
Jeez that blogpost is really min-maxing. Like, yes I’m an economist and 100% believe in revealed preferences, but like that goes both ways— you’re already optimizing and probably shouldn’t be putting more into your “money dial” because if you should have you already would have. Diminishing marginal returns is a thing. Maybe I’ll do a blogpost on the topic sometime in March.
What a huckster.
This is like the third Modern Mrs. Darcy rec I’ve seen this month that’s really rubbed me the wrong way which is weird! (The most recent being her misogynistic first choice of a cozy read! Like what a bizarre circumstance for a turnoff.)
Re: 25k… currently extra money is going in savings because DH’s company is doing layoffs…. I guess I would call that “freedom.”
Out of the categories listed in the article, I think my money dial is freedom. If I was given $25,000, I’d split it in half. I’d spend half on home repairs and save the other half for emergencies. Having both a home (i.e., having a place to eat, sleep, shower, go to the bathroom, and just be) and having money for emergencies (e.g., for car repairs, new tires, medical bills, etc.) make me feel secure and, therefore, free. I’m a real party animal like that lol.
My instant reaction was “Travel!” That’s without reading the page. Now I’ve read it, I object to some of his generalisations about those who travel – my conversation does not revolve around travel unless people ask, I don’t have strong suitcase opinions, or about the best seats!!
I am frugal in other areas so I can travel. Home maintenance will probably take up any spare $25,000 we might have this year, but that’s out of necessity. We don’t care about fancy cars and homes. When I was working full-time I spent a lot on clothes, and I never do that now. I save it for travel.
Years ago, my husband and I were at a barbecue with a friend of his for work. His wife worked at a well known NZ jewellery chain, and her workmates were there too. My husband was chatting to some of them, and called me over. “Would you rather spend money on nice jewellery or travel?” he asked, knowing that I would answer “travel!” Of course, I did. The women there had not believed him, and so were astonished. We had very different levels on our jewellery and travel dials!
Hands down, after the bills are paid, we spend our money on books. 🙂 (But you probably guessed that, didn’t you??) Also, I’ve been spending a lot of money buying cute clothes and books for the great-niblings. I have so much fun doing it (especially right now, with a newborn to buy tiny things for).
If $25,000 landed in my lap, though, I’d probably use it to fund a trip somewhere. I keep saying I want to travel and things (like pandemics and surgeries) keep getting in the way. But I’m not getting any younger (and my knees aren’t either, lol), so…