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Ask HN: Do You Penny Pinch?
I just read this: 'The Rich Don't Penny Pinch', by Sean McClure[0]
My take from it is that: life is so complex, that short term tasks to improve the future are fruitless long term since life is so complex and the future is opaque, so you're going to be fighting entropy anyway, so why bother doing 'penny pinching'?
I'm not sure I buy his philosophy though? I still use coupons, and my grocery shop is always a strict budget and I make use of special offers, as well as living frugally with all that that entails.
So: do you agree with Sean? Should we NOT penny pinch?
[0] https://seanmcclure.substack.com/p/the-rich-dont-penny-pinch
- 1680168l 5y agoIt's not actually true. There are lots of places where we spend money that are neither opaque nor cheap by default where penny-pinching is a concern. When you're rich to the point that you actually have your day filled (including mornings, evenings, and everything in between) with high-value work, then spending your own time to manage your assets conservatively, directly, no longer makes sense. Even so, you want to hire a fiscally conservative manager. The rich stay rich through great control over both spending and earning.
- aingisni_del 5y agoI penny pinch every opportunity I get. But, my application of it is probably more relaxed than true penny pinching: look on ebay, craigslist, amazon, camelcamelcamel, online coupons/codes, 0% financing and pick the best one. However, if the effort is more than the cost, I’d rather just pick whats in front of me and move on. Sometimes, it’s just better for my mental health to buy something outright than to research every single $ or alternative I could have saved on it. I shop at a butcher whose meat is significantly more expensive than grocery shops, but the quality is unbeatable. I’ll shop at a farmers market or eat at a boutique salad restaurant, knowing that I could be just as satisfied with a .99 McDonalds burger. Again, I’d rather optimize for health and lifestyle over purely cost. But it depends.