Splurge or Save?

This question: Splurge or Save? has puzzled me quite exorbitantly over the past few years.  I've always erred on the side of "save" and always thought that "splurge" was for snobs that could afford it (literally and figuratively).  However, I want to delve into this topic first because we can't understand how to save if we don't know what to save and how much of it to save. 

Case I:
I made up my mind about toilet paper about 2 years ago. I changed my mind last week.

In my opinion, toilet paper is a necessity. I must have it. I cannot live without it.  And I don't know many people that could live without it either.  Because it is a necessity, I believe that you MUST spend money on it.  I used to believe that you MUST spend as little money on it as possible.  I would find amazing deals for toilet paper at Walmart and Target and I would think to myself "I am a budgeting master, a money-saving superstar, a diva sleeping in money instead of a blanket!"

But in reality, I would go home with my cheap-o toilet paper that I saved like $3 on and I would dislike immensely HATE that toilet paper. I would run into my roommates room and steal borrow her toilet paper because it was so soft and thick and luxurious. I trained my brain to think "you are saving. stick with this. it's a part of budgeting."

Then, literally last week, I had an epiphany. I came home to my stupid cheap-o toilet paper and started grumbling in my head about how stupid thin toilet paper is--you have to bunch up 50 sheets just to get a good sizable amount and then it's all scratchy and then it tears easily and then you spend 10 minutes beating the toilet paper roll around and around trying to find the stupid sheet that you lost in order to spend 10 minutes making another bunch of 50 sheets--ridiculous.  I finally realized..... I CAN BUY FREAKING EXPENSIVE TOILET PAPER IF I WANT TO.

What? I'm trying to save.... why would i do this? Well, folks... glad you're here because here's the kicker: We splurge on things that make us happy. We save on things that make a difference.

Let me repeatamente: We splurge on things that make us happy. We save on things that make a difference.

This mind boggled me. I sat on my couch (added for emphasis that I might not have been on a toilet even though I was) and thought HOW PROFOUND.

So here's my advice:
Splurge on what makes you happy. If you HATE your stupid cheap toilet paper and you grumble everytime you prance into the bathroom..... then your happiness is worth the $3 a month it's going to cost you to buy the thick and cozy diaper sheets that are going to make your life complete.

If cheap toilet paper is not a big deal to you and you don't really know why I'm freaking out about it, BUY IT. You will save $3 a month. It will be great. But dont' think that you are not a good budgeter because you are spending some cash money on some suped up toilet paper dazzled in rhinestones.

So I added my handy dandy chart to help us explore the concept of splurge vs. save. I'm not saying that you should splurge on everything that makes you happy. If I splurged on everything that made me happy I would be sitting in a jail cell until I figured out how to pay back the government for all the frauded checks I wrote to buy a hot pink jet airplane with my face plastered all over it.

Here's what I'm saying: it comes down to YOU... your likes, dislikes, preferences, life goals. No one can tell you HOW to spend/save your money...but people can tell you WHY you should spend/save your money (let's take me for example. refer to chart.)

I splurge on toilet paper because it makes me happy.

• I don't mind splurging on toilet paper AS LONG as I can allocate that "difference" I just spent on something else. (like abstaining from a starbucks drink, purse, or having water instead of a coke, etc.)

I save on purses because bargains are more important to me than purses.

• I don't buy designer Chloe handbags because I don't have that kind of money. But even if I did, I would not buy one because someone would spill a beer on it if I went out or I would accidentally drop a sharpie on it because I'm clumsy.
• I buy cheap purses from TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Ross because finding a deal makes me happier than the actual purse itself.
• I buy cheap purses because honestly, I can't tell a difference in the two pictures above.  If you can, and you love designer purses, buy one. But know the investment you're making and the $2,000 you have to make up for elsewhere (like living on a bench, etc.)

I splurge on shampoo and conditioner because I learned from my mistakes.

• My hair girl told me that if I buy really expensive Biolage shampoo and conditioner, my hair won't be as fried and unhealthly looking and I won't have to buy shampoo and conditioner for 4-5 months.
• I used to buy (still have it in my shower) some Herbal Essences and turns out my hair girl was right... I buy that crap almost every 1-2 months. It also doesn't make me feel very happy because I know more expensive shampoo is healthier for my hair.
• I care about my hair because I want it to grow. In order for it to grow, I'm going to have to invest in some expensive as shizzzz products to get this mane growing like rapunzel. If you could care less about your hair, SAVE on shampoo and conditioner. It's all about conditioning yourself (no pun intended) to play the weight game--always balancing saving with splurging.

I save on face wash because I don't have sensitive skin.

• Most girls I know that use Cetaphil use it because it makes their skin feel better. I couldn't tell a difference so I don't care.
• Most girls I know that use Cetaphil use it because their dermatologists told them that Cetaphil was the kindest to their skin. I don't even have a dermatologist so I think I'm ok in the skin department.
• I choose to save because it's not a big deal to me. If face wash is going to make you pout like toilet paper made me pout, buy the dadgum Cetaphil and don't feel guilty.

I splurge on starbucks when I've had a bad day.

• Ok, I lied. I could be having a really good day too and something comes over me and I think, "I NEED/DESERVE/WANT/MUST LATHER ON MY BODY some overpriced starbucks!" When those rare moments occur, do it. Just know that if you spend $5 today on a coffee, you probably shouldnt' have a coke for dinner... or buy that People magazine at Target... or get Whataburger for dinner. It's all about balance.

I save on starbucks whenever I'm feeling money conscious.

• I could care less if I have whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkles on my drink--I want some hardcore robust coffee pumped into my veins like an IV. I could spend $5 on a coffee every time I go to starbucks or I could spend $1.09 on a black coffee and spend an extra 5 minutes sprucing it up with skim milk and splenda at the coffee bar. The question is, do I want to pay $5 for a nice drink or do I want to pay 5 minutes of time to spruce up a cheap drink? You have to decide if time is money.
• You also have to decide if this makes you happy. If you're gonna be P.O'ed because you have a stupid black coffee then don't get it if you're gonna whine about it. If you are the person that needs the caffeine more than the froo froo--save yo money!
• Think about it--if you bought black coffee at starbucks 3 times a month, you would save $87.48 in a year. You could buy that fancy non-Chloe purse in a year! Or you could save for 25 years and buy that Chloe purse with the starbucks money you saved--your choice!

My hope is that you start retraining your brain like I have started retraining mine. If I want to buy expensive toilet paper, dagnab it I'm gonna do it! But I'm gonna do it cautiously knowing that there is another area in my life that I need to cut back on.

Remember: We splurge on things that make us happy. We save on things that make a difference.  I challenge you to truly ask yourself: (1) is making that difference up sometimes more important than my temporary happiness? (2)Why does this make me happy? (3) What was the last thing I saved on that I patted myself on the back for?

What do you splurge on and what do you save on? I'd love to hear your stories!

I am starting a new blog. So welcome readers if this is your first post to read!

This used to my catch-all blog (where I tried to post artsy pictures of couches and stuff), my European adventures blog (where I trekked through Europe and got mugged by Arabs), and now this is going to be a budget/life blog about how the heck we live our lives after college and what can be done about it...

  

I read a really cool book called "Bubbly on Your Budget" a few months ago. It applied to so much of my life as a post-grad professional/adult/woman figuring it all out that I decided I had to start letting other girls know about all this wisdom and hilarious information at our fingertips.

I think it will speak to a lot of young 20 somethings who are like me and trying to find my way in this world as an adult since no one gave me a life manual after college.  And the best part of all... this book was written in 1930! Are you joking me? Nope. It is SO sassy, cutthroat, witty, and personable that I literally think it's been my favorite book of 2012 (ok all I have to compare it to is Human Resources textbooks and a few Cosmos...)

Basically, this book is great because it's NOT just about MONEY. Thank goodness, because as much as I like love money, I don't have much of it so it would be annoying as hell to read a whole book about managing money that you don't have (sorry I said hell). It's all about coping with life when you don't have money and how to make yourself fabulous and approachable and still keep your friends even though you're poor and all you want to do is cry about it.

I also thought I should preface.... this book is titled "Bubbly on Your Budget" which I find super fitting because I love bubbly and I love money but this blog title is STOLEN and not original.... it was a book written back in the 30's so please don't think I'm trying to take credit for something I'm not.

Oh another caveat, yeah this blog is called BOYB but I'm still probably going to write about all things on here that pertain to my life and so many other girls my age.....

• How to live alone and like it
• How to communicate with your mom now that you're kinda an adult
• What to do about things you feel you have no control over (career, love, friends, etc.)
• and anything else that sparks my fancy (like what happened to me earlier in an elevator when a man literally struck up a conversation with me and called me ashley and i had to politely interupt and tell him i wasn't his co-worker and then had to stand in silence for like ever....)
• Oh and my name is Marley (?) i forget rando's don't know who I am. So my friends call me Marls. My super close and really disturbing friends call me Marla. Call me what you want--diva, rockstar, whatever flows naturally ya know...

Oh and here is the biggest thing: I hope if you're reading this, you read this because you like it. Even love it. And you gain some stuff to take with you.  I'm writing because I want to. And it's a free country. So I'm totes open to advice and tips and free thought on topics and ideas.

If you don't like it, you should probably run like mad. I'm not writing to impress.  I'm not writing so my aunt in Timbuktu can know what's up. I'm not writing for my boyfriend or my boss or my friends.  But I'm totes not open to meanies--I've never really experienced meanies but on blogs people write about how they don't want mean people on their blogs so I just wanna cover all my bases.