From what I have read, this tax would indeed be in addition to state/local sales taxes. This tax however, is charged at all levels of manufacturing/distribution. IE manufacture pays tax on raw goods, then when sold to distributors its taxed again, then again at the actual store where sold, etc, etc.
I feel much more tired when under heavy stress, so I don't have the energy to hit the department stores for "shopping therapy." But I will be more open to spending money for quick, convenient food if I am too tired to cook. My method of combating stress food spending is to cook and freeze batches of food over the weekend that I can reheat for dinner during the week. I also cook a lot of rice so there's always the option of making quick fried rice from it, eggs and whatever leftovers or frozen vegs are at hand.
I just try to tell myself that, in the time it takes me to drive to the fast food store, order, wait, and drive home, I coudl have gone home and prepared a meal.
So, how unethical would it be to buy four of these DVDs on ebay or half.com for the express purpose of making a couple of bucks off the rebate? Or getting some new DVDs to give as shower/baby gifts?
@javajump - I disagree.
I think it's fine to order water to drink, as long as you are tipping appropriately on your bill. Some people drink water for health reasons, some for taste reasons, some for financial reasons and some for a combination. Saying that people who do not order a beverage other than water because they don't want to spend the extra shouldn't be eating out is like saying that people who order the chicken fingers rather than the prime rib because they don't want to be spending the extra shouldn't be eating out. As long as people are tipping appropriately, the restaurant staff should be happy to have people in their restaurant, buying the food, paying the bill and tipping something.
Why people order what they order should be a personal matter and, again, as long as the bill is paid including an appropriate tip, everyone should leave happy.
I get on the internet and shop and pick out all the things I want, to make myself feel better. I have a 48 hour rule. If I am still thinking about it two days later, I check to see if there is money in the budget, if so, I buy it. 99% of the time, I have totally forgotten what I was or that I wanted it by the next day.
My grandmother used to do this, only she didnt have the internet, she called it "window shopping"
I have been thinking about the connection- perversely, I spend foolishly when I'm stressed out about debt. I mentally throw up my hands and find myself spending money I don't have on things I think I may need...in case of absolute financial disaster! For instance, I'll pass on the single roll of 39 cent Walgreens toilet paper in favor of a 12-roll pack, even if I only have 39 cents in my wallet. Or I'll fill up the gas tank and overdraw my account to do so- or kite a check to make sure the refrigerator is stocked. It's clearly a fear-based reaction to living paycheck to paycheck in an uncertain time, but it winds up costing a lot in overdraft fees and the like. It doesn't make any sense! However, writing down everything I spend (per my new budget counselor) and "white-knuckling" it through the lean times is helping mightily.
I think this may be like how some people react to stress (or full-blown clinical depression) by eating more, and some people react by eating less. One of my biggest sources of stress is time pressure, and when I'm overburdened with work and other commitments, I don't have much time to think about spending on non-essentials!
Several people have mentioned spending on eating out when faced with time-pressure stress. For us, it would take 20+ minutes and 20+ bucks to pick up dinner at a drive-thru if we were running short on time. By making sure my grocery list includes some quick frozen fixes to see us through those days (frozen pizzas, frozen burger patties, frozen fries, etc.) we can have dinner on the table in less time, at half the cost.
I have to say that stress really (in my opinion)can be closely related to spending as a whole particularly in it's addictive style. I have seen many people who simply cannot afford to buy things because of a job loss or previous mounting debts that they have said where out of hand and yet they were charging up sometimes what seemed useless items. This has left me to think that because of the stress in their life spending seems to be almost like a medicine at that moment because all seems okay when they walk away with whatever was bought. Yet it all is a vicious cycle with one relapse after another.
I think stress just shows itself in many forms and spending is definitively for some a momentary relief.
I sell used cars for a living. I treat my customers with respect. I don't resort to rude tactics and don't understand why it would acceptable for a customer to be rude to a me.
The irony of this is that the vast majority of people don't have a clue when buying a pre-owned vehicle. Lets face it, all new cars of the same make and model are the same quality. When they are used it is a completely different matter. Condition is everything when buying used and the vast majority of buyers get caught up by a cheap detail with plenty of armor all on the tires and a clean engine compartment. I get a kick out of people sticking their heads under the hood thinking that they really know what they are looking for. LOL!
If you can get 20% off of the asking price then I GUARANTEE that you got your head ripped off and didn't realize it. If there was that kind of mark up, then the car was a lump and you deserved it because the author is the kind of egghead that thinks that he knows the value of a used car by reading about it online or what the KBB is.
These are the kind of people I enjoy high grossing on. They really think that they hold the cards when in fact they lack any idea of what a good value is.
1. I tend to spend more on comfort and convenience when I'm stressed. Maybe that means I buy an indulgence for myself or the kids, like a vintage coat or a pricey box of cereal. Maybe it means I cave and we order take-out. When I'm stressed, I often try to buy my way towards feeling better.
2. Stressful events tend to be expensive. Last month, a good friend's baby was in the NICU. Being there to support her meant a lot of expensive hospital parking fees, tolls, and meals.
3. When I'm stressed, my focus is not on my money. When my friend's baby was sick, I wasn't closely monitoring my spending and tracking my dining out budget. During daily life, I have little routines and habits that keep spending in check, but under stress my attention just goes elsewhere.
The best way I've found for dealing with it is just to stay far, far away from my wallet at times of stress.
Sierra Black - embracing the wild heart of parenting at www.childwild.com
I think the thing to bear in mind is that even if buying a car is the realization of a long-term dream, odds are good that there's more than one dream car out there. You can rest easy knowing you will get the car you want, even if it's not this exact car.
Sierra Black - embracing the wild heart of parenting at www.childwild.com
I did not pay a penny more than I budgeted. I expected to pay $13,000 for a five-year-old car with about 70K miles on it and a five-year-warranty. Instead, I paid that amount for a 1-year-old car with $30K miles on it. The sale price for our car was over $5,000 less than the Kelly Blue Book value - even less than KBB estimated we'd get for it in trade value from a dealer. I think I got a pretty great deal.
The dealer warranty expires after 30,000 miles, which is just about where our new car is at. We had decided we wanted a 5-year warranty on the car before we went to the dealership, and were factoring the cost of it into our car-buying budget. I'm hard on my stuff, and have used every extended warranty I've ever bought, on everything from cars to cell phones. I really don't want to be on the hook for big car repair bills while I'm paying off a car loan. So we would have spent that money one way or the other, and spent less than we expected to.
As for the financing, we did have an offer from AAA for 5% financing on the loan before we went shopping. The call was just to confirm that we were going ahead with that offer; we didn't end up taking it because the dealer suddenly dropped their rate even lower. Since car loans do seem to be averaging around 6-7%, I think we got a pretty good deal there.
The $1,000 technicality is, as you say, not really that little a thing. Maybe it deserves its own post to get more reader tips about how to handle sudden changes mid-deal. At the time, and now, letting it go seemed like the thing to do. I was happy to get the money value taken off the warranty, which as I said we were going to buy anyway.
Sierra Black - embracing the wild heart of parenting at www.childwild.com
I had to purchase a car a couple of months ago and had an interesting experience. I found the type of car I wanted, which was a gently used low mileage import that was was reliable and got decent gas mileage (basically a Honda or Toyota). After doing hours of shopping at a lot of different websites that dealers list their vehicles on, I went to test drive several and get a feel for what I wanted. Throughout the whole time, I suggest NOT letting yourself get emotionally attached to a vehicle, or at least not letting the dealer know how badly you want the vehicle -- seeming indifferent helps a lot because emotion buyers are seen as easy sales.
After picking out which vehicle I wanted, I spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how much the dealer paid when the previous owner traded the vehicle I wanted in. After coming up with a price that I felt was close to the trade-in value, I did considerable research to figure out what the fair market value was. The vehicle, of course, was marked up way past fair market value -- they expect you to negotiate.
So here's how it went down:
Car was priced at: $15,995
Fair Market Value: $14,750 (max of what I was actually willing to pay)
What I wanted to pay: $14,350 (minus $100 that I'll get to in a minute)
Trade-in: $12,750
Never never never start negotiating at the price that you want to buy...Prices can only go up. I low-balled the dealer with an offer of $12,750. The guy laughed and asked how I came up with that number. I laughed back and asked how he came up with $15,995. He didn't care much for the jab back, but I don't care much for people trying to rip me off from the get-go, so we were even.
After that, we respected each other. Now, the key is to get whomever you're working with on YOUR SIDE. I knew what I wanted to pay for the vehicle and I wanted to seem like this was a limited time offer (which is a tactic many marketers use to prompt consumers to buy). So here's what I said -- My boyfriend went shopping with me and he had to be in class in about an hour. I told the dealer this and I said that if he can have me walking out of the dealership with the keys in my hand and my butt in the seat in an hour of less, I'll give him the crisp $100 bill that I pulled out of my billfold and sat it on the table...That was my first deal.
I knew that based on $15,995, I was willing to increase my price to whatever they came off. So for example, if they came down $500, I would increase my offer to $13,250 and we could go back and forth until we met in the middle with a price of ~14,250
He took the price of $12,750 to his boss -- about 10 minutes later, he returned and told me that if I wanted the car for that price, that he didn't know if we could make a deal. I politely said I understand and that I'll head on over to the dealership just down the street and as I gathered my stuff, he quickly jotted down $14,200 on the paper. I could not believe that that they came down so quickly -- I was certain that they were going to try and waste my time...I honestly was speechless for just a moment. He said "If I can put you in this car for this price, will you buy?" Damnit...What was I supposed to do from here! This wasn't part of the plan. I told him that if he could make it $14,100 and throw in a free oil change, the deal is made.
My boyfriend was so amazed/embarrassed/proud about how I haggle -- I am, by far, the deal maker between the two of us.
He took it to his boss -- a couple of minutes later, came back and shook my hand and said we have a deal. When I first started car shopping, he asked how I planned on paying and I told him using a credit union loan. So instead of wasting my time in the finance office, he asked for the information for my credit union. He asked if I was interested in a warranty, and I declined. 35 minutes later, my butt was in my new-to-me car, driving away.
... to breathe in and out slowly ... pray if you have one to pray to; or, meditate and think of a wonderful and peaceful place to go for a minute or two ...
remember that "things" are not "who" you are... breathe ... relax ... just for a minute or two ... and remember who you are ... and how strong you are...
Eventually you can go back and seize the day. Godspeed!
I manage stress by setting time aside to relax with friends and family and watch movies I like on weekends. I manage spending by not going to places I am tempted to spend money.
Depending on the source of my stress, I may either spend some or not.
I sometimes spend to buy myself something to make me feel better or to cheer myself up. This is usually the case when it's work/school/etc that's got me down.
Or, I'll just hoard all I can into savings. If I stress about spending money, this is what I'll often do. If I feel worse about keeping the money than spending it on an item, then I figure that it's important enough for me to buy and I'll buy it. (Very little buyer's remorse here!)
I actually don't have a connection problem between stress and spending. Mine is more between stress and eating and also between spending and then depression (about the spending). I'm sure there are areas of overlap, tho :) Mostly I try to stay focused and not let myself get stressed out about things like I used to. It helps that my focus can be on reducing spending and meal planning, all things that help me avoid pitfalls.
Once you have asked for a discount the use of silence is paramount.
It will feel strange, you'll probably feel awkward and uneasy - but once you have asked for that discount close your mouth and keep it closed - first to talk loses.
From what I have read, this tax would indeed be in addition to state/local sales taxes. This tax however, is charged at all levels of manufacturing/distribution. IE manufacture pays tax on raw goods, then when sold to distributors its taxed again, then again at the actual store where sold, etc, etc.
Thanks for the post. Very interesting read.
Guest No 19 Comment - Wow! Sounds like no one ever gets a "deal."
I'm reminded of a great quote I heard the other day:
"Communism is man exploiting man. Capitalism is the other way around."
Thanks for your tips about no-late-fee Netflix and online shopping! Excellent ideas!
Sharon is the author of The Frugal Duchess: How to Live Well and Save Money
I feel much more tired when under heavy stress, so I don't have the energy to hit the department stores for "shopping therapy." But I will be more open to spending money for quick, convenient food if I am too tired to cook. My method of combating stress food spending is to cook and freeze batches of food over the weekend that I can reheat for dinner during the week. I also cook a lot of rice so there's always the option of making quick fried rice from it, eggs and whatever leftovers or frozen vegs are at hand.
I just try to tell myself that, in the time it takes me to drive to the fast food store, order, wait, and drive home, I coudl have gone home and prepared a meal.
So, how unethical would it be to buy four of these DVDs on ebay or half.com for the express purpose of making a couple of bucks off the rebate? Or getting some new DVDs to give as shower/baby gifts?
@javajump - I disagree.
I think it's fine to order water to drink, as long as you are tipping appropriately on your bill. Some people drink water for health reasons, some for taste reasons, some for financial reasons and some for a combination. Saying that people who do not order a beverage other than water because they don't want to spend the extra shouldn't be eating out is like saying that people who order the chicken fingers rather than the prime rib because they don't want to be spending the extra shouldn't be eating out. As long as people are tipping appropriately, the restaurant staff should be happy to have people in their restaurant, buying the food, paying the bill and tipping something.
Why people order what they order should be a personal matter and, again, as long as the bill is paid including an appropriate tip, everyone should leave happy.
I get on the internet and shop and pick out all the things I want, to make myself feel better. I have a 48 hour rule. If I am still thinking about it two days later, I check to see if there is money in the budget, if so, I buy it. 99% of the time, I have totally forgotten what I was or that I wanted it by the next day.
My grandmother used to do this, only she didnt have the internet, she called it "window shopping"
What a wonderful list! Your thrifty shopping and cleaning tips are excellent! I will start cutting my sponges in half. Thank so much!
Sharon is the author of The Frugal Duchess: How to Live Well and Save Money
I have been thinking about the connection- perversely, I spend foolishly when I'm stressed out about debt. I mentally throw up my hands and find myself spending money I don't have on things I think I may need...in case of absolute financial disaster! For instance, I'll pass on the single roll of 39 cent Walgreens toilet paper in favor of a 12-roll pack, even if I only have 39 cents in my wallet. Or I'll fill up the gas tank and overdraw my account to do so- or kite a check to make sure the refrigerator is stocked. It's clearly a fear-based reaction to living paycheck to paycheck in an uncertain time, but it winds up costing a lot in overdraft fees and the like. It doesn't make any sense! However, writing down everything I spend (per my new budget counselor) and "white-knuckling" it through the lean times is helping mightily.
I think this may be like how some people react to stress (or full-blown clinical depression) by eating more, and some people react by eating less. One of my biggest sources of stress is time pressure, and when I'm overburdened with work and other commitments, I don't have much time to think about spending on non-essentials!
Several people have mentioned spending on eating out when faced with time-pressure stress. For us, it would take 20+ minutes and 20+ bucks to pick up dinner at a drive-thru if we were running short on time. By making sure my grocery list includes some quick frozen fixes to see us through those days (frozen pizzas, frozen burger patties, frozen fries, etc.) we can have dinner on the table in less time, at half the cost.
See, I told you so.
I have to say that stress really (in my opinion)can be closely related to spending as a whole particularly in it's addictive style. I have seen many people who simply cannot afford to buy things because of a job loss or previous mounting debts that they have said where out of hand and yet they were charging up sometimes what seemed useless items. This has left me to think that because of the stress in their life spending seems to be almost like a medicine at that moment because all seems okay when they walk away with whatever was bought. Yet it all is a vicious cycle with one relapse after another.
I think stress just shows itself in many forms and spending is definitively for some a momentary relief.
I sell used cars for a living. I treat my customers with respect. I don't resort to rude tactics and don't understand why it would acceptable for a customer to be rude to a me.
The irony of this is that the vast majority of people don't have a clue when buying a pre-owned vehicle. Lets face it, all new cars of the same make and model are the same quality. When they are used it is a completely different matter. Condition is everything when buying used and the vast majority of buyers get caught up by a cheap detail with plenty of armor all on the tires and a clean engine compartment. I get a kick out of people sticking their heads under the hood thinking that they really know what they are looking for. LOL!
If you can get 20% off of the asking price then I GUARANTEE that you got your head ripped off and didn't realize it. If there was that kind of mark up, then the car was a lump and you deserved it because the author is the kind of egghead that thinks that he knows the value of a used car by reading about it online or what the KBB is.
These are the kind of people I enjoy high grossing on. They really think that they hold the cards when in fact they lack any idea of what a good value is.
Feel free to email me back!
Stress drives spending up for me in three ways:
1. I tend to spend more on comfort and convenience when I'm stressed. Maybe that means I buy an indulgence for myself or the kids, like a vintage coat or a pricey box of cereal. Maybe it means I cave and we order take-out. When I'm stressed, I often try to buy my way towards feeling better.
2. Stressful events tend to be expensive. Last month, a good friend's baby was in the NICU. Being there to support her meant a lot of expensive hospital parking fees, tolls, and meals.
3. When I'm stressed, my focus is not on my money. When my friend's baby was sick, I wasn't closely monitoring my spending and tracking my dining out budget. During daily life, I have little routines and habits that keep spending in check, but under stress my attention just goes elsewhere.
The best way I've found for dealing with it is just to stay far, far away from my wallet at times of stress.
Sierra Black - embracing the wild heart of parenting at www.childwild.com
Andee,
I think the thing to bear in mind is that even if buying a car is the realization of a long-term dream, odds are good that there's more than one dream car out there. You can rest easy knowing you will get the car you want, even if it's not this exact car.
Sierra Black - embracing the wild heart of parenting at www.childwild.com
I did not pay a penny more than I budgeted. I expected to pay $13,000 for a five-year-old car with about 70K miles on it and a five-year-warranty. Instead, I paid that amount for a 1-year-old car with $30K miles on it. The sale price for our car was over $5,000 less than the Kelly Blue Book value - even less than KBB estimated we'd get for it in trade value from a dealer. I think I got a pretty great deal.
The dealer warranty expires after 30,000 miles, which is just about where our new car is at. We had decided we wanted a 5-year warranty on the car before we went to the dealership, and were factoring the cost of it into our car-buying budget. I'm hard on my stuff, and have used every extended warranty I've ever bought, on everything from cars to cell phones. I really don't want to be on the hook for big car repair bills while I'm paying off a car loan. So we would have spent that money one way or the other, and spent less than we expected to.
As for the financing, we did have an offer from AAA for 5% financing on the loan before we went shopping. The call was just to confirm that we were going ahead with that offer; we didn't end up taking it because the dealer suddenly dropped their rate even lower. Since car loans do seem to be averaging around 6-7%, I think we got a pretty good deal there.
The $1,000 technicality is, as you say, not really that little a thing. Maybe it deserves its own post to get more reader tips about how to handle sudden changes mid-deal. At the time, and now, letting it go seemed like the thing to do. I was happy to get the money value taken off the warranty, which as I said we were going to buy anyway.
Sierra Black - embracing the wild heart of parenting at www.childwild.com
I had to purchase a car a couple of months ago and had an interesting experience. I found the type of car I wanted, which was a gently used low mileage import that was was reliable and got decent gas mileage (basically a Honda or Toyota). After doing hours of shopping at a lot of different websites that dealers list their vehicles on, I went to test drive several and get a feel for what I wanted. Throughout the whole time, I suggest NOT letting yourself get emotionally attached to a vehicle, or at least not letting the dealer know how badly you want the vehicle -- seeming indifferent helps a lot because emotion buyers are seen as easy sales.
After picking out which vehicle I wanted, I spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how much the dealer paid when the previous owner traded the vehicle I wanted in. After coming up with a price that I felt was close to the trade-in value, I did considerable research to figure out what the fair market value was. The vehicle, of course, was marked up way past fair market value -- they expect you to negotiate.
So here's how it went down:
Car was priced at: $15,995
Fair Market Value: $14,750 (max of what I was actually willing to pay)
What I wanted to pay: $14,350 (minus $100 that I'll get to in a minute)
Trade-in: $12,750
Never never never start negotiating at the price that you want to buy...Prices can only go up. I low-balled the dealer with an offer of $12,750. The guy laughed and asked how I came up with that number. I laughed back and asked how he came up with $15,995. He didn't care much for the jab back, but I don't care much for people trying to rip me off from the get-go, so we were even.
After that, we respected each other. Now, the key is to get whomever you're working with on YOUR SIDE. I knew what I wanted to pay for the vehicle and I wanted to seem like this was a limited time offer (which is a tactic many marketers use to prompt consumers to buy). So here's what I said -- My boyfriend went shopping with me and he had to be in class in about an hour. I told the dealer this and I said that if he can have me walking out of the dealership with the keys in my hand and my butt in the seat in an hour of less, I'll give him the crisp $100 bill that I pulled out of my billfold and sat it on the table...That was my first deal.
I knew that based on $15,995, I was willing to increase my price to whatever they came off. So for example, if they came down $500, I would increase my offer to $13,250 and we could go back and forth until we met in the middle with a price of ~14,250
He took the price of $12,750 to his boss -- about 10 minutes later, he returned and told me that if I wanted the car for that price, that he didn't know if we could make a deal. I politely said I understand and that I'll head on over to the dealership just down the street and as I gathered my stuff, he quickly jotted down $14,200 on the paper. I could not believe that that they came down so quickly -- I was certain that they were going to try and waste my time...I honestly was speechless for just a moment. He said "If I can put you in this car for this price, will you buy?" Damnit...What was I supposed to do from here! This wasn't part of the plan. I told him that if he could make it $14,100 and throw in a free oil change, the deal is made.
My boyfriend was so amazed/embarrassed/proud about how I haggle -- I am, by far, the deal maker between the two of us.
He took it to his boss -- a couple of minutes later, came back and shook my hand and said we have a deal. When I first started car shopping, he asked how I planned on paying and I told him using a credit union loan. So instead of wasting my time in the finance office, he asked for the information for my credit union. He asked if I was interested in a warranty, and I declined. 35 minutes later, my butt was in my new-to-me car, driving away.
Hopefully this can help somebody :)
Let me know if you have any questions!
What an awesome site!
Thanks for the great post Paul!!
... to breathe in and out slowly ... pray if you have one to pray to; or, meditate and think of a wonderful and peaceful place to go for a minute or two ...
remember that "things" are not "who" you are... breathe ... relax ... just for a minute or two ... and remember who you are ... and how strong you are...
Eventually you can go back and seize the day. Godspeed!
I manage stress by setting time aside to relax with friends and family and watch movies I like on weekends. I manage spending by not going to places I am tempted to spend money.
Depending on the source of my stress, I may either spend some or not.
I sometimes spend to buy myself something to make me feel better or to cheer myself up. This is usually the case when it's work/school/etc that's got me down.
Or, I'll just hoard all I can into savings. If I stress about spending money, this is what I'll often do. If I feel worse about keeping the money than spending it on an item, then I figure that it's important enough for me to buy and I'll buy it. (Very little buyer's remorse here!)
They are definitely connected for me. I am way more likely to spend $$$ when I am stressed.
I actually don't have a connection problem between stress and spending. Mine is more between stress and eating and also between spending and then depression (about the spending). I'm sure there are areas of overlap, tho :) Mostly I try to stay focused and not let myself get stressed out about things like I used to. It helps that my focus can be on reducing spending and meal planning, all things that help me avoid pitfalls.
Once you have asked for a discount the use of silence is paramount.
It will feel strange, you'll probably feel awkward and uneasy - but once you have asked for that discount close your mouth and keep it closed - first to talk loses.
It works - please try it for yourselves!
Simon