TotD: Spending Dimes to Save Nickels

Today's thought of the day is about frugality and what it really means. The word "frugal" is commonly used in place of "cheap" or "thrifty," but I think it means a lot more than that. Frugal means being smart with your money: knowing when to spend it and how to save it.

I brought my car into my dealership to have it tuned-up. The courtesy shuttle at my small, local dealership is simply an employee with a company vehicle who picks people up from the dealership and drops them off where the need to go. I was riding with a very nice man, who when I told him where I was going, promptly pointed out that most people would take Yonge St. (a very heavily traveled road), and he was going to take me the "back way." 

Now the reason that the man wanted to avoid Yonge was so that he could avoid potential traffic; having driven down the road myself on the way to the dealership, I told him that today it seemed to be moving just fine. He insisted that his back way was much better.

I live thirty minutes from the dealership if you take the way that any map-generating-site would lead you; this route would include Yonge, and yes, I'm factoring in moderate traffic. The "back way" that the driver took us, took forty-five minutes. I could hardly be angry with him as I really wasn't in a hurry, but I do remember thinking:

To avoid traffic that may or may not have even existed, a man went fifteen minutes out of his way. The fear that he had about traffic was that it would take up time, and yet he wasted time going a different route. Honestly, even at rush hour, I had never experienced a delay in that area longer than five minutes. So maybe he likes the scenic route or wants to drive through neighborhoods instead of through commercial area; this could be entirely true!

My dad always says: "You're spending dimes to save nickels!" 

And I have to stop and think sometimes:

Am I spending more time going "the back way" than I would be just trudging through the traffic? If I have a coupon to save money, but don't actually need the product, am I still saving? If I go a couple of miles out of my way to get gas for 1/2 a cent cheaper, am I spending more money in the gas it takes me to get there?

So, dad, I'll be keeping a close eye on those dimes from now on! 

(And I don't just mean those men in Magic Mike. Although...)