Laziness = Expensive

[RadioFanatic]

Anyone have a spouse who spends a ton of money simply bc they don't do the leg work? I DO!

For example, my spouse's sirius broke, so I bought him a new one for christmas. All he had to do was add it onto our account and take off the old one. I expected it to be a little more bc it was a newer model. Well, I get home last night and he told me it was $240! But it was in three installments of only $80 I said I was never paying that for the radio and would return it before I did. I asked if he negotiated with them and he said - well I argued with them but they said there was nothing they could do!

Well, funny, after working on it for about 20 minutes this morning, I got them down to $100 for the year and then they refunded me $25 for the remainder of the other contract on the other box. So now I have a refund of $5 coming to me since we already paid our $80 first installment! One of these days he'll get it. Or maybe not.

 

[Marionnette]

Anyone have a spouse who spends a ton of money simply bc they don't do the leg work? I DO!

For example, my spouse's sirius broke, so I bought him a new one for christmas. All he had to do was add it onto our account and take off the old one. I expected it to be a little more bc it was a newer model. Well, I get home last night and he told me it was $240! But it was in three installments of only $80 I said I was never paying that for the radio and would return it before I did. I asked if he negotiated with them and he said - well I argued with them but they said there was nothing they could do!

Well, funny, after working on it for about 20 minutes this morning, I got them down to $100 for the year and then they refunded me $25 for the remainder of the other contract on the other box. So now I have a refund of $5 coming to me since we already paid our $80 first installment! One of these days he'll get it. Or maybe not.

It wouldn't call it laziness. My husband will choose to pay for the easy way to do things when given the choice. But that's because he works 6 days a week and his time has a lot of monetary value. 20 minutes of his time spent waiting on hold or arguing with the cable company is not worth it for him. He can make more money in that 20 minutes than we would save by winning the argument with Verizon.

OTOH, I have more free time and I am more assertive than he is. So the onus falls on me to handle those problems when they arise.

 

[eliza61]

I wouldn't call it laziness either.

My husband is great at setting goals and saving for them, for example if we plan a trip to disney he will save like scrooge for it but he doesn't have the patience to wait for codes or deals. He'll go into a store and see a shirt he likes and no matter if its on sale or not he'll buy it.
Now I'm the discount shopper. My motto is never pay full price so I'm the one who searches out the bargains. I'll tell him to wait a few days and he can get a coupon to purchase that shirt.
So we complement each other.

 

[Swimalie]

I wouldn't call it laziness either. But it sounds like something my husband would do. I'm the negotiator in the family. I'm the one who looks for the better bargain. He is just too laid back to do thing like that.

 

[kim929]

My dh is like that with "things" Gets something in his head and has to have it right then so he buys it. Drives me crazy.

He is really good about negotiating prices for services.

 

[LauraR]

It wouldn't call it laziness. My husband will choose to pay for the easy way to do things when given the choice. But that's because he works 6 days a week and his time has a lot of monetary value. 20 minutes of his time spent waiting on hold or arguing with the cable company is not worth it for him. He can make more money in that 20 minutes than we would save by winning the argument with Verizon.

OTOH, I have more free time and I am more assertive than he is. So the onus falls on me to handle those problems when they arise.

Luckily my DH and I are equally cheap. He makes 5 times more an hour than I do, but he doesn't mind spending the 20 minutes to save a few dollars. I think he was scarred by our "salad days" and we have two boys headed to college in the next few years (and who knows what THAT'S going to end up costing!)
I'd be a little frustrated, too, Op, if I were the only one making an effort to pinch the pennies!

 

[soccerchick]

Not laziness, but different economic choices: time vs. money. Sometimes I spend the time and save the money. Other times, my time is more valuable, so I spend more money and keep my time for other things that are worth more to me.

 

[2disneyboys]

Not laziness, but different economic choices: time vs. money. Sometimes I spend the time and save the money. Other times, my time is more valuable, so I spend more money and keep my time for other things that are worth more to me.

I couldn't have said it better... this exactly.

 

[MrsPete]

I can give two examples from the last month that ARE plain laziness, and I'm kicking myself in the butt for them:

1. We lost one of our Christmas stockings last year, and I decided to go ahead and invest in some nice Lands' End stockings with our names on them. I paid $22.50/each and was pleased with them. Then someone on this board said they were marked down to $9.99 (or something similar). Someone else said they'd do a price-match within 14 days. I knew this. I knew this. I knew this . . . and I pulled the Lands End receipt out of the trash and put it into my purse, intending to call. I waited two days, and I called on the 15th day. No refund for me.

2. Similarly, I made a purchase at Dick's Sporting Goods, and at the bottom of the receipt was one of those "do this survery, get $10 off your next purchase". I didn't do the survey within two days, so when I went back to buy another Christmas present, I was kicking myself that I could've paid $10 less.

No excuses. I could've done both of these things. I should've done both of these things. That's a lot of money that I threw away.