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DO Sweat the Small Stuff

© Jennifer Krausz

There are several books by Richard Carlson that tell us that the small stuff doesn't matter. "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff . . . and It's All Small Stuff," "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Wth Your Family," and "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work" are the three I know about. There may be others.

Now, I know that Richard Carlson is making a good point here. We should focus on what's important and streamline our lives so that the important things don't get crowded out by "small stuff" that is not really important. So I applaud his efforts. I'm certainly not slamming his books. We all need more simplicity in our lives.

But when it comes to making the most of our limited finances, we have to disregard Richard Carlson's advice. In fact, we must do the exact opposite of what he advises. In financial matters, it is absolutely necessary to "sweat the small stuff."

In my own budgeting, I have found that the small stuff adds up very quickly into big stuff. A family can literally nickel-and- dime themselves into debt or into a position where two incomes are necessary to maintain their lifestyle. I should know. Mine did.

Let me give some examples of how the small stuff adds up:

1) Every time you go through the grocery store checkout, your little one asks for a candy bar. So you buy one for him and one for yourself, even though you have candy at home ( 50 cents x 52 visits x 2 candy bars each visit = $52.00 a year.

2) Your family protests when there's only water to drink. They prefer soda. They down about 1 bottle a day. $1.00 per bottle x 365 days a year = $365 a year.

3) Rather than buying the store brand bread, you buy the brand you grew up with, even though you notice no taste difference. Price difference 80 cents a loaf x 52 loaves a year = $41.60 a year.

4) You like to shop at the nice upscale clothing store for your new clothes and shoes. You neglect to wait for the extra 10% off coupons to appear in the paper, or you just don't bother to clip and use them. You tend to spend about $100 a month on yourself and about $50 a month for each of your two kids. Total spent-$2400 x 10% discount = $240 a year.

5) You buy an entertainment book because you like to go out to eat and figure you can save some money. But you forget to use the coupons when you go out to eat once a month. Average savings $10 per meal x 12 = $120 a year - $30 for the book = $90 a year.