- By Dan Veaner
- Opinions
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I have a fond, but vague memory of a George Burns and Gracie Allen program in which Gracie started by buying a toaster on sale, and with what she saved on the toaster she could buy a bigger appliance, also on sale. That savings was bigger, and her purchases escalated until she had saved enough to buy a new oven. Or something like that...Her explanation to her husband was punctuated by Burns' monotone, "Take it back, Gracie." These trying times illustrate how far Gracie's madcap economics have permeated our culture. She played it for laughs, but the retail industry plays it for real.
Stores tell you how much you will save by buying an item there. Yesterday I bought three dozen cans of root beer for twelve dollars. The store told me I saved $3.75 by buying that root beer. So I got excited and bought three bags of barbecue potato chips for ten dollars and saved $1.32. By the time I got out of the grocery store I had saved $10.08. "I am a genius shopper," I told myself.
But did I really save $10.08? Because I'm pretty sure I spent $37.52.
Saving is when you put money aside. You are not saving money when you spend it. You may spend less than you otherwise might, but you are still spending. Putting money in the bank is saving. Buying barbecue potato chips is spending. Calling it 'saving' is lying to make it seem like we are doing something that is good for us. It is really just 'spending less.'
Of course 'save' is a sexy marketing word. 'Buy at a reduced price' is too cumbersome a phrase for marketing. So we are bilked by a pun: we think we're saving when we're actually just saving a little of what we could have spent if we were too stupid to pay the full price when we knew full well that we could get it for less.
As we all struggle to tighten our belts it is a good idea to do what sensible shoppers have told us since the year dot: make a list before shopping and stick to it. Don't just buy something because it is on sale. Because you will be spending, not saving. After all, it is annoying to come home triumphant in your shopping prowess only to be told, "Take it back, Gracie."
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