False Economy – ignoring the long haul

• April
• 15

3:51 am Money, Uncategorized

When you spend your money, it can in the long term to pay to think about the long haul when you buy. Let me explain what I’m talking about. False economy. What I mean by this is very simple. Spending a little more now, could save you a large amount of money in the future.

A simple example of false economy that the famous Captain Humphreys may have made is about rope. Before his maiden voyage, perhaps he may have chosen to save money on rope by buying the cheaper stuff. He would have saved a few pennies, perhaps even a shilling or two. However, when on the high seas in stormy weather if a crucial rope were to break it may mean the actual ship being damaged. The repair to the ship would be in the pounds, and so the Captain’s saving were a false economy. He thought he saved in the short term, but very quickly he ended up having to spend more.

A good modern day example is medical. If you are having something done, say a face lift. Having a face lift is an expensive treatment, so you may think about going abroad to have the work done, it certainly cheaper in some cases to do this. However, if you were to go abroad, and the surgeon was not a very good one, you may end up coming home having saved a few thousand pound but with a bad job. In a situation like this (and to be honest I am quoting this from a cosmetic surgery gone bad show), not only could the post reconstructive surgery cost you in the tens of thousands to fix the mistakes that have already been made, you could end up with a face worse than the one you had in the first place.

Trying to save a small amount in the long term seems like something that everyone knows, but no one does. Think twice before you try and save a pound, it could lead to you having a melty looking face.