4 Questions I Ask Before Bringing Home a Freebie or Buying a “Good Deal”
This frugal chick has a hard time passing on a good deal, but I’m slowly realizing that free stuff can become a burden. It takes up space in my home and eventually I need to use it, pitch it, sell it, or store it.
A good friend of mine is going overseas for full time mission work. For months Donna has been cleaning out her house and attempting to shove things into my car when I’m not looking. (Joking. Kind of…)
It has been so hard to tell Donna no! The combination of helping her, getting a good deal on something she is selling or getting it for free, and wanting to have a little piece of Donna in my home has been difficult to resist. At times it has seriously stressed me out in a way that only fabulously frugal folks can understand.
I’ve started asking myself 4 questions when I consider bringing home a freebie or buying a good deal:
1) Do I need this? I mean really need it. Donna gave me a beautiful blue flower pot that has been sitting empty on my deck for weeks now. I don’t need it. I should have said no.
2) Do I have a place to put this? I bought lots of kid clothes from Donna that my children will grow into. Clothing is a necessity, but buying clothes that they won’t wear for 2 years isn’t a significant need right now. However, I have a place to store clothes and I have a system already in place for organizing them.
3) Would I pay full price for this? Donna gave me some art supplies that I eagerly said yes to. Grace loves all kinds of art and I value that enough to pay full price for the supplies.
4) How long will it be before I need/use this? Donna was selling a white night stand and I struggled to decide if I wanted it. In the end I decided to pass. We could use the night stand for Noah, but we wouldn’t need it until he was out of his crib. I’m not sure how his room will be set up at that point and if it would even work. It seemed silly to buy something that would sit in my attic for awhile and even then I’m not sure if it would be used. I’ll be honest though, even as I’m writing this I’m wondering if I made the right decision.
Do you struggle with turning down a freebie? How do you decide if a good deal is truly worth it?
Great list of questions! “Do I have a place to put this?” Is a question I had to learn, no, force myself to ask every time I saw something I “could use” on Freecycle. I had to learn the hard way.
I love this list to reflect. Like you, I also have a hard time passing up a good deal or freebie!
I have a very hard time turning down a good deal. I think I need to start asking myself if I have a place for it. Might make some of my choices easier.
I feel your pain, Mandy!
I’d like to add one: How much packaging does it have?
Also, let’s talk about how people react when you turn down a freebie.
YES!!!! Only freaks would turn down a good deal, right??? (Of course I’m probably guilty of thinking that about others in the past.)
When considering something for our home, my first question is always this: “Do I really want to dust this?”. Very seldom is the answer “yes”. I then follow up with the same four questions you’ve listed here. However, I’ve not always applied this practice to freebies. Thanks for the encouragement.
I don’t want to dust ANYTHING! Asking that question would clean my house out pretty quick. 🙂