Skinflint? Big Spender? Both?

How do you waste money?

We all do.

It seems easy to recognize in others what is difficult to see in onself. I can only speak for myself, of course, but it's easy to see how others waste money that they should/could be spending more practically.

For example, do your kids really need to go to private school? Does a private high school education really result in future success? Is it enough to just pay tuition and trust that this will "give them the leg-up on the competition for college"? What if that means that you're working extra to pay for the tuition? And thus not home to help/supervise/encourage the homework? And not there for the "family dinners" that are shown to decrease teen drug/alcohol use and increase test scores? And the fact that private schools notoriously have _worse_ drug use with increased availability (and decreased exposure in the media)? Is it still a good use of your $$?

Or the "organic" food movement. Does anyone really need organic Twinkies? What about free-range eggs in a cake? Do you feel "healthier" or "better for the environment"? Even if it means driving across town (air quality! gas use!) and paying more $$ and increased packaging? Wouldn't you be better served whipping up a set of Rice Krispie treats with a mixture of all the leftover dregs of cereals and the marshmallows leftover from the winter stock of hot cocoa? And you're doing an activity with those kiddos. Just a thought...

That's not to say that i'm above reproach. Do we really need to take vacations with and without the kids just about every year? The kids have seen a play on Broadway and another one here in town with mucho expensive tickets. Was that absolutely necessary? No. Was it a lot of fun and something that they remember and talk about often? Yes.

So, where do you draw the line? What "splurges" do you deem "necessities" and what is excessive? Not sure. I just know that some of the expenses that others complain about having to pay for with extra hours at work and over-drawing their credit cards seem unnecessary to me. Let me know what you think? Groovy.