Is Price Always the Bottom Line?

As DINKS we all make money and as normal people functioning in society we also all spend money.  Sometimes we spend money on things that we like such as vacations and personal items and sometimes we spend money on items that are necessary to live such as food and housing.  My question to you DINKS is when you choose to spend money is the price always the deciding factor?

If you are saving for your retirement, is the price of a stock a deciding factor when you are choosing which investments to buy? Normally the price of a stock should not be a deciding factor.  The company’s performance , the stock dividend payout, and the daily fluctuations in the value of the stock should all be deciding factors, but the price of a stock really isn’t the issue.  There is no point in buying cheap stock if the company is not sustainable and we don’t make a profit.

Before you become a DINK did you live with a roommate?  If so, was it because you would be lonely living alone or was it because you needed someone to share the monthly expenses.  I lived with a roommate for the first year that I moved away from home. Living with a roommate was more of a hassle and inconvenience than anything else.  However, it was cheap living while I was on a student budget.  The next two years I lived on my own and it was quiet at times, but I really liked having my freedom and my own privacy.  After that I moved in with my boyfriend Nick and the rest is history.

Now Nick and I we share all of our expenses, we even share the monthly expenses if we don’t share the amenity.  That is the benefit of living with a spouse and not a roommate.  Your spouse may feel obligated to share all expenses (or maybe they do it out of love), but a roommate has absolutely no obligation to share expenses if they amenity is not mutual beneficial.

Think about the last time you bought a gift.  When you narrowed it down to two gifts was the price of each gift the deciding factor when you chose which gift to buy? When you go shopping for a birthday, anniversary, or graduation gift do you shop with a budget in mind, or do you just shop for the perfect gift?

Think about your last trip. Was your last travel destination decided by the cost? If you were choosing between two cities or two hotels was price the deciding factor in your travel destination? Of course we all like to get a great deal, in an ideal world we would take a fabulous five star vacation at a two star price, but those types of deals just don’t exist. So DINKS I ask you, whenever you make a decision is the cost always the bottom line?

Let’s stop discussing our spending for a moment and look at the opportunity cost of our working environment.  How much crap do you tolerate at work?  And if your working environment is less than ideal do you only tolerate it for the pay check?  I love my job now, but my previous working environment was definitely less than ideal.  Although I admit that I tolerated a lot of unpleasant activities in my office because the pay check (at the time) was worth the cost of my personal sanity…for a little while.

What about your friends? Do you socialize with other couples who are in your same income bracket? Do you spend your free time with other people who have the same spending habits as you? If you are a saver do you have frugal friends? If you enjoy spending your money on life’s little luxuries, do your friends also enjoy the finer things in life?

I think it is safe to say that for many of us (whether we willingly admit it or not) price, cost, and money are always the deciding factor in our lifestyle and everyday choices.  Some of us may not even realize it but price is always the bottom line.

(Photo by Zoetnet)