Cents And Dollars

If you look after the cents, will the dollars really look after themselves?

When we grew up we’ve been told that if we look after the cents that the dollars will look after themselves, right? What I mean is that if you take care of the small cents then this will accumulate and form larger and larger amounts of money.

So is this really true?

Well, perhaps, but it doesn’t mean that you can neglect whole dollars!

I am quite interested in people’s behavior when they are exposed to certain situations. It’s great fun to watch. There really isn’t anything as queer as folk! Although everyone is different, we all have some of the same “built in responses.”

For example, when you are shopping for fairly small purchases then most people will choose the lowest price down to the last cent. Let’s say some apples cost $1.99 and the others cost $1.89, then most people will choose the cheapest ones, right? This is assuming, of course, they are of the same quality, which brings me onto an interesting point.

The quality of something like fruit is fairly easy for anyone to determine. You can physically pick fruit up and feel it. If it’s bad then anyone will be able to tell. You don’t need any form of special education. All you need is experience! If the fruit is bad then you will be able to tell.

However, if you are buying something more complicated like a TV or a car, then it can be difficult to assess the quality as we may not completely understand how it works.

This could explain people’s behavior when it comes to larger purchases. People do not seem to be concerned with price differences between comparable products when they are spending more money, like $1,000 or $100,000.

If you are making a very large purchase like a car, then spending a few extra hundred or thousand dollars won’t make that much of a difference as the car is already expensive. Funny, huh? However, this is still your money. So if you are interested in saving cents, why not turning that around and look after saving big money instead? Is less stressing.

What I mean is this… Some folks are stressed in looking after differences in cents and then ending up in headaches every day why they ended up “loosing” 20 cents here or 14 cents there because they didn’t spend enough time to compare the prices in different stores.

On the other hand, that same people are literally very happy when they purchase a new gadget or that beautiful dress for $500 or $1,000 they saw last week. In that case, it doesn’t seem to make a difference whether to spend $900 or $1,000, but it does make a difference spending $1.99 or $1.89?

How’s that possible?

I strongly encourage you to waste no more time comparing the prices of apples and milk, but rather to take a deep look at the big money. Focus on big money rather than cents.

People waste so much time staring at the note of the grocerystore or restaurant (ex., whether they charged correctly, etc). Yes, my opinion… it is a waste of valuable time.

Simply trust that all is well and sound.

We had a nice experience the other month. I told my wife the story that folks usually complain when a store or restaurant charged too much, but on the other hand we do NOT go back when they charged too less.

Isn’t this unfair?

Let’s imagine you purchase lots of stuff in a supermarket, then after the cashier you check whether they charged correctly. Let’s assume they charged $2 less. Why don’t we go back to the front desk and give them these $2?

When I paid Edilene’s driver license the other day they were about to charge her $35 less than previously discussed. She reminded them of the correct (i.e., higher) amount. Can you imagine how surprised they were?

OK, back to cents and dollars…

Again, instead of focusing on cents, why not being a bit more concerned whether to spend $50,000 here or $4,000 there is the right choice? When you are concerned about spending $1.99 instead of $1.89, you focus on small money and may receive only that in your Internet business: small money… cents… bucks… or even nada.

I really avoid looking for cents but rather look after the big money.

When I go shopping and I’m OK with the prices in a particular store I simply walk through the store and pick the items of my interest. I even avoid looking at the prices. This works not always, but more and more often.

This saves me so much headache, nerves, time, and after all money!

Here Is The Challenge

The next time you go shopping, pick a store of your price range. If you don’t know the price range of a particular store, take a short look at the prices of a couple common items. If you feel comfortable after that short peek, walk in.

Then do NOT look at any more prices while you discover interest in this or that item. Again, do NOT look at the price.

Instead, be aware of your feelings. Do you want it? Buy it!

—Marcus Hochstadt