Convenience Fees

This week, I had a crazy week.  Super crazy.  Busy, not a lot of free time.  So I decided to use an online grocery delivery service.  If you knew just how close I live to a grocery store, you would find this ridiculous.

But I have to admit, it was really convenient.  For a nominal fee, I got everything I needed brought right to my apartment.  Sure, there was an added fee.  But I almost always end up with one “splurge” purchase at the grocery store, especially when I’m shopping tired, stressed, or hungry.  Or all three.  So I figured that the delivery fee was pretty much equivalent to that splurge purchase – except that this delivery fee is calorie free.

I’m thinking I might make this part of my routine.  Online grocery shopping every two weeks, with stops at the store only for produce.  It definitely makes budgeting easier and I think it will help me eat healthier.  If I don’t see those fancy, calorie laden foods, I probably won’t buy them.  And it certainly saves time.

I was discussing this with a friend the other day.  She was debating whether to take the bus or Amtrak from DC to NYC for the holidays.  The busses are really nice.  And cheap.  But like cars, they’re subject to traffic problems.  Amtrak isn’t always perfect either, but it’s got a better on-time record.  At any other time of year, she’d vote for the bus, but with holiday traffic, she’s leaning towards Amtrak.  More expensive, but she’s happy to pay the money for the convenience.

Some people would think this is crazy – how can someone dedicated to proper money management think that purposefully picking the more expensive option makes no sense.  But it’s all about how you want to spend your money.  Some people would rather save the money, others prefer to save the time.  As long as it’s a purposeful decision, either one is correct.

Megan Smith

Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:

In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance.  It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information.  It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck.  While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.

While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.

Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.

So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan.  I needed to budget.  I needed to know what I was spending my money on.  I needed to prepare for the future.

I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way.  I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.