Our shower has been in need of repair for some time now but it started getting bad enough last week that it could no longer be put off.

My husband built our original shower but I found soon after that it really was taking up a lot of space in our small bathroom and it never really was what it was supposed to be. (the main reason I had wanted to do that was to create a small bath tub area in the bottom by making the ledge a little higher. That never happened.)

So at this point, I voted to buy a new insert. It would also solve a few other problems that we were having with it.

SHOPPING WE WILL GO

So off we went to go shopping for a new corner shower unit.

As luck would have it, on the way we stopped to pick up the mail and there was a coupon in it for the very store we were going to – deferred interest and payments for a full year.

That really worked for us because the shower was not really first in line of things to pay for.

AND we had to buy siding for our house. Eureka.

Now we could go ahead and bump the payments for it until we had our other debts paid for, or a very good chunk of them anyway.

In a blink of fantastic luck, we saved interest for an entire year on the cost of siding and a new shower. 

I CHOOSE THE CHEAP ONE

Next, we went on to make our own luck.

Choosing the shower  was a process. First I chose, then the other thinking that they were both the same price. Then I found out that my second choice was actually $600 more.

Now I had to not only choose between the showers, but decide whether on not we should spend the extra money.

A shower is something that we look at and use every day. It can make or break a small bathroom decor.

But in the end, I opted for the cheap one.

Why?

I liked the other one better, but I did think that I could work with the cheaper one.

Since we are still in debt with plenty left to do on our house, I decided that we could make do with something that was good instead of something that was remarkable.

Sometimes you have to make those choices.

I also know that once it's in, and the bathroom is painted as I plan to do, I won't even miss the more expensive one.

SAVING 6,000 DOLLARS

Next we went on to siding. Short story – we whittled our choice down (after years of shopping around) to two choices. One was 6,000 more.

There were some good arguments for and against both.

In the end we were happy with the 6,000 less choice so we choose it.

Sometimes it's about simplifying and settling for good enough rather than perfection.

29.00 SAVINGS

On top of it, when my husband went through the checkout for the shower, he noticed that they were charging 29.00 more for the shower than the ticket showed on the shower.

So he told them and they checked it and took the charge off.

If that had been me, I may not have even noticed. If I did, I probably wouldn't have said anything.

Goes to show you, being on the ball and a tad assertive can save you money.

The funny thing is that this happens fairly often.

Lesson learned? Always be watching and don't be afraid to say anything. The worst that will happen is that they will say no, right?

The best is that you may walk away with a little more cash in your pocket, or a little less debt to pay interest on.

ALL IN ALL

I was very happy with our choices.

The biggest thing was that I was happy we had decided to save the money.

Had we gone with the more expensive choices, I would have been feeling stressed by knowing that we spent more than we had too, and would be spending so much more time paying it off.

The feeling that we saved money and took the route that was more affordable gave me peace of mind as well as happiness that we were able to finally make these purchases.

Looking forward to a new face on the outside of our house – I will post some pictures as we get it finished – and a nice new shower corner unit that is not going to take up so much space in our bathroom – as well as a new paint job in there that I am hoping is going to give some character to a rather dingy room.

Next time you need to make a major purchase, or even a small one, don't forget – good enough is sometimes good enough – it can be even better. 

The question isn't always do you prefer one over the other, the question is…

do you want freedom? 

If you are struggling or looking for an easier way to manage your money and create a simple budget, try out Making Change, my own home budgeting system. I've used it to create a whole new way of spending – and even saving!

You can get it free here

Making Change – Simple Home Budgeting System 

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Jan Ferrante

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