The Salesman Who Wouldn"t Take No for an Answer
Recently, a salesman knocked at my door and though I really wasn't interested, he was so persistent that in the end I let him into the house to show me his wares.
The erstwhile salesman tried very hard to sell me his product, but though I was suitably impressed by the merits of his merchandise, I declined to purchase.
Yes, the vacuum cleaner did an impressive job cleaning my carpet, tempting me to own it, but I still didn't buy.
Admittedly, the gadget was expensive, but the salesman was undeterred.
"You can pay it off gradually in credit card payments," he insisted.
I explained how, instead of buying a product and paying it off for months on end, it is usually wiser to save up and buy it when you can afford it.
Going into debt or making ongoing credit card payments for depreciable assets is a financially questionable move.
But the salesman had a product to sell, and he really didn't care if purchasing it was in his customer's best interest or not.
He asked, "Are you saying no because you can't afford it or because you don't think it's worth the price?" Since analyzing the technical details of a vacuum cleaner are beyond the scope of my financial training, I can't comment if the price was fair.
But I do know that I prefer not to allocate a large percentage of my income to a single item, and especially a vacuum cleaner.
Think of your family's income as a pie, and all your creditors as hungry guests wanting a slice of it.
The pie needs to be cut into many pieces every month: mortgage/rental payments, groceries, tuition, transportation, utilities, recreation, etc.
You have to decide on the size of the slices, meaning how you want to allocate your resources.
This decision is up to you: you could eat at lavish restaurants on a regular basis and rent a small apartment; live frugally the whole year in order to be able to afford a luxurious vacation; or keep up with the latest fashions and fall deeper into debt, etc.
The salesman simply could not understand that fact that after acknowledging the pros of his merchandise, I chose not to close the deal.
To make educated decisions on how to spend your resources, you need to create a budget and financial plan.
These tools will enable you to know where your funds are going, and help you direct them to where you want them to be in the future.
So don't wait - sit down and make a financial plan today.
The erstwhile salesman tried very hard to sell me his product, but though I was suitably impressed by the merits of his merchandise, I declined to purchase.
Yes, the vacuum cleaner did an impressive job cleaning my carpet, tempting me to own it, but I still didn't buy.
Admittedly, the gadget was expensive, but the salesman was undeterred.
"You can pay it off gradually in credit card payments," he insisted.
I explained how, instead of buying a product and paying it off for months on end, it is usually wiser to save up and buy it when you can afford it.
Going into debt or making ongoing credit card payments for depreciable assets is a financially questionable move.
But the salesman had a product to sell, and he really didn't care if purchasing it was in his customer's best interest or not.
He asked, "Are you saying no because you can't afford it or because you don't think it's worth the price?" Since analyzing the technical details of a vacuum cleaner are beyond the scope of my financial training, I can't comment if the price was fair.
But I do know that I prefer not to allocate a large percentage of my income to a single item, and especially a vacuum cleaner.
Think of your family's income as a pie, and all your creditors as hungry guests wanting a slice of it.
The pie needs to be cut into many pieces every month: mortgage/rental payments, groceries, tuition, transportation, utilities, recreation, etc.
You have to decide on the size of the slices, meaning how you want to allocate your resources.
This decision is up to you: you could eat at lavish restaurants on a regular basis and rent a small apartment; live frugally the whole year in order to be able to afford a luxurious vacation; or keep up with the latest fashions and fall deeper into debt, etc.
The salesman simply could not understand that fact that after acknowledging the pros of his merchandise, I chose not to close the deal.
To make educated decisions on how to spend your resources, you need to create a budget and financial plan.
These tools will enable you to know where your funds are going, and help you direct them to where you want them to be in the future.
So don't wait - sit down and make a financial plan today.
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