Finances & Money

Patience Will Save You Money

Good things come to those who wait and patience is a virtue.  It’s easy to roll your eyes at these classic cliches, but they’re true.  I thought of every one of them as I walking out of Walmart yesterday with a deal so good I could barely believe what had just happened to me.

Rarely does a weekend pass without me firing up my smoker.  I love BBQ.  My smoker is an inexpensive entry-level smoker I bought at a hardware store and I have dreams of upgrading one day to a professional grade pit.  The one I have my eye on is made in Georgia and will cost nearly $2000 to have it built and shipped to me.   At that price point, adding in the consideration of having a son in college, it might be years before I could save up enough cash and justify the expenditure.

I’ve had my eye on a different smoker sold at hardware stores and at Walmart for some time.  It’s not professional grade, but it’s a big upgrade from what I have now.  With a price tag of $274, it’s much more affordable, but I just couldn’t justify the expenditure with a perfectly functioning smoker at home.  I had heard of this particular smoker going on clearance in other parts of the country, but I’d never seen it.  Every time I’d go to Walmart I’d walk through the lawn and garden section and hope I’d find it on sale for a price I couldn’t refuse.  For 8 months I’ve been looking at this smoker, only to find it at full price.  Until yesterday.  As I approached the shelf where the smoker has been for months, I noticed a yellow clearance tag on it listing it on sale for $64.

At a discount of over 75%, I couldn’t get the smoker in my van fast enough.

There’s more going on here than just a guy walking through the lawn and garden section of Walmart a couple of times of the week. What happened was a very calculated set of actions:

• I want a professional grade smoker, so I started throwing coins and loose dollars into a big jug.  I know this is going to take a long time.
• I found a most cost-effective smoker that I like but doesn’t provide enough value at full price when I have an existing smoker at home that works fine.
• There were two scenarios where I would purchase the cost-effective smoker before I could save up enough to buy the professional pit:
  • my current smoker fell apart and was no longer usable
  • I found it on sale for half the regular price or less

For months I looked at the cost-effective smoker, found it at regular price, and kept on walking.  Yesterday one of my conditions to buy were met.  I called my wife to make sure the purchase was acceptable to both of us, and after getting the green light I headed to the checkout lane.

Patience saved me over $200 on my new smoker.  I can’t wait to put it together and fire it up.

How about you, Clever Friends, do you have any good stories about how patience saved you money?