Frugal Folks Fix It Up

Last week I got a notice from my local tire company that my car tires might have bad valve stems. Apparently certain rubber valve stems from a particular manufacturer had been found to be cracking prematurely and causing people problems. This brand of stems were on my car, so the letter urged me to make an appointment for replacements. They had a very nice system for setting up an appointment - you could just go online and set up a time and a day, and poof! You were all set. The appointment and repair work was, of course, free.

Now, here's the interesting thing. I got the letter on Wednesday, went online to set the the appointment on Thursday, and went for the replacements on Friday. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't terribly concerned that I was going to have a major tire malfunction - it just seemed like the thing to do. While I was driving to the tire shop though, I realized that this was completely different behavior than what I would have done 10 years ago...

Back then I probably would have read the letter, stuck it on my counter and... promptly forgot about it. It isn't that I had a death wish back then (the letter said there had been reports of accidents including one fatality) but my focus was on other things. We all have things that are important to us - things that we place at a Premium. Back then the thought of "wasting my time" sitting around waiting for the appointment would have filled me with dread. Heck, even taking the time to call and make the appointment would have seemed like a pain.

Getting older and (hopefully) a little wiser and a whole lot more frugal, I realize that what I put a premium on now is peace of mind. If I don't have to worry about my tires every single time I get in my car - that's enough for me. In fact, the time I would have spent worrying was far less than the actual appointment - which took about 20 minutes.

Now that I am making a conscious choice to be more frugal I am taking advantage of opportunities to make my life easier by fixing things right away. Knowing me 10 years ago, I would have waited until a tire blew out - and just imagine how dangerous and expensive - that would have been. *Shudder!!*

Other Musings on Being Frugal:

The Shame of Being Frugal

The Shame of Being Frugal, pt 2

Organizing My Life, My Finances and My Basement



Photo by: JerryKnight