Not All Savings are Equal: The Importance of Spending on Things That Matter

By Kyle Slavin

Let’s be honest for a second. We’ve all taken a hit over the last few years, and that hit was focused directly on our wallets. Target acquired: bank account eliminated, ramen noodles for a month. Even the most lavish of folks are cutting back on their expenditures, thinking out their financial plans well in advance, and adjusting accordingly to this awful economy. But remember: there is a difference between the frugal and the fiscally anemic, the spendthrift and the downright broke. 

The difference lies in the planning and research behind your purchases.

Use this moment to understand the usability and value in your spending – believe it or not, this affects you every single day of your life. Is it more valuable to save $50 at the grocery store, or to save $50 on a pair of jeans? To eat at a high-end restaurant on one fancy night, or to overspend on drinks every weekend? And when is it prudent to pay more for something of value?

Let’s start in a simple “dos and don’ts” format:

DO map out your monthly payments, and compare them to your incoming funds. This sounds like the simplest advice ever, but you would be surprised at how many folks don’t make a balance sheet. If you bring in $3500 a month, you may think you can afford to buy the satellite cable package on first glance.  (“But it has HBO for free!” No, it doesn’t.)  Tally up those bills, and you may realize that after rent, car payment, gym membership, and your custom laser hair removal, you only have $200 to work with. And you haven’t even eaten yet! Be smart – plan ahead.

DON’T buy out of want, but rather out of need. For example, a certain American Gentleman writer is an avid basketball player. He finds himself with five or six pairs of basketball shoes at any given time, and he knows they each cost $70 or more.  For someone so fiscally responsible, how could this happen?

Well, between sly corporate advertising and our own personal dependences, most of us have a weak spot somewhere. His just happened to be basketball shoes.

To combat this, he first realized his weakness and addressed it: no more shoes until the previous pair were a liability. That means no matter what sales there were, no matter what brands were offered, he  had to stick to his guns. With time and wear, those six pairs of shoes whittled down to two pairs, a much more manageable number, and he ended up saving around $70 every couple months. 

So, whats YOUR weakness?

DO spend more on something that will last longer, or get more use. In the long run, this will save you money.  Do you wear jeans every day? From a fashion standpoint, you shouldn’t, but that’s not the point. If you utilize those jeans regularly, it is worth it to get the costlier brand-name pair rather than the discount pair. Yes, it is more expensive. But they will last longer, look better, and be more reliable in hems, buttons, and inseams than the alternative. What’s the point of saving a couple bucks if you are going to wear them out sooner, and have to buy jeans again?

This same mentality applies to anything you use every day. If you put on cologne every time you step out of the shower (as you should), make your purchase on the right scent and not the right price. If you find yourself constantly in a suit and tie, spend the extra $200 to make sure that the fabric will not wear, and will fit you fashionably. You will feel better, act more confident, and end up saving money in the long run.

DON’T make purchases based on your ideal behaviors, but on your actions. We all have tennis rackets, surf boards, jewelry, musical instruments, and bicycles that only exist to collect dust. We frown at them, wasting away in a corner, never to see the light of day.  Why did we buy that!?

If you want to start a new hobby or a new look, don’t purchase everything first. Try it out for a month, and see if it is something that will realistically enter into your life. If that means borrowing a friend’s trombone for a little while to make sure your neighbors are okay with it first, then go borrow it! The marching band can wait!

DO treat yourself, but make sure it’s something worth the treat! In Los Angeles, we have recently found that a casual night of drinks and appetizers can hit the $100 threshold with lightning speed. And that’s on happy hour!

What we realized is that a night at Mastro’s at $175 is a much more economic and worthwhile expenditure than several nights at Pink Taco at $100.  You are allowed to splurge! Just make sure that it’s not every week, and that it’s something worth splurging upon. 

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Spending money to save money may seem counterintuitive, but it is a smart practice. If you are wise in your purchases, you will enjoy them for a longer duration – and look good doing it.

This behavior is available to men in any income bracket, and worth considering. To be his best, the Gentleman must feel his best, and that means taking pride in the clothes, style, and accessories with which he surrounds himself.

Be smart. Buy smarter. And good luck with those trombone lessons.

Life Checkpoints

By Kyle Slavin

As a man progresses through his life, he often creates future checkpoints to measure himself against: the plan to a life successful, a blueprint to all accomplishment.

Figure out the career by 25, we say.

Find the girl by 30.

Kids by 35, house by 40…and just make sure you can find the bathroom regularly after that.

Perhaps we do this to track our achievements, or to make sure our own personal evolution is still progressing forward in some way.  Perhaps we understand where we wish to go, and the steps necessary to get there.  (Or perhaps there’s a little OCD in all of us.)

Either way, as each checkpoint passes, there is a moment of quiet recognition – a look back, a pause, and the realization that absolutely none of our carefully-planned checkpoints have happened at all how we intended.

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I turn 30 years old today.  Though I have lived most of my life with the intent to be the perfect gentleman, I have realized that I couldn’t have taken a more haphazard and backwards path to my current situation.  I have had my share of trouble and triumph, sticky scenarios and golden ceilings.  Like all of us, I always tried to make the best out of whatever situation I was in, with mixed results.

My plan was perfect.  The checkpoints were true.  But if planning ensured success, we’d all be wearing top hats and monocles by now, diving into pools of gold coins – and we’d all have far less interesting stories to tell.

We have a saying here at American Gentleman: that the gentleman is made, not born.  This means that our individual plans, no matter now intricately they lay before us, may crumble in a pinch.  Our riches may become ruin and our foundations may fracture, but if you work to cultivate your class, integrity, and bravado, you can never lose your status as a Gentleman.

As men, we need war stories.  There is character within them.  Our scars show worldliness, and the sweat of our journey comes through with integrity.  No matter your social status or origin, you become a gentleman the day you start giving a damn.

Now, at 30, I realize that had I followed my checkpoints to the marker, my life would not have been nearly as interesting as it was.

I would not have had the experiences that define me, I would not have laughed nearly as often, and I definitely would not have met the love of my life and had the confidence to propose to her.

So I ask of you, what are your future checkpoints, and have you met the ones from your past?  How important is it to live your life to a schedule, and how important is it to deviate from your original plans?

Would you have met your girlfriend or wife had you kept to your plan?  Or would you have been more successful in your career had you not strayed?

Do you favor your spontaneity, or your steadfastness?

What makes you, as a man?