Ben and Jerry's

Everyday I learn something new: here is what a $6.69 pint of Ben and Jerry's taught me.

I'm an undergraduate student, and therefore, on occasion, have a day when I get monumentally stressed out.

Monday was one of those days.

Enter Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia.

An unlikely catalyst for economic analysis, but useful all the same.

So after my class on Monday, I searched, nay scoured the city for a pint.

The icecream, with a packet of spoons, with tax, ended up costing me about seven dollars.

Seven dollars. On ice cream. Seven dollars. For one person (I mean...er...I was buying it to share, yeah that's it...).

I don't make much in disposable income, and this one impulse purchase represented almost 3.5% of my total monthly budget, and worse 4.6% of my disposable budget! And it wasn't even that good after the first couple of spoonfuls (my utility curve is steep indeed). It doesn't sound like much until you realize that that means my total disposable income for one month is 150$, and I had just spent 7 of them, on something offering fleeting, temporary gratification.

I was walking down the street, Cherry Garcia not quite so-proudly in hand anymore (but still numbing said hand), berating my lack of discipline, when I had a sudden flash of incite:


It didn't matter that I was being irresonsible with my money.


Why? Because I had already been responsible with my money:

Let me explain:

If you haven't read the book review over at BridgingTheGaap.net of The Automatic Millionaire (and The Wealthy Barber, where Bach got pretty much got the idea) you should check it out. For nigh on 2 years now I have been doing pretty much exactly what David Bach suggests: automating my savings, to the tune of 25% a month. I have no other expenses (that I wish to discuss) and therefore anything left over is defacto fun money.

I had been responsible with my money: I had already automated a withdrawl of 25% of my total monthly budget into a mutual fund.

Here is what I have learned from this experience:

Being responsible with my money gave me all sorts of freedom to be irresponsible!

I think I have another hankering for seven dollar ice cream...