Do you ever feel like covering your ears with your hands and yelling, “Too Much Choice!!!”?
I nearly came to that point recently. To wit: On my previous trip to restock my razor blades, I noticed that I could either pay big bucks for the same brand as last time, or about 1/3 the price for another brand. I’d reasoned, The razor blades can’t be that much different from one manufacturer to another that I should have to nearly break the bank to get the Mach III ones.
I bought the cheaper ones. I was wrong. I guess Gillette has proprietary technology on “razor blade sharpness.”
After using up my stash of Edge blades (the cheap blades even included a razor), I located my old Mach III razor (just to make sure I wouldn’t have to buy a new razor yet, too). Yep, I still had it.
So here I was now, looking at the array of Mach III razor blades. Was it a Mach III turbo, or a Mach III turbo smooth, or a Mach III turbo extra gentle, or a Mach III turbo flex? Heck, how do I know? What if I buy the wrong one and discover it doesn’t fit my razor, and then I can’t return it because I’ve opened the package? And then I’ll have to spend another month’s pay-cheque to buy another package, with the right razor. Too much choice!!!!
My head raced for strategy. Since I still have one razor head left at home, this isn’t urgent. I’ll buy nothing now, check at home which Mach III razor I have, and buy the right blades on my next shopping trip.
Wouldn’t you know it? Nothing about the turbo. Just a plain Mach III. I guess it was made in the previous ice age (or perhaps a year or two ago) before Gillette’s elite Research and Development Team had invented the turbo, the turbo smooth, the turbo extra gentle and the turbo flex.
(Of course, we all know it was the Marketing Department that came up with these grandiose schemes. Heck, for all I know, Gillette might not even have an R & D department. For the difference in price, they might just buy the blades from the other guys and sharpen them up before re-packaging them into whatever turbo packaging they printed off last night. But how do I know?)
I’m stubborn! I’m not going to buy another razor. I’m going to take my chances that those elite new heads will fit my ancient razor.
Now if someone can just help me decide which of the turbos is the right one for me.
International Day of Happiness
Did you know that this Friday, March 20 is not only the spring equinox, but is also the UN declared International Day of Happiness?
I personally believe, and I’ve written before in this blog, that happiness is a decision, not a reaction to circumstance. That said, I came across a list of 10 steps to happiness, and thought I’d share them in this column. Credit goes to Vanessa King and Success magazine.
1. Giving – Do things for others!
2. Relating – Connect with people!
3. Exercising – Take care of your body!
4. Appreciating – Notice the world around you!
5. Trying out — Keep learning new things!
6. Direction – Have goals to look forward to!
7. Resilience – Find ways to bounce back!
8. Emotion – Take a positive approach!
9. Acceptance – Be comfortable with who you are!
10. Meaning – Be part of something bigger!
And finally . . . Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Celebrate in Green!
Rent 2 Own tip:
Some people wonder why we ask for a significant deposit at the start of a rent to own program. The answer is actually quite simple: to protect you and to protect us. More specifically, there are three reasons: 1. Because you will need to save up a significant amount of money by the end of the term in order to complete the purchase and get ownership of the property. If you do not start with about half that amount, you will not likely be able to save up the rest during the term and you will not succeed at the end. 2. If you change your mind early and walk away from the deal, we get stuck with the house and have to dispose of it. We require at least as much to start as it will cost us to pay a realtor to resell that house. 3. We want to make sure that you are serious about the deal and intending to go through the program to completion. Therefore, we need a strong disincentive for you to walk away from the deal.
For all three of these reasons, a minimum of 4% of the value of the home seems to be the right figure. If you have less than that, then you may need to save up that much before beginning the program. To make it easier, though, unlike the banks, we are pretty flexible with where you get that deposit money from.
Quote of the Week:
Two roads diverged in the wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
– Robert Frost
