Nickle and diming ourselves to death - Shrinking thinking!

When I was a little girl, I remember my Dad using the expression "nickle and diming ourselves to death". The Beatles were becoming popular, Twiggy was in vogue, my allowance was ten cents a week and I still had a pixie cut! Over the years I heard that expression may times when my mother and father were shopping, or talking about finances. My understanding was that pinching pennies could put one in the poor house. Today we understand much more about the universal laws that govern personal finances. I am careful not to fall into scarcity thinking, but also not to carelessly live outside my means as well. It can be a fine balance. However over the last 12 months, I have watched as business owners became fearful of their financial situation and began to 'cut back' in places where they thought it would help their businesses. Unfortunately, this hurt them more than they may know. I was at a business dinner last week when I heard someone say, "Hey, why don't we just all meet here for a dinner, order off the menu and save ourselves $15.00. I just shook my head in disbelief. Why? Many psychological reasons and universal principles come to mind - but logically there is a dollar and cents (sense!) reason. Had these ladies gotten together for a meeting and all paid their own dinner - it may have cost them $25.00. Unfortunately, according to CRA, only half of that amount can be written off as a business expense. However if they attend a meeting that is catered, the full amount of the ticket is tax deductible. In other words their business can write $40 off (or whatever the ticket cost) against $40 worth of income. If they had paid for their own meals, they could have only written off $12.50 off of $40 of income - AND they would have had to suck up the other $12.50 as personal expense. So in other words, someone who 'cheaped' out and paid for a meal instead of attending a meeting spent $12.50 of personal money instead of being able to write it all off on the business! Not only that, but the ever searching attitude of 'look, look, look, oh let's find it cheaper somewhere else' energetically sets a person or business in a negative process. It is scarcity mentality. It is not expanding and creative thinking - it is negative, penny pinching, shrinking thinking! It will bring us nothing but more need and want and will lead a person into poverty. Now I know what my dad meant when he talked 'nickle and diming ourselves to death." BTW, Join us for a great event where business and creativity meet: Rebuilding the Dream - in Hamilton Ontario. Read more here!