Last week, my partner and I decided to take the car to the mountains for a drive to see the aspens changing. This was a decision based on what was said on the news, plus, we hadn’t been up there in a couple of years.

Frugal for LifeThis is how spontaneity doesn’t save money.

We didn’t pack a lunch and decided to just bring water and a camera with us. After checking the oil, it was determined that a quart was needed, but we would have to buy it. Because we wanted to leave right away, we stopped at the gas station to get the oil, and determined that we would like to buy lunch as well. But the prices were too high, so we went to the grocery store, but everything was refrigerated. Then we went to Target to get a Styrofoam cooler and ice and they were out. But we definitely got our sandwiches. So we went back home and used our own cooler and ice and put the sandwiches in.

We finally left for the mountains about 45 minutes later and about 12 dollars poorer, not including the gas we spent running around.

How we could have saved money on this trip with a little pre-planning.

In the 45 minutes of driving around, we could have made the sandwiches at home, grabbed our cooler and ice and still would have left earlier and less exasperated.

The moral to the story: As wonderful as it is to be spontaneous, just a smidge of planning can save time and money.

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Dawn C. is site owner of Frugalforlife.com and is residing in Colorado with her spouse, Teri, of 11 years. Dawn can be reached at Frugalforlife@gmail.com