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New vs Discount The Dilemma of Frugality

Evan, my 14 year old, has been quite a nuisance for the past couple of weeks. He has been after my life to get him a baseball bat. There is a baseball camp setup near our house and he had enrolled into the same. The requirement was that each player should have an individual baseball bat. He was trying to manage by using a bat which he had borrowed from his senior but he found the bat too heavy and it was clumsy to bat with it. His coach had also insisted that he get a bat more suitable for his weight. Most of my saving were exhausted this Christmas and hence I was on the road to savings again. There were several new expenses mounting up this year with the added tuition fees for his computer lessons.

But Evan has been really persistent with his demand for bat and I feel the need to get him one else it would seem so unfair. I know I ve not been able to given him anything more than a frugal life at the maximum and he rarely ever comes up asking for anything. Usually he tries his best to help me with my saving and he understands the value of money. I do feel bad for the fact that he had to use a borrowed bat for 2 weeks which was too heavy for him.

We have gone to the sports store last evening, Evan was trilled out of his skin at the notion of getting a new bat for himself. I would have loved to get him a new bat but found that they were too expensive. He was so much in love with the design and colors that he spent an hour just trying out each bat. The bat he finally decided on was a cheaper than the rest and yet too expensive for me. The store manager was kind enough to suggest that I could buy from a selection of  discount baseball bats present at the closeout section. Evan was not so enthusiastic about it but when he saw the price difference between a new bat and a discount bat he agreed that it might be a better deal. He was able find one bat which he said was manageable. We decided to go home and give it a thought before buying it. When we reached home Evan told me to buy the discount bat stating that a bat usually doesnot last for more than a season and hence was not worth spending money on, I know he was just trying to make me feel better. Given my present circumstance I dont think I should get him a new bat though I really wish it was possible.