I spent Sunday afternoon at the Frugal Festival.

This festival was put together by Julia Scott of Bargain Babe.  She put in a lot of hard work and it showed.

It was well organized, lots of neat folks came out and we all had a good time. I especially enjoyed meeting Julia and her cool husband.

To be frank, I surprised myself by having more fun than I thought I would.  I met some great people there.  Seems like frugal is cool and I was delighted to be part of it.

As the week goes on, I’ll tell you about some great questions that people came up with. But I wanted to check in with you on one particular meeting I had that distressed me.

It’s a bit weird…….and it actually made me sad.

First, some background.

Julia asked me to give free 15-minute coaching sessions – which I did.  I value those consultations at about $62.50 since my hourly rate is $250.

The last person who took me up on my offer was a very sweet woman in her mid 30’s.  She told me that she and her husband were struggling with debt and limited income.  She spent a few more minutes explaining more about her situation.  When she finished, I was ready to start giving her some ideas that I thought she could use to improve her situation.

But just as I started to give her my ideas she lost all interest in our conversation. The time had come for the raffle prizes to be awarded and she wanted to make sure that she’d hear her name if it were called.  Keep in mind that the prizes being awarded were T-shirts.

Granted….they were nice Bargain Babe T-shirts…..but they were T-shirts.

I don’t know about you, but I have enough T-shirts.  In fact, I have too many T-shirts.  Don’t you?  Had she asked me for a T-shirt I would have given her one .  It might be a used one, but who cares?  I wouldn’t give her one with holes in it…

Sorry….I ranted…..didn’t I?

Back to my story……

I’m not saying that I had the magic pill that would turn her situation around over night.  But she had a chance to get some experienced input and she blew it.

Maybe my advice would have been dribble and she sensed it.  Maybe that’s why the T-shirt raffle lured her away.

But she could have been wrong.  Just maybe, I might have said something that could have had a significantly positive impact on her and her family.  You never know.  And now she never will.

I know that we were at a frugal festival.  I don’t have any problem with folks looking for freebies.  That’s what everyone   was there for.

The problem I had is that she had a very valuable freebie in her hand and she threw it away.  It was a poor economic decision.  Oh and by the way…..she didn’t win the T-shirt.

I didn’t say anything to this person.  I just picked up my books and went home to spend some time writing this post.

I couldn’t help her but that exchange made me look at my own behavior.  Do I pay attention to the price I pay on my quest for frugal nirvana?

Am I picking up pennies and ignoring the dollars?  Unfortunately, yes…..I do this too sometimes.

So I’m thankful for that lady who preferred a Bargain Babe T-Shirt over my 15 minute session.  I learned a lot from her.

I am just sorry that she didn’t win the raffle.

How would you have handled this situation?  Would you have been angry at her?  Would you have given her a piece of your mind?  Do you sometimes make the same mistake she did?  Am I an ego maniac for thinking she blew it?

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