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You buy an item and you use
it a few times and then return it because you're done with it.
Stealing and lying. You probably won't tell the sales clerk you
just needed to use it for a few times and even if you do, that's
only OK if it is a rental store. If an item breaks, doesn't work
or is not the right color, it is fine to return it. If you just
needed it "for a few times" (like a dress for a special
occasion) and know you won't use it again, you're stealing if
you return it.
If you eat a food item with
a guarantee on the box and it tastes nasty, return it. That's
why they offer a guarantee. If you eat the entire contents of
the box first and return the mostly-empty box, it probably wasn't
actually nasty.
If you try to pass off your
14 year old child as a 12 year old so that you only have to pay
for a child's meal, you are lying and teaching your child that
lying is good when it benefits you.
If you go to a restaurant where
it is customary to tip, tip the customary amount (usually 15%)
if the service is reasonably good. If you get good service and
fail to tip, you are stealing from the server. If you can't afford
the tip, go to a restaurant where it is not customary to tip
(like a fast-food restaurant). If your whole family shares one
entree and your kids leave a mess of ground up crackers reaching
out eight feet from the table in every direction, don't just
tip on the one entree. Tip on the work you create for the server.
If you find a "great deal"
that you can't live without but you don't have the money in your
checking account, don't write a check. Let it be the "one
that got away" If you knowingly write a bad check, you are
stealing and lying.
If you find a "great deal",
buy it and then hide it from your husband, you're lying (unless
it's his birthday present ;-). If you have to hide it, you know
you're doing something wrong.
If you charge up your credit
cards with frivolous things like shopping and eating out and
then declare bankruptcy, you are stealing from the credit card
company and from everyone who does business with that company.
Bankruptcy is intended to help people who end up financially
strapped because of reasons beyond their control, like catastrophic
medical expenses or the death of a spouse. It is unethical to
declare bankruptcy because you went on a shopping spree, because
you bought something you couldn't afford when you bought it or
because you decided to change careers and no longer want to pay
the student loans for your old career. You signed that piece
of paper when you purchased the item saying you would pay them
back and you didn't. It's up to you to pay them back any (legal
:-) way you can, even if it does mean feeling "deprived"
for a time.
One more thing about bankruptcy:
It is unethical to incur lots of debt "keeping up with the
Joneses" and then go bankrupt because the debt is so large.
Many people look at others and say to themselves, "Those
people are the same age as me. I work hard. I deserve that too."
or "our house is too small" or "our car is a real
clunker so we need to buy a brand need one to "save"
on repair costs ( a huge myth, by the way!). If you can afford
these things, by all means, buy them. If you can't afford those
things, find a way to make more money or learn to be happy with
what you have.
Frugal living is about making
good financial decisions. There are so many things you can do
to spend your money more wisely, so when you think you can get
a "good deal", but it requires doing something that
hurts someone else, pass it up.
Whenever you're in doubt about
whether something is ethical, ask yourself if it would be OK
with you if the situation were reversed and you were the person
potentially coming up short. Be honest. We've all heard "Do
unto others as you would have them do unto you." If you
would object to others doing it to you, you better look for a
better way to save. |
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