Sometimes you just have to cut your losses.  Even if that means a financial loss.

This week my boyfriend was planning to visit with some friends in Buffalo for a couple of days, stay in a hostel for a couple of days, and see a couple of concerts that he was really excited about.  But things went awry and the friends he was planning to visit had to cancel.  So he had a few days booked in a hostel, one concert ticket purchased and one that had not yet been purchased, and no place to stay for a couple of days in the middle of his trip.  So he had two options.  He could either spend even more money to get a hotel so he could go on with his plans, or he could cut his losses and cancel the trip.

Despite a significant amount of disappointment over the situation, he realized that the best plan of action was to cancel the trip.  To follow through with his plans, he would have had to pay a couple hundred extra dollars for a hotel, more money for the concert ticket he had not yet purchased, and a lot of extra money for eating out.  So far he had only laid out $70 for one concert ticket and $60 for two nights at the hostel.  So rather than spend way more than budgeted, he cut his losses.  He was able to get a refund from the hostel, so he was really only out the cost of the one concert ticket.  Since tickets for that show are still readily available, he wasn’t going to be able to recoup a significant amount by selling the ticket.  So rather than stressing himself to try to sell, he decided to go the “good Karma” route and gave the ticket away.

In the end, he has a $70 loss, a good feeling for giving someone else a chance to go to the concert, and he didn’t ruin his financial plan by going way over budget for this trip.  He is disappointed, yes.  But he’s not in debt over a couple of concerts.

Sometimes you just have to cut your losses.