By the time that you are reading this post, I will have hopefully had a safe flight to Las Vegas and will be attending the first sessions of the EMC World conference.

This trip to Las Vegas marks the fourth time that I have visited since my wife and I made our first trip together a few years back. Each of those four times has been for a work conference and my wife has not accompanied me on the trip.

Anyone that has been to Las Vegas knows that there are plenty of opportunities to be deviant.

Not only do the flashing lights of the casinos beckon, but there are strip clubs that entice many men – as well as the places like the Bunny Ranch.

When I made my first trip to Las Vegas without my wife, she had visions that I would be spending every night at the strip clubs getting myself into trouble.

While I assured my wife that my time would not be spent looking at naked women as that is not the kind of husband that I am, she still had her doubts. At least she had doubts until I shared the following reason with her, which she knows all too well.

I’m cheap!

Seriously, being a cheap person in Las Vegas means that there is not much opportunity for trouble. As anything that can get you into trouble is going to cost a fair amount of money.

Sure, I’ll place a few small bets at the sports book and might throw a few dollars into the slot machines or the video poker while having a drink at the bar. But anything more than that, forget it.

Why am I so cheap when it comes to things like this?

Plain and simple, I work hard for my money and don’t like throwing it away.

While sitting down in the casinos can be fun and exciting, you are essentially throwing away your money. Every now and then you might hear of someone winning big or have a good run yourself, but how many of those people walk away with that money?

Not many.

Just recently, Charles Barkley was in the news as he has a $400,000 gambling debt that he has not paid off. A few years back Barkley had estimated he has gambled away about $10 million!

That is throwing money away.

My wife and I have seen an episode or two of the series on HBO entitled Cathouse, which gives an inside look at the happenings at the Bunny Ranch. For those that are not aware, the Bunny Ranch is a brothel outside of Reno.

While watching this show, I learned that the, ahem, services being performed can cost a man (or woman) hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

WHAT?!?!

That is insane!

That is throwing money away.

While my wife might complain from time to time that I am a little too cheap, she also knows that I am way too cheap to be deviant in a place like Las Vegas.

Photo credit: Tom in NYC

After purchasing an Apple MacBook at the Apple Store yesterday, I decided to return it today as I found that it was cheaper to buy through Amazon. As I mentioned here, purchasing through Amazon was going to save me roughly $200.

The reason that there is emphasis on the “was” is because in the process of returning the laptop to the Apple Store, I incurred an expense of $627.32 – I couldn’t make up a story like this if I tried but for any doubters, I have the pictures to prove it.

While en route to the mall, driving along in the left lane of the highway the car in front of me ran over a piece of metal debris in the road that flew up into the air. As if there was a magnet attached to the front bumper of my car, my attempt to swerve out of the way was not effective.

Unfortunately, I have a $500 deductible on my auto insurance and according to the Scion dealer and their recommended body shop, replacing the bumper is going to run me just over $600.

While my attempt to save myself $200 may have been prudent, in the end it has cost me an additional $400 in car repairs. After exhausting the list of “If only…” scenarios as to how I could have avoided this situation, all I can do is laugh and chalk it up on the board of life’s experience.

Have you ever tried to save money only to cost yourself more?

It might be cultural influences that encourage men to put their work before their family but I think ultimately there is a different answer.

Money.

Men have a strong desire to provide for their family and often times this translates to earning a decent wage in order to ensure the safety and security of their family. The fear that many men have is that if they do not work hard that they will lose their job and fail to provide the necessities of life.

When you consider the number of families where there is only one income, or that the majority of men in a dual-income household earn more than their spouse, and that many people live paycheck to paycheck, losing that income could be disastrous and this feeds the belief that you must work more and more to avoid that possibility.

But the reality is that your family needs more than money.

Your family needs your time and attention. As I have found through experience, they need more than just your physical presence to satisfy their need for your attention. You need to find ways to connect with your child as well as doing your best to be a good husband.

Unfortunately I have had more than one instance where I have lost sight of my life balance as I dealt with belief that I needed to provide for my family. I’ve been guilty of working extremely long hours as I thought that was necessary in order to provide for my family. Luckily I have an understanding wife that will recognize when I am falling into this trap and remind me that there are more important things than money.

While it wouldn’t be easy to deal with the loss of your job, you have to consider the long-term effect on your family if you are never there for them. Is it worth the money to have a distant relationship with your family?

Some say that money is the root of all evil. I’m not so sure that I believe that but being obsessed with the belief that your sole responsibility is to provide your family with money is not a recipe for success. If you find yourself consumed with the idea that you must work hard to provide your family with money, take a step back and think of what you would do if you suddenly had to get by with a lower paying job or even no income at all.

You might have to sell your house and move into an apartment. Or maybe you might have to move to an area with a lower cost of living. It might mean that you have to cancel cable television or that you have to eat more economical meals. It might not be easy or pleasant but you will likely find that your dependency on money is not quite as severe as you think it is right now.

Make an effort to spend time with your family. Don’t let money consume you.