What do you do with those wire hangers you get from the dry cleaner? I return them. Let me tell you why…

Years ago, after completing a review of my annual budget request, the CEO said to me while we walked away from the meeting room: “We need to plan our budgets as if we’re planning to spend our own money.”

I was always frugal in my planning. However, this was expected to be a particularly lean year, so I had gone over my budget proposal at length looking to refine the financials before my presentation. But, the perspective still stuck with me because it articulated an approach to budget planning.

In the moment, I thought it was said out of a company-wide move to constrain costs. It was only later that I realized he actually meant spending the money wisely; ensure you’re maximizing every dollar to achieve the best result.

Since then, my thinking has evolved and I now take the opposite perspective. Rather than viewing a company’s budget as if it’s coming from my own bank account, I actually approach business expenses from the position of spending someone else’s money. That means doing so out of a respect for the business and what it’s trying to achieve.

Let me give you an example.

I was gathering my clothes for a trip to the local dry cleaner shortly after that budget planning encounter and noticed I had quite a collection of those wire clothes hangers. Being that this happened before my morning coffee, I grumbled something to myself about having to deal with that “later” and went about my day.

Walking into the dry cleaner, I saw they had just taken a delivery of supplies. Among them was a huge shipment of the same clothes hangers I had seen that morning.

So, I turned around, went home, collected all the hangers, and returned them to the store. I’ve done it ever since.

Of course there is an environmental benefit, keeping the things out of the recycling centres and landfill. I’m also under no illusions that I’m creating huge cost savings for the local shop.

Still, one person’s waste is another person’s cost.