foolish

penny-wise and pound-foolish

Prov. thrifty with small sums and foolish with large sums. (Describes someone who will go to a lot of trouble to save a little money, but overlooks large expenses to save a little money. Even in the United States, the reference is to British pounds sterling.) Sam: If we drive to six different grocery stores, we'll get the best bargains on everything we buy. Alan: But with gasoline so expensive, that's penny-wise and pound-foolish.

See also: and

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be penny-wise and pound-foolish  (old-fashioned)

to be extremely careful about small amounts of money and not careful enough about larger amounts of money Saving a little bit of money on repairs can lead to long-term damage. You don't want to be penny-wise and pound-foolish, now do you?

See also: and

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penny wise and pound foolish

unwise because doing something small now would prevent much more trouble later Education budget cuts are penny wise and pound foolish – public education is an investment in our future.

See also: and, penny, pound, wise