One of the things that can be said about my household is that we try not to have anything cheap. That doesn’t mean that we spend a lot of money on stuff, it just means that we aim for good quality for things no matter what they are or how we acquired them.
Something in frugal living, it is easy to go for the dollar store mentality, shopping for things that are cheap. Personally, unless there is no way around it, we would rather do without than afford something that is not up to snuff. For example, we went without a DVD player for years and years, because anything good quality was out of our price range. We could have purchased something cheap., but chances are that replacing that cheap DVD player would have cost more than buying a good quality one from the very start. Here are some more examples.
Clothes: I do a lot of thrift store shopping and yard sale shopping for children’s clothing and sometimes jeans or shirts for the adults. I find that usually thrift stores act as good catalysts for quality. Most of the stuff there, being used and washed and used and washed, has proven itself. I would rather have a used Baby Dior sweater for the same price as a new off-brand sweater that stretches, rips, pills or runs after a few washes and then needs to be replaced. Plus the Baby Dior sweater could be resold or donated when we are done with it (so far, it has made it through three toddlers and still looks new).
Gadgets: This weekend I bought a $12 spatula after going through a series of $4 ones that kept falling apart. The surface of the cheap ones is soft and crumbles after a few months. The more expensive one is made of wood and a harder composite, so I expect it will last us for many years.
Paper plates: While I wouldn’t encourage paper plate use, if you do use them go for the more expensive plastic kind. Why? You don’t need a stack of them to support your food (making those paper plates more expensive), and you can wash and reuse the plastic plates if you like.
Have you bought anything cheap that paid off?
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don’t miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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