How to save money by spending more of it
Don’t worry, I’m not promoting some lame credit card scheme. Nor am I trying to convince you to buy stock.
I readily admit that I am trying to convince you to do something, though. And I’m not very subtle about it, either. Ready? Here it is:
DON’T BUY JUNK.
Buy good quality stuff instead – stuff that will last for a long time and spare you unnecessary hassle and searching for replacements.
But quality is expensive!
Yes. And no.
Most of the time, high quality will cost you more than low quality, at the time of purchase. However, as long as quality – rather than brand - is the reason for the increased price, you’ll end up saving money anyway.
If you buy cheap stuff of questionable quality, it’ll break or wear out. Probably in a relatively short period of time. Which is annoying.
Even more annoying is the fact that you’ll have to spend more money to get a replacement. And, to add insult to injury, you’ll even add to world pollution and energy use in the process.
Good quality stuff will outlast low quality stuff many times over, and cost you less in the long run. As an added bonus, you avoid annoyances and reduce your impact on the environment.
Not convinced?
Ok, here’s an example that illustrates my point:
I’ve had a home office for some time now; about 14 years. Within that period, I’ve had two office chairs.
The first one was a cheap affair from IKEA. It offered acceptable seating comfort, but not much in the way of ergonomic adjustments. No armrests or headrest, either.
About one year down the road, the back was coming loose, holes were appearing in the seat cushion cover and the chair had developed a rotten sense of humor: I would sit writing or playing a computer game, and every time I was concentrating really hard, the chair would go pssscht! and I would find myself sitting about four inches lower, concentration broken and mood foul.
My second chair was - is – a HÅG chair. It has fantastic seating comfort, armrests and a headrest. It can be adjusted to match any seating preferences perfectly.
It has seen more than twelve years of daily use, is still great to sit in and shows no sign of giving up. It did cost me about five times more than the IKEA chair, but has still saved me money by lasting about twelve times as long – so far. And sitting in it has been a pleasant experience for the whole period.
A slight lie
I’ll finish off with a slight admission: I lied – just a little – in the previous paragraph.
The cover for the seat cushion finally succumbed to my butt’s relentless pressure after eleven years.
That only serves to illustrate my point further, though. With quality items, replacement parts are usually available. With cheap stuff, repairs are often either impossible or prohibitively expensive.
I had no trouble getting a replacement seat cushion cover for my HÅG chair, so I was easily able to follow my own advice of repairing stuff to save both kinds of green.
About the author
Thomas Winther is the editor of and main contributor to Renewables At Home. There he provides tips about what individuals, households and neighbourhoods can do to reduce their impact on the environment without breaking the bank. When not blogging, he works as a programmer. He’s also an avid reader of hard science fiction, an enthusiastic, medium-skilled downhill biker and is interested in nearly everything.
Comments
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July 1st, 2009Trackback from : COACHEP » Blog Archive » Posts about Junk Science as of July 1, 2009
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July 1st, 2009
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July 1st, 2009Trackback from : Two more R’s: Refuse and Repurpose
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July 1st, 2009Trackback from : Repair stuff, save both kinds of green
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I could not agree with you more. People don’t realize if they buy low quality products they will just keep buying them over and over again instead of just buying top quality once and being done with it. well said here.
@juicy couture: Thank you for your kind words, glad you liked my post. And I’m glad you agree ;-D
Couldn’t agree more. I really like the example of the Ikea chair. The only problem for some people is that initial investment when they may not have it. That said, people should manage their money in such a way that they can save up for better quality things that will last 12x longer. Not only will it help you save money, it will help our planet. Great post
I think many people confuse brand names with quality. A brand name does not mean quality, although it might. Many expensive brand names like Abercrombie and Fitch.. etc sell clothes that are the same quality stuff as cheaper brand names. You are right though, its important to make sure you are not buying something of a horrible quality. Lol, reading your tale about the chair it seems like that chair was out to get you.
Till then,
Jean
Hi there, sure do share your sentiments. Yes quality pays in the long run. Initially it might prove a little expensive to buy quality stuff. Cheaper alternatives might look a lot more attractive from a cost perspective. But once you buy them, and they start coming apart, you realize ‘how dumb’!
Wise you.
Joost Hoogstrate
Great post
The distinction between brand names and quality is really important, as a brand name does not necessarily mean good quality.
By the way, the evil IKEA-chair made me giggle
@everybody: Thanks for commenting
@SingleViews: That’s certainly an issue – buying quality is one thing, but if you don’t have the money, you don’t have them. However, buying quality to save money can be done on a low income, too. My income, for example, isn’t very high. What I’ve done is go for the relatively small stuff (cost-wise) first and then ramp up to bigger stuff with the money I’ve saved in the first place.
@used tires/Jean and Daria: I got a discount for trading in the IKEA chair when buying the new chair. So I got back at it by humiliating it in front of a whole row of good chairs ;-D
Good points…. you should check out the blog Early Retirement Extreme – Jacob has the art of buying “classic” down cold. I think it’s a great idea for things that you plan to use over the long term anyway, but I can imagine that there might be some things where it pays to buy cheap because you know you won’t keep it/ need it forever, or some other reason. I don’t know how much it applies to computers, since we tend to buy new ones what – every four years or so? And for big ticket purchases like cars, I’d think it’s quite important to have something that will last a long time – 15 years is actually possible with Honda civics!
It’s extremely important to make things last like cars. That’s why so many people buy cars like Honda Civics because they last for so many years with minimal problems. I work in the computer industry and it makes me sad that we replace computers so often. In general though, computers can last for a really long time without needing to upgrade. If all you are doing is surfing the net, there is no need to have a super fast computer with all the latest hardware.
I’m completely agree with the post. If everyone can keep the money along with their side then how can business will grow. So we have to spend most of our total earning..
Definitely agree with buying quality items rather than items that will break quickly but cost a low price. I can see how much of an effect this would have on the environment for waste alone.
@MoneyEnergy: Thanks for the tip about the Early Retirement Extreme blog. I’ve done a bit of reading there; several good articles.
@MoneyEnergy and Pays to live green: Computers are products that are ripe for a beneficial change in consumer habits. Although improvements are being made, an average computer is still chock-full of hazardous waste and quite a bit of energy is spent producing them. People buy new computers way too often – a decent computer both quality- and performancewise will easily cover most people’s needs for 6-7 years before breaking down. And when it does break down, most parts can be replaced without too much hassle.
@Seo83: Um…that really isn’t what the post is about…although I can see how you would think so if you just read the headline.
@Pariswheel: Absolutely. Not only does low quality items create a waste problem by the sheer quantity of them being discarded, but they’re usually made from parts that are hard to recycle, too.
Totally agree about buying quality stuff. You can use it longer so it won’t need replacing so soon. It’s too easy in our “buy and throw away society” to buy cheap junk and throw it away when it suits us.