Household supplies can make up a weighty portion of your home maintenance budget. It’s always a good idea to reduce this spending as much as possible. There are plenty of articles that discuss ways you can reduce your overall spending on common household supplies. However, there are times when it’s appropriate to spend a little bit more. Here are some basic tips on how to decide whether a particular item is worth the extra money.
Reasons not to splurge.
Were you attracted to the item by a commercial? An item may have a very clever commercial that uses a winning smile and catchy tag-line to convince you that it’s well worth the expense. That, in and of itself, is certainly not enough to make an item worthy of your hard earned money.
How much time is it saving you, really? Many advertisements will demonstrate how an item can save you time and effort. Really think this through. Is this a chore you do daily? If so, it may be well worth splurging on this device. More commonly, you will save a couple minutes on a weekly, monthly, or even less frequent chore. In this case, it’s simply not worth the expense.
Is the item on sale? That really doesn’t matter. If it wasn’t worth buying before it went on sale, and won’t replace one of the items you would normally be purchasing, the item is probably still not worth adding to your collection.
Is this to use or to show to your friends? Even cleaning supplies can be used as status symbols in today’s world. If you’re thinking of buying a fancy swivel mop because you think it will impress your friends, it’s a much better idea to just save your money. After all, once your money is saved up you can buy that cruise to Hawaii, which is a much more effective way to make them jealous.
Good reasons to splurge.
Do you use this item every day? There are items that are used frequently. If you are saving a few minutes each day, every day of the week, that time will quickly stack up. As long as the more expensive version of the item isn’t more than $20 over the price of the cheaper model, it’s usually safe to invest in daily use items.
Is there a truly significant quality difference? High quality hand towels and bath towels are used every day, will be used for years, and the comfort difference is truly evident in the more costly versions. In this case, investing in something more pricey may be worthwhile. Another example is quality Hoover vacuums. Your cleaning results are just so visible, you won’t be able to deny the benefits of buying one of these devices.
Will more up front investment save you money? If you buy a more potent dish soap, you can get away with using less of it to get the same cleaning impact. Similarly, concentrated cleaners that can be used in a diluted form will last significantly longer. Your “splurge” will actually decrease your overall spending over time.
This guest post is by Ann Smarty, a blogger and social media user. Join Ann’s community of guest bloggers called MyBlogGuest to exchange guest posts and build contacts.
