Household Items: Save or Splurge?
Domestic CEO asks a panel of QDT experts about when should you save, and when should you spend, when it comes to buying household items.
Save or splurge? It’s a question we find ourselves asking often, especially about household items. It’s hard to know if spending the extra money on an item is worth it.
See Also: 20 Kitchen Items You Should Never Pay For
So to help you make your buying decisions, I assembled a panel of Quick and Dirty Tips hosts to help answer the question of when to spend and when to save when it comes to purchasing things for your home. Giving their advice today are:
- Cheryl Butler, Mighty Mommy. This mom of 8 gives practical advice, tips, and tricks to help you add more balance, perspective, and fun into your family’s busy life!
- Eric Escobar, Tech Talker. This computer expert and hacker helps his listeners leverage technology to be a useful and accessible tool for all aspects of life.
- Kara Rota, Clever Cookstr. This foodie gives us a peek inside the kitchens of the world’s best chefs!.
When to Save
The experts recommend pinching pennies on these items:
Dining Room Sets
Mighty Mommy recommends saving on dining room sets, because busy families tend to eat at kitchen island counters. Dining rooms only get used a few times a year, or for homework, so save money on that purchase
Phones
Tech Talker recommends getting phones that are a year or two old, instead of the ones that are brand new to the market. Getting a refurbished phone on Amazon.com will save you lots of money, and will provide you a phone that is just as reliable as a new-fangled phone.
Digital Cameras
Tech Talker also recommends saving on digital cameras -if your cell phone has the right capabilities. As long as your phone’s camera takes over 8 megapixels photos, and has 1080p for video with at least 30 frames per second, you can save on buying a separate digital camera, because your phone’s camera is probably better.
Non-Stick Pans
Non-stick pans need to be replaced as soon as the coating starts to flake, so they are not going to last a lifetime. For this reason, Clever Cookstr recommends getting a cheaper set of pans. You’ll likely go through a few sets in your lifetime, so you can focus on getting just the pieces that you need for your current cooking habits.
Smaller Kitchen Tools
Digital scales, prep bowls, tongs, graters, and other smaller items are pretty similar from brand to brand. There’s not a lot of difference between the cheap ones and the expensive ones, so as long as they fit your needs and are dishwasher safe, this is a great place to save.
Now it’s time for the fun part!
When to Splurge
Where do these experts recommend spending the extra money?
Ingredients
You probably won’t be surprised to know that Clever Cookstr recommends splurging on the ingredients she cooks with. Good produce, quality meats, and other ingredients are what make a meal, so spend a little extra on those.
Knives
In Kara’s words, “One great chef’s knife, if you take care of it, will last you a long time.” She recommends searching around to find the one that feels just right for you.
Cast Iron or Stainless Steel Cookware
Cast iron and stainless steel cookware are investment pieces. Both can last a long time, if you take care of them, so it makes sense to get a better set that will last even longer.
Larger Items to Support Your Cooking Habits
If you make a lot of smoothies, it could make sense to invest in blender with a high horse power motor to power through the ice and ingredients. If you make a lot of stews and hot dishes, a quality Dutch oven may be a good purchase for you. All in all, if your cooking habits show that you are going to use an item on a regular basis, it is a good idea to invest in one that will consistently give you the results you want.
Back Up Service
Without hesitation, Tech Talker recommends investing in a good backup service for all your digital files. These services can be programmed to set it and forget it, and will protect your digital files, including photos, resumes, and other important documents.
One service he recommends is Crash Plan, but you can also get extra space through Google Drive or Dropbox. If you’re still hesitant on saving to the cloud, Tech Talker tries to put those fears to rest by letting us know it’s easier for him to break into your house than it is to break into Google or other online storage services. I’m not sure that calms my fears, but it does motivate me to move my files!
Digital Cameras
Now this may seem like a contradiction to what Tech Talker already said, but if your phone doesn’t have the specs he stated earlier, then he recommends getting a good digital camera to capture all those memories. In other words, if you swear by your flip phone, you should be investing money into a better digital camera.
Mattresses
With 10 people in her house, there’s nothing worse for Mighty Mommy than being cranky because of a poor night’s sleep. Cheryl and her family even invest in better quality mattresses for their kids, to make sure they last for years. That way, even if all her monkeys are jumping on the bed, there won’t be any mattress coils poking anyone in the back the next night.
Strollers
Since most families use the same stroller for many years, investing in a higher quality stroller is Mighty Mommy’s final recommendation on where to splurge. If you have one child, you will appreciate that the wheels stay on and all the parts keep moving. And when you’re able to use that same stroller for a second child, you’ll know it was well worth the price.
If you haven’t yet checked out their shows, make sure to click on over to visit Mighty Mommy, Tech Talker, and Clever Cookstr.
Until next time, I’m the Domestic CEO, helping you love your home! Share your save or splurge thoughts with me on Facebook and Twitter.
Image of woman shopping for a blender courtesy of Shutterstock.
