When Paying More Saves You Money: X Key Takeaways
It seems like an obvious contradiction that paying more money can save you money, but on a long enough time scale, this often works. If you’re willing to spend a bit more money up front, and spend a bit of extra time researching your decisions, you can set yourself up for a better long-term payoff.
Even more impressively, there are several ways in which this is true.
Quality Goods
First, you can save money by spending more initially on higher quality goods. If you’re willing to splurge on products that are made from better materials, and products that are made with more attention and higher quality, your products are going to be much more dependable. They’ll be able to serve you better, potentially saving you money in other areas, and if you take good care of these higher quality products, they could potentially last you a lifetime.
Let’s take a look at some examples.
- Electrical transformers. Buying a high-quality electrical transformer from transformer manufacturers in USA is going to be more expensive upfront, but it has the potential to save you money in the long term. If you buy a cheap electrical transformer, there’s a chance it could fail within the first few years due to a manufacturing defect. But if you’re willing to spend money on quality, it could last you 25 years or longer.
- Shoes. Cheap shoes are cheap for a reason; they’re made from inferior materials and with little attention to quality. While wearing your shoes, you’ll be less comfortable, and you may set yourself up for more injuries in the future. Just as bad, your shoes will wear out quickly, forcing you to buy new ones. That’s why you’re usually better off buying better quality footwear from the beginning.
- Mattresses. Mattresses are similar. We spend a lot of time sleeping, and the quality of your mattress plays a huge role in the quality of your sleep and your overall physical condition. A cheap, poorly made mattress could keep you up at night, cause back problems, and ultimately cost you far more than what you saved by buying a cheap mattress.
- Homes. Newly constructed homes with few, if any defects are much more expensive than older homes with tons of persisting issues. There are some cases where it’s worth buying an older home and fixing it up, but if you become overwhelmed with projects, or if your home isn’t structurally sound, it’s going to work against you.
- Tools. It’s no secret that more expensive tools are often made with higher-quality materials, making them last much longer. Some brands even offer a lifetime guarantee on the tools they make. If you exclusively buy the cheapest thing on the shelf, don’t expect it to last more than a job or two.
- General materials. In general, higher quality materials are more expensive, but are better in every way.
Energy Efficiency
Improving your energy efficiency also requires an upfront investment, but it can save you tons of money in the long term.
- Light bulbs. LED light bulbs are some of the most expensive bulbs on the market, but they can last for literal decades and provide excellent illumination. Even better, they can more than pay for themselves because of what you’ll save on your energy bills.
- HVAC systems and appliances. Upgrading your heater, air conditioner, washer, dryer, and other appliances is expensive. But with newer, more energy efficient models in place, you could save hundreds to thousands of dollars in energy costs.
- Insulation and windows. Depending on the age and condition of your current windows, it’s pretty likely that upgrading your windows is a project that eventually pays for itself – and then some. New windows increase the value of your house, and over the course of years, could save you hundreds of dollars in heating and cooling costs. Upgraded insulation works similarly.
- Vehicles. Electric, hybrid, and other high-efficiency vehicles tend to be more expensive than their lower efficiency counterparts. But you’ll save a lot of money by making the switch.
Desire and Quality of Life
Sometimes, spending more can entitle you to a higher quality of life or more enjoyment. This doesn’t always save you money directly, but it can impact both your finances and your overall sense of happiness and well-being.
For example, let’s look at guitars. It’s not true that expensive guitars are always superior to cheaper guitars – especially at the higher levels – but paying more can entitle you to a much better playing experience. Better made guitars sound better and are much easier to play, and guitarists often report playing much more frequently when they enjoy the experience. Buying a more expensive guitar, in some cases, will naturally allow you to practice more frequently, adding enjoyment to the hobby and curtailing your spending on other hobbies in the process.
Going out to eat at a fancy restaurant may be more expensive than eating at a fast-food chain, but it’s also a much more memorable, satisfying experience. You might be happier going to an expensive restaurant a couple of times a month, rather than frequenting inferior establishments more regularly – and there’s a good chance you’ll save money directly in this process as well.
Some people still think it’s crazy to think that spending more money is a way to save money in the long term, but as we’ve demonstrated across multiple categories and with several examples, this is sometimes the case. Don’t hesitate to spend more when the situation calls for it.