Spend Money to Save Money 4 Ways to Save Money Long Term by Spending More Now
Spend Money to Save Money - 4 Ways to Save Money Long-Term by Spending More Now Skip to content
Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations have an average return of 397%. For $79 (or just $1.52 per week), join more than 1 million members and don't miss their upcoming stock picks. 30 day money-back guarantee. Sign Up Now Mind you, this rule doesn’t hold true for everything you buy. For instance, single-use products like candles and paper towels don’t need to be sturdy, because they’re only going to be used once anyway. The same goes for anything you’ll only need once in a while, such as an air mattress for guests. If it’s only used once or twice a year, it doesn’t need to stand up to heavy wear. The best products to invest extra money in are things you expect to use often over a long period. Here are a few examples: Sofas. For most of the rooms in your house, you can get away with buying inexpensive furniture from IKEA or a flea market. However, there are a few pieces worth investing in. Designer Andrew Kerr has said that a high-quality couch, with a sturdy frame and well-made cushions, typically costs at least $1,800. This is money well spent, though, because a good sofa will last longer than a cheap one. Even when the fabric starts to wear out, you can have the piece reupholstered to extend its life. That probably won’t work for a cheap couch with a flimsy frame.Mattresses. Another furniture piece worth splurging on is your mattress. Cheap mattresses start to sag after just a few years of use, making it harder to get a good night’s sleep. That, in turn, can make you more accident-prone and less productive at work. A sagging mattress can also contribute to back pain or other joint pain, resulting in costly health-care bills. According to sleep experts quoted in the Fiscal Times, be prepared to spend anywhere from $700 to $2,000 for a mattress that really feels comfortable. One of our top choices is a Leesa where a queen size ranges from $895 to $1,525.Business Suits. Clothes don’t really make the man – or woman – but they can definitely help you make a good impression on clients and coworkers. So if you work in the business world, it’s worth investing in quality clothing and accessories for work. Style writer Rachel Weingarten, speaking with Bankrate, says men should expect to pay “a minimum of $400” for a good business suit. (For women, she says, separates are a better deal.) However, once you’ve made this investment, you can make the suit last for years with regular alterations. A good tailor can also alter consignment shop finds to fit you, so you can get the equivalent of a $400 suit for much less.Footwear. Quality matters even more for shoes than it does for clothes. Clothes that don’t fit well can hurt your image, but shoes that don’t fit well can actually hurt your feet. They can also affect the way you stand and walk, eventually contributing to knee or back problems that cost serious money to fix. However, that doesn’t mean pricier shoes are always better. A 2015 study of athletic shoes at RunRepeat found that shoes in the $60 range typically get the best overall ratings from users. So there’s no need to spring for a $200 pair, but don’t cheap out on a $20 pair either.Tools. If you do a lot of home repairs, it’s worth investing in high-quality tools that will serve you for many years. Besides holding up better, well-made tools are often easier to use – which increases the chance that you’ll actually haul out your toolbox when something breaks, rather than calling in a pro. However, it’s only worth spending the extra money on tools that you actually need and use often, like a good drill or a circular saw. Splashing out on a fancy tool that you’re only going to use once, such as a biscuit joiner, isn’t a sound investment.Auto Parts. Tom and Ray Magliozzi, hosts of the old radio show “Car Talk,” had a saying about car repair: “It’s the stingy person who spends the most.” In their book, also called “Car Talk,” they use tires as an example. A caller on the show reported that her car had developed a shimmy right after she put on new tires – which she’d bought at a bargain price. She’d invested in new struts and a wheel alignment, but nothing helped. The brothers broke the news to her that her cheap tires were “out of round,” causing the car to shake. She ended up having to invest in new tires on top of all the other work she’d already done. If she’d sprung for decent tires in the first place, she could have saved herself a lot of money and hassle.
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By Amy Livingston Date September 22, 2022FEATURED PROMOTION
When you’re trying to save money on a tight budget, you spend a lot of time looking for ways to save a buck. From packing brown-bag lunches to canceling your cable, you’re always focusing on ways to spend less. But sometimes, going out of your way to save can backfire. When you scrimp on certain kinds of purchases, you actually end up spending more money in the long run. For instance, suppose you always buy cheap umbrellas from the dollar store. The problem is that they break after one or two rainstorms and have to be replaced. Over the course of a year, you end up spending much more than you would by buying one decent umbrella that holds up to use. Plus, you have to spend more on laundry because your clothes keep getting soaked. So as you can see, there are times when you save money overall by spending a little more upfront. The trick is figuring out when it makes sense to spend more and when you should pinch your pennies. To help clear up that point, here are different ways that spending more can actually be the best way to save.1 Invest in Quality
The story above about the cheap umbrellas is an example of how you can save money by paying more for well-made goods. This idea is sometimes expressed as “buy nice, or buy twice.” In other words, if you buy the cheapest product on the shelf, you’ll just end up having to buy a new one when it breaks. You’ll be better off if you pay more in the first place for a product that’s built to last.Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations have an average return of 397%. For $79 (or just $1.52 per week), join more than 1 million members and don't miss their upcoming stock picks. 30 day money-back guarantee. Sign Up Now Mind you, this rule doesn’t hold true for everything you buy. For instance, single-use products like candles and paper towels don’t need to be sturdy, because they’re only going to be used once anyway. The same goes for anything you’ll only need once in a while, such as an air mattress for guests. If it’s only used once or twice a year, it doesn’t need to stand up to heavy wear. The best products to invest extra money in are things you expect to use often over a long period. Here are a few examples: Sofas. For most of the rooms in your house, you can get away with buying inexpensive furniture from IKEA or a flea market. However, there are a few pieces worth investing in. Designer Andrew Kerr has said that a high-quality couch, with a sturdy frame and well-made cushions, typically costs at least $1,800. This is money well spent, though, because a good sofa will last longer than a cheap one. Even when the fabric starts to wear out, you can have the piece reupholstered to extend its life. That probably won’t work for a cheap couch with a flimsy frame.Mattresses. Another furniture piece worth splurging on is your mattress. Cheap mattresses start to sag after just a few years of use, making it harder to get a good night’s sleep. That, in turn, can make you more accident-prone and less productive at work. A sagging mattress can also contribute to back pain or other joint pain, resulting in costly health-care bills. According to sleep experts quoted in the Fiscal Times, be prepared to spend anywhere from $700 to $2,000 for a mattress that really feels comfortable. One of our top choices is a Leesa where a queen size ranges from $895 to $1,525.Business Suits. Clothes don’t really make the man – or woman – but they can definitely help you make a good impression on clients and coworkers. So if you work in the business world, it’s worth investing in quality clothing and accessories for work. Style writer Rachel Weingarten, speaking with Bankrate, says men should expect to pay “a minimum of $400” for a good business suit. (For women, she says, separates are a better deal.) However, once you’ve made this investment, you can make the suit last for years with regular alterations. A good tailor can also alter consignment shop finds to fit you, so you can get the equivalent of a $400 suit for much less.Footwear. Quality matters even more for shoes than it does for clothes. Clothes that don’t fit well can hurt your image, but shoes that don’t fit well can actually hurt your feet. They can also affect the way you stand and walk, eventually contributing to knee or back problems that cost serious money to fix. However, that doesn’t mean pricier shoes are always better. A 2015 study of athletic shoes at RunRepeat found that shoes in the $60 range typically get the best overall ratings from users. So there’s no need to spring for a $200 pair, but don’t cheap out on a $20 pair either.Tools. If you do a lot of home repairs, it’s worth investing in high-quality tools that will serve you for many years. Besides holding up better, well-made tools are often easier to use – which increases the chance that you’ll actually haul out your toolbox when something breaks, rather than calling in a pro. However, it’s only worth spending the extra money on tools that you actually need and use often, like a good drill or a circular saw. Splashing out on a fancy tool that you’re only going to use once, such as a biscuit joiner, isn’t a sound investment.Auto Parts. Tom and Ray Magliozzi, hosts of the old radio show “Car Talk,” had a saying about car repair: “It’s the stingy person who spends the most.” In their book, also called “Car Talk,” they use tires as an example. A caller on the show reported that her car had developed a shimmy right after she put on new tires – which she’d bought at a bargain price. She’d invested in new struts and a wheel alignment, but nothing helped. The brothers broke the news to her that her cheap tires were “out of round,” causing the car to shake. She ended up having to invest in new tires on top of all the other work she’d already done. If she’d sprung for decent tires in the first place, she could have saved herself a lot of money and hassle.