What sort of frugal advice do you have that goes against the grain with what frugal thinking you often see?
I'll go first:
Screw "buy it for life". Often the cheapest "good enough" item is going to have you coming out ahead by buying it and replacing it whenever you need to or ditching it once you don't need it. If you're using the cheap item relatively infrequently or at a minimal capacity you may never wear it out before it gets lost, damaged, stolen or simply worth getting rid of due to your changing needs. The time and costs associated with repair and storing a "buy it for life" item may quickly exceed the costs of simply buying another cheap "good enough" item. And that's even assuming a "buy it for life" item actually holds up to its promise.
By instead investing the money you'd have spent on a "buy it for life" item, you can generally generate returns that are great enough to buy "good enough" replacements forever. Plus you'll be able to update to new styles and features as items advance. You can also avoid needing insurance as you won't have to worry about finding the money. You can also more easily embrace minimalism, giving up an item and simply reacquiring it months or years later, allowing you to live a smaller footprint and live a worry-free lifestyle.
May 31, 2018 at 06:30PM
