Spending money on nicer things that will last a long time, but less often takes a bit of self control when you see some new thing that you want to try out.
Researching something, enjoying the process of the decision and the research before buying is a great way to end up with something you will truly enjoy for years or decades to come.
Instead, most people buy cheap things because "they're a bargain," then throw it away in a couple of years, having to replace it.
My best purchases so far:
Chef knife collection - costed a bit but for months of entertainment and saving money on food, the total I've put into the hobby is probably 250 bucks over several months. I can shave with my kitchen knives and I've done so much more cooking because I just want to use my knives. I got three knives - a Chinese cleaver, Japanese santoku and a swiss chef knife. I got a magnetic knife block as well. I've probably saved as much - and will continue to save more - by cooking so many more meals myself.
My road bike - I bought it for ~$1400, did the research, found the best bang-for-the-buck on a new bike. It's literally prevented obesity for me, and it still works, I can still race with it. I am a heavier guy, so running was just a bad sport for me. I would have been fatter, gotten poorer grades throughout college and less confident without the thing, and dividing the cost out over several years it's been great. This was something I bought 8 years ago and it's still extremely useful.
I don't buy a ton of stuff, especially not useless things. When I buy nice things, I ensure quality and do my research. It's resulted in a not-overly-frugal but effective way for me to truly enjoy spending money on a couple of things here and there.
Then I cringe when I see people spending money on the things that weren't well-researched, or just whatever cheap crap you find at Walmart or whatever.
April 09, 2020 at 07:49PM
