I’m a bargain shopper. I’ve been one for nearly 30 years.
But I am definitely not someone who thinks the cheapest option is always the smartest one.
I’ll carry a $20 purse without thinking twice, but I’ll spend more on sheets because I spend so much time sleeping in them.
I’ll buy cheap kitchen towels because they’re eventually going to get stained and tossed anyway, but I only buy Dyson vacuums because I have dogs that shed like it’s their full-time job.
So where do I save and where do I spend more?
For me, it usually comes down to a pretty simple question:
What am I actually getting for the extra money?
I’m willing to pay more when it gets me better performance, more comfort, longer life or an experience I’ll genuinely enjoy. When the cheaper option does what I need just as well, I’ll keep the difference.
What I’m happy to buy cheap
If two products are going to do the exact same job equally well, I’m probably taking the cheaper one. I’m not particularly interested in paying for a logo.
Designer purses are a perfect example.
Honestly, $35 already feels high to me for a purse. 😂 I’m a $20-purse kind of girl. The only way you’re likely to see me carrying a designer bag is if somebody gave it to me or I found it thrifted.
Sunglasses are similar. Give me the $18 pair.
Bath towels? They’re eventually going to get stained anyway.
Kitchen towels? Same thing.
And skincare is probably one of my funniest examples. I don’t spend much on it at all. I’ve been washing my face with coconut oil for more than 20 years, and currently I’m working my way through a giant tub from Costco.
There are just some categories where spending more doesn’t give me anything I personally care enough about to pay for.
But that changes quickly when the extra money actually improves my experience.
The more I use something, the more quality matters
This is probably the biggest factor in how I decide whether something is worth spending more on.
How often am I actually going to use it?
If something is going to sit in a drawer most of the year, I don’t necessarily need the premium version.
My label maker is a good example. I use it occasionally. It makes labels. That’s pretty much all I need from it.
I’m buying the cheap one.
But something I use every day is completely different.
We spend so much time in bed that good bedding is worth it to me. I buy Sleep Number sheets because I want them to be soft, comfortable and breathable. That’s something I experience for hours every single night.
Coffee is another one. I drink it every day, and I love my Ninja coffee maker. I’m willing to pay more for something I use constantly and want to work well.
The same rule applies to shoes.
Cute trendy shoes that I’m wearing to dinner or church for a couple of hours? I don’t need to spend a fortune.
Shoes I’m going to walk 15,000 steps in while traveling?
Completely different story.
I’ll spend more for good walking shoes, although you can bet I’m still looking for them on sale.
Sometimes buying cheap just means buying twice
I’ve learned this lesson more than once.
Tumblers are one example.
I have several Stanley tumblers, but I’ve also bought cheaper generic versions. One of the cheap ones started peeling after going through the dishwasher. The paint was literally rubbing off in my car’s cup holder.
At that point, how much did I really save?
That’s one reason I’ve become willing to pay more for certain brands. It isn’t because I automatically think a recognizable name makes something better.
It’s because I’ve used the cheaper version and discovered that sometimes it isn’t as good.
Bluetooth headphones taught me the same thing.
I initially bought a cheaper pair because I didn’t want to spend the money on Beats. I wasn’t happy with the sound quality, eventually caved and bought the Beats, and the difference was absolutely worth it to me.
So I essentially bought headphones twice.
That’s the kind of “saving money” I try not to do anymore.
If the product doesn’t do its job, it wasn’t a bargain
My $30 smart ring might be an even better example.
I found a generic smart ring on promotion that was supposed to track things like health stats and sleep. For $30, I figured I’d give it a try.
Except the information wasn’t accurate.
The entire reason I bought the thing was to track that information. If I can’t trust what it’s telling me, what did I save?
Nothing.
I would have been better off putting that $30 toward a higher-quality version.
That’s something I think about more now when I’m comparing an inexpensive product with a more expensive one.
What am I expecting this thing to do, and how important is it that it does it well?
If my cheap label maker spits out a perfectly good label, we’re golden.
If a cheap health tracker gives me information I can’t rely on, that’s a completely different situation.
I don’t assume expensive automatically means better either
Here’s where it gets tricky, because I’ve also learned the opposite lesson.
I once bought expensive perfume specifically because I wanted to see whether paying more would make the scent last longer.
It didn’t.
So spending more isn’t automatically smarter either.
That’s why I’m hesitant to make blanket statements about cheap versus expensive products. It depends so much on what you’re buying and why you’re buying it.
I’m not interested in spending more just for the privilege of saying I bought the expensive one.
Some brands have earned my loyalty
There are certain name brands I’ll pay more for because I’ve used the products and know I like them.
Dyson is one.
With two dogs shedding all over my house, my vacuum gets WORKED. I’m not interested in saving money on a vacuum if it means fighting dog hair every day.
Ninja is another. I own several Ninja appliances and genuinely like them.
But even when I’m willing to spend more for a particular brand, that doesn’t mean I’m happily paying whatever price is on the tag.
I’ll wait for the sale.
Our luggage is Samsonite because we fly several times a year and I’ve seen what happens to luggage at airports. I want something that can take some abuse.
Did I run out and pay full price for it?
Nope.
I bought it during Prime Day at a huge discount.
That’s probably the best description of how I shop: I’ll pay for quality, but I still want a deal on the quality.
Once I know which product I want, I still check whether the price is actually good.
Sometimes a deal introduces me to something worth paying more for
One of my favorite examples of this is my cookware.
I was introduced to imarku when the brand reached out to me about Prime Day promotions. I was able to get several of their pans heavily discounted.
I tried them.
I loved them.
And now I buy more during Prime Day because they’ve proven themselves to me. I like them enough that I buy them as gifts when I see good promotions.
They’re also something I would pay full price for if I needed one tomorrow.
That’s different from blindly paying more because something is a recognizable brand.
Experience matters to me.
Once a product proves that it performs well and holds up, I’m much more willing to spend money on it.
Buying cheap can be a smart way to test something
There’s another situation where I intentionally buy cheap: when I don’t even know whether I’m going to like or use something yet.
I love for my house to smell good, so I decided I wanted to try an essential oil diffuser.
I didn’t know whether I’d like it, so I bought a super cheap one first.
Turns out, I loved it.
Once I knew this was something I was actually going to use, I upgraded to better waterless diffusers and bought them for different areas of the house.
Still with a promo code, obviously. 😂
I actually think that’s a pretty smart way to approach certain purchases.
You don’t necessarily need the forever version of something the first time you try it.
If you’re experimenting with a new gadget or product and aren’t sure it’ll become part of your life, sometimes the inexpensive version tells you everything you need to know.
Then, if you find yourself using it constantly and want something better, upgrade.
Furniture I expect to keep for years
Our main outdoor furniture is a good example of where I’m willing to spend more.
If I’m buying chairs for some random corner of the yard that barely gets used, I don’t need to spend thousands.
But the furniture around our pool gets used constantly. I want it to match, look good, hold up in the sun and last.
I’d rather spend $3,000 on something I love and plan to keep for a decade than spend $700 replacing it every few years.
Travel is one place I don’t try to do cheap
Travel is probably one of the clearest examples of where I’m willing to spend.
I firmly believe vacations should be an upgrade from your everyday life.
If I’m already spending thousands of dollars to go somewhere, I’m not going to get there and cheap out on the parts I’ll actually remember.
At an all-inclusive resort, I’ll pay more for a better view, upgraded dining, a butler or other upgrades that genuinely improve the experience.
If we’re renting an Airbnb, I want something nicer than my own house, or at least something that gives me amenities or a view I don’t have at home.
I’ll spend money on excursions.
We’ll have nice dinners.
I want to enjoy the place I spent all that money getting to.
That doesn’t mean I’m throwing money around just because I’m on vacation.
I am absolutely packing sunscreen from home instead of paying $20 for a bottle at the resort. 😂
That’s probably my philosophy in one ridiculous little example.
I’ll spend on what changes the experience. I’ll save on what doesn’t.
Having more money hasn’t really changed this
A close friend asked me something interesting recently.
She wanted to know whether having more money had changed the way I spend and how I keep from just going crazy buying stuff.
And honestly?
Not really.
I’m still very frugal.
I’m just not a particularly materialistic person.
Now, if you looked at the amount of clothes and shoes I own, you might question that statement. 😂 But because of what I do for a living, a ridiculous amount of those have been sent to me for free.
Having more financial flexibility has made it easier for me to spend more when I think something is genuinely worth it.
But it hasn’t suddenly made a $300 purse more appealing to me.
I still don’t want to spend money just because I can.
How I decide whether to save or spend
When I’m buying something new and trying to decide between the cheap version and the expensive one, I don’t have a strict formula.
I read reviews. I research. These days I’ll even talk it through with ChatGPT.
But mostly, I think about how the product is going to fit into my actual life.
- How often am I going to use it?
- What do I need it to do?
- How long do I want it to last?
- Does paying more actually improve something I care about?
- Am I trying something new that I might want to upgrade later?
Those questions matter more to me than the name printed on the box.
Sometimes the answer is the $20 purse.
Sometimes it’s the Dyson.
Sometimes it’s buying the cheap diffuser first and upgrading once I know I love it.
And sometimes it’s booking the room with the better view while my $8 bottle of sunscreen is safely packed in my suitcase.
Being a bargain shopper doesn’t mean I want everything cheap.
I just want the money I spend to actually get me something.
If paying more gives me better quality, comfort, performance, longevity or an experience I’ll genuinely enjoy, I’m willing to spend it.
If it doesn’t?
I’ll keep my money.
And probably wait for a promo code anyway. 😂