Quality Over Quantity: Saving Money While Shopping

In an age where cheap disposal items are relatively common, it can be tough to argue between quality and quantity. Quantity saves you money now, while often having a shorter lifespan, whereas Quality offers a more significant lifespan in exchange for a heftier price tag.

When you’re living on a budget it can be difficult to ignore a cheaper cost even if you secretly know the product you’re buying will need replacing in a shorter time. This is perfectly natural to prefer the extra money now, rather than extra money later.

Saving Money Isn’t About Spending Less

It may seem like spending less is the best way to save some cash, but this is regularly not the case. The best example here is batteries. All batteries – no matter which brand – tend to fall into two categories. You have “cheap” batteries, and “good” batteries. The cheap batteries could be a quarter of the price of the good batteries, but when they only last a fifth of the time, which purchase is better?

By buying these “cheap battery” equivalents in clothes, furniture and technology, you could be saving money short term, only to end up spending much more money later.

Don’t Spend Less, Spend Smart.

Buying these things can be much more expensive, when a cheaper wardrobe can save you £300 it can be harder to opt for the more expensive option, even when you know that it’ll last twice as long.  But, the exact same rule applies: Why waste your time with a cheaper product that’ll break sooner?

Sometimes this is unavoidable, when something important breaks just before payday, the cheaper option is inevitable. A great rule of thumb is that if there’s anything that can wait you shouldn’t be looking to spend less, but to spend smart – waiting until a sale to pick up a quality item could save you even more money, picking up something that would usually be out of your price range, while the wait functions as a cooling off period.

Big Prices Don’t Mean Big Quality

With the internet, it’s never been easier to do your homework before a big purchase. 90% of products available for sale have been reviewed somewhere, so don’t be afraid to turn to Google to find out more about a product before you get out the cash.

From Cars to toasters, the internet has an answer for everything, and while not everyone has the same priorities from a purchase, a description of the products strengths and weaknesses might help you realise what your priorities are – and this could help you avoid spending money on things you don’t need.

Use Your Common Sense

Frankly, sometimes you buy things you just don’t need. If you’re shopping for a car and all you need is a Ford, it doesn’t matter if you can get a discount on a Ferrari. That’s the temptation you have to resist – While quality is usually better then quantity, sometimes the extra luxury is unnecessary.

Trying to judge between quality and quantity can be difficult. Remember to avoid the “cheap batteries” and buying what you need, researching so that you can buy something that meets your needs rather than what is cheapest.

About Writer | Amie is a savings and investment blogger writing for sites like Fair Investment Company. She specialises in investment plans and opportunities.  In her spare time she enjoys learning and developing her skills in being a personal finance coach,