When Being Frugal Costs More Money

[cschin4]

Are there times when you tried to be frugal that it cost you more money in the long run? I would like to hear your stories.
Here is one of my recent ones. I had a leaky pipe in the basement. Thinking it was a small job, I called my handyman who works pretty cheap. He tried to repair the pipe but it continued leaking. The initial charge was $60. I called him back and frankly, he didn't seem too motivated to do anything about it other than put some plumbers glue on it. And, he ended up breaking a valve in another pipe that is now a whole separate issue.
So, I got pretty annoyed and called a plumber. He fixed it and it works fine now but cost me $95 for that visit. I should have just called the plumber in the first place.

[poundwise]

One that comes to mind is when a person takes hours and drives miles to go to multiple stores to pick up one or two items here and there to save a buck. We have a family friend who does this. With fuel prices like they are, driving in town, stop and go, etc., it seems clear to me that she spends just as much, if not more, in gasoline, than she 'saves' by running around.

Note: I am not saying one shouldn't go to more to than one store or even drop in a place to pick something that will be FAR if one wishes to, but it can be taken to an extreme and if time isn't a real factor to a person, then the fuel should be.

[Broken Arrow]

Haha, yes you are right. There has been times when I have been too cheap and ended up paying more. However, an example escapes me at this moment, but if I do think of one, I will be sure to post it.

This may seem like nit-picking on my part, but I think it's been established earlier that such a behavior may be considered "cheap" rather than "frugal". To me, frugality is a pursuit of the best value possible, rather than the lowest amount in cost. That is, if something is expensive, but it lasts for a very long time, then I may "invest" in that instead of something that costs less but will break down the next day.

Placed in a pseudo-mathematical context, the Value Ratio = The cost of the item divided by the # of days we need something to last. Ideally, we select the item that is capable of meeting the minimum day requirement, but out of that selection, then we choose the lowest cost available.

Something like that?

[Thrifty Ray]

My situation is that I now cook at home, from scratch, alot of the time....it saved (notice past tense) me money initially...until the kids and my parents found out.....now cooking from home usually feeds a big group on the weekends...but so much for the 'save' aspect! LOL

Kidding of course...sortof.

[Roupey03]

I love the people that get online to check gasbuddy.com and then drive clear across town to get the cheapest gas by a few cents.

[Ima saver]

When I first got married, my husbands mother and his aunts did not know how to drive. I use to have to drive them to every grocery store in town to save a few cents on this and a few cents on that. Even though gas was cheap, it was my gas and my time they were wasting!!

[PrincessPerky]

cheap socks, all holey need new scoks, waste of money...

[Ima saver]

Yes, some cheap items you buy just don't work as well. I got some eye shadow at the dollar store and it was awful, didn't work! I hate paying that much for eye shadow and lipstick!

[shengmei]

People should never save money on supplements. Doctors are expensive.

Departmental store makeup is not expensive because they help me with my career, plus sometimes they have "gift with purchase".

Gift with purchase is very frugal if you find a way to use up everything that was given to you.

[Ima saver]

I don't shop in Dept. stores. They are too expensive and besides we don't have any!!!

[lrjohnson]

Shengmei:

That's the only way I do makeup. Clinique Bonus Time. It costs me about $24 dollars once every two years - a buck a month. I buy one item and get the bonus. Since I don't wear much make-up, a little can last a long time for me. In particular lip liners with a blunted tip make nice long lasting color on my lips, and those suckers just keep on truckin'.

I know I break the rules of tossing makeup every six months; I do have lipsticks that are years old. I promise I won't recommend it as long as I get to keep doing it.

(As a child I got my mother's left over unwanted Clinique bonus items. I guess there's some nostalgia in there.)

[shengmei]

Originally Posted by lrjohnson

I know I break the rules of tossing makeup every six months; I do have lipsticks that are years old. I promise I won't recommend it as long as I get to keep doing it.

(As a child I got my mother's left over unwanted Clinique bonus items. I guess there's some nostalgia in there.)

A lot of my makeup comes from my MIL. LOL. She is closer to me than my mom.

Makeup does not EVER expire in my house. As long as we keep them in a cool, dark place a lipstick would last FOREVER.

I have a feeling that expiration dates are for the makeup industry instead of consumers. With the exception of a couple of organic (no perservative) products separating over time I never had to throw out makeup.


I also use lip liners as lipsticks. I use any lipstick that doesn't work as cream blush. I use any eyeshadow that doesn't work as eyeliner.

[rob62521]

I've been guilty of buying cheap and then finding out I should have spent the little extra. I decided I wanted some baking pans, but didn't want to buy some really decent ones. I bought some cheap ones. Some of the stuff I baked wasn't heated evenly so some of it was burnt while a bit was a little raw, and they rusted in the dishwasher! I wound up buying a little better grade of pan the next time.

[mccartygirl]

Rob - we had the same problems with our pans. We'd buy the cheap ones, they'd rust and we'd buy news. Well, I got a nice pan one year and decided that we were going to replace our crappy ones with this brand. I get them at Bed Bath and Beyond with my handy dandy 20% off coupon or I'll find them at Marshalls. I just buy 1 here or there and I gotta say - they're holding up extremely well and cook evenly.

[Ima saver]

My husband won't buy cheap tires.

[mccartygirl]

I don't blame your hubby - tires aren't something you should fool around with.

[rob62521]

McCarty,

Did you also find the same true with knives? I used to use cheap ones. I bought a couple really nice ones on sale last summer. I got rid of all the others! What a difference -- it makes chopping so much easier and I'm not cutting myself as much.

And I agree, tires aren't something you should fool around with!

[mccartygirl]

DH is a culinary guru and we have top of the line knives and pots/pans. The knives we have are great, but if it was just me I'd have Faberware and whatever Target sells Even our camping stove is ridiculous but he got that on sale, it was the floor model and the last one so he got it for 30% of the original price or something silly.

[PrincessPerky]

knives I totally agree we got some cheap steak ones for a gift, and they fell appart, I asked for some cutco (I imagine there are many brands good enough) and I still have them/love them.

cookware, I have some crappy things, and some good ones. I like my cast iron frying pan, but not so fond of the roaster...course maybe I am just lousy at roasts and blaming it on the pot?

but I have this big pot with a copper bottom and it ALWAYS burns in rings...concentric rings...I have no idea what to do about it.

[kealina]

Originally Posted by lrjohnson

Shengmei:

That's the only way I do makeup. Clinique Bonus Time. It costs me about $24 dollars once every two years - a buck a month. I buy one item and get the bonus. Since I don't wear much make-up, a little can last a long time for me. In particular lip liners with a blunted tip make nice long lasting color on my lips, and those suckers just keep on truckin'.

I know I break the rules of tossing makeup every six months; I do have lipsticks that are years old. I promise I won't recommend it as long as I get to keep doing it.

(As a child I got my mother's left over unwanted Clinique bonus items. I guess there's some nostalgia in there.)

lol... i could almost have written your post... except that i don't spend $24 every two years... i did, however spend $26 on clinique foundation (for our wedding) and get the free gift... kept some of it and passed the rest on to 17 yr-old SIL... guess i have nostalgia there too... my grandma (who mostly only used the skincare products) would pass on the free gifts to mom who would then give them to me.... that was how i got most of my make-up... in fact, i still get make-up from them.... and i break the rules of tossing too... especially with my quality make-up, which i've noticed does tend to last for awhile...

princess perky,
definately love the cutco... i bought a small set when i was working for them because i wanted the discount even though i didn't have much spare money... unfortunately we still have junk frying pans that we are forever replacing... i intend on replacing them with something better someday...