Expensive, but frugal

Sometimes, you’ve got to spend money to save money. It’s a truth you learn over time — that a well-made, long-lasting item is worth more than a poorly made inexpensive ones.

Erin Hufstetler at her Frugal Living blog called out a few of her favorite items that are more than worth their higher price tags, because they’ll save you money in the long run:

Energy-efficient appliances; top-quality building materials; well-made furniture (solid wood, instead of particle board; down stuffing instead of foam, etc.); Indestructible kitchen supplies (cast iron cookware, KitchenAid gadgets, etc.); healthy foods (organics, free-range meats and eggs, high-cocao chocolate, fresh fruits and veggies over canned, etc.)

Her post has a lot of comments, with people nominating their favorite spend-to-save items and strategies. There are a lot of things you might expect — clothing, kitchen items, shoes — and some you might not, like this one:

I am a police officer. Years ago I transferred to plain clothes unit and placing my gun on my belt usually destroyed the belt within 30-60 days . Pretty expensive at 25-35 dollars a pop. I switched to a Coach belt (at the time, $65 dollars) and it’s 15 years later and they are only just now starting to show a little wear. So $65 dollars over 15 years wound up being a lot cheaper than $180 dollars a year. Saving up for a better quality item certainly can save you quite a bit!

This is obviously true in many cases. But it’s also an example of something I think of every time my family and I go to a certain warehouse store and drop a big pile of money for a carload of stuff that will save us money in the long run — it’s only because we can afford to spend that much that we’re able to save that much.

My default comparison is always my own mother, who raised a big family on a teacher’s salary. For her, a big splurge at the warehouse store would have made perfect sense — just as it would have made long-term sense to buy more expensive clothes or nicer pots and pans. But when you’re living from paycheck to paycheck, and most of that paycheck is spoken for in advance, it’s a lot harder to do that.

Spending to save is a luxury that a lot of people don’t have. And some of those people are the ones who might benefit from it the most.

But the main point still is valid here. I often think of two pairs of shoes I have that cost a couple hundred bucks each — well over twice what I’d usually pay. Those shoes — a pair of hiking boots and nice dress shoes — have lasted and lasted, while cheaper ones get replaced steadily.

What expensive items do you have that are actually frugal in the long run? And what about the opposite — what expensive items provide no additional benefit?