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You could argue that life revolves around economics: it’s an endless series of choices and tradeoffs. Due to opportunity cost, you can’t have everything that you want. What you can do, however, is make the best decisions about what (not) to do with your money and time with the information you have available to you.
Sometimes, you come across a product or service that changes your life in a very meaningful way. The AskReddit community recently shared all the things they think are extremely worth their expensive price tags. Scroll down to read their opinions, and be sure to upvote the ones that you agree with.
Bored Panda got in touch with G. Brian Davis, a real estate investor and the co-founder of SparkRental.com, for his thoughts on how to tell if something is worth investing your hard-earned money in, and where it's not worth being cheap. You'll find our interview with him below, including why being frugal is very different from being cheap.
This post may include affiliate links.
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#2
Quality work shoes if your job requires you to be on your feet for long stretches of time.
#3
A good mattress. Spent thousands on mine and my husband was pissed. He’s never slept better, his body doesn’t hurt and we’re both nicer people because we now get a proper comfortable nights sleep. First time in my whole life and I hope to never have to go back.
Seán Baron 1 month ago (edited)
I got mine from IKEA. Paid around £200 as I’m poor, but they make decent mattresses and they come with a 10 year guarantee.
According to Davis, broadly speaking, you get what you pay for, however, it doesn't necessarily mean that spending more always makes sense. "There’s almost always an affordable path forward. Sometimes, that requires you to step back and look at your broader goal rather than assuming your choice is what you think it is," the co-founder of SparkRental.com told Bored Panda in an email.
"For example, when you’re planning a vacation, you could compare Cheap Hotel A to Expensive Hotel B, and sure, the expensive hotel is almost certainly nicer. But do you have to stay at a hotel at all? What if you stayed at an apartment or house through Airbnb? What if you rented an RV and slept in that instead of flying and staying at a hotel?" he said.
"For that matter, what if you designed a cheaper but just as fun vacation from scratch? You could crash with friends or family somewhere you’ve been meaning to visit, or do a road trip, or go camping."
#5
Regular visits to the dentist.
xioenmexico:
In general, any medical attention, even though it may be expensive, is worth it, health is not negotiable.
Glen Ellyn 1 month ago
After too many years of avoiding the dentist, I found one based on a friend's recommendation. It took a few months to get to where I needed to be, but now I go twice a year - religiously. It pays off. Early on, when seeing my dentist, checkups and cleaning took nearly an hour. But now that I'm going twice a year, it takes 20 minutes or so and I'm done!
#6
A good bra!
StrangeOne 1 month ago
They don't have to be super expensive. But a proper fitting makes all the difference.
In the meantime, the co-founder of SparkRental.com drew attention to some red flags that everyone should watch out for when it comes to products and experiences that might not offer more quality in exchange for a higher price. For instance, something to look for is "slick, expensive marketing campaigns."
"Think 'Disney vacation' instead of nearly any other trip, or 'Beats headphones' instead of cheaper alternatives with better sound quality but smaller marketing budgets. Look for unbiased online reviews by niche experts. You could plan a dream vacation to Europe or South America for less than a Disney vacation costs," Davis explained to Bored Panda.
Of course, there are always going to be areas in your life where it's worth spending more money. According to Davis, it's essential to make the distinction between being 'cheap' and 'frugal.' "'Cheap' means always choosing the cheapest option, regardless of quality or needs. 'Frugal' means looking for the best value, all things considered. I love fine wine, and sometimes spend a lot on a bottle, but I also maintain a list of outstanding affordable wines as well, that would stand up in a blind taste test to fancy bottles," he shared.
#8
A good haircut. Someone with skill will cut your hair in a way that looks good the entire time between your salon appointments, not just the day you leave the salon.
Riley Quinn 1 month ago
I'm one of those people who cuts/shaves my own hair. I know what I'm doing, and I'm satisfied with the less-than-perfect results.
#9
A quality pillow will change your life.
"Avoid being cheap with your health. That includes products like running shoes, so you don’t end up with injuries. Avoid being cheap with products or services that will improve your earning potential. Invest in your skills and qualifications—if they’ll directly lead to higher income," Davis advised.
However, he added that we shouldn't justify spending on things that we want by calling them 'investments' when they're clearly not. Honesty with ourselves is key here. "A luxury car is not an investment, it’s just a more expensive depreciating asset. Buy it if you want it, just go into it knowing that it’s a splurge, not an 'investment' that will somehow pay a return for you later."
#10
Clothes that are made well with a “slow fashion” vs “fast fashion” mission in mind. My favorite clothing brand sells their wool button downs for about $120. Some would say that’s way to much to spend, but it’s beautifully made from recycled clothing (good for the earth), weather resistant, simple but elegant, and if it rips or tears they will repair it, or if it is not repairable they will send a new one, this is a lifetime guarantee on the clothing I buy there. I don’t buy extremely often, but investing in ethically sourced and produced clothing is really worth the price in my opinion. I think repairing clothing vs just throwing it away and buying a new one is the proper idea behind well made clothing. Not a 10 year guarantee, but lifetime.. they also take care of their works and I do care very much about the conditions under which my clothing was made.
#11
An Uber if you've been drinking.
#12
Twice a year car maintenance with regular oil changes. You can head off expensive repairs if you maintain your car.
If you happen to be a fan of legendary fantasy writer Terry Pratchett like us, then you might have heard about the so-called ‘Boots’ theory. It was proposed by one of his characters, Captain Sam Vimes, in the book Men at Arms, part of the Discworld series of novels. (Which we obviously recommend very highly, but that’s not the point right now.)
According to Vimes, buying quality items helps you save money in the long run. It’s what he called the ‘Boots’ theory of socioeconomic unfairness. “The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money,” Pratchett writes.
“Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles,” Pratchett continues.
“But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.”
#13
If you fly, even occasionally, noise cancelling headphones are worth every penny. With just the noise cancelling on without playing any music it significantly softens most sounds. When you listen to music/videos/whatever with the noise cancelling on, you can't hear anything else, even crying babies.
Analyst_Cold:
Worth it for waiting rooms too, public transport. Anytime there is too much noise.
#14
Movers. Save your friends and spend some money.
StrangeOne 1 month ago
They're so expensive. Just make sure they're good movers who know what they're doing, and have some care about the property and your belongings. Also make sure they can take multiple ways to pay. I thought every mobile business has an debit machine. Nope. I had replaced a bank card and had some difficulty activating it on my online account. The movers I hired I found out only took etransfers. I had to call my bank to help me with getting my online account straightened out, while the movers were threatening to hold the rest of my stuff hostage.
#15
My answer is always the same for this: high quality things between you and the earth.
High quality mattress/bed.
Quality shoes.
Quality socks.
Quality tires.
The first two are actually healthcare items. You won't realize how bad your current sleep is until you have great sleep with your back and neck properly supported. Similarly, you won't realize how much your posture is affected by your footwear until you try a day on your feet in quality footwear.
Socks made of appropriate material (wool varieties... Not cotton) make a difference in comfort.
Good tires might just save your life. Every driving characteristic about your vehicle, including the ability to stop, is governed by the connection to the road which is the tires.
The ‘Boots’ theory has seen lots of popularity over the years. Pratchett’s estate has actually authorized anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe to use the Vimes Boots Index as the name of her new price index, meant to document the creeping prices of basic food products.
Pratchett’s daughter Rhianna had this to say: “My father used his anger about inequality, classism, xenophobia, and bigotry to help power the moral core of his work. One of his most famous lightning-rods for this was Commander Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch - a cynical, but likable, man who attempts to better himself whilst railing against the injustices around him. Some of which he’s had a hand in perpetrating in the past.
#16
Not that it's too expensive but costs more. But real maple syrup is leaps and bounds better tasting than the flavored corn syrup replicas.
#17
Quality kitchen knives.
Serious_Scheme_3584:
This one is too true. My parents would buy a block set and although they got the job done I never realized how terrible they were until I used my buddies Miyabi Chefs knife.... Holy cow. I think it'd be more logical to buy 2 or 3 good quality knives over a block set. I just can get myself to cough up the change for the bearing knife!
UncleJohn3000 1 month ago
About 40 years ago, I bought Ginzu knives from the TV commercial. I still have them and they are still sharp. They're not my regular kitchen knives; they're the ones I use when I need to abuse a knife like hammer it through frozen meat. And they're still sharp.
#18
Genuine Irish butter.
So. Let me acknowledge upfront: I'm a boomer.
Now we got that ugliness out of the way, I can tell you this heartwarming tale of falling in love with Irish butter. When I was a kid, we only had the cheapest brand of margarine at home (my parents were both children of the Depression and they were REALLY poor and grew up to be REALLY frugal).
Cr*ppy margarine just kinda tasted oily and gross and I never really liked it. My best friend's parents were "rich" so they always had actual butter, but it was just some, regular name brand butter. I tasted it but I wasn't impressed with it either. Kinda blah to me.
I spent the next 40ish years and raised a family of my own, never really eating much butter OR margarine except maybe in cooking cos I thought, meh, what's the fuss. My wife never really made much of it either. We were just boring, no-butter people.
HOWEVER, about 10 years ago, I went to Ireland with my wife (her business trip, me as a tourist) and we stayed in a nice hotel. Went to breakfast and they had all this fresh bread and mounds of this beautiful, golden stuff that I mindlessly spread on a piece of warm bread...
I thought, "MY GOD! WHAT SORCERY IS THIS TASTE???"
Anyway, long story just to say: spend the extra money to get imported, Irish butter. My LDL levels say "thanks," while my tongue says, "spread it thicker, big boy! Eat it like yogurt!".
Surly Scot 1 month ago (edited)
Truth. When I moved to America I didn't understand why the butter was white and tasted so lackluster. Then supermarkets started importing KerryGold Irish butter, it had been a decade since i'd tasted real butter that was a proper yellow color and the difference in quality is night and day.
“Vimes’ musing on how expensive it is to be poor via the cost of boots was a razor-sharp evaluation of socio-economic unfairness. And one that’s all too pertinent today, where our most vulnerable so often bear the brunt of austerity measures and are cast adrift from protection and empathy. Whilst we don’t have Vimes anymore, we do have Jack, and Dad would be proud to see his work used in such a way.”
#19
Toilet paper. The cheap stuff just seems to rub me the wrong way.
#20
Not really that expensive, but a good shower head. Even if you rent, swapping out the default shower head for one that will help with low pressure is a life changer. Swap it back when your moving out. When I was renting, money was tight but it is a necessary splurge.
StrangeOne 1 month ago
Thing I learned too late as a renter: keep the old shower head. That way, if the landlord wants to the change the shower heads, not knowing you swapped the original with one you bought yourself, yours won't get tossed to make way for a shittier shower head than the one you replaced. In fact, anything you're temporarily switching out, keep the original.
#21
Therapy.
hiddensquirrelTO:
Came here to say therapy. Good quality therapy (for me, that's emdr). It can change your life, make you happier and more at peace, and prevent you from repeating the same patterns over and over again.
For everyone who says, "I tried it and it didn't work" or "I didn't like it". You need to give a few therapists a shot. Not everyone is going to be a fit.
What are the best expensive purchases that you’ve ever made, Pandas? What do you look for when you’re on the prowl for true quality?
On the other hand, what are your biggest regrets? What are some major red flags that you’d warn others about when it comes to subpar products and services?
If you have a spare moment, share your experiences in the comments, to help out your fellow readers.
#23
I’m gonna get a lot of pushback, but glasses. They’re a medical device you wear on your face. It’s like if you had prescription shoes: they have to be comfortable, stylish, and work properly, all while lasting a year or two. It’s worth it to get quality if you can. Bargains tend to follow the Sam Vimes boot problem, to continue to shoe comparison, though I’m glad they exist for people who couldn’t otherwise afford them, and as backups for folks who wear contacts primarily or who have big Rx changes and can’t use last year’s glasses as a backup.
David Paterson 1 month ago
You can buy a pair of glasses for $20, $200 or $2000. Go for the $200 pair not the $2000 pair.
#25
Quality nail clippers.
Riley Quinn 1 month ago
Yes! I use nail nippers instead of clippers because they give me better control and do a good job cutting through my strong nails.
#26
If you hike, good hiking boots. I hate spending a lot of money on shoes. I refuse to spend $100+ on any pair of shoes. So, when I started hiking I bought a pair of $35 boots. My feet were killing me on every hike. I finally broke down and bought a decent pair of boots that were definitely over $100. It killed me to do it. The difference was unreal. I probably would have stopped hiking if I had continued to wear the cheap boots.
Myoviridae 1 month ago
Oh definitely! And you don't even have to go for the most expensive brands! When I bought my last hiking boots (at a place that lets you try them out on terrain in the store), the salesperson asked if I was trying those boots because of the brand name. I said yes. He suggested I also try a cheaper pair from a lesser-known (less PR) brand to test their comfort. They were also very good! Been on many hikes with those. still good boots.
#30
A good wheelchair. Wheelchairs in general are expensive but having a brand new one with smooth wheels that rolls smoothly and without excessive effort is so beyond worth it and saves so much energy and accidents if you have the good fortune to get one.
What do you think ?
Reset Game 1 month ago
Plan out your end of life so your family and or friends don't have to do it and better yet they don't have to fight over it. Make the plans, start paying payments to have it paid off so they don't have to worry how they're going to pay for it and they can just grieve. I saw so much ugliness when I stepped up to make sure my friend got the funeral/ the goodbye that he wanted.
Kelly Scott 1 month ago
After about the 30th one, I just started skimming. Because the one thing these all have in common is money. If a person had money, they could have every one of these things. No money, and it doesn't matter how necessary anything is, you aren't going to have it.
Gabriela Cink 1 month ago
It doesn't mean you need to have everything. I have better martasses and some kitchen appliances. But i don't drive to buy Toyota :D, or need really good quality winter clothes. Near all my forniture is second-handed. There is surely 1-2things that would do you life significant better. Sometimes there is a way to get better quality items for cheaper. Hopefully you will get yours soon.
Load More Replies... David Paterson 1 month ago
A surprisingly good collection. I agree with 90% of those. Far too often I've gone with the cheaper option and regretted it.
Reset Game 1 month ago
Plan out your end of life so your family and or friends don't have to do it and better yet they don't have to fight over it. Make the plans, start paying payments to have it paid off so they don't have to worry how they're going to pay for it and they can just grieve. I saw so much ugliness when I stepped up to make sure my friend got the funeral/ the goodbye that he wanted.
Kelly Scott 1 month ago
After about the 30th one, I just started skimming. Because the one thing these all have in common is money. If a person had money, they could have every one of these things. No money, and it doesn't matter how necessary anything is, you aren't going to have it.
Gabriela Cink 1 month ago
It doesn't mean you need to have everything. I have better martasses and some kitchen appliances. But i don't drive to buy Toyota :D, or need really good quality winter clothes. Near all my forniture is second-handed. There is surely 1-2things that would do you life significant better. Sometimes there is a way to get better quality items for cheaper. Hopefully you will get yours soon.
Load More Replies... David Paterson 1 month ago
A surprisingly good collection. I agree with 90% of those. Far too often I've gone with the cheaper option and regretted it.
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