5 Things I Won't Cheap Out On

1. Furniture

Something that I learned from my husband is that you should never be stingy with furniture. Furniture is about quality, and you should be ready to invest a certain amount of money in a good piece of furniture, but also know what to look for in order to save.

I only buy furniture on holiday sales, where you can always find beautiful pieces at great prices. Moreover, by doing a simple Google search, you can find out when certain pieces of furniture are even at a deeper discount.

Finally, of course, we always save up for it to avoid getting into credit card debt.

2. Shoes

When I got my first job when I was in high school, I bought a pair of $10 business shoes. I wore those shoes to the ground since I was walking for miles, and my feet were so sore. Those cheap shoes did so much damage to my feet that I learned you have to invest in good shoes.

However, remember that there is a difference between going cheap on something and saving money. I will always get quality shoes, but I will get them during a holiday or when I have a coupon code through Rakuten, which is an app and a website which will send you coupon codes for stores you want to shop in.

Just with one click, I will get 20-30% off my purchase, and at the end I will also get 3% of the purchase back on my account. This allows me to get free cash for something I was going to shop for anyway, and I save money twice.

3. Clothes

I have a seventeen year old, a six year old, and a seven year old. If you shop for kids, you know that they go through clothes like crazy. Back when I was really struggling financially, living paycheck to paycheck, I went to one of the most inexpensive places to buy clothes for my kids.

I learned the hard way that you should never buy something so cheap, even if it is pretty. I bought some pretty glittery outfits for my daughter, and within barely two wash cycles, which means two uses, they had holes in them.

This was when I realized that if the clothes were made of such inexpensive material that they were damaged so fast with just simple wear, I was clearly not spending enough money on the clothes. I learned to shop sales, to use cashback, and to frequent the same reliable stores that I know and trust with good quality clothes at good prices.

4. Organic fruits and vegetables

I am not 100% organic on everything. If I could, I would, but it is so expensive and I have a grocery budget of $180 to feed my family of five for the entire week.

Once I used to shop at the supermarket, and when I did that, organic produce cost me about $80 to $100 a week, which was not a possibility for me, and the farmers’ markets by us, unfortunately, do not sell organic produce.

Still, I do my best by following two rules that you should know if you want to start getting into organic produce. One is the dirty dozen. Every year a list comes out of the top 12 fruits and vegetables that have the most pesticides on them, which means that opting for organic will make the most difference.

If you want to start shopping organic but you do not know where to start, the dirty dozen is where it is at. The other term is the clean 15, which are 15 fruits and vegetables in which the pesticides are little to almost non-existent, making it not worth it buying those organic.

By following these two rules, you can make sure you are making the right choices for the health of your family but spending the minimum that you have to on it.

Also, I found an amazing company called Misfits Market, which offers a customizable produce subscription. I get a box once every three weeks, and it has really helped me keep my grocery budget low, even when the cost of groceries has increased.

5. Laundry detergent

This one might be a bit funny, but I learned the hard way not to buy anything other than Tide. Two years ago, I bought another detergent because it was on sale, and next thing you know I am breaking out in a rash and cannot figure out why. I even ended up going to the doctor and paying a $50 copay.

By going through all the soaps and materials I could have switched recently, we realized that I was having an allergic reaction to the laundry detergent. So a $2-3 bottle of detergent cost me a $50 copay and so much stress about something going on with my skin. So if you find a laundry detergent that works for you, stick to it because you never know what is going to happen and how your body will react to something new.

Those are the items that I would not go cheap on anymore. I hope this is helpful and provides a new perspective.

Please let me know down below, what items would you not go cheap on? Also, if you have had a personal story with any of the items I have mentioned, I would love to hear from you, as well.

Next, learn How to Shift Your Money Mindset and Escape Debt for Good.