Nov242009
Two Preparedness Principles: Buy Quality and Take Care
Last year about this time, our family was vacationing in Disney World. We were having the time of our lives when a depressing thought occurred to me. “This could be our last vacation here.” Likewise, when I was admiring a particularly beautiful Brighton purse I own, I thought, “I might not be able to afford one of these again.” Tumultuous times of unemployment, record home foreclosures, and reckless government spending don’t exactly portend a prosperous future.
With this in mind, I’ve decided to always buy the best quality products I possibly can. In a way, it seems counter-intuitive. Our income has decreased, so shouldn’t we be switching to the cheapest off-brands on the market? Not at all. Going, “cheap” is often more expensive than buying quality in the first place.
Last month I switched to Levis jeans for my son after his knees had poked their way through the eleventh pair of off-brand jeans this year. So far, the Levis, all bought on eBay, seem to be tougher than he is, and that’s saying a lot! My daughter needs a pair of winter boots and found a pair she liked that was made of faux leather. The cheap materials won’t keep her feet warm nor will they stand up to the wear and tear that I know she’ll deliver. A pair of $19 boots that are scuffed and ruined in a month are more expensive per wear than a $50 pair that ends up being worn by two siblings and later sold at a garage sale for $10! That’s the real bargain!
photo by afsilva
A partner principle to buying quality is taking care of what you own! “Oh, well. I’ll just get another one!” was a common statement when something I owned was lost or broken. That’s not how I think anymore. I can’t think like that anymore! There is no guarantee that I’ll have the extra dollars to buy a pair of replacement sunglasses, for example. Instead, the habit of always, always putting my sunglasses in a special pocket in my purse insures they’ll be there when I need them and will be far less likely to disappear. (By the way, I am notorious when it comes to losing sunglasses!)
I’ve been teaching my children to take care of what they own. We make sure that every Uno card makes its’ way back into the box and that no puzzle pieces go missing. There are plenty of bookshelves in the house, and that’s where our books belong. Not only do these extra steps insure our belongings remain in good condition, but it teaches responsibility and respect.
Whatever direction our economy and our own personal fortunes take, these two principles will never be outdated. They make too much sense to ever become obsolete.
© 2009, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.
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Bob Mayne
Uno cards? I remember that game. Haven't played that in a very very long time. "Save money through quality" was always one of my Dad's favorite themes to live by. Often times the more you pay for something and have more invested in it, the more you take care of it, the longer it lasts. We no longer live in a disposable world…if you're smart that is.
TheSurvivalMom
It seems that everytime I buy cheap, I regret it. On the other hand, I have three Ralph Lauren jacket/pants sets I bought four years ago, wear them many times every winter, and they still look great. Looking for high quality brands at thrift and re-sale shops, as well as on eBay, can make those dollars go even further. BTW, Bob, your son would LOVE UNO! You should put a pack of UNO cards in his stocking this year!
TheSurvivalMom
My dilemma, Kat, is all the stuff, "made in China." That's one reason I go to yard and estate sales, trying to find tools and such that were made in the USA a long time ago that still have many years of use in them. I have a small, collapsible shovel, "made in China," and it kind of worries me that it might break right in the middle of a serious survival situation, like digging our vehicle out of mud or snow. If we purchase things that our lives might depend on someday, there's no choice but to buy the absolute best quality possible.
AnEntity
Of course note that it isn't the "made in china" label that is the concern, but the engineering practice that went into it's design. There are a few quality items out there, that were crafted in china, and there are much more dross that is made in the western world, so the trick isn't to look at the place of origin label, but at the quality of the build, and the tolerances of the design. This can be tricky.
Since the seventies, there have been two classes of products, Consumer grade ( that is the stuff you see in supermarkets), and Commercial grade ( intended for tradespeople, who will not tolerate downtime via broken equipment). Consumer grade items, be they a spade or a vacuum cleaner, are designed to last a specific time, and then break.
The engineering has gotten specific enough that they can design products to fail ( engineering speak for break) on average after a specific number of hours use, and in a specific way. Indeed this is what the corporations in question rely on, or rather that you, the consumer, will desire to go out and get another one.
So what can be done about this?
The best thing that can be done about this, is to give business to your local engineer. you know that guy in overalls, hiding in some garage somewhere, that is clogged with machines for cutting, welding, drilling and grinding metal?
Get him to make up some of the stuff you need, rather than getting it at whatever you equivalent of walmart is ( where I live, it's called "The Warehouse limited"). You will pay more for it, than you would at the store, but you have the opportunity to have him make it to much better specifications.
These small shops are a dieing breed, because people are largely indoctrinated into the "throw it away, and buy a new one" culture. However for equipment that will not break in your lifetime ( unless you abuse the hell out of it), these small shops a second to none.