Does Buying Cheap Makes Your Poor?

I got fond by Twitter folks discussion few days ago about buying quality things for considerable amount than to buy cheap things repeatedly.

The discussion was built around Terry Pratchett book called Men At Arms: The Play

“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

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.

. 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.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.”

When I was broke, longer-term planning was not on my agenda because money was a scarce and you live day by day. That explains why people buy cheap things. For example, I remember last time, in order for me to save I used to be happy with a certain cheap electronic device, say a rice cooker. This device though is cheap, it make do for my use but the trick is, it won't last a year and I had to buy a new one.

Unlike my rich friends, they go for quality and brand which at a higher price tag. They know what they want and buying the cheap ones is not an option.

So They Say, Being Poor Is Expensive

Is this the case? If I can change a mindset, I would say 'If you are broke, buy expensive things', because you can't afford to buy cheap. Actually, this is my situation and I would like to recap my teenage years. I have this girlfriend who has expensive taste in fashion (compared to other teenagers and me) but she is not from a wealthy family, in fact, she has 6 sisters who all live in a 3-bedroom house. She saved her lunch money for a 'Levis' jean (it is quite expensive for teenagers like us) and I gave it to her with my big mouth. I said 'wear what you can afford', she did not say a thing.

Few years later, that same jean, she passed it to one of her sisters, but they shared it among them too. Now, I can't say the same with my cheap jeans. Something to ponder at my end. I should start thinking about the long run rather think just ahead. Like Pratchett said:

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years

That is the comparison of the boot's story by Pratchett , something we can relate. I am still not rich by the way, probably because of having this mindset for a while now.

Eating Cheap Is The Worst Thing You Can Do

Bargaining on your health seems to be a good option considering you need to save until that salary day— but that shouldn't be happening. If money is the problem, then cooking at home is the answer rather than having fast food or worst skipped a meal. Our body is the machine that we use to do little things every day. We need it for a long time. It needed a good fuel for the next 30, 40 years maybe? Eating healthy is expensive, no secret in that. But the consequences of eating recklessly would result in bad health condition in long run.

Instant noodle is the culprit or is it you?

Easy To Say

Yes. Saliva is easier to get than money (quote translated from my mom). What she means is that talking is easy. This is when I say to people, 'separate the need and wants'. Sometimes buy cheap things is just the logical things to do but analyze whether is that what you want or what you actually need— I mean you need to assess carefully on your small buying if you are broke.

Remorse Purchases

Have you ever been in a situation of remorse after those cheap things that you bought suddenly broke? Thank god if you had never experienced that. I bought this cheap sport camera to have a 'GoPro' camera effect and guess what? It does the job, momentarily.. Now I lost all my pictures in there because it just won't turn on. This is one remorse purchases from me but I sure invested on GoPro finally— no remorse in that though. What is my cost here just buying cheap in the first place? The money and the memories. We can work for money but the later is unreplaceable. That whats buying cheap can do to you.

Here is some wisdom for today :

I'm Jen, nice to meet you ^_~