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One of the cardinal rules of personal finance
is to think in terms of cost per use rather than outright cost.
And while it's true that investing in long-lasting items
is more cost effective in the long run
and that the cheapest option isn't necessarily the best one,
I regularly find inexpensive swaps that work just
as well as the more expensive items I'm used to spending on.
Here are several items I've replaced
with cheaper alternatives that actually ended up
being better quality than their more-expensive counterparts.
Number one, my moisturizer.
When it comes to skin care, I've always
felt like my problem skin warranted pricier goods.
I used to use an $80 moisturizer from Lush
that definitely helped.
So I don't necessarily regret that I spent that much on it,
but I certainly hope I never have to again.
I recently replaced it with a cheaper and much more effective
alternative, Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Heavenly Night
Cream.
I had pretty much stopped searching
for the holy grail of inexpensive yet effective
moisturizers, and luckily just happened upon this one
when I left my moisturizer at home
and borrowed this while visiting my mother.
It is amazing.
And although I always came from the more money, better result
school of thought when it came to skin care,
I think this moisturizer is the best one I've
tried and for less than $20.
Number two, almost all of my groceries.
Trader Joe's has a reputation for being bougie as hell.
But here's the secret, it is cheaper
than pretty much every other grocery store where I live.
I spend about $60 on groceries that last my partner
and I for two to three weeks, a haul that would cost somewhere
around the $110 mark elsewhere.
If there is a TJs near you, give it a shot.
It takes some getting used to if you're
religious about your brand name food,
but you can find suitable replacements there.
Number three, my coffee maker.
I was a Keurig person for a while, which
is, in my opinion, a terrible waste of money
if you're a moderate-to-intense coffee consumer.
The upfront cost of a Keurig is about five times more than
a run-of-the-mill Mr. Coffee.
And K cups can be twice as expensive as ground coffee,
depending on where you buy them.
If you're someone who routinely drinks
a few cups in the morning, you may
need something that yields a bit more coffee for the money.
When I moved in with my partner, I
left my Keurig with my parents and, instead
of buying a new one, replaced it with a $25 coffee maker
from Target.
I get a 12-cup pot of coffee in the morning
for less money than it would cost me to brew half
that amount in a pricey Keurig.
Number four, my floss.
I am really passionate about flossing.
It's the one part of my daily routine
that I feel terrible and gross when I miss.
To make it easier and more convenient,
I bought those little plastic floss pics and have been
using them for a long time now.
However, I recently noticed how much cheaper it
is to get regular dental floss.
The amount of regular floss you can get for about $3
compared to the amount you get in a $3 package of floss pics
is wild--
about 200 yards of regular floss and about 100 to 150 floss
pics, depending on the brand.
Also, when I consider the fact that I'm literally
using and tossing away single-use plastic floss pics
twice per day, I want to hang my head in shame.
Number five, puppy training pads.
The Wee-Wee pad brand is well-known,
but holy hell is it expensive.
I bought a pack once when I got my last dog Lilo.
I gave up on trying to find a store brand package of training
pads that actually soaked up puppy
misses and continued to use pricey brand name
ones until Lilo was entirely trained.
When I got my next puppy, Gaston,
I thought I was going to end up sighing and swiping
my card on a $50 box of training pads
when something possessed me to give the Stop & Shop
brand to try.
It was only $14 for 150 pads, and they actually are
amazingly absorbent and work just as well as
the more expensive brands.
If you adopt a puppy, I recommend
giving a few different types of training pads
a shot to see which ones actually work
and how you can spend the least amount of money
on something your dog is just going to pee on anyway.
Number 6, $10 nail polish.
I'm a sucker for an aesthetically pleasing bottle
of Essie like any other girl, but the truth
seems to be that the $9 bottle of nail polish
chips away just as quickly as the $2.
I had quite the SE collection building up
but have switched over to a pretty exclusive relationship
with the basic Sally Hansen nail polish range.
There are tons of colors, they never cost more than $3,
and they stay on my nails as long as I respect my hands
and don't bring them into stuff, just the more expensive brands.
Number seven, my bronzer.
A longtime favorite makeup product
has always been Smashbox's Bronze Lights bronzer.
I love the color and matte finish,
but I don't love the $35 price tag.
I couldn't bring myself to buy it again.
Last time I ran out of it and ended up
picking up this Wet-and-Wild contouring palette, which
has a nice matte bronzer on one side that
is perfect for my skin tone, blends
easier than the pricey Smashbox one, and costs under $4.
Number eight, my monthly products.
I have to be honest here.
Target brand pads and tampons appear
to work just as well as Tampax, or Playtex,
or whatever other name brand you may
spend $7 plus on for a package that will barely
last you two cycles.
It is bad enough that so many of us
have to shell out cash each month just
to exist with a uterus, so I'll do just about anything
to make it slightly more bearable and affordable.
Plus, I find that I'm more comfortable with some
of the off-brand ones anyway.
Cheaper isn't always better, of course,
but if I can find a cheaper, better swap for a product I
need to buy, I'm all for it.
Finding ways to save money is just one aspect
of taking control of your financial life.
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