Frugality

The phrase “You get what you pay for” is often used to justify paying a higher price for an item. The higher price is equated with higher quality. As a general rule of thumb it is true that a higher price is often an indicator of higher quality but there are so many exceptions that price shouldn’t be relied on as a sole indicator of quality.

The recalls of pet food and peanut butter showed that the same manufacturers were making both the store brands and the higher-priced brands. Often the only difference between a store brand and a name brand is the label. In that case when you buy the name brand you are paying for advertising and packaging, not for higher quality. There are plenty of other situations where the higher priced item is not higher quality than the cheaper item or at least not of sufficiently better quality to make it a better value. “You get what you pay for” is often used to rationalize an expensive purchase. Instead of making a purchase based on perceived value it should be made on actual value.

Sometimes even though the higher priced item might be of higher quality it still isn’t the best choice. An example would be cell phones. A new phone that takes pictures, plays MP3’s, and has tons of other features would be considered higher quality than my bottom-of-the-line 2002 cell phone that does little more than make and receive phone calls. However, since I only use my phone to make and receive phone calls and would be unlikely to use the extra features on a new phone the extra features would have little value for me.

I’m not saying that you should always buy the cheapest item. Many times the better quality and durability of a more expensive item justifies its higher price. My point is that you shouldn’t just assume that the higher priced item is a better choice. Your decision should be based on which product provides you the most value for your money.

In yesterday’s mail there was a $10 gift card from Buca di Beppo. Apparently they were mailing them to all residents in my zip code. A quick check of the junk mail trash can netted me two more cards. I’ll be keeping my eye out for more of these. These weren’t packaged like most junk mail though so there may not be many of them thrown away in the junk mail trash can. My decision now is whether to sell them on eBay where they will probably sell for about $5 or treat myself to some fancy dinners. A $10 gift card doesn’t go too far there so I will likely only splurge for one dinner unless I find a lot more gift cards.

The forecast is calling for snow overnight. This isn’t the kind of weather I expected in April. After the pleasant temperatures at the end of March I decided that I would not heat or cool my apartment in April. These cold temperatures are making this more of a challenge than I expected but I’ve slept outside in below freezing temperatures many nights so surely I can handle this. Since I’m in an apartment the temperature stays well above the outside temperature even without using my heat. It is supposed to start warming up Sunday so I should be ok after that. Providing it doesn’t get too hot before the month is over.

One way to save on dental care is to use the services of a local dental school. This is what I am doing. I am going to have all four wisdom teeth plus three other teeth extracted. The wisdom teeth are bony impacted so I will be under IV sedation during the surgery. The total cost for this is $830. It is hard to find an average price for this surgery but I did find one site that stated the average cost of oral surgery is $3,000. If that figure is correct than I’m saving over $2,000 from the regular cost. To make this an even better deal since my surgery is complicated it won’t be done by one of the students but by one of the teaching doctors.

I think this is an even better deal than dental insurance. When checking out dental plans I saw that most of them had a $1,000 a year maximum benefit and you had to wait a year for major procedures. This would make dental insurance at a traditional dentist a more expensive option for me. Plus I want to get my dental problem fixed now rather than waiting a year.

The main drawback of going to a dental school is that the procedures take more time. Both of my diagnostic appointments took 2-3 hours. You do get more individualized attention though and right now I have more time than money. If you have a local dental school and need dental care you should look into this option.

Being a frugal person I love free stuff. It is hard to get a better price than free. Here are some resources for finding free stuff.

freecycle.org– Just join the local group in your area then look at what is being offered. Be sure to put up some of your own unwanted items too.

craigslist.org– They have a section for free stuff. Check it often because you never know what might pop up.

fatwallet.com– They have a free stuff board. I’ve found a few different free items I wanted here.

slickdeals.net– They also have a freebies board.

These are just a few of the free stuff places on the internet. If you keep your eyes open for possible free stuff you will probably find many more places. This includes places in your local community not just on the internet.