When you’re out shopping for things that would be good for the house, you’re probably more inclined to find ways to cut corners. After all, you can find matching towels and wash clothes (at certain stores) for under $10 and Wal-Mart has a mattress-in-a-box that you won’t have to spend over $300 to have delivered to your home.
Yet here’s the thing: Sometimes when something is inexpensive, what that really means is that it’s cheap. In other words, while you should do your best to save money, there are certain household items where you shouldn’t have to sacrifice value in the process and so you should be willing to go the “extra money mile”. “Items like what?” you may ask. Items such as these below:
Your mattress. One of the reasons why so many of us sleep so well when we’re in a hotel bed is because the hotel didn’t cut corners on the mattress. Although a good one can easily run you a couple of thousand dollars, the health benefits of making that kind of investment include the relief of stress and back pain and the ability to have more consistent nights of uninterrupted rest.
Your linens. You can go to just about any store (including some dollar stores) and find towels and washcloths, but if you want the kind that are not going to unravel and will also get you really clean, it’s best to spend a bit more money on those. That doesn’t mean they have to cost you an arm and a leg. Both Target and K-Mart have some pretty nice selections to choose from.
Pots and pans. When you go the cheap route for your pots and pans, here’s one of the biggest risks: You have to make sure that you don’t overheat them because if the non-stick coating starts to chip, guess what? That means that it will go into your food. Plus, if you get pans that rust after being washed a few times, you also will end up with rust in things like your cookies. No one wants that.
Low flow showerhead and toilet. Did you know that if you purchase a low flow showerhead and toilet that you can cut down on your water bill by as much as 65 percent? And here’s the thing about both of them: You can go to a home improvement store and really not pay as much as you might think. You can get a good showerhead for around $50 and a toilet for about $300. While we’re on the subject of using less water, a hybrid water heater will cut down your water bill an additional 20 percent too.
A programmable thermostat. While you’re looking into ways to get deals for UVerse or other cable service providers, let’s talk about something other than your television that is also programmable: your thermostat. Well, let’s put it this way: If it’s not, it definitely should be. A programmable thermostat will help you to automatically set the temperature in your home for when you’re there, when you’re away, during the day and during the night. Being that you won’t have to cut it on and off, you can save, on average, about 10 percent on your energy bill. Yep. It’s definitely something worth splurging on.
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