Yahoo Lifestyle Truly Frugal People Are Sharing The Things You Actually *Do* Need To Spend Money On
Spending to save sounds like the excuse of a shopaholic, but sometimes, a bigger upfront investment really does pay off in the long run. Recently, Reddit user Poweley asked the r/frugal community: "What’s a purchase that seemed pricey but ultimately saved you money long-term?" And their responses are SO helpful if you're trying to be more strategic with your spending in the new year.
1."Good kitchen knives... I've worked in food service my whole life: front-of-house, back-of-house, management, all of it. Years ago, I realized the knives at work were just so much better than anything I found at Walmart and asked my chef about it..."
"Long story short, they sell inexpensive industrial quality knives at restaurant supply stores. They are meant to hold an edge, be tough enough to be dropped, and last for a while. They're called Stal knives and have a thick, white plastic handle.
I found out years later that they're Gordon Ramsay's preferred knives too, and I paid less than 40 bucks for one big one for meat cutting and one small one for fileting and stuff."
2."My Instant Pot — I love it for cooking meat, but I easily make a half gallon of yogurt for less than the price of a few cups of cheap unflavored yogurt."
3."Buying a decent winter coat that you can enjoy for years. One big expense, and you are set for a long time."
4."My professional barber kit. It cost me around $200. I even do fades on myself and save the $40 weekly visit to the nearest barbershop. That's $2,080 in yearly savings and a 940% return on investment in the first year alone!"
5."An electric toothbrush. Dental work is wildly expensive."
6."Snow boots. They eventually show some wear but are absolutely perfect, warm, and comfortable..."
7."I spent $300+ monthly on dry cleaning, so I bit the bullet and bought an LG steam closet. That's only 6 months of dry cleaning bills; I've had it for over three years. I look at anything I buy under the lens of cost-per-use."
8."Mattress and pillow. Great sleep is just so invaluable."
9."The menstrual cup. It wasn't too expensive, but it is still one of my best long-term investments."
10."Investing in a slightly used car (a Honda) has allowed me not to make car note payments for 15 years. Also keeping it well maintained with oil changes and such."
11."High-quality luggage. It's expensive, but some brands offer a lifetime warranty for damage, and it doesn’t matter who’s at fault or what happens. I bought some 15 years ago for multiple global trips. With a couple of repairs, the luggage is still perfect…and I would buy it again."
12."My ultra-automatic espresso machine has passed its 16th birthday, and fingers crossed, it’s still going strong. If I’d bought a latte daily during that period I would have spent roughly $30,000! Which is bonkers."
13."Invest in clothing made of real materials — wool, cotton, silk — thrift them if you must. Don't buy polyester or viscose."
14."A quality set of heavy stainless/copper bottom pots and pans and a complete set of 18/8 stainless flatware in a classic pattern. Both are 25+ years old and in excellent shape!"
15."My e-reader. I save so much money using the Libby app to read books from my library with it."
16."I bought an automatic cat box for $600. Crazy, right? I've had it for 8 years, a monthly cost of $6 or less. For turning a gross daily chore into an effortless once-a-week chore, it is worth every penny."
17."A small chest freezer and a vacuum sealer. I can buy meat close to the sell-by date at discounted prices, pack it into portions based on how much is needed for a meal (1 lb. ground beef, 2 lbs. chicken breast, etc), and freeze it. The deep freeze keeps it colder than a fridge freezer and holds a lot more volume of meat. The vacuum sealer prevents freezer burn, plus it lets me flatten things out really well after sealing and makes it so I can thaw without any worry of juices leaking on the counter or in the sink."
18."My 4-year-old Dutch oven is a beast that doesn't seem to care what I do to it, and I can use it for just about any cooking. It's pretty, it's literal cast iron; I can bake with it, sauté shit, make soup, chili, brisket, just about anything, and it just is itself all over again once it's done and cleaned."
"Best piece of cookware I've ever owned."
19."I bought a food processor and a stand mixer over 40 years ago, and I'm still using both. That was money well spent."
20."Very good quality socks, however pricey. It takes time to wear them down."
21."Home gym equipment. I bought used equipment from garage sales and thrift stores and played sports again. It was hundreds of dollars to get everything I needed. But it has saved me hundreds of dollars annually and dozens of hours in travel time. Also, when cold and flu season comes around, I save on cold medicine due to not using a public gym."
22."A bidet. You use so much less toilet paper."
23."A sunrise wake-up alarm. Saved my life in dealing with the dark mornings and making it easier to get up. It’s boosted my mood. I have no regrets."
24."A programmable thermostat."
25."A pair of nice leather dress shoes. They hold up and look great after all these years."
26."Any of my hiking/camping items. I have friends that cheap out on everything, and it just looks like they suffer. Backpacks that don't fit, gear that's heavy and breaks, shoes that give them blisters. Quality pays off with those items."
27."A food dehydrator — We've paid for it several times over by making chicken jerky treats for the dogs. I haven't met a dog that doesn't love them. My dog is so spoiled that she won't eat the store-bought brand anymore."
28."Car tires and battery. $100 extra on a battery is less than the cost of a single tow. Better braking and wet weather/snow driving is much less than one small accident and much less expensive than a major accident. Worth an extra $200 every four years."
29."I love my 20-year-old rice cooker."
30."In my early 20s, my first major purchase was a carefully selected full tool set for vehicle rebuild and home rehab. I've repaired or rebuilt over 100 bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, tractors, RVs, power boats, sailboats, and airplanes. I've also rehabbed more than 10 different apartments and homes. It's fun."
31."A good dishwasher. Being able to dependably stuff it full of dishes, do them nearly silently, and have them come out perfectly clean every time helps a lot in motivating you to cook at home more often, which is where the savings come in. I thought I was fine with a builder-grade dishwasher and doing some pots by hand, but I was underestimating how often 'let's go out, I had a long day at work' is because I don't want to deal with the clean-up."
32."Live in an area with terrible water quality. We paid to install a whole-house water filter with reverse osmosis at the sink. Has saved us money in appliances (less corrosion) and buying bottled drinking water."
33."A Sodastream. We no longer buy soda of any kind or cans of mineral water. The savings are incredible. Mix in a little lime or lemon. Even mix other things to sweeten it."
34."I recommend buying a high-quality raincoat to anyone who will listen to me."
35."Regular dentist checkups, pay £30 every 3 or 4 months for a checkup and an extra £60 every 6 months for a deep clean saves a fortune long term for no long term dental issues that are often overlooked until you get hit with a toothache that costs £2,000 to fix."
What purchases have you made that paid off BIG time? Let us know in the comments or anonymously via this form!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
