Question for you: Are there expenditures you make that you consider more as an "investment" than an expense?
I'm not talking traditional investments here, but things that you purchase that you believe will have the effect of saving you money in the long term.
I've made three such purchases in the past six months, and two other purchases from the past 3 years come to mind as well:
1. A new wool comforter. If I can stay warm at night, I can keep the house temperature cooler and save money on heating bills. My old down comforter actually kept me warm, but about 6 years ago, I was first diagnosed with asthma, and last year, I landed in the ER because of it, to the tune of $1500, currently the deductible on my health insurance. I had previously poo-pooed the idea that the down was making my allergies worse, but this year, the effect when I put the down comforter on my bed was striking and notable, requiring the use of my inhaler several nights in a row (normally, only exercise induces an attack). So the comforter went into storage and I researched replacements online. Wool appears warm, breathable, and dust-mite resistant, as well as natural, so I purchased a comforter made out of wool.
2. A Vita-Mix: If you haven't heard of these, these are basically blenders on steroids, and highly touted by many in the raw foods community. While I'm not raw, I do try to eat minimally processed whole foods as much as possible to cut down my grocery bills in the short term and my doctor's bills in the long term. I haven't owned this long enough to calculate the monthly grocery savings yet, but I am using it multiple times a day and eating more fruits and veggies than ever, which can only be good for my health. Today I ran out of soy milk and at first was tempted to go to the grocery store....then realized I still had a cup of raw almonds, so instead, using the Vita-Mix and a "nut-mylk bag," I made myself a quart of almond milk that will do for cereal and coffee for a few days...saving me a grocery store trip, which means saving money because I *know* I wouldn't just buy soy milk while I was there! Plus now instead of buying pre-minced garlic and prechopped onions, I'm buying them whole and chopping my own.
3. A Nu-Wave counter-top oven. Yes, I'm a kitchen-gadget queen. But I've never had good luck making meats in the traditional oven. Baked veggies and the yearly turkey, yes, but until now, I've only had good luck making chicken on the stove top in some kind of sauce, usually marsala or cacciatore...and most of the chicken I've bought has been in the form of boneless skinless chicken breasts. Now every week I'm buying a whole frying chicken (better size for one person thann a roasting bird) and making it in this baby....then using the drippings and carcass to make my own broth. This machine will also cook meat straight from frozen, and chicken breasts are done fast--15 minutes if thawed, 25 i frozen--so there goes one of my excuses for buying something out. I buy a big bag of turkey burgers from BJ's and keep those in the freezer for quick meals that save me from going to BK's!
4. Not a new purchase, but an old one that I hadn't used for a couple of years that I recently put into action again: my Food Saver. The bags are a bit pricey, but Ball Mason jars are reusable, and if you spend a few bucks extra for a jar sealer attachment, you can buy in bulk and have the food last longer--a good solution for someone who is single like me who cannot take advantage of buy-in-bulk deals without a long-lasting storage solution.
5. My rice cooker--this was the first kitchen gadget I bought with the intent of using it to cook more, and it definitely has helped. A "fuzzy logic" cooker with multiple functions can be used for much beyond basic grains! Mine has a soup and a slow cook function and will even bake bread! I love being able to dump my ingredients, press a button, go out for a walk and come home to a cooked meal! This is faster than a slow cooker but can act similarly, plus because it vents moisture, things will brown in it that won't brown in a slow cooker. Right now the teflon on the inner pan has begun to wear out, and I'm going to have to replace this....I'm considering a gadget by Fagor that has a pressure cooking function as well (unfortunately Panasonic does not seem to sell replacement liner pans).
So what purchases have you made recently with the intent of saving yourself money in the long term?
Expense or Investment?
October 9th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
October 10th, 2011 at 12:27 am 1318202836
On the subject of kitchen gadgets, I've long wanted a bread machine. Maybe it's time to dust off the slow cooker and make something in it.
October 10th, 2011 at 02:37 am 1318210651
Have you checked thrift stores/yard sales for bread machines? They were so popular a decade ago, I'm sure that you can find them cheap. I have one that I bought new about 15 years ago for about $115 and one of my friends has the exact same machine that she found at a yard sale for $10. (That happens to be the one small appliance that I don't use that has *not* made it into the give-away box.)
Autumn is definitely slow cooker season!
October 10th, 2011 at 02:40 am 1318210851
October 10th, 2011 at 02:49 am 1318211388
October 10th, 2011 at 03:46 am 1318214806
On the food front, I got a vegetable steamer about five years ago. I think of it an investment - I can always make freshly cooked vegetables year round (healthy), save a few pennies by not cranking up the oven. Not sure how the steamer compares with the microwave though.
October 10th, 2011 at 04:08 am 1318216116
October 10th, 2011 at 05:51 am 1318222308
October 10th, 2011 at 02:28 pm 1318253284