5 Things You Shouldn't Scrimp On

After talking about why you should set up a budget to reach your financial goals, I felt that it was important to talk about some of the things that you should scrimp on. Saving money on expenses and purchases is important, but you have to consider the long term cost of ownership. And when you take that into consideration, there are some things that it pays to go ahead and splurge on higher quality.

The people at Mint put together a top ten list of things you should splurge on, and here is a few of their ideas along with a few of mine:

1. A Mattress – This is where you sleep every night, and not much else will impact the quality of your day as much as getting a good night's sleep. Back pain, muscle aches and insomnia are bound to cost you a bundle in doctor bills, stress related health problems and even relationship problems. So, don't cut corners here. It is better to pay more for a good, comfortable place to sleep than save a few dollars upfront.
   
   
2. Good Food – While I don't think it is important to buy all of your groceries at high priced shops, spending the extra money to buy fresh, organic food instead of purchasing cheaper, less nutritious food can save you lots of money in health expenses. Even if you can't afford to buy all of your food organic, it is a good idea to pay for organic when you are shopping for thin skinned fruits, vegetables and dairy products. When you eat healthy, you just feel better. Your body learns to absorb more nutrition from the food you eat and staying healthy will keep you from missing time at work and make you more effective.
   
   
3. Health Insurance – Preventative healthcare is worth spending the money on. Sometimes, what could have been treated early, if left alone, can balloon into an illness that can cause you to lose time from work, can rack up big hospital charges and even cause you to lose your job entirely. People who don't have insurance run a risk of becoming seriously in debt due to medical bills alone. If you are self employed or your employer doesn't offer health insurance, you may be able to deduct the money you spend on the premiums on your taxes. It ends up being a situation where, if you don't spend it on insurance, you will just end up giving it to Uncle Sam come tax time.
   
   
4. Good Furniture – When you look at the overall cost of ownership, cheap furniture ends up costing more than investing in higher quality goods. This doesn't mean that it isn't worthwhile to find good deal when you can, there are many great furniture sales happening all the time. The issue is that cheap furniture makes you uncomfortable, wears out quickly and you end up having to buy it all over again. Along with delivery charges, the price over time can add up quickly.
   
   
5. Knives and pans – Quality kitchenware can last your whole lifetime. Scrimping on this just isn't worth it. Low cost pots and pan wear out quickly and don't always heat evenly. Burnt food and knives that dull quickly will cause you to avoid cooking and spend more money buying prepackaged food. Once you add in the cost of replacing them every year, it ends up costing much more than buying the higher quality goods in the first place.

Just because times are tight and money is in short supply doesn't mean you can't shop at all. Looking for good deals and ways to cut corners is important, but there are some things that you just can't live without. I don't need to buy the designer handbag or the $400 pairs of shoes. But having a comfortable place to sit and a good nights rest are things that you can't put a price tag on.

What things do you think are worth splurging on? I would love to hear your thoughts.

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By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.