Being good with money doesn’t mean that I automatically choose the cheapest option every single time. In fact, there are quite a few things that I’m more than happy to pay a little bit extra for because they’re worth more to me for one reason or another.
Sometimes it’s about quality, sometimes it’s about convenience and sometimes it’s simply because spending a bit more means I’m supporting something that’s important to me.
I think that’s a big part of being more intentional with money. I save where I’m happy to save, but that also means I can spend a bit more on the things that matter to me without feeling guilty about it.
I was thinking about this today as we’ve done a bit of a budget review and as we were chatting about it, we talked about the things that we were more than happy to pay a bit extra for and I thought I’d share mine with you….
Wild deodorant
Wild isn’t the cheapest deodorant I could buy, but I’m happy to pay more for it. I originally swapped because I’m really conscious of the amount of single-use plastic we use and I liked the refillable case and compostable refills.
It’s something that matters to me, so I’m happy to spend a bit extra on it – although I’ll still stock up when I find the refills cheaper. Paying more doesn’t mean I stop looking for a bargain. 😂
Heinz ketchup and Hellmann’s mayonnaise
My mam always used to tell me there were two things you should never buy own-brand – bleach and ketchup. It was always Domestos bleach and Heinz Tomato Ketchup in our house when I was growing up and that particular piece of wisdom has stayed with me. 😂
I’m quite happy buying own-brand versions of loads of things, but ketchup and bleach just aren’t things I mess with. And while we’re talking about things where the cheaper versions just don’t do it for me, mayonnaise has to be Hellmann’s and washing capsules need to be Fairy.
I could obviously save a bit by buying cheaper versions, but I’d rather save on things where I genuinely can’t tell the difference and spend the extra on the things where I can.
All electrical items
I’m a huge fan of buying second-hand and we’ve saved a fortune over the years by not automatically buying everything new, but electrical items are one area where I generally prefer to buy new.
For me, it’s partly about safety but it’s also about reliability and having the reassurance of a warranty if something goes wrong.
I know you can get some amazing bargains buying electricals second-hand and plenty of people are completely comfortable doing that, but personally I’d rather pay more and buy new.
That’s one of those situations where the cheapest option wouldn’t necessarily feel like the best value to me because I’m paying extra for the reassurance as much as I’m paying for the actual item.
Better flight times
I’m definitely happy to pay a bit more for better flight times, especially when we’re going somewhere for a short break.
A cheaper flight isn’t much of a bargain if it means arriving really late and effectively losing the first day of your trip, or flying home first thing in the morning and losing most of your last day.
Obviously there’s a limit to how much extra we’d pay, but if spending a bit more gives us significantly more time at our destination then I’ll always factor that into the decision rather than automatically booking the cheapest flight. I’d also specifically choose a destination based purely on the flights if needed.
I’d much rather compare the value of the whole trip than just look at which flight has the lowest number next to it.
Butlins Early Access
We recently paid £25 each for Early Access on our Butlins break, which meant spending another £100 before we’d even got there.
And I’d pay it again without hesitation.
It meant we could book our activities earlier and we also got early entry to the shows. We still had to queue for around 20–30 minutes for some of them, but we were at or close to the front for pretty much everything we watched.
We saw people queueing for more than an hour for some shows, so that £100 bought us something that mattered to us – less time standing around in queues and some brilliant seats.
We absolutely could have saved the money and still watched the same shows, but this was one of those occasions where paying extra made our experience better, so for us it was worth it.
Shopping locally
I’m also happy to sometimes pay a little more to shop at local farm shops, farmers’ markets and other independent businesses.
Supporting local businesses is really important to me and, where I can, I’d rather spend my money with a small local business even if it costs me a little more than buying the same thing from a big supermarket or chain.
That’s not to say I’ll happily pay twice the price for everything just because it’s local. I still have a budget and I still want to get good value for my money. But where the difference is reasonable, I’m happy to pay it.
For me, where I spend my money can be just as important as how much I’m spending.
Cheapest doesn’t always mean best value
I think that’s really the point of all of these.
Being careful with money isn’t about finding the absolute cheapest version of everything you buy. If that was the case, I’d be buying own-brand ketchup, second-hand electricals and the cheapest flight available regardless of what time it landed. 😂
I’d rather save money on the things that don’t matter as much to me and have a bit more available to spend on the things that do.
Sometimes I’m paying extra for quality, sometimes it’s for convenience or peace of mind, and sometimes it’s because I want my money to support something that’s important to me.
For me, that’s what intentional spending is all about – knowing what’s worth paying more for and, just as importantly, knowing what isn’t.
I’d love you to follow me on Twitter and it would be amazing to see you over on my Facebook page and on Instagram. If you’re interested, you can find out more about me here and while I’ve got your attention, if you’re wondering why some of my posts lately are a little bit less frugal then have a read of this post. 😉
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