When you can't afford it

I was in a training class for Pella Windows with a gentleman from Idaho, when we were leaving the training session we got to the airport in Des Moines Iowa well ahead of our scheduled flight departure, so we grabbed a bite to eat in one of the airport restaurants, and believe me there are not a lot to choose from in Des Moines. However while the group of us were eating lunch, Greg said something his father had told him once, and that was "If you can't afford it, buy the best" I thought this was kind of a strange statement to make, as if you can't afford it you tend to buy whatever is the cheapest, or least expensive. The conversation then drifted off to business prospects and how we were viewing the building industry in different parts of the country, and sports teams and all the other little mundane things you talk about when you are waiting for a flight in an airport.

On the flight home I thought about that comment a little bit, and then put it out of my mind, but I kept finding it came back to me and I think about it a lot, and the more I think about it the more I realize, that it is absolutely true. When we can't afford things we tend to buy the bargain basement products, because they are cheap, and that is exactly what they are cheap. they don't stand up and they tend to wear out a lot faster than if you had invested some more money and bought a little more expensive of an item. I think about some of my investments in products. My wife and I live in a very old New England Farm House at the Gale Farm. It was moved to where it now stands in 1840 and the construction techniques used in the house seem to show it was built in the early to mid 1700's. When we bought the house it needed a lot of work to say the least, and one of the things it needed was windows. I tried to save the old windows but the frames where rotting and the glazing wouldn't stay put, as well as I may have just as well had a big hole in the wall to let the heat out of the house. We were newly married, and having just got out of the service, I did not have a lot of money to invest, I bought the cheapest windows I could find, because come on, every one knows a window is just a window, right? Well I put the windows in the house, and it did make the house a little more heating friendly, but when I look back at houses I call on that had put in a little more expensive of a window, they are not having to think about replacing the windows again, and they are not having to fuss with storm window units. and they are not having to put plastic up over their windows when the temps drop below freezing to keep the cold from coming into the house. Yes I paid less for my windows, but how much more have I paid for storm windows and heat and labor over the years in order to save a few dollars up front. There are many aspects of this adage. Tools, I have bought the cheapest tools I can find because they will work just as well only to have them snap, batteries wear out well ahead of time, strip out , and a myriad of other complaints.

I see the same things in batteries. As typical kids today my kids have the toys, IPODS, Cameras, and a myriad of other electronic gadgets, and I have seen them buy the bargain basement batteries and have to replace them in only a couple of days because they wear out, when I invested in a rechargeable battery system for them they have cut down on battery usage big time and in the long run the charger and rechargeable batteries end up costing a heck of a lot less money in the long run. SO the next time you go to the store and think about buying the cheapest, is it going to be the cheapest in the long run, or is it going to cost you a lot more money over time than a little larger cost up front.