Don't Be Cheap... Sometimes

"God, look at this! Machine-made lace... I hate cheap clothes. They're twice the work and never look as good." - Elsie, Gosford Park

A confirmed cheapskate and thrify person for most of my life, as I've grown I've found there are several things that ARE worth spending a little more on, for reasons of comfort and economy. There's only so much budget-buying that one person can take, after all. Making savings is all well and good, but economy has to be balanced sensibly with SOME nice things which are essential for one's mental resilience (in my humble opinion). Even our grandmothers got around war-time austerity sometimes!

Shoes
Ever since ruining my feet with years cheap of cardboard-soled ballet flats (there's a lesson there ladies!) I have been grumpy about paying lots more for orthopedic-friendly shoes. But honestly, I have never been more comfortable in the foot department. The higher price tag also delivers better quality, so I'm wearing my pared-down shoe wardrobe for much longer. Excellent price-per-wear return. SO STOP BUYING CHEAP SHOES. Wish I could tell my younger self that.

Toilet Paper
I've always been jealous of my mother's quilted Cottonnelle dunny paper and recently my own financial circumstances have allowed a modest increase in the grocery budget. Thus, the move from the cheapest 2-ply to the loveliest of loo paper has been made. Trust me, you're worth it, in your own ensuite at the very least.

Champagne and wine
If there's one thing I detest, it's cheap and nasty booze. Selecting a wine or champers based on lowest price occasionally pays off, but not often enough to make it worthwhile in my opinion. Unfortunately, you have to spend money to know what labels you like best... but once you've figured that out, the stress goes out of the whole choice drama and you'll probably be happy to pay a little more if you have end up having posh preferences. The happy thing is you most likely will enjoy a mid-range bottle as much as an expensive one.

Christmas Crackers
I don't care what anyone says - there are amazing expensive crackers; cute, kitsch crackers and there are cheap and nasty ones. I remember one year the little gifts inside some $2 shop crackers were so strange and disappointing we were all left deflated. There wasn't even any lame jokes! Spend a bit more and make sure you get some novelty plastic bits along with a paper hat that will last more than 2 minutes to have fun with around the dinner table. Make sure you tweet the jokes too, there's usually a hashtag on Xmas day that is groan-worthily hilarious.

Tea and coffee
I don't want to sound like a Goddamn Hipster, but caffeine is an area you just don't want to muck around with budget options in. One of my old workplaces was such a Scrooge it used to buy us all Andronicus teabags because they were the cheapest thing offered by the office supply company. I inititated a petition to spend a little more and an upgrade to Lipton was granted. I swear productivity increased. And although I don't drink coffee, we all know that International Roast is the Devil's Work.

So, now I have shared my wisdom, tell me - what items do you always spend more on, and why? What's worth the extra dough if you can afford it?

No money, Mo' Problems

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Today I have a day off from work - it's a day in lieu as I worked the local show holiday last month. It comes at a timely moment following a few things that are pissing me off at work lately coming to a head yesterday. I tweeted about it but won't bore you with the details here. Let's just say that if I continue to be "spoken to" about bathroom breaks I'm looking for a new job!

I had nothing planned for today so decided to do one of the two things that have been on my mind lately: sort out our finances.

I've never done a household budget before. Some of you may be amazed to hear this, but I've never really seen the need. Oh, I've watched money experts on the TV talking about how important it is, and read countless blogs about how essential it is to know where your money is going, but let's face it - I'm a fundamentally lazy person, and have never been that great with money.

Despite this, I am in charge of household finances. We have numerous discussions about how I hate this role but have agreed that I'm the best of two bad choices - unfortunately the other half is worse than me with dollars and cents. When I was single, it was so much easier - I had few expenses and used a shoebox method of bill payment. When I got a bill, it went in the shoebox. When I remember to pay it, I wrote "paid" on it and back into the shoebox it went. It wasn't sophisticated, but it worked.

This simple method combined with no mortgage or rates and a smaller grocery bill meant that I could save quite a bit of money. I also lived at home for a while, and with no rent expenses (thanks mum & dad!) I was able to save over $10,000 in a year. And then I blew it all on international travel - I know, what an idiot (I REGRET NOTHING!!!).

Flash forward six years and I'm engaged, got a mortgage I get stressed thinking about and all those lovely household bills that come in ominous window envelopes. I'm pleased to say I just finished doing a budget using a combination of my bank's online budget calculator and Open Office suite (a pox on you and your registration key Microsoft!)

So now I'm going to have a little relax on the couch in front of Dr Phil. And after lunch I might consider tackling some spring cleaning.