(Before I continue... the point of this post is not to say "Lookie, lookie! I got something new." Au contraire. The point is to talk about how we purchase things.)
*ahem*
Dan and I love to save money, but we also like quality. These two desires are sometimes mutually exclusive.
When I was preparing for Eve's arrival, I used Morgan's old crib (which I bought at a yard sale for $20) but bought a new stroller (which cost much more than $20). I had a stroller from Morgan, but it was breaking and it had a hard time turning. As I debated about whether I should use the old or buy the new, I used my old theory of purchasing: The Doorknob Theory.
The Doorknob Theory is essentially this: If the item in question is something you'll touch every day (or see, or smell...) then make sure it's something you'll enjoy. If you buy something cheap just to save a buck but every time you use it you dread it, then the purchase wasn't worth it in my book. The Doorknob Theory.
This way of purchasing works for me and Dan. I ended up buying the stroller new as cheaply as I could and I have loved every. single. time. I pull it out of the car to use it. Love it. Very thankful for it.
But I digress: The purchase Dan and I recently made was a media center.
I shopped Craig*slist.
We shopped at discount furniture places.
We shopped at department stores.
We even shopped at a great outlet and tried to convince ourselves for a whole 5 minutes that a cheap, scratched, dented media center would work just fine.
But *ding, ding, ding*... the Doorbell Theory warned us that every time we opened the rickety DVD drawer, we would hate the purchase.
So we bought a new one. The price was fair. Not a bargain, but fair. And you know what? We love it. In fact, the new media center has so much storage that we were able to consolidate TWO other media centers we had been using and repurpose one for Eve's room. Now THAT's a good feeling.
Well, that's our way of shopping. I'm curious about others.
1 comment:
Dave grew up with *very* frugal parents, he generally would just by everything inexpensive no matter what it was. On the other hand, I grew up with champion shoppers who just liked to buy all things in general and I take after them. A bit.
After making some poor decisions in our first few years of marriage we have finally come to the same conclusion as you and Dan. I like your name for it, though -- the doorknob theory. It's a perfect visual image to use when shopping.
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