Cheap can sometime be expensive

| Monday June 24, 2013 00:00

As I approached the fridge whistling and scanning the meat trays to make my choice, I was shell shocked to discover that all the juicy tender cuts were beyond my reach price-wise.  What I could afford was only the hard meat from the neck which takes forever to cook.  I tossed one tray which appeared to have a generous potion into my shopping basket and headed for the till bouncing and humming a tune anticipating the banquet ahead.

When I got home, I hurled the meat into a pot and started cooking it.  I poured one cup of water after another but still the stubborn neck meat would not be ready.  By the time the meat was ready my electricity meter was blinking low cash. I dished a generous amount and picked a comfortable spot to enjoy my meat and as I was about to sink my teeth into a piece which looked juicy the lights went off.  I had to eat my meal in the dark.  As I chewed away in the dark It got me thinking how sometimes trying to save is a good way to spend more.

I realised that had I bought a tender piece which was a bit expensive, I could have used less energy to cook it therefore saving electricity.  You should think hard if you want to economise because most of the time you will be merely shifting the cost like in my case from the price of the meat to the electricity bill.  Those who buy cheap clothes from Chinese retailers will agree with me that these clothes get worn out quickly and they have to make frequent trips to these shops to buy new stuff.

You can imagine that if you buy good quality clothes, over time you will have a sizable wardrobe instead of ending up with a pile of useless worn out clothes.One of my good friends was recently beside himself with excitement after buying a second hand Mercedes Benz from the United Kingdom.

He told me that buying the car brand new is worth a fortune but he got it for next to nothing.  Three months down the line the car started giving him all sorts of problems and he had to replace many expensive parts from the engine. This made me realise that these cars are sold when they are standing on their last legs and in a short period of time you start paying through your nose to keep the car on the road.  Buying a brand new car on motor plan would be a better option even though the purchasing cost is high. There are no headaches of having the car spending most of the time at the garage than on the road.

My neighbour recently went into a tirade when she received her water bill. She had earlier bought a Garden tap from a Chinese hardware for a song. After three days the tap started dripping water which led to the water bill ballooning. Had she bought a good quality tap it was going to last her longer and she could have avoided paying so much for the water bill.

The other area where we do not realise how we are unknowingly spending more is with regard to the food we eat.When you buy cheap processed and even expired food as opposed to fresh food which is a bit expensive you might end up having to spend the money you saved on medical expenses which will be sometimes threefold than what you saved. Or even paying the ultimate price, which is paying with your life.  So remember, cheap can sometimes be more expensive.

Mthandazo Solomon