When saving money is a bad idea

While we applaud your frugal efforts to save money by shaving down on expenses and by sticking to your budget, there are certain areas in which you shouldn’t necessarily go for the cheaper option.

There are cases where saving a little money in the short term could potentially cost you more (a lot more) in the long run, or even potentially compromise your health and safety.

Helmets

You’ve got a child or two in hockey, football or skiing (none of which are exactly cheap to start with). Like most parents, you’ve probably outfitted your child more than once in used equipment, which can be a great way to cut back on those expenses.

A word of caution around the head gear though. Double and triple check used helmets. Make sure all the inner padding is intact and that it fits your child snugly. Also make sure that it is CSA approved. Some helmets even come with “expiry dates”.

If there was one place that I would direct your money to favour something new, the helmet would be it. It is your child’s brain we are talking about after all.

House Inspection

Buying a house? Never, ever skip out on the house inspection as part of your closing conditions. Talk about preventative cost.

While your untrained eye may be able to find deficiencies that are obvious, it’s the ones that you can’t see (i.e. structural) that you should be most worried about. You could be on the hook for thousands (even hundreds of thousands) of dollars to fix things just to make your home habitable.

Spend a few hundred dollars and know what you are getting in to.

Low quality, low price

Sometimes it is tempting to go for a lower quality product, simply because of the price. There are several products though where quality figures in. You could be paying more in the long term, because you need to use more to accomplish the same job (think dish soap, laundry soap and paper towels) or need to replace items more quickly.

Baby equipment

Again, buying used items for your child is a great money saver, but make sure that the items you are getting are not too used- especially when it comes to cribs and car seats, both of which can pose serious safety threats to your child if they are too old, outdated or in poor condition. Check the age of the item and do a google search for recalls (cribs in particular get recalled often).