As I cited manner again in 2010, my favored snack is popcorn. I have a bowl of it nearly each afternoon, and I've provide you with a way for making it (buy in a jar, then pop it inside the microwave in a protected bowl) this is both price- and time-green. But these days I've become disgruntled with the effects I've been getting with the cheapo emblem of popcorn I've been shopping for at the supermarket (Cousin Willie's). It fees fine $1.25 in keeping with pound, but it appears to head away an lousy lot of kernels unpopped. After popping 1/4 cup of corn, I regularly appear like left with as an entire lot as 1 or 2 tablespoons of unpopped kernels at the lowest?A zone to a half of of what I started with?That actually ultimately ends up going directly into the compost bin. (I've attempted to position the unpopped kernels lower back in the microwave for a 2nd move-round, however just a few of them pop, and that they commonly come out difficult and undersized.)
What made this even greater frustrating became that ultimate iciness at Aldi, I offered a couple of baggage in their keep-logo popcorn and observed that it have become both less highly-priced and better than Cousin Willie's. It left fewer duds at the lowest, and the popped kernels had been larger and fluffier. However, I've in no way been able to discover the stuff at Aldi given that then, regardless of checking at several excellent stores. It looks like they have simply stopped sporting it.
So on my maximum today's trip to the grocery store, I determined to strive springing for a slightly extra costly popcorn. Instead of Cousin Willie's, I went for Jolly Time, which was labeled as a
So my initial thought was that from now on I'd splurge on the good popcorn, since it's worth paying an extra 60 cents a pound for better results. But a second later, it occurred to me that this isn't really splurging; the more expensive popcorn is actually a better value. If I buy Cousin Willie's for $1.25 a pound and half of it doesn't pop, then I'm paying the equivalent of $2.50 a pound for the kernels that actually pop. With the Jolly Time, by contrast, I pay $1.87 a pound, but at least 90 percent of it pops, so I'm paying only $2.08 per pound of poppable corn.
This led me to wonder how many other examples I could find of saving money by paying more up front. Here are a few that came immediately to mind:
- Buying CFL or LED bulbs rather than incandescents.
- Paying extra for an energy-efficient appliance rather than buying the cheapest one available.
- Buying a good pair of shoes that will last several years, rather than a cheap pair of shoes every year. (Sadly, this only works if you have already tried the pricey shoes and know they will last, since a higher price tag by itself is no guarantee of quality.)
- Paying more for a computer that can be upgraded as needed (with extra memory, faster processor, etc.) rather than choosing a cheap bare-bones model with fewer slots.
