Sorry, that’s not a trick question or a rhetorical question or the start of an ancient joke. It’s a real question. And the anwer goes something like this: “When it’s a false economy, stupid!”
Good examples of situations where people can actually spend more rather than less when in fact all they’re trying to do is save a bit of cash:
Very cheap stuff: if you paid 20p for a bottle of washing up liquid, the chances are that it would contain less soap, and run out a lot faster than the normal stuff. So you’d end up spending more rather than less, with the 20p just an illusion of cheapness.
The washing up liquid example is a good one, come to think of it. Because with stuff like that you get want you pay for – but only up to a point. At the very cheap end, you will get something that doesn’t match up to the dear stuff. But then, if you look at the dearest stuff available it might have the coolest new flavours (aloe vera and sea minerals) or the best bottle, but it probably won’t be significantly better or longer lasting than the ordinary own brand – the value is added through other means than performance – at least that’s my theory.
Anyway – I got caught short by the false economy principle this week when – after years of avoiding the dentist (to save money) I ended up with raging toothache. And the dentist’s bill was a biggy. Now if I had taken out dental insurance or at the least visited for checkups more often, then this level expense wouldn’t have been incurred. Lesson learned!
