When my income increased in my late 20s, I started spending a lot more money on the same kinds of products.
Before I would exclusively purchase generic branded foods because I couldn’t afford the name-brand products at the time.
Now it feels nice purchasing groceries that I couldn’t afford in the past, however I worry that I’m wasting money that could otherwise be put in a savings account or a retirement fund. Once I got some of my spending under control and a large chunk of money sent to savings every month, I wondered if there were any genuine areas around the house that could use a serious upgrade. Using better dishwasher detergent resulted in cleaner dishes after a single cycle instead of needing to waste the water for an additional cycle. I did the same thing with my laundry detergent and ended up with the cleanest smelling clothing and bedding that I have had the pleasure of using in years. After buying better HVAC filters for my central air conditioner, I’m noticing more dust getting collected with better air flow at the same time. These new HVAC filters were a huge step up from the previous ones. Aside from ensuring that there was better air flow and thus better air conditioner performance from the beginning, they also had a much higher MERV rating and thus collected more particles than our previous filters. They cost more money, but I’m having fewer allergy symptoms after I switched to using the better HVAC filters. I think they’re worth the added cost in the long run.