When I was 10 years old, I told my dad that I wanted new clothes, I was out growing my old clothes, so its right I get new ones. One day my dad told me to get into the car we are going for cloth shopping, I was really excited, then he asked me, do I want brand new clothes or thrifted clothes. We all know that drifted clothes are usually very cheap compared to the new ones. So I chose thrifted, because I wanted to have more, my dad then told me “never chose quantity over quality” I never understood that statement until few months later. Those thrifted clothes started getting worn out, thrifted means that they have been worn and owned before, hence the reason they are being sold at a cheaper price. But most times they always have one default or the other that will make the cloth get worn out too quickly.
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I never fully understood this, growing up with limited resources like money, your brain is mostly designed to always sort for the cheaper things, when you want to buy groceries, you buy the cheaper brands, when you want to buy beverages, you look for the cheaper brand. At this point, you are trying to manage your resources to survive, but if you had the right amount of resources, you won’t want to go for cheaper brands because they lack the quality you wanted. You apply this to all your purchasing decisions, want to book a flight, you source for the cheapest airline, want to buy a car, you source for the cheapest, some people can’t afford brand new so they go for already used cars. Which is totally understandable, that is what they can afford based on limited resources. But sometimes cheaper options cost more. How?
Remember the thrifted clothes my dad bought for me, those clothes got so worn out is six months, I couldn’t wear them anymore. I had to throw some of them away, that was when I understood my dad’s advise to not always choose quantity over quality. As an adult I have seen the effect in my every day life. I use an iPhone, getting an original iPhone charger cost me about $20 but I chose the $2 option because it was cheaper. I realised that after few weeks, the $2 charger stops working or spoils my phone battery. I used a $2 charger one time, my battery went bad, had to spend over $50 to get a new one. In the process of trying to be cheap, I ended up spending more. This can be seen in buying things like new gadgets or cars, when buying a gadget, I love buying them brand new. I bought my phone brand three years ago, the only problem I have with this phone is just bad battery. Some people buy used phones because its cheaper and end up spending a lot repairing it. Same can be found in cars, some people buy used cars and regret it, because they spend more money repairing and maintaining the car because it has some hidden faults the seller didn’t disclose. Most of the things I own now, I got them new and expensive and they have been around for so long compared to when I decide to buy cheap, I end up repairing them or throwing them away, thereby costing me.
