After Monday’s waffle maker post, I thought I’d write about how we make purchasing decisions for small appliances in the kitchen, particularly when it comes to splurging. I’m not going to touch on big stuff – fridges, dishwashers, etc. – because those purchases usually involve a few months of price watching and timing a sale and coupon. Not so much for little appliances.
Here are questions we ask ourselves before every purchase, including examples of real purchases, both good and bad.
1. Am I actually going to use this thing?
Or am I just feeling things out? A couple of years ago, I wanted to start juicing, but I didn’t know if I would stick to it so I went with a cheap juicer.
For me, juicing was a huge pain in the butt. The clean up was messy, the pulp was wasteful and I was going through a lot of fruit to get a little bit of juice. I’m certain the fancier model would have been more effective, but at the same time, it wouldn’t solve my original problems. We ended up donating the juicer. Had I spent $150 on it instead of $35, it would probably still be sitting in our cabinets today, wasting space, and I’d be out $115.
2. Is there a cheaper alternative with comparable ratings and results?
How does this model specifically work best for us? Does another less expensive model do the same work? Our $100 waffle maker’s features trumped the $30 waffle maker’s features, for us. But, there has been a case when the enticing features simply didn’t add up. Example: rice cooker.
In college, I had a Korean neighbor with sweet rice cooker. So many buttons and options. I happen to really like rice – I love the sticky texture that comes from the rice cooker – so I thought, hey, why not?
After some research, I realized the warming feature, delayed timer and LCD display panel on the Zojirushi didn’t really mean much. I would make rice then eat it. Done. Plus, the cheap rice cookers had better reviews! So I got (one of the several) $30 rice cooker, and I’m pleased with it. Regrettably, my husband doesn’t share my love of rice, so I don’t use it nearly as often as I’d like. But it has a small footprint, it wasn’t crazy expensive and when I do use it, I enjoy the results.
Another example: a KitchenAid standing mixer. Now, I love baking. But do I love it and do it enough for one of these monsters? No, not really. A $30 hand mixer works perfectly for me.
3. Do I have time to use this and space in my kitchen to store it?
I’m left handed, so can openers are frustrating. I mean, I can use one, but barely. My husband doesn’t have my southpaw excuse, but he’s pretty bad with them too. (We’ll be stabbing open our canned food during the zombie apocalypse, thankyouverymuch) So we have an electric can opener, a splurge compared to hand-operated versions. These all fall into a $15-$35 range, so it’s really just a matter of picking something you don’t mind looking at every day.
Sames goes for our electric kettle. It’s the same size as a regular kettle and works the same. While I’d like a traditional kettle (because there are so many pretty options!), it’s nice having something that automatically turns off and doesn’t leave a hot burner behind.
Minimal footprint, no setup, no cleaning, classic aesthetics. Both were easy purchases.
4. Is there a way to test it out before I buy it? Or get a friend to vouch for it?
I’ve always wanted a food processor. Those things do WORK. But I had questions. Will I use it? Uhhh. Maybe at first? Is there a cheaper model? There’s such a huge range with different features, I wouldn’t know where to start. Do I have space in my kitchen? Not really, but if I super love it, I can make space.
So what did I do? I borrowed my dad’s food processor that he never used. And guess what? Making black bean burger mix and hummus was super fun for about ten minutes. Now, the food processor sits in a graveyard in the back of a cabinet, inconveniently taking up space.
5. Have I thoroughly checked different stores to make sure this is the cheapest version?
There is absolutely no reason to pay $150 for something you can get elsewhere for $120. Many places offer price matching, and an if not, online shipping tends to be free these days. A place I usually forget about when appliance shopping: department stores! Belk, Macy’s, Sears. They do wedding registries, and consequently, have a TON of kitchen goodies. And they have sales all the time.
6. Well, I got the cheap version and I hate it. Should I upgrade?
Maybe! If it’s like my juicer fail, probably not. A fancier version wouldn’t have changed the fact that fruit and vegetable pulp is a sticky mess.
Something I’m looking forward to upgrading? Our blender. I wasn’t sure I’d actually use it, but it turns out, I love smoothies. The $45 blender has been fine, but it’s starting to struggle with frozen things (the image below is laughable. I’d NEVER be able to successfully blend that!). Yep, I want a Vitamix. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but I’m confident that it’s a splurge worth every penny because I know I’ll use it and it has the customer testimonials to back it up. We all have that friend that raves over their Vitamix, right? Haha.
Summary
If it’s an appliance we know we will use and love and there isn’t a cheaper version with the features we find important, then we splurge! But we read reviews, get feedback from friends, weigh the features, price check across the board and really think about each purchase. Most of the time, the cheaper version is perfectly adequate. The key is knowing what’s right for our lifestyle and cooking values.
Coffee grinder. Coffee maker. This awesome breakfast sandwich maker. George Foreman grill (actually, that one ended up in the graveyard for us). Slow cooker. Ice cream maker. Microwave. Dehydrator. Toaster oven. I could go on. There are so many options for spending money and filling your cupboards with gadgets and appliances. But I hope my (nearly 1,000) words on how we try to make smart purchases in the kitchen help!
What’s your favorite kitchen splurge? Your favorite frugal equipment?
Oh & the version we got comes with single serve blender cups too so you literally blend your smoothie in your cup, take the blade out, put a lid on it, and roll out. Best thing ever in the whole wide world.
I wanted a vitamix too for a bit but I ended up getting a ninja from kohls using a coupon on kohls cash day LOL. Like a boss. I knowww. They aren’t cheap either and I will NEVER EVER EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR in a million years go back to a cheap-o blender. Just wanted to tell you the ninja is badass and a cheaper option than the vitamix.