Let’s face it -- unfortunately for many, our twenties are filled with many new beginnings and uncertainties job-wise. The transition between dorm-life to the real world can be tumultuous and may take some time to navigate the path of budgeting, bills, and entry-level salaries.
I have always been quite frugal and tried to take my savings skills to the next level when I first started out on my own by looking for as many deals as possible. While I still try to save as much as possible, I have learned that sometimes it saves to just buy things full price or name brand.
While there are some GREAT deals and generic brand items out there, there are some that just aren’t so wonderful. After much trial and error, I found which items worked for me and which ones did not. And much to my surprise, there were some items that I thought were great as generic, but once I purchased the name brand item, I found that the name brand worked even better! By staying locked-in to generic items, I simply did not know what I was missing. So, as with everything else, choosing between deals and full price takes much balance. You can’t have too much of either.
Lesson learned: Sometimes it pays to buy full-price.
