10+ Things We Can’t Be Cheap On, Even If We Really Want To

Being thrifty is great. But very often, we buy things that are cheap instead of ones that are good, so they break or go bad very fast and we end up needing a replacement. In situations like these, we end up paying twice.

We at Bright Side think that we should be smart about spending money, so we made a list of things that are definitely worth their price.

1. Thermal underwear

Buying thermal underwear is an investment in your own health. You won’t have to freeze anymore just because you chose the wrong clothes. But if you decide to go the cheap route, you might not get the effect you’re looking for. Good thermal underwear are made of a mix of different fabrics, they hold in the warmth, and they don’t let you get overheated or sweat.

• I got a pair of stretchy jeans with a warm underlayer from Uniqlo and this was my most comfortable winter in forever. © LittleMlem / Reddit

2. Office chair

According to standards and norms, an office chair is supposed to have the following features: it should be the right height, provide stability, and the back and the seat should change angles. Also, the distance from the back to the front edge of the seat should be regulated. Bad chairs can harm your health and they keep you from being able to concentrate on your work.

• I didn’t know that chairs were graded depending on how long you sit in them every day. I spent almost a decade in cheap chairs that resulted in me needing hip surgery. My $500 chair is my soulmate. © holdonwhileip*** / Reddit

3. Backpack

Backpacks are no longer just things that children go to school with or take with them when camping. A lot of famous companies make backpacks and almost every person has a backpack at home. Most of the time, high-quality backpacks cost a lot of money.

• A good backpack. My mom always got me cheap backpacks in school, and they’d always break about 3/4 of the way through the school year. Sophomore year of high school I finally convinced her to pull the trigger on a mid-range-priced backpack. Yeah, it was literally 5 times as expensive as any other backpack she’d ever bought me. But it lasted the rest of high school. And community college. And the 2 years at a regular university for my bachelor’s. And a year and a half of graduate school. And I have used it at least a few times a year for business trips since. And it’s still perfectly useable, it’s just a bit ratty and faded now. © THEREALCABEZAGRANDE / Reddit

4. Socks

Socks are one piece of clothing that every person wears from birth. If the socks are low-quality, your feet may start to sweat which is not only unpleasant, but also dangerous: fungal infections can quickly develop in moist conditions.

• Cheap socks are usually made of polyester or some other terrible material. This cheap material is usually why the socks are so cheap. When you wear these socks, your feet always stay moist and they start to smell really fast. Also, these are the best conditions for fungus to develop... A long time ago, I realized that being cheap on your health is the worst thing you can do. The more expensive your socks are, the better materials are that were used to produce them. © Constantin Koshkin / “Yandex Q”

5. Beauty products

Don’t be cheap when buying any beauty products, but also, there is no point in going to extremes and buying $500 creams. When choosing a product, pay attention to the active ingredients in it: rare and expensive ingredients can’t be cheap. Sometimes, it is better to pay more for one good cream than buy a lot of bad ones.

• You only have one face for the entirety of your life, you’ll thank yourself for investing in it when you’re in your 40s. For the record, I’m 22, I work in the beauty industry, and both of my former bosses do not look their age because they take good care of their skin. © blonde98 / Reddit

6. Blind spot mirror

Safety on the road depends on how good you are as a driver, and you have to be able to see 100% of the road. Unfortunately, some cars have blind spots — the area around the car that drivers can’t see from their seats. Even if the mirrors are all set correctly, there still might be some blind spots, so you need additional mirrors.

• My instructor taught me to check mirrors and look over my shoulder for the blind spots. But you can buy blindspot mirrors as well, which I’ve found helpful. © kkou_78 / Reddit

7. Sunglasses

Sunglasses are supposed to protect your eyes from UV light. Some manufacturers try to make cheap glasses, so they use regular glass instead of UV filters. This is not only useless, but also harmful — when covered with a dark lens, our pupils open and the retina gets exposed to UV light, destroying it. Despite the cost of the sunglasses, always check to see if they have UV filters. And if they don’t, it’s better to just not buy them.

• Classic black sunglasses, polarized. Looks good with any outfit, protects your eyes, and lets you stare at people without looking like a creep. © mecawilson / Reddit

8. DVR

A DVR is a very important thing to have in your car. With it, you’ll always be able (we hope you won’t need to) to prove that you were right in a car accident.

• I was driving behind a car at a moderate speed. At a pedestrian crossing, a 14-year-old boy runs out into the road and bumps into the side of the car. He said his arm hurt terribly. A woman runs out of a supermarket, screaming that this boy was hit by the car. I said that I saw everything and that I could be a witness. The boy’s grandmother was yelling and said she was going to call the police, but when she found out I had a DVR in my car and that the driver was 100% not guilty, the supermarket woman disappeared, and the boy’s arm healed instantly. © taw86 / Pikabu

9. Light-blocking curtains for the bedroom

At first thought, light-blocking curtains don’t seem to be the most important thing for your house. But in reality, they are quite important. Melatonin is produced in darkness, and even a little bit of light lowers its levels. You can use a sleep mask (which is not very comfortable because it might slip off) or you can buy special curtains and forget about this problem once and for all.

• Light-blocking curtains are just too dangerous. Without the sun to rouse me, I’ll easily sleep for 12 hours straight, through alarms, through people talking to me, through kids jumping on me and, one time, through an earthquake. © Cthuglhife / Reddit
• I got them when I had to work the third shift for a few months. I will never go back. They truly live up to their name. No matter how bright it is outside, it’s like 2 AM on a moonless night in my bedroom. © silentjay01 / Reddit

10. Pillow

A pillow is something you come into contact with every day. Your productivity depends on how well you sleep, so be smart about the pillow you use.

• I spent a full quarter-century of my life with pillows that were basically cardboard slabs, I thought it was normal to have to stack 4 or 5 to actually support my head. Finally, I bought a really nice pillow for my birthday a few years ago, and it was revolutionary. © MrXitel / Reddit
• Same, I got a $100 (I think) weirdly-shaped memory foam pillow more than 10 years ago. I had terrible morning headaches from the regular pillows I used, so I decided to try. It took time (maybe 2 weeks) to get used to it, but I haven’t been able to sleep on anything else ever since. © alteredxenon / Reddit

11. Hair dye

Cheap hair dyes may just not do a good job dying your hair and, according to some studies, it may increase your risk of cancer. Before you buy hair dye, pay attention to the ingredients used in it. It is better to pay extra money to avoid health risks.

• I really think salon dyes look so much better. My stylist tries to use a color that will blend well with my roots so I don’t have to go in as often. © Lanazing / Reddit

What things are you okay with spending a lot of money on? And what can you easily be cheap on? Tell us in the comment section below!