Buy one set of pans.

The blog is not really about making lists of all the things you can do to save a penny here and there, the internet is a vast resource for that sort of advice, however, there is a trend in our consumer driven society that encourages waste, so I thought I'd catalog a few concepts based on what my mum and dad did that made perfect financial sense.

The first being that you only ever need one set of pans.

Apply this thinking to a lot of things in life. If you buy a quality set of pans, good guage stainless steel, good lids and good handles, then you should never have to buy another. Then add the advice of our Scottish member, Jimmy; "buy great pans, but buy them at the best price". As I said, apply this concept to other things, but use your noggin about what is "best" for you, don't listen to the system, listen to your financial mind.

Common sense again? - well, don't forget that it's not just parents that "teach" you common sense, in a consumer driven society the system has a hand in educating you and a lot of that valuable information is the very information you should ignore.

As an example, why buy one mop (like mother did) and use it for ten years, when you can go out and buy a "Swiffer" every two months. Mother quietly went about using that simple mopping device without "educating" the kids that it was all you need, and now, with TV and the constant onslaught of media, young adults are being told to "throw that old fashioned thing away" and get the new, convenient, easy Swiffer.

Well, I don't know about you, but to me, mopping is mopping and I'd rather buy a quality, sturdy, "old fashioned" ten dollar mop that will amortize out at a dollar a year for the next ten years, than a fragile eight dollar Swiffer, that besides needing replacing in two years, needs "convenient" refils every month or so.

It's not better because they tell you it is.

The same is true with the pans especially if the only reason you're going to buy a particular set is because Jamie Oliver endorses them as pucker. In addition, for reasons known to themselves, the big retail stores like Sears tend to occasionally offer these valuable eight hundred dollar pan sets, to the shoppers, at seventy five percent off, that is you only pay two hundred bucks.

A great deal?

You should take your time, as with all things that affect your long term financial health, do your research and due diligence and then buy once and forever at the best possible price.