When is it Good to Pay Extra?

When you go shopping, is there a brand you absolutely love and feel you cannot live without? Then do you get a coupon for a competitor brand and decide to give it a try? How does this usually turn out?

For me, there are two possible outcomes – either I fall in love with the new product and I “convert.” Or else I HATE the new product but feel obligated to use it up before I go back to my favorite. 

A perfect example is toothpaste. You can probably find a coupon for new toothpaste any day of the week. I did this once, and bought up 2 tubes of a new brand with a fancy-sounding flavor. I now know why it was on super-sale – it tasted like perfume. Cheap perfume.

 Sigh. So, buying that toothpaste saved me money, but it cost me a few weeks worth of getting a mouthful of gross flavor. 

The trick is: buy in bulk. In this situation, I learned it’s best to stick with my favorite brand, paying extra when it’s not on sale, but stocking up when it is!