Granted, I’m only 30 and I probably don’t have the right to say this phrase, but “they just don’t build ‘em like they used to.”

It seems that more and more, in an effort to reduce the cost to the customer, products are becoming more and more inferior. That wasn't the case when I was young...

In 1983, my family bought our very first VCR. It was such a useful invention and needless to say, got PLENTY of use. 15 years later, I took it to college – still in excellent condition and it played tapes perfectly. I’d probably still have it today… if it didn’t fall out of the car while packing (and moving from Iowa) 7 years ago…d’oh!

I believe that somewhere in the past 10 years, manufacturers have realized that people will choose cheaper prices over longevity. A person is much more likely to buy a $40 DVD player made of inferior parts that likely won’t last more than two years, rather than a top-of-the-line state-of-the-art DVD player costing over $200 that will last 20.

I admit it – the wife and I tend to buy things cheap. When we went shopping for a new washer/dryer, we didn’t go for the stainless steel, computer sensor activated ones - we went straight for the cheapies and worked are way up. Our reasoning – why pay $1000 for a washer or dryer, when there’s one that will clean your clothes almost or just as well for $300?

I scoffed at the $200 weed whackers sitting on the shelf when I got my bargained $29 weed whacker. But was upset in just a few weeks because one of the main gears inside was made of a cheap plastic and snapped when I hit a root - making it useless. I guess it’s true that you often get what you pay for…

Now, don’t get me wrong -- when we buy things that are inexpensive, my wife and I are fully aware that we’re not buying durable products and that they may not last as long as the standard.

So, why do we buy them anyway? Hmmm….I guess it’s a simplified version of the stock market to us… If you purchase a cheap product and it breaks right away, you say, “Oh well, at least we didn’t pay too much for it”. However, if you actually get away with it lasting several years, you can say “we beat the system! – we got a great product and didn’t have to waste money!”

Another reason, we buy cheap - if you buy expensive things, you’re more likely to get them repaired by a professional, which can get very expensive. But ask yourself this – how many things have you had repaired in the past 10 years that cost you under $100 to buy? Your microwave? Your vacuum cleaner? Your DVD player?

If you’re like me, you simply threw them out and replaced them. Why? The cost of repairing them greatly exceeds the value of simply buying another one.

When did it become the norm to simply toss something aside when it doesn’t work and replace it rather than trying to fix? We’re becoming a nation of ‘throw aways’, and I’m, sadly, part of it. I do my part to repair things on my own before replacing them (see my last blog). However, saving money is usually much more important to many of us than clogging our local landfills.

So, what are the solutions?

1.) Force companies to stop selling products with inferior parts. Yeah, that won’t happen…
2.) Don’t go cheap. At the same time, don’t waste your money. Find a product that will suit you budget and last a while. (easy, right?) Again, I’m preaching this as a solution, but I have yet to live by it…
3.) Fix it! If you don’t have a professional fix it, see what you can do to repair it before it heads for the landfill. You might be surprised at what you can do!