What To Invest In And What Not To Invest In

Your body

Everything related to your body is worth your time. From eating clean food to investing a little bit extra on your night moisturizer. Whatever helps you is good.

You are your own responsibility, and as much as it sounds like an undeniable fact, I am surprised at how many people decide to leave their whole existence in the hands of poor diets and absolute lack of knowledge just to seek advice from poorly informed people and miracle diets in order to fix, in just a few weeks, years of neglecting. 

Your whole body, in its material and emotional way, is the machine that will help you go through life, achieve goals, move and most importantly, stay alive. A few weeks ago I read humans are the only species that, despite knowing that certain habits are healthy and positive, feel contradicted by a collective of motivation, willpower and impulses that leads us to not follow them. It’s natural to give in a few times, but making sure those days don’t become habits is what will make a difference in the long term.

 

Your mind

Your mind is a part of your body, but I thought it deserved a specific category. You should learn through any way you like, from books to niche Youtube channels, movies, courses… The good thing is, whatever you choose, it probably will only require Internet access, so it doesn’t have a be a painful financial investment.

Simply remember to contribute some time towards it!

Quality clothes if necessary

Shoes always! If there is something you need to invest in your wardrobe is your footwear. And I don’t mean getting the ultimate Marc Jacobs stilettos, but finding the right, conformable and suitable shoes to hold your body during the day. We spend a large amount of time on top of our shoes and our feet are the spine of our overall posture and physical health. Take care of them!

 

 

If you live in a cold area, you probably need to invest in a good coat and a few high-quality sweaters. For those who remain in a place with mild weather, you probably won’t need to splurge in high-quality fabrics  (unless you feel happy investing in them).

A pan

“A good pan is the cure for all evil”

Kiira Smith, blogger from Chats With My Cat

 

There is nothing worse when you are cooking than having 30% of your food stuck in the old frying pan. If you are willing to cook almost every day, investing in a good tool will make your life so much better. And the good news is that you only need one! If you treat it carefully and clean it with proper sponge that doesn’t destroy the material, it can last forever!

 

Save your money in…

Kitchen tools

Apart from the lifesaver Pan that I mentioned before, you should think twice before spending a ton of money in other fancy kitchen appliances. Play it safe and cheap with those innovative ones you have decided to start using for the first time, but you are still not sure if you will be using them every day.

 

 

Unless the kitchen and food industry is one of your passions, having waffle makers, expensive shakers and barbecue tongs could have a very short life before you get tired of them and store them back for good. Some others like apple peelers, mugs and dishes can be found at extremely affordable prices and they will keep doing their job (holding food or liquids) perfectly fine for a long time. 

Decoration items

Cushions are lovely. They are visual cosy vibes for your eyes and also make some amazing Instagram pictures.

But they can also be very expensive, and not extremely useful when it comes to basic needs. As well as pillows and other decoration items, we love them and enjoy thinking about bringing them home. 

 

 

Don’t take this wrong. If you bought your own house and have enough money to invest in high-quality decoration pieces, go for it! It’s important to feel comfortable in your own home and a few accessories can make a cold, empty place look chic and warm.

However, as the name indicates, an accessory for your home is something that is not essential. You can also find those items at a fairly lower price in certain stores.

Branded Foods

First, read the ingredients, and you will be surprised! Many popular food brands use awful ingredients with addictive effects in their foods that, far from being good for you, they increase your cravings to their product. That way, you continue buying it.

Some generic brands, on the other side, do use fewer and cleaner ingredients for their own “version” and the change is totally worth for your health as well as for your wallet. So don’t forget to always read the ingredients before buying the fancy-looking version!

Socks

Puma socks or H&M?

I speak only by personal experience when I say that there is a minimal difference, and that difference doesn’t make it worth it!

I’ve had cheap socks, expensive socks, average socks. It doesn’t matter, they will disappear in your washing machine. It’s faith, it’s destiny, so don’t put too much money into them. My personal tip? Get them all black, that way you will have an easier time pairing them.

Scarfs and other accessories

Keep it minimal!

Colours like black, white and grey are suitable for almost every outfit. You probably don’t need 5 different pairs of gloves and, unless you live in a very cold city, you don’t need to spend too much money on a brand new scarf. When I was a teenager, I had at least four pairs of gloves. I just love winter clothes…but at the time, the weather where I lived was too warm for them to be worn for more than 1 month a year. And the funny part is that I would always end up using the same pair, which was the softest and cutest one.

The same goes for bags, my old white bag would get blue spots from the physical contact with my jeans, but I also had a black one with coloured balls hanging that gave it a hippy look and a glamorous tiny one that couldn’t even store my huge wallet. And finally, a black one that looked perfect with everything.

 

 

I ended up abandoning all of them but the black bag. Now I have a big one that I can use every time I need to bring my computer with me and a smaller one for everyday use.

Bottled water

Back at home, my parents would always buy bottled water. That’s a tradition I continued doing after leaving my home. Until next year, I wasn’t completely aware of how much extra money bottled water was taking away from me.

Bottled water is a real necessity in many countries and cities, but fortunately not in my current city. Hard water doesn’t usually taste as good the bottled version but, unless you are prone to having kidney stones, you can survive with tap water, saving you a ton of money at the end of the month!