When it’s OK not to get what you Paid For

How do you know when it’s OK not to get what you paid for?

You know what it’s like when you buy something you have high hopes for, but it ends up disappointing you. And then it’s so annoying when you realize you just wasted your money.

Getting what I paid for

I like getting my money’s worth, and too many times I end up making a tough decision. Do I carry on with this product that I’m unhappy with or do I cut my losses and give it the old heave ho.

I hate it when I don’t get what I paid for!

Say I buy a movie for $10 because I liked the trailers or maybe I read a good review. About 10 minutes in I realize the movie’s a stinker and I don’t like it. Maybe I have to give the movie a little more time before it gets up and running. A few minutes later the movie still stinks. I’ve spent $10 on this lousy film. Do I get my money’s worth and keep watching it till the end, or do I say I’m not going to waste any more time on this sucker?

What if I bought a bag of microwave popcorn and it burned. Do I eat it anyway to get my dollar’s worth or do I chuck it in the garbage?

Ah, the dilemma of a frugal person!

Stinker books versus good books

This happens to me a lot when it comes to books. I love reading. I average a book a week. Some books I catch for free when the author/publisher is running a deal. This is usually to attract new readers who will buy more books the author has written.

That marketing strategy works! I’ve found some really good books I’ve enjoyed reading and I buy more from the same author.

I also love catching a book when it drops in price to .99¢ probably for the same reason as above, to attract new readers.

On the flip side I hate buying a book (or anything else) for full price only to see it go on sale at a later date. Ah, if I’d only known I’d have waited to buy.

Sometimes I’ve got caught up reading bad books. My definition of bad could be that the topic doesn’t interest me, the storyline isn’t something I’m interested in, it’s boring, or it’s badly written.

Halloween Cozy Mystery Boxed Set

I talk about it a bit in this post where I’d bought a A Haunting Homicide – Halloween Cozy Mystery Boxed Set on sale for .99¢, again something a publisher does to bring a collection of 4 different authors as a trial offer for new readers who will hopefully buy more in the series. In this case it didn’t work. The first book was full of unlikable characters. The 2^nd book was OK but didn’t pack much punch. The 3^rd book in the set was the best, but still not something I’d buy more in the series to read. The 4^th book topic didn’t appeal to me at all and I quit reading a short way in. So here I am determined to get my money’s worth and drag my way through reading all these novels. It took me about 2 months to read the 3 and begin the 4^th. I guess I’m a slow learner, but I finally cut my losses!

An Oceanside Cozy Mystery Series

Ironically in the above post, I talk about another boxed set I’d purchased and was looking forward to reading: Culinary Cozy Murder Compilation 1: Books 1-5 of An Oceanside Cozy Mystery Series. I managed to snap it up on sale for .99¢ knowing I’d like this one about donut shop owners in Florida who solve mysteries. What’s not to love about Florida and donuts? I didn’t get too far into the first novel when it was clear this series wasn’t going to be my thing. The author Susan Gillard’s writing style is dialogue driven. Tell not show. I prefer novels where the writer shows and doesn’t tell what’s going on through speech. The novel was all about conversations the characters were having and talking about the action, what was going on, what they were doing, what they were seeing. Now obviously there are readers who love this style of writing, but it’s not for me. I cut my losses and stopped reading.

I need to do that more often! Cut my losses and move on. It’s OK not to get what I paid for.

Oral-B Braun replacement toothbrush heads

A recent example is my Braun electric toothbrush. I needed to buy more toothbrushes.

Normally Braun toothbrushes are round but I found a package that were shaped more like a traditional toothbrush with deep sweep triple cleaning action, excellent for getting into all the nooks and crannies on your teeth. I don’t remember what it cost, probably around $20 give or take $5.

When the day came to change out my old toothbrush, I put on one of the new Braun brushes – and I didn’t like it. I knew the brush was bigger than the traditional round brushes, but what I didn’t know was going to happen was toothpaste spittle would go flying everywhere: on my sink, on my mirror, down my arm, into my hair.

Yikes! What a mess!

Maybe I just need to figure out how to get this new style toothbrush under control, but after 4 or 5 days of awkward brushing, I knew I couldn’t continue. I was in London Drugs and bought a pack of 5 of the traditional looking Braun toothbrushes for $25, marked down from $39 I think.

At least I’m happy I didn’t pay full price. I love it when something I need to buy is on sale.

Does this happen to you?

How do you make sure you get your money’s worth?

How long does it take to make a decision that it’s not worth getting your money’s worth to tough it out?

When is it OK not to get what you paid for?

Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on May 14, 2018.