I love a good deal as much as any other Goodr-clad, middle-aged mom out there, but there are some cheap things I just won’t fork over any amount of money for. They just end up being too expensive.

Three “Cheap” Things That End up Being Too Expensive

High-Stakes Repairs: We recently had a leaky faucet. Since we’ve had a few basic YouTube-assisted home repairs under our belt, I stuck my head in the cabinets, and looked back and forth between the plumbing fixtures and the video. After multiple rounds of pausing and backing that thing up, I put the tools away and called the pros. If I’d carried on with my DIY repair, I ran the risk of doing more damage and ending up in the same place, but with a more expensive job. If the repair were lower stakes (i.e. not involving something like water or electricity), I might’ve endured a little longer. I’m just not gonna mess around with a repair that could turn our kitchen into a swimming pool or our house into the clock tower from Back to The Future. 

Low-Quality Products: I am very familiar with the allure of a deal, but it can be deceptive sometimes. For example, there’s a whole industry around fast fashion that is built to wear for Instagram one week and replace the next. But a little experience has served me well in this way and I’m much quicker to spend a premium for a product that will remain in my wardrobe for a few years and be the first I reach for every time I do laundry. That goes for clothes, home appliances, cars, and more. You’re just not gonna find me hanging out at many clearance racks anymore. They’re just too expensive.

One-Star Services: Have you ever hired the cheapest company and had to bring someone else in to redo the job when the work is subpar? I hear about it all the time. I don’t care how good the quality is of an iPhone camera, for example. If you don’t have a skilled operator behind it, you’re not going to get a professional-looking result. I promise you won’t be happy with the result if you hire an event videographer who has an expensive camera but puts as much care into their composition as your Aunt Janet puts into her Facebook posts. Sometimes, a premium service is worth setting aside the budget for. Counterintuitively, it could end up saving you money in the long run because you get it done right the first time.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that sometimes the “cheap” option turns out to be quite expensive after all. In what areas have you found this to be true? Do you agree with my top picks? What would you add to the list?

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Early this week, a lightning storm caused a power outage in our area just as we were getting ready to eat dinner. We lit the candles, made a game of it with the kids, and tried to keep our refrigerator closed as much as possible. We endured a restless, sticky night without AC or fans and by morning, the novelty had worn off. We were just wishing hard for a hot cup of coffee and some refreshing air to flow through the vents. Our kids gave a big “Our lights can work!” celebration when we heard the devices ding and the HVAC system kick on around 8:15 AM.

It was a muggy morning from the nights’ storm and the temperatures were climbing. As I drove through my neighborhood shortly after, I was rerouted by the crew that had likely just fixed our power lines. They were working on the next downed line. They didn’t have the luxury of waiting for cooler temps. There were other families like ours, hoping the power would come back on before they were forced to make a random lunch of burgers, biscuits, and açaí bowls from their thawing freezers. I felt for them and it also made me hope the power company was taking its responsibility to protect them seriously.

Record-breaking heat waves are hitting Texas and beyond and there is just so much outdoor work that has to happen anyway. Unfortunately, heat-related illnesses are dangerous to all of us. It can land even the youngest and strongest members of that crew in the hospital with very little warning. If your company requires workers to be outdoors, you are responsible for providing adequate protections and preventing the conditions that cause heat stroke rather than only thinking about worker safety after something goes wrong.

As we head into the hottest months of summer, it’s a good time to talk about workplace safety. While your workers’ health is a good enough reason to take extra measures, addressing safety risks can also prevent fines and lawsuits.

Worker Safety in Extreme Heat

Protecting workers—especially those who spend extended time outdoors—requires a little extra forethought and attention. Staying compliant with OSHA’s guidelines on Occupational Heat Exposure  prevents workers from getting preventable heat related illnesses. And of course that comes with a major bonus: keeping your workers from missing work and you from getting fined. Ensure worker safety so neither you nor your employees end up paying the price.

Proactive measures include getting all of your shade and hydration stations set up in the relative cool of the morning and instituting mandatory breaks with plenty of hydration. Stick to those breaks regardless of your schedule.

An on-site manager should be trained to monitor the heat index as well as the associated risks and to watch for and recognize symptoms of heat exhaustion. According to the Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration (OSHA), “Persons suffering from heat exhaustion might have cool, moist skin; sweat heavily; or complain of headache, nausea or lightheadedness.”

Bottom Line

I suspect the power company was getting a lot of calls and feeling the pressure of their consumers who’d endured a long night without power. Still, watching out for their workers’ safety has to be top priority. It’s not just about staying compliant with the letter of the law, but about truly doing right by the workers. Even if you can push them a little further to get the job done faster, it’s worth going above and beyond to provide a safe environment.

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