Tips for the Acquisition of Kitchen Gadgets & Appliances Thoughtful tips related to the purchase of appliances and other gadgets.

  1. Ask yourself: How am I already doing the job this appliance does? Do I have a solution? Look around your kitchen for the beauty of multi-use products that save money and space.
  2. If you are new to appliance buying, talk to your friends and your mom and her friends about their equipment. Ask them about brand, quality, how often they use it, how long they’ve had it. Take what they say into consideration before you lay out your hard-earned money.
  3. What about mechanical solutions? A food mill, for instance costs €35.- and solves your passier-problems for a lifetime. [^1 ] Do you really need a blender that costs €120.- and lasts, with luck, 5-7 years? In other words: If there is a mechanical solution, start there.
  4. Ask yourself: Why do I need this item that I want? My rule of thumb requires me to to articulate at least three reasons why my purchase will make my life better than the peace of mind that comes from a savings account. Be sure to question the validity of list items like it will make my friends jealous, or my mother/sister/best friend has one, I need one too, and especially I must have it to make homemade croissants, a Buche de Noél or Baked Alaska. (Little handheld torch, I’m looking at you).
  5. Now that you’ve done your need-vs-want research, choose and buy the very best quality you can afford.
  6. I know this is unpopular advice, but save until you can pay cash for the item you have chosen. This is great for slowing down purchasing behaviour and allowing you time to think just once more about what need-vs-want. 1
  7. Finally, if it’s not broken don’t replace it. And if it is broken, see if you can fix it first. A lot of times you can. 2

Footnotes

  1. Don’t lose heart while saving, my friend. Try instead to revel in the prickle of anticipation. Remember that anticipation, given time, is capable of converting a world-class flirt into a twenty-five year marriage. Harness the power, Reader… ↩

  2. When a manufacturer makes it impossible to repair an appliance, this is never an accident and always the result of engineering and product design decisions. When that happens, I think it’s fair to draw the conclusion that the manufacturer is more interested in their bottom line than in the quality and long-term usefulness of their product for their customer. That’s when you also know for sure the real-life attitude of a company towards sustainability and environmental issues. An attitude their advertising department won’t dwell on. That, in itself is valuable information should you decide to replace the appliance… Or not. ↩