One day, I was emptying the dish drying rack and putting away the dishes when my hand slipped. I was holding my glass tea kettle with a tea infuser attachment and it hit the bottom of my Vitamix container. The tea kettle broke! I was so sad. I loved that tea kettle and I even got it on sale!
I tried to justify continuing to use the broken tea kettle because the crack was thin and only an inch long. However, I knew it would be a matter of time before it got worse. I threw the glass tea kettle away, but I kept the stainless steel infuser just in case I could find a mug narrow enough to still use the infuser to make fresh herbal tea.
The good news is, I found a coffee mug I already owned that was small enough to set the infuser inside. This allowed me to infuse my herbs to make herbal tea, without the herbs escaping the infuser and floating in the cup. That’s a huge win because I still get my fresh tea without spending the money to replace the kettle. The only difference is I brewed 2-3 cups of tea at a time in the kettle, but now I just brew one cup at a time. But, even that isn’t that big of a deal. I usually only wanted 1 cup of tea at a time anyway. Plus, it takes up less space.
I share this story with you because sometimes we are tempted to run out and replace broken things. For example, whenever my kids accidentally break one of their toys, their first question is “Mommy get a new one?” Oftentimes, I find that to be my standard response as well. However, I challenge you to rethink that response.
Instead of immediately replacing broken items, wait 3-7 days to see if you really miss it. If you find that it feels essential, then replace it. This may seem challenging at first because we are conditioned to need and accumulate more. Therefore, I highly recommend reading, “The Minimalist Home” by Joshua Becker. This book has helped me to transform how I think about the items I “need” and recognize I can do more with less. This book will transform how you view your stuff.
Also, see if you can take the functional pieces of the broken item and still use it. That’ll help you to save money by not replacing the item. For example, just as I decided to only use the stainless steel infuser insert, maybe the broken item is functional and safe enough where you can keep it (or fix it) or just pick the most essential part and use that. Of course, this won’t work all the time for all items, but who knows what you will discover. The biggest thing is to reprogram your mindset to think, “How can I save first instead of replacing first?”
Please leave a comment to let me know how you think this will help you to save money.