Ask the Readers: What Expensive Purchases Have You Made That Saved You Money?

Good question. I've made several purchases recently that I expect to save money, such as Energy Star washer, dishwasher, and refrigerator, but for most of them I don't have calculations that prove the result. In other words, they haven't yet paid for themselves through lower operating costs, but I hope they will. Only time will tell if they do. The one big purchase that is definitely saving us money is our new house. We bought a much newer house in a significantly less expensive area. We sold our old house for a profit and were able to pay cash for the new one. As a result, we are saving $26,000 a year in house payments. Our property tax is also lower. And because the new house is built to be more energy efficient (double paned windows, insulation), our gas/electricity costs less than half what we used to pay.

We plan on building a home gym to help us exercise more and keep motivates. Sometimes when it's cold or we're lazy we don't want to leave the house. I think that will save us money in the long term by not spending on a gym membership or classes.

Another good investment is a sewing machine, if you're into sewing at all. And a few sets of stainless steel lunch boxes to better store our food in the freezer and minimize waste, and also to curb our eating out as much as possible (just get the box from the fridge and get on the road, without stopping at the first restaurant to grab a bite).

I chipped the ECU in my Audi to increase the efficiency of my turbo. Prior to chipping the car it was getting around 20MPG and afterwards I can consistently get 28MPG with the same exact driving style.

As long as I don't go mashing around maxing out the turbo my mileage is perpetually improved. Best $600 I ever spent! FYI, I'm the guy you're yelling at, that is driving in the slow lane hyper-miling

Gutter for my home ($1500)! I purchased a home built in 1880 a couple of years ago. It appeared there may or may not have been some water damage in the basement, but the home had been completely renovated and was like-new otherwise. However, the seller claimed that, "Gutters were not in the architectural plan." Sure enough, within 1 month of owning the home, we had a bit of water in the basement. I decided to bite the bullet and spend the $1500 to install gutters, and we have hardly had any water in the basement since, saving me a lot of money over the long term.

Thats easy...my Blendtec blender. I paid almost $400 for it but I save everyday on coffee drinks, smoothies, and drinks that I would normally pay $4-5 for. I used to burn out a blender every year but not this one, so it pays for itself very fast.

Prior to summer, I purchased a variable-speed pool pump. This pump uses only the electricity required to keep the pool well filtered, no more. It also has a built in timer so I can take advantage of lower electricity rates by running it more at night than during the day. My pool has been just as clean, and my electricity bills lower!

Replacing the old furnace in our home and adding more ductwork to improve air airflow was costly, but has resulted in hugely reduced heating oil bills. Even sticking to heating oil (vs. switching to other fuel sources that can be more efficient) we've seen significant savings over the past two winters.

Thats Easy. My Kindle 3, while not horribly expensive, has already paid for itself many times over. I am an avid reader and with the high availability of free books I have literally saved hundreds of dollars over the last two years that I have owned it. Plus I have found several great new authors that I enjoy.

My most expensive purchases are a newer car, energy saving curtains and energy saving power strips to use throughout the whole house!

I bought an expensive blender and it helps me save money on my groceries and food when going out. We never buy milkshakes anymore (and we used to pay $4 each for one!) and I can use it to save money on powdered sugar (just blend regular sugar) and tons more stuff that I make with that instead of buying.

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A playstation 3 so we could cut the cable bill and use the net streaming over 4 years ago. Best decision ever.

We bought a Prius 4 years ago, and calculate that we have saved thousands of dollars on gas!

I would not say it is expensive, but I bought a Sushezi sushi maker on Amazon for less than $20, and it has saved me that much many times over. Sushi is very expensive, no matter where you go, and when you're vegetarian, it's really silly to spend that much money on what is basically rice, seaweed and avocado. And I really LOVE my avocado sushi. I now bring sushi to family gatherings (much to the amazement and awe of my mother).

how expensive something seems, is relative to income. buying a $20 blender (the best one i could afford) might not seem expensive to other people. however it was a very large purchase for me (so large that i took weeks picking out the right one). it saved me money within 2 days because coconut butter is soooooooo much cheaper to make at home and i needed to make coconut treats for a party. the coconut butter i would have had to buy would have been easily $30, but instead i only had to spend $24 total including the blender by making it at home ($4 worth of coconut flakes and $20 for the blender).

I purchased a treadmill so that I can work out at home instead of paying a monthly gym membership! Saves me time and money!

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When my fiancee and I purchased our new home we installed a tankless water heater. We have a 1400 sq ft 3/2 home and live in Florida (so the water doesn't have to heat very much at all) - our energy bills are rarely over $100/month in the summer when we have the AC running all day, and are usually $30-50 in the "winter" when we don't heat or cool the house. The few thousand dollars for the water heater and plumbing/electrical installation has already paid for itself and we will NEVER run out of hot water, no matter how much laundry we wash, dishes we do or showers we take!

Hm, I can think of a lot of purchases that have saved me money over the years. Two big ones that stand out are:

(1) My bicycle-great for getting around town (to save on T-fares!), entertainment, and fitness
(2) My kindle-I don't really ever spend money on kindle books, but I do use my kindle to take out library books all the time. It saves me time (no need to get to the library to pick up and return) and money.

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When my old refrigerator and my freezer bit the dust, I replaced both with smaller but more energy efficient models.

We bought a FoodSaver. At this house, we call it The Super-Duper-Super-Sucker! We shop the sales and can divide items out like a pork loin into individual packages that will stay fresh in the freezer. Also, we make sauces and soups up and freeze those in bags. Also, it has attachments for the mason jars so I can dehydrate my own herbs, etc and they keep so much longer than if they were just in a jar. It works great on rice, lentils and beans. And to boot, you can purchase the FoodSaver wine stoppers! We've tried a lot of different systems and this is the best that I've found for keeping an open bottle of wine drinkable for a few days....DEFINITELY a great money saver!

There are a lot of great ideas listed....I really like the Kindle suggestion: it makes perfect sense for an avid reader.

I finally bought my first car, since it was used I've had to replace and fix quite a few things on it, but I've tried to purchase really quality parts instead of the cheapest ones so that they will last a lot longer. I'm lucky to have a lot of handy friends who are sometimes able to do the repairs for me. Also I found a really good mechanic which has saved me a lot of money. I make sure to make them homemade baked goods to keep them happy :)

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a set of iron cast cookware for $150....they actually get better as you use them....they last a lifetime and they are extremely cheap relative to the high-end stainless-steel pans...i'm able to cook more meals at home and ultimately avoid dining out

My smart phone! We don't have internet access because I just use my phone 95 percent of the time and tether my laptop to the phone if I really need computer access.

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My house! It was an expensive purchase when I was first married, but now it's value has increased and I couldn't rent something comparable for I pay on the monthly mortgage, even when taxes & insurance are included. It's a long-term investment.

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My fiancee' developed a case of recurring gastritis that landed her in the emergency room in a great deal of stomach pain. The hospital charged us close to $1000 in the end, since insurance didn't cover everything, plus we had to spend $100s on the meds that claim to resolve the issues.

So we bought a masticating Omega juicer for about $250 and became vegan together. The cost of fresh organic fruit/veggies is higher than our typical grocery costs prior to juicing, but staying away from the hospital: priceless. If we keep this up, we won't have to go to the doctor or ER when we know we can go to the farm-acy (what we call our local farm market lol) to find a healthier, natural alternative. Also, her gastritis has subsided...and apparently a lot of health issues I didn't even know I had have totally disappeared. I'm confident saying that the investment will save us tons of cash for the rest of our lives :)

I didn't have much choice, but an entire new heatpump system for my townhouse. Old one was dying fast (25 years old) and winter was coming on quickly, so I had to do something.

My father works for an HVAC company so I got the equipment and labor at a little bit less than I'd expected, at least, but in the ensuing year when power rates in my area went UP, my own bill went DOWN because of the sheer number of kWH I save now!

Plus, the HVAC got me a tax deduction because of its energy rating.

About a year ago, DH and I bought an old house that we still love. We were immediately shocked by the electric bills so we invested in upgrades to the HVAC system that included adding an electric heat pump that is now coupled to our natural gas furnace (since the EHP is inefficient and expensive below about 30 degrees F, and in SD that is the higher than the high temp for most of January and February). The HVAC service company that did the work was running a special on high quality Lennox units so we spent a little more money on the better brand and got a much more efficient unit. We've also been careful to replace all of the (very) old appliances in the house with energy star appliances.

Big purchase I made that saved me money was my house. I bought it last May when the price was pretty low. Bought it for $260K and when I checked the estimated price recently on Zillow, it went up to $270K. Paying bit more than renting, but I have luxury of more space and less noise from neighbors. Good investment.

Three years ago I bought an amplified indoor antenna for $40 thru amazon for my HDTV. It was paid for within the first 2 months (I used to get dish). One of the best money saving purchases I made!

My laptop has always helped me find deals and coupons across the web. I have always considered it a good investment!

I purchased a carpet shampooer. Compared to paying out to have a company come every time we had a potty training accident, I'd say I saved a bundle.

The best expensive purchase I've made so far was a bread maker machine! Not only do I know what I'm feeding my family (no preservatives) but I am able to freeze up the bread for anytime we'd like to have it. The whole house smells divine when it's baking!

Easy: For the past 25 years I've always purchased Honda Accords. I've driven them all over the country and have yet to experience any problem whatsoever. Toyotas are excellent and usually top-rated, but in my estimation you just can't beat Honda automobiles for quality, efficiency and reliability. Just be sure to make oil and filter changes about every 7,500 miles (not the money-wasting 3,000-miles that are no longer needed) and you'll save plenty of money on maintenance. If Honda quit making cars, I'd buy Toyotas.

I think my 'expensive purchase' was the biggest purchase I have made and that would be when I bought my house. I had been living in an apartment since I left home and pinched my pennies for a while and bought my house when I was 22. I looked around for a while and finally found my home sweet home. Now, a few years later I pay less for my 4/2 house than what I was paying for my 1/1 apartment. It was definitely worth the big down payment I put on the house!

We just purchased a "new" home that lowered our mortgage by more than $43,000--a savings of $270 per month!

We purchased a Cuisinart Food Processor 6 years ago-it's still going strong and I use it almost every day--make bread dough in it, hummus, chop veggies, make salad dressings, etc. etc. Saved us so much money because we eat out much less because our homemade food tastes gourmet and takes so little time to make!!