You can get a good return on investment if you replace or upgrade things that annoy the tar out of you.
Container craziness
I've mentioned before that I come from a long line of pack rats. I've gotten better over the years, but old habits die hard!
In between eating more at home because of the pandemic, and starting a weight-loss journey with Noom, we've been eating a lot of leftovers and cutting up a lot of vegetables.
For a number of years, we've had a repurposed diaper-changing station with drawers in our kitchen. It has our coffee equipment supplies on the top and in the side drawers, and our plastic container collection in the wide drawers.
The plastic containers had gotten … unruly. And really annoying.
We had accumulated several sets of semi-disposable sets of Glad, Ziploc, and Rubbermaid containers. Mainly we had Gladware variety packs and Ziploc variety packs – whatever happened to be a deal at Costco at the time.
These were perfectly good containers. They lasted a long time, and we used them a lot. So we don't have anything against the containers.
Having them all in the same area made them prone to get disorganized. And they're similar enough that it took a minute to find a matching lid. Because they were different brands, the lids weren't interchangeable, but they were similar enough in size that it took a few tries to find a matching set.
Doing that dance Every. Dang. Time. was annoying.
A small investment in our sanity
This past weekend I happened on an Ibotta deal for Rubbermaid Easy Find Lids containers. There were two separate deals, and each had a limit of three, so we maxed them both out.
We ended up getting three 24-piece sets and three smaller sets of containers for about $50. Ibotta gave us back $10.50, which was enough to pay for one of the 24-piece sets. #winning
(Side note: Check out this post on how to maximize your cash back with Ibotta!)
As a bonus, when we got them home, the lids were interchangeable with a set of Rubbermaid Flex & Seal containers that my sister had given us some time ago!
We kept a few of the older containers, but most of the old containers got passed on.
Not just experiences that bring happiness
A widely-circulated observation about happiness is that experiences trump possessions in bringing happiness. We adapt to our possessions (they become our new normal and the buzz of happiness dwindles) and it encourages us to compare with others, which often is a losing proposition. Conversely, we can recount our experiences, and others are often more interested in our experiences than what we have.
That's not the whole story, though. Purchases aren't void of happiness, of course, and under certain circumstances, there's evidence that purchases might bring more happiness than experiences.
Roger Ma, a financial planner based out of New York City, explains it this way:
“I like going to nice restaurants and travelling, and I would probably choose those over buying a fancy piece of clothing or bag […] But material goods could in fact add a lot of value to your life on a daily basis than those experiences.”
Roger Ma, CFP
The new Rubbermaid containers we bought don't compare to a Caribbean cruise or a Billy Joel concert. But they're also apples and oranges.
Not fussing with finding matching lids to our containers every time we are putting the leftovers in the refrigerator is … nice.
It has value. It makes us happier.
When to replace things that are annoying
I think it's worth replacing something if it solves a functional annoyance.
If you find yourself fighting with something all the time, and it's an inexpensive fix, then why not? Having fixed the problem, you get to enjoy not fighting with it again, and again, and again!
There may be ways to fix the annoyance without spending money. Or make it less annoying, at least. That works, too.
But spending a bit to get rid of entirely avoidable annoyances is money well spent in my book.
Your turn
What annoyances have you thrown a little bit of money at to make them go away?
Add them in the comments below!
That’s a great post! Sometimes buying something that makes your life better is worth every penny. I had been using headphones that were taped together. I recently bought a new pair of noise canceling headphones and it’s made working at home so much better as it blocks out a lot of the noise from the kids.
Oh wow, that’s a great example!
I may have to consider that for our beagle who likes to bark if the grass blows the wrong way!
Love it. You are right, it doesn’t compare to a Caribbean trip, or won’t bring happiness. But some purchases help save time in our daily lives and save frustration, which I think helps open up opportunity for happiness.
We did an upgrade to the air tight OXO containers for big storage stuff like sugars, flour, rice we buy in bulk, etc. Then we got the Pyrex containers for left over food. It’s so nice not having random mismatched sets of plastic containers.
I’ve heard others rave about the OXO containers. And Pyrex is like an old friend since I grew up with it.
A week or so in and it’s already easier to manage these containers! I’m glad we made the switch!