Value—(noun) relative worth, merit, or importance

Bargain—(noun) an advantageous purchase, esp. one acquired at less than the usual cost.

When you make a purchase, it’s easy to get excited about finding a great bargain.  You find something at a cut-rate price and it’s hard not to be enticed.  But a great bargain is not the same thing as a great value.  If something is valuable, it is important and worth something to you.  A great value is infinitely better for your financial well-being than a great bargain.  For example, think about two pairs of jeans.  One pair was purchased on sale for only $8.  They don’t fit quite perfectly, but the price was right, so you bought them anyway.  You wear them a few times (let’s say four times), but they’re not terribly comfortable, so they find their way to the back of the closet, where they stay until your next trip to Goodwill.  The second pair of jeans was purchased at full price for $80.  It was a splurge, but they look and feel great on you.  You wear them twice a week for two years until they finally are so battered you know you shouldn’t wear them in public any more (and then you continue to wear them at home anyway).  Which pair of jeans was the better deal?  The first pair of jeans was a great bargain, but the second pair of jeans was a great value.  The bargain jeans ended up costing you $2 per wear.  The value jeans ended up costing less than 40 cents per wear, even though they were quite pricey to start.  It’s easy to see which was really the better deal.

So, when you are making a purchase, be careful not to consider only price.  Think about value.  Something that will ultimately provide great value to you may in fact be worth a higher purchase price.