Kiplinger’s The Best vs. The Bargains

Kiplinger Magazine’s The Best Vs. The Bargains

Kiplinger is a big name in the financial world.  So you know the recession is still going on strong when they publish a cover story about Gold Standards vs. “Value Options.”

The feature offers up the top of the line in Restaurants to Technology to Financial Services, and those are then stacked up against more wallet friendly options.  And like this Affordable Men’s Style website that you’re reading, Kiplinger’s makes a key distinction.  There’s a critical difference between maximizing your money, and being plain old cheap.  Quality is still an absolute necessity.

For Dappered, we could easily find you a cheaper shirt, watch, or pair of shoes at Walmart.  But why buy it if you wouldn’t want to wear it?  Same philosophy with this list from Kiplinger’s.  They’re not comparing a Yugo to a Mercedes.  It’s a savvy list for a smart consumer.  Here’s our favorites:

BEST vs. BARGAINS – CARS:  Lexus RX 350 – $39,000 VS. Ford Edge – $32,000

Not only is the Edge made by the one American Automaker that didn’t take a bailout, it just plain looks better.  If you live in a city but need 4-Wheel Drive Capability for bad weather conditions (who wants to go skiing?) the Edge gives you better looks in a less expensive package.
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BEST vs. BARGAINS – LAPTOPS:  Macbook – $1000 VS.  HP Pavillion –  $600

There’s a huge segment of the population that swears by their Macs.  And that’s great.  I’m just not sure what a Macbook is going to do noticeably better than an HP Pavillion for the average web surfing, word processing, excel spreadsheet using consumer.  $400 is a lot of money to sway an undecided.  Color us biased, but the HP Pavilion has been pretty good to Dappered.com.
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BEST vs. BARGAINS – WINE: Chateau Leoville ’06 – $55 VS. Casa Lapostolle Cab. ’07 – $19

Like computers, I don’t know what a $55 bottle of red is going to do for the average consumer compared to a $19 bottle.  If you drink wine often, you probably have a good idea that a $55 bottle is going to be way more complex, deep, and an all around experience.  But a $19 bottle won’t make you feel too guilty when you open it on a random Thursday night.  The world needs great under $25/bottle (and good under $10/bottle) wine.  It keeps the work week tolerable.

Want more?  Click here for the Entire List of Best vs. Bargains.  Including Travel, Investments, and Real Estate.
Want Even more?  Click Here for the Podcast about how the story all came together.