Posted by Lending Club :: September 23, 2008 @ 6:35 am

Change may be the only constant, but along with change, higher costs often come along for the ride. Resisting change may allow you to save money.

As anyone who has ever purchased consumer electronics can tell you, the longer you wait, the less expensive the products become. The cost of the top of the line model may continually rise, but often nowhere near as fast as the features of the most basic model. Paying a few thousand dollars for the greatest computer available may seem like a smart idea, but knowing that the same one will sell for a few hundred dollars in a year or two may cause you to reconsider.

When we already have a solution to meet a current need, there's really no reason to change until it makes economic sense to do so. I have an older friend who still uses her film camera. She does so because it works just fine for her, she doesn't have to deal with ordering prints online, and she doesn't currently own a computer. So for her, switching to a more modern picture-taking method would cost a significant amount of money. She might reconsider her position if she had a computer, or if she needed to replace her current camera, but until that time she'll continue with the method that has worked for years. Add in the time she would have to invest to learn how to use a digital camera (versus her simple point-and-click) and you can imagine that it may be quite some time before she makes the transition.

At some point, the value of a new item will start to outweigh the cost. Increases in efficiency of newer technologies and rising costs of legacy methods may both factor in. But until you reach that point, you'll be better off continuing to do things as you've always done.