Confession: I pay for products that make my life easier

I once confessed that I pay full price for things. And, yes, even with leaving my full-time job, I still do that, although on a much smaller scale (in fact, I’m on a use-everything-I-have-before-I-buy-new-unless-it’s-crucial kick). But there’s been something weighing on me lately that I also need to confess to you: I buy convenience products that make my life so much easier. And usually, I don’t use coupons to buy them.

I know. Shame on me for not exercising every frugal bone in my body. Especially now that our income is lower. But now that I work at home and take care of my child full-time, I’m a lot more pressed for time than I used to be (yes, I’m still trying to figure that one out, too) and there are certain products that save me even a few precious moments (and make my life way easier). Products like:

• Venus spa breeze razor. Have you seen this? It’s a razor with the shaving cream built into the blades!!! I freaking love this thing. It means I don’t have to mess with shaving cream and spend time fighting with the shower so the shaving cream stays on my legs instead of running off and down the drain before I have a chance to get to it. I can’t believe how much time, energy and disgusting, messy shaving cream I’ve wasted. Thank you, Venus people. I don’t care that your razor blades cost over $10 for 4. I will buy them.
• Pods. Not the kind from Cocoon or Invasion of the Body Snatchers but the kind that you use for your washing machine. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, they’re basically little packets of laundry detergent that dissolve in the wash while your clothes are being cleaned. You pick one up, toss it in with the clothes and that’s it. No fighting, measuring, or spilling detergent everywhere. No sticky mess in the detergent cup or on top of the washing machine (yes, I realize that that sounds really pornographic. But I swear that’s not what I meant). And now that I know these are available in dye and scent-free? Sign me up.
• RedBox. Although we have the Netflix streaming edition, the movie selection is rather subpar, particularly for newer movies. Enter RedBox. We have kiosks located conveniently in our supermarket and a drugstore that is on my husband’s walking/running route so, if we want a movie, I reserve it online via the app on my phone and one of us picks it up. It’s a really cheap date night or a really good way to give myself an hour and a half of time to think while I park my child in front of a movie (yes, I do that. Don’t judge me). It’s absolutely worth the $1.09 or whatever it is for a movie (or Wii game. Because they do that now).
• My iDevices. I am kind of madly in love with both my iPhone and my iPad. They both allow me to perform a variety of tasks that, under different circumstances, might be a bit cumbersome. For instance, sometimes when I’m driving with the child, I unexpectedly get stuck in traffic (or lost in Manhattan. That’s another story) and her behavior starts to get…unpleasant. When she’s exhausted all of her non-electronic entertainment,  I can put on a playlist of songs on my iPhone, or let her use one of her interactive books or games on the iPad to keep her from driving me insane getting bored. It’s also nice to be able to do some work while she’s at swimming lessons or some other activity where I’m required to be present but can’t participate. I’m sure I could survive without them but really? I don’t want to.

So there you have it. Products that I will continue to pay for as long as I can for no other reason than they make my life easier.

Readers, I know I’m not the only one who does this. What are some of your “I’m paying for this and I don’t care” products?