Consumer Product’s Just Noticeable Difference

January 7, 2009 by Chelsea
Filed under Frugality

3174853279_ab6715a52f_m Consumer Products Just Noticeable Difference In high school psychology I learned about the term “just noticeable difference” or “differential threshold”. To paraphrase, this is the smallest measurement where your senses can detect a difference in light, sound, touch, etc.

This term, doesn’t only apply to psychology, but can also help your family budget. If you seek to find the “just noticeable difference” in the least amount of product it takes to still be effective, you can help stretch your budget.

Be aware that in order to more effectively market and sell their products, many companies suggest using more product than is necessary. This is especially true in laundry detergents. I have found that my clothes are still clean even if I don’t go near the suggested cap fill line.

Try an experiment in your household. Cut back a little on the amount of laundry soap, dishwasher detergent, shampoo, toothpaste and other consumables you use and see if you notice a difference. If not then cut back a little more and continue doing this until you find the minimum amount you can use before it affects the product’s performance.

Two products that I can think of that are easy to reduce consumption of are shampoo and dryer sheets. To extend your shampoo simply skip the “repeat” step listed on the bottle. To make your dryer sheets last longer, use only half a sheet in each load of laundry.

There are many other products you can reduce your usage of and save. Just think the next time when you’re using a product “Do I really need to use this much or will less do?”