We have discovered a great way to save money. Researching, but never buying.

The joke around our house is that my husband spent so much time researching backyard play sets, our daughter outgrew them before we ever purchased one.

Have you any idea how much money all that researching saved us?

We put off siding the house for something like three years, while he researched.

Television? Research. Garage door? Research. Research. A new tree? Research. Research. Research.

The tree was supposed to be my birthday present last year. No tree. Then my Mother’s Day present. Still no tree. Then this year’s birthday present.

Finally, a tree! A white-flowering serviceberry.

Worth the wait, the resident researcher tells me.

And I believe him.

Our daughter, now 10, caught on early to all this information-gathering. “Where’s your

Dad?” I’ll ask her, as I walk through the back door.

“He’s upstairs ‘researching’ something,” she’ll reply, raising her fingers in air quotes.

Indeed, the “researching” usually is done at the upstairs computer.

But when the real, real researching begins, some legwork often is required and even the U. S. Postal Service gets involved, delivering those all-important brochures, etc.

And the result –I almost hate to admit this because I have been known to lose patience during the process –usually pays off, if we ever get around to actually buying anything.

Then again I, too, have researched potential purchases online. And, like many people, I find myself getting caught up in all the information out there –including the customer reviews. At least until I come across the one that begins: “I haven’t actually bought this product but ”

Besides researching things to death, there’s another approach to shopping that also saves money. It’s called being too fussy, and that’s where I shine.

For the last few years, for example, I have thought about adding a couple rockers to the front porch. These would replace the non-rocking chairs out there that are moderately comfortable – but only for brief sitting periods. They also require frequent paint touch-ups.

As for the replacement rockers, they had to be classic. They had to be comfortable. And they had to be black (preferably not painted by me; I’ve done enough chair painting).

That’s all I asked.

So this year and last, I decided to test-drive a few. Before long, there was that whole Goldilocks thing going on. One porch rocker felt too big. Another, just not right. One was too expensive. Another looked too cheap.

I even found myself inviting other shoppers to take a seat. Total strangers!

“Will you please sit in this and tell me if you think it’s comfortable?” I’d ask politely.

Most obliged. Only one ran the other way.

In the end, I decided to keep the chairs we have. After all, they have been on that porch for the last 20 years. They can sit there for another 20.

Unless some new “research” turns up –convincing me otherwise.