Here in the United States kitchen scales aren't all that common. Which is fine because just about every recipe out there is listed volumetrically. However, if you're serious about your baking, or you want to cook some recipes found in a growing number of cookbooks, you should invest in a high quality kitchen scale. I did, and it has definitely made my baking more consistent over the years.

High quality doesn't necessarily have to mean high price. This scale made by My Weigh, is a mere $32.99 at Amazon — definitely the best price out there. It has a precision of 0.1 oz / 1g, and can display ounces, pounds, grams and kilograms. Most importantly it has a tare function which allows you to weigh each individual ingredient from 0 in a single bowl.

Isn't it about time you brought your baking up to the next level? You might have a hard time finding recipes that will utilize your scale at first, but once you have one, you'll start to notice them everywhere. And even if you don't use it that often, you can use it for other things, like weighing packages and envelopes.