# Things it ISN'T OK to go cheap on: **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565 "2007-05-10T17:34:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/61 "2007-05-11T10:26:51Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] Don’t get a cheap one [/QUOTE] Way to un-hijack the thread. Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/62 "2007-05-11T10:38:09Z")
How do I put this without seeming to be a smartarse? Americans, I _like_ you guys. I do. But seeing people write a list like… GUNS TOILET PAPER …is just surreal. This is NOT an anti-gun post. Reading that stuff actually made me smile. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/63 "2007-05-11T11:37:15Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] GUNS TOILET PAPER …is just surreal. [/QUOTE] Well, you see, they’re both on the same aisle at the Wal-Mart, just across from the Bibles, Coca-Cola and Toby Keith CDs. That’s why we tend to think of them together. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/64 "2007-05-11T12:26:32Z")
Brakes ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/65 "2007-05-11T12:34:14Z")
Bourbon Housing (I mean spending the money to be somewhere pleasant) Pet food Pocket knives and multi-tools (I like Gerber brand) Scotch tape All other kinds of tape House paint ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/66 "2007-05-11T12:51:20Z")
pr0n is definitely a product where you get what you pay for. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/67 "2007-05-11T13:05:25Z")
I second (or third?) tools. Running shoes. Pay it now or pay more to the doctor later. 401(k) contributions. pr0n? I’ve never paid for it and can see pretty much whatever I want, whenever I want. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/68 "2007-05-11T13:14:53Z")
backpacking gear. The last thing you want is your boots falling apart, stove not working, tent leaking, etc. A lot of people also buy designer equipment for when they are going out in the wild. That stuff may be great for popping over to wal-mart, but not so great if a blizzard suddenly closes in. Sushi - the cheap stuff is revolting. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/69 "2007-05-11T13:18:24Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Excellent] Education - college and grad/professional school. There are some exceptions, but they’re almost always context-specific - “Yah, it’s a really cheap law school, but all the people working in ‘X’ public-interest field recommended it, and I’ll be working for peanuts, so money’s important.” But in general, the best thing you can do is simply accept that school will toss you far, far into debt for most of your career, and regard your monthly loan payments as the “membership fee” in a job you actually like. The alternative is to “save” money by not going to school, or going to cheap schools, and then ending up bitching and moaning about how little you’re doing with your life. I’m probably going to be well over $100,000 in debt by the time I get my JD - but with a bit of luck, it’s going to be worth it. [/QUOTE] I gotta disagree here. My husband was of the same mindset, and went to Notre Dame, University of Michigan and Northwestern for his various degrees. Now he’s kicking himself because he’s ABD\* and we have an obscene amount of student debt - so much that we simply cannot get a mortgage in an area we need to live to work - and no potential employer gives a rat’s ass what names are on his CV. They just want to know what he’s published and how recently. Perhaps it’s different outside academia - but I’d expect universities to be the snobbiest about which university you attended, you know? \*All But Dissertation - he completed the coursework for his Ph.D. years ago but it still working on the damn dissertation to get the actual degree. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/70 "2007-05-11T13:41:58Z")
Chicken - free range and organic, incomparable to the usual farmed rubbish. (Minimum £10 each ($20) for a small bird, but worth every penny.) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/71 "2007-05-11T14:09:18Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] GUNS TOILET PAPER [/QUOTE] When you hear the SHK-SHK of a shotgun in the dark, toilet paper is a must-have item. ---
**Author:** ![rhythmonly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rhythmonly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhythmonly)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/72 "2007-05-11T14:55:45Z")
Parachutes. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/73 "2007-05-11T16:31:09Z")
[QUOTE=erie774] Prostitutes Lawyers Hmm. Actually those two are interchangeable ‘cause you’re gonna get screwed in either case. [/QUOTE] But you’ll have more more fun with the prostitute! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/74 "2007-05-11T16:42:55Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] But you’ll have more more fun with the prostitute! 😉 [/QUOTE] Of course you will. With a lawyer, the idea is that the more you pay them, the harder they will screw _someone else_ on your behalf. With a prostitute, the pleasure’s all yours. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/75 "2007-05-11T16:58:59Z")
That’s not always true. Sometimes you pay the lawyer to keep someone else from screwing you. When would you pay a prostitute to cockblock you? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/76 "2007-05-11T17:37:13Z")
Eggs. I’m not particularly sensitive to the plight of battery hens, but I do object when the eggs they produce turn out to be more grey than yellow. And I’m a cheapskate on nearly everything else (except bin bags and toilet paper). ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/77 "2007-05-11T23:05:06Z")
Penile implants. I’m just guessin’. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/78 "2007-05-11T23:33:05Z")
Razor blades. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/79 "2007-05-12T00:03:55Z")
Clothes: not expensive, but not the cheapest generally. For something you plan to keep, go with something decent like Lands’ End, it costs twice as much as Target but lasts more than twice as long and feels better. Lands’ End has overstock though which is even as cheap as stuff from discount stores. Chocolate: Again nothing exotic or expensive, but Lindt Excellence (especially the dark) is miles better than standard Hershey’s. Hersey does have a premium line now, which is decent but not quite as good as Lindt. Loudspeakers: Same deal again. A few hundred bucks will get you an amazing pair of bookshelf speakers these days, from PSB, Paradigm, NHT or others. They’re the most important, you can go cheaper on electronics. ---
**Author:** ![Vimp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vimp/32/4186_2.png) [@Vimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vimp)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-it-isnt-ok-to-go-cheap-on/403565/80 "2007-05-12T04:44:49Z")
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