You can never go back:
- once you have a car with keyless entry.
- once you’ve tried Breyer’s ice cream.
- once you have high-speed internet.
Yes, I’m a food snob. Not so much about whether it’s a national brand as what is has in it and how it’s prepared. Once I had not-from-concentrate OJ, I could never go back.
I love Trader Joe’s. Their fresh-sueezed OJ and grapefruit juice is the nectar of the gods, plus it costs less than Tropicana in the supermarket.
Peanut butter with only peanuts and salt in it.
Cheese that is NOT a national brand. Local stuff can be really yummy! So can foreign stuff.
No national brand for coffee, either. Did I mention I love Trader Joe’s?
Ben & Jerry’s, pretty much any flavor. Breyer’s is good, too, it’s just a separate category.
Sometimes a piece of fruit just calls out to me at the produce stand, or especially at a farmer’s market. Smell is the key. Sometimes I just have to splurge on those just-picked peaches or raspberries.
After you taste fresh basil, you will never use the dried stuff again. I just planted some on my back porch.
Good comfortable shoes are a necessity, what with all the hardware I have in my leg. Otherwise I’m in serious pain.
Can you see I have quite a list? Maybe I’d better stop now, before you all think I’m a hopeless snob. FWIW I couldn’t care less about my brand of paper towels, and I’m happy to buy generic staples (flour, sugar, beans, etc.)
Real bread – fresh out of the oven at the co-op and not pre-sliced. And decent beer.
New Balance Running Shoes
Levi’s 501 Jeans
Real butter
Toilet Paper
Paper Towels
A GREAT psychiatrist or therapist :eek:
Bath & Body Works Antibacterial Hand Soap with Cleansing Beads
Real Perfume
Champion Heavyweight Sweatshirts
Allen Edmund’s Shoes (for my hubby)
Comfortable shoes are worth every penny.
Bra’s that fit are worth it. Nipple position is key here people.
Underpants that don’t wedge, Dear god, name your price and I shall pay. (Jockey’s seem to cover the area nicely.)
And and the really good tissues, Puffs with Aloe, or other moisturizers, whomever invented those, thank you. A box for every cold. The rest of the year we just use TP. ain’t we High Falutin’.
Other than that, I agree on the store brand coffee and chocolate. The rest, don’t bother me none.
Prego spaghetti sauce…everything else is just blleaahh.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned this one;
High Speed Internet Access
I couldn’t live without it.
Campbell’s tomato soup. Never found a house brand that didn’t taste more pastey than tomato.
I’ll pay more for deodorant too, the Suave and whatever else are cheaper just don’t work on me. I’d rather pay more and not stank halfway through the day.
I’ll pay extra for sneakers, because the cheap ones fall apart so much faster that I don’t really save money in the long run. I buy name brands on sale.
I pay more than I absolutely have to for bras, because the $9 walmart ones chafe, and don’t fit right. I usually wait for buy 2 get one free sales or some such, and buy the $20some ones I found at Kaufmann’s that I can barely feel they’re so comfortable.
Acrylic paints. Golden’s cost more than whatever it is Wal-mart sells, but they so much better it isn’t even funny. I may have to stop that though, I’m not sure I can afford it for a while here.
:smack:
As soon as I live somewhere that I can get that, I’ll pay extra for it. I’m moving too soon to get involved in anything with long term contracts though.
I’ll third high-speed internet access.
Good pens. I can’t stand writing with cheap ballpoint pens.
Seeing first-run movies in theaters. I can’t think of the last movie I willingly waited to see on video.
Brand-name ice cream.
I have a strange figure. When I buy dressed, I have to go to Limited. That is the only store that carried dressed that fit me right (I’m 42-30-38). Way more costly, but worth it
Power tools.
When the plastic case of your drill creaks and flexes in your grip.... when the fence won't stay in place on your table saw... when the carbide tips come flying off your saw blades at about a million miles per hour.... you definitely learn to appreciate the higher-quality brands.I love store-brands… if the store brand is Trader Joe’s. 
Their peanut butter is FAR superior to anything else I’ve tried.
Biore shampoo and conditioner are worth the extra. The liters go on sale 2 for $22, and that will last me almost a year.
Also, better quality makeup really goes on easier, and stays in place better, IMO. I like Estee Lauder concealer, and Lancome mascara and eye shadow. I go cheaper on the stuff I won’t use up, like colored eyeshadows or lipsticks. Also, I only purchase OPI nail polish. Sometimes I get tempted by a cheaper, inferior brand, and am always sorry after I put the work into a manicure only to have it chip after two days.
Good tools and kitchen implements are also worth the money. I’ve sworn off buying the cheap crap at Wal-Mart. I want knives that cut, pliers that pinch, blenders that blend, etc.
I also can’t see buying cheap, uncomfortable shoes unless they’re just for very occasional wear. I like Kenneth Coles, DocMartens, Franco Sarto, Cole Haan, and Avias.
Via Spigas. <sigh>
BIRKENSTOCKS… who can live without at least 10 pair in their closet ???
Good lord! What horrible taste in chocolate. Please, try some Swiss or Belgian ones first.
but Cadbury Fruit and Nut Bars are the true ambrosa of the gods!
Lindt
I hope you are being sarcastic.
Gorsnak is right. Lindt is so much better than Cabury’s.
I always have to get the Daisy razor. The cheaper ones are useless. Artificial sweetener has to be either Equal or Splenda or I’ll just wind up using twice as many and not saving money. And Lancome powder is expensive but I have never found a cheaper brand that doesn’t completely suck.