No matter how tight money is, what do you absolutely refuse to skimp on when you go to the grocery store?
For me, it’s Charmin Plus with aloe, even at almost $4 per package. I’m so accustomed to it that anything else tends to irritate my skin.
I refuse to skimp on tipping at restuarants. I always give 20% (unless they spill scalding coffee in my lap). I think it’s part guilt that I never worked as a waitress. Plus, they get paid crap. I also try to tip in cash so they don’t have to declare it on their taxes.
Nice bread - I just can’t eat the cheap, pre-sliced stuff.
Real butter - margarine and spreads make me feel ill.
Real coffee - 'cos instant’s just beans that’ve been cremated.
Think I’m a bit of a food snob, actually.
“You’re never poor enough to buy cheap clothing.” Especially shoes. It pays to save up and buy good quality.
Some have already been mentioned:
Good Bread: the only prepackaged kind I buy is from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. The rest I buy from the Farmers’ Market or The Belvedere Market (I forget the name of the baker therein).
Butter: margarine and cheap butter are not allowed in my house.
Shoes: why buy cheap shoes?
Clothes: they don’t have to be designer label but I’m not buying our clothes from Wal*Mart, JC Penny, Sears, etc.
Orange Juice: most concentrated brands taste bad to me.
Chocolate
Cheese: we buy ours from the local cheese shops, Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.
Cordless telephones: we learned that one the hard way. The cheap ones are cheap for a reason.
Wine
Furniture
Flatwear
Eyeglass frames
Hoisery: although I avoid pantyhose like the plague, the few times I wear them, they’re a damn fine pair. Few things ruin an outfit like cheap hoisery.
Greeting Cards
Hmmm… Upon preview, maybe I should have just listed things on which I do skimp!
Coffee - always got good coffee, no matter how poor, except when I was at my most utterly poverty-stricken, when I couldn’t even afford food…
I absolutely will not buy generic Velveeta cheese.
I absolutely will not buy cheap toilet paper.
I absolutely will NOT buy any tissue besides Puff’s Plus.
I won’t buy cheap pickles. I like the kind with the little Stork on the bottle that are sold from the refridgerated section of the grocery store. I think it’s Vlasic Dill or something like that.
I won’t buy the cheap brand of milk. I like Prarie Farms 2%.
If I buy hot dogs, they HAVE to be Oscar Meyer Cheese Hotdogs.
I’ll skimp on most other grocery products, but not those!
Clothing and toilet paper.
Kitty litter
Cheese
Tomato Sauce
Underwear
Toothpaste
Clothes
Perfume
Toilet paper
Face products
Meat
Cheap toilet paper. God, I hate cheap toilet paper. I can’t decide if the rough stuff or the single ply is the worst.
Shoes. I will gladly shell out $100 for a set of decent shoes. I spend all that time walking around and cheap shoes just kill my feet.
I was always told… Buy the best, you’re never sorry…
Macaroni and Cheese
Hot Dogs
Lunch Meat
Dog Food
Butter (I will not ever ever ever put that margarine crap on my food)
Meat - as in steaks, chops, etc.
Frozen Pizzas
Pizza Sauces
Don’t laugh at me.
I can’t bring myself to buy store-brand Tylenol. I know it’s the same but if something goes wrong, I want to be national news, not “in other news 83 people have died from contaminated Safeway acetaminophen.”
My wife, however, happily pops Target-brand Advil. That’s just not right.
Butter all the way
Bread- although it depends on the sandwich to be made. I prefer gummy Wonder Bread when having a PBJ. Pure nostaglia. The otherwise bakery purchased 8-grain or honey oatmeal just do not work with PBJ.
Bubble Bath. Must have good bubbles.
Cap’n Crunch. No generics. shudder
TP- I’m not a TP snob, but Scott Sandpaper singleply found only in the worst gas stations… just can’t do.
Nail Polish. OPI preferred, none of that “Quick Dry” stuff.
Cat food/Cat litter.
Shoes
Beer
whiskey
Tools
Food in general
I’m not laughing at you Missy, I’m laughing at Flanders. Tylenol - now that is comedy!
Ice cream - imitation vanilla ice cream is a horror.
Cat Food- Only the best for our babies.
Ketchup- Must be Heinz. What can I say? I grew up in Pittsburgh.
Meat- My dad owns a meat production plant. I am not allowed to buy cheap grocery store meat. We live too far away to get my dad’s stuff, but I have specific instructions on what to/not to buy.
Shampoo- My hair is finicky.
Make-up- I am NOT putting generic anything on my face.
Cigarettes- We want the best cancer money can buy. :rolleyes:
Orange Juice- Only the organic stuff. Actually, I’m the same with fruits and veggies too.
Laundry detergent- I have to have the “free and clear” kind. Everything else makes me itch.
Macaroni and Cheese (Kraft or Velveeta only)
Toliet Paper (from the looks of things here, I’m surprised that the cheap stuff even sells!)
Cat Food (only Nutro for my babies…they even turn their noses up at IAMS now)
Cat Litter