What do you spare no expense with?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Sure you may buy the cheapest kind of x or get whatever y is on sale…but what do you never cheapen out on? What are you willing to pay more or even a lot more for to get a better product of?

This topic was made a few months/years ago and I really enjoyed reading it, although at the time, it was too late to add any more replies.

So here it is again. What do you buy the best quality of? Pens? Cigars? Shoes? Sunglasses? What is/are your product(s) that you want to get the best of and pay top dollar for?
For me it’s ice cream. I don’t eat ice cream very often, but when I do it’s always Ben and Jerry’s in those little pints. Sure they’re usually 3.49 to 4.19 EACH, but I don’t care. I don’t mind paying more for that quality of ice cream. I’ll usually buy them in twos and every two weeks. People always ask me why I want to waste the money on them (since I buy them even when they’re not on sale) and I simply reply “because to me, it’s worth it”.

What’s worth it to you? What do you not cheapen out on? Light bulbs? Books? Heck, spaghetti sauce? It can literally be anything.

2

Same here. Get it it so rarely that I always get the good stuff. But I must confess that it’s usually when the ice cream goes on sale that I decide to indulge.

Otherwise it’s books and miniatures that get my guilt-free dollars.

3

Gasoline. I really have no idea (other than the vaguest) what kind of fuel economy my car gets. Since it’s a Japanese market car that was supposedly built for higher RON Japanese fuel, and I also drive the piss out of it, it probably isn’t very good. I always buy the most premium fuel available and hope for the best. Gas prices at other locations? No idea - they never print the price for premium on the big signs, so I never find out unless I actually go in. I just use the gas station by the grocery store because I get a little rebate I use for the groceries.

4

I have a few… not surprisingly, they all revolve around food. :slight_smile:

Cat Food: My cats seem to be sensitive to what’s in their food, and cheap cat food = litter box stink of death.
Chocolate: Better to drop the money on gourmet chocolate and savour it one little piece at a time than woof down a $1.00 bar from the corner store that tastes like wax and sugar.
Pasta: Yes, you can taste the difference. I usually fork over cash for obscure import brands at the local Italian market. As far as mass market goes, De Cecco will do in a pinch, but anything cheaper might as well be soggy cardboard.

5

Toilet paper. I am as cheap as cheap can be but I always buy my 20-pack of Cotonelle Double Roll regardless if it’s on sale or not.

6

Personally, I like my ice cream homemade, so I can tweak the flavor to my exact liking.

Let’s see. Things I’m willing to spend for the best?

  1. Computer monitors. I’m going to stare at this damned thing for many, many long hours. I don’t want eyestrain. I’ll leave out options on the computer itself and buy a cheaper printer so I can afford a really good screen.

  2. Beer. If the only beers available are Coors, Michelob, and Anheuser-Busch products, I simply won’t drink beer. I want the good craft-brewed ales (and a few lagers, like Octoberfest styles), and I’m willing to pay for them.

  3. Tools. I don’t want to replace my tools every year. I still have power tools my father bought in the 1960s. He bought top quality stuff and so do I.

7

Condoms–I mean really, who wants to be known as a cheapskate there. You both might as well get the best that you can.

SSG Schwartz

8

Not to mention that a lifetime supply of expensive condoms is STILL cheaper than the cost of raising a kid. :stuck_out_tongue:

9

Toilet paper. Give me Northern Quilted or give me death. (I used to be a Charmin girl, but the husband claimed it was “too soft”. “Too soft”? Toilet paper too soft? Does not compute!)

Spaghetti sauce, for very quick meals. For very quick meals, I jazz up bottled sauce with some onions and spices, but not so much that any old sauce will do; it has to be fairly good stuff. For longer-prep meals, I add meat and stuff, and so I can go down to Prego level for that - it needs a lot more fiddling to hide all that sugar they put into it.

One third of the diapers. Most of the day, any old brand on sale will do, but for overnight, it’s gotta be Pampers or Huggies. The others all leak overnight, and that’s been true since about size 2. So we’ve got “daytime” and a “nighttime” stacks of diapers in the drawer.

Nail polish. Kiss makes $1.99 nail polish, but you get what you pay for. Far more chips and wear than the $9 Maybelline stuff. Og help me if Target ever starts stocking OPI!

Silverware. Okay, I’m not “spare no expense”, but I’m over the thrift/dollar store silverware stage of my life. Oenida or Royal Albert or something that costs more than $2 a place setting - although I get it at Tuesday Morning or some similar discount store. Life’s too short to endure crappy tableware.

10

Yes on ice cream and beer (when I used to drink).

I buy exactly what I want for my aquarium-keeping hobby. I learned that it is too expensive to try to save a few buck buying something less expensive, and then immediately regretting that I hadn’t bought exactly what I wanted. I also have some pretty heavy duty brass fittings, valves, etc. Sucks to lose a couple hundred bucks worth of fish when a $2 plastic piece fails. And 50 gallons would make too much of a mess to take any risk.

Same goes with just about any non-recurring expenditure of - say - $100 or more. Like a camera, or TV. There is nothing worse than spending a good chunk of change, and immediately regretting not buying the next model up which you really would have been satisfied with for years.

And when on vacation, I overbudget, and spend what I want. Even if you try to cheap it, travel is expensive. So I budget enough extra that I can stay in the hotel I want, with the view I want, eat where I want, travel at my convenience, etc.

11

Bedding. Be it the $3k mattress we just finished paying off, or the $100 pillows or the $300 sheets every single one of those things is worth whatever it costs. Without a good nights sleep, life is meaningless.

I’ll second tools, no point in buying cheap tools. Cheap tools do a cheap job.

12

Razor blades. Store-brand blades feel like they are on the 3rd or 4th shave even when brand-spankin’ new.

13

Education. Between undergrad and law school, I’m going to be something like $175,000 in debt when I get my JD. I could have gone to a much, much cheaper law school than the one I’m at - but I see no sense at all in wasting three years of my life on a “good enough” law school. As it is, I’m getting a top-notch legal education, with great profs, very cool students and in a city I love. I don’t care that I’m going to be paying all this off until the day I retire - it’s still worth every single penny.

14

Plumbing: No sense in trying to be cheap here. I’ll let the walls fall in before I try to live with bad plumbing.

Tools: Good tools are about the cheapest thing you can buy. They’ll outlive your grandchildren.

Vacation: I prefer to go to places that are comparatively low-cost. But once I’m where I’m going, I don’t hold back.

Car repair: I take it to the dealer. I’ve had enough nightmares due to lousy mechanics and bad parts that I’ve learned to go to someone who knows what they’re doing.

15

Tools. Good quality tools pay for themselves.

Tires, brakes, windshield wipers. I’ll drive a complete rust bucket, but I will be able to see and stop in any weather.

16

Beer. I’m sorry, but I can’t choke down the pisswater that passes for beer here in the United States, so I always get a dark German or Irish stout, porter, or double-bock when it’s available. When it’s not, Sam Adams (or if I get really lucky, He’brew: The Chosen Beer :D) is one of the few American beers that can stand up to imported quality. Magic Hat will do in a pinch.

A confession, though: I love Natty Boh, which is probably the cheapest beer in existence, and only available in the Baltimore area. :wink:

17

I hate buying just about anything that falls apart, so I’ll pay quite a bit for quality if I need it. I actually consider this trait to be part of my cheapness, though. Stuff isn’t very cheap if I’m constantly throwing it away and buying new!

So: I have quality backpacks, purses, wallets, shoes that I know will see a lot of wear (I shelled out good money for a pair each of versatile brown and black heels), bras, makeup, spices, pots and pans, etc etc. I hate stuff that breaks or doesn’t work well, although my spice habit isn’t practical, but it sure makes things much tastier.

I had a cheapo table-top ironing board that was constantly getting screwed up and was a pain to work on. I said “fuck this, my husband is in law school, I’m going to go to law school, I need a good ironing board” and forked over $70 for a well built and sturdy full size ironing board. I didn’t have a problem with it because I knew I would probably have it the rest of my life.

Also, as many others have said: beer. Although I have been known to slum it (Tecate being my slum beer of choice - sue me, I’m getting in touch with my inner Jim Morrison), my fridge is usually stocked with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, or the Mr. prefers Paulaner hefeweizen. Oddly, you can sometimes score a party keg of the hefeweizen at BevMo for the cost of a party keg of freakin’ Coors.

18

Gosh, I’d have to say almost everything. I’m really trying to put a lot more thought into what I buy and only buy fewer quality items and avoid plastic, made in China stuff whenever possible.

Food: No cheap processed stuff, only real ingredients and nothing with corn syrup. That means the expensive ice cream, chocolate, etc. but it’s worth it. (although I like cheap beer just fine)

Shoes, clothing, handbags: I’m buying a few pairs expensive, hand-made shoes that I can wear for years as opposed to many pairs of cheaper shoes. Same for clothes tho’ there are exceptions. A good wool skirt will fit better, look nicer longer, and hold it’s shape compared to a cheap one.

Make-up: Quality make-up does it’s job efficiently so you use less; cheap make-up is usually less pigmented and needs a heavier hand.

Tools: Like other’s have mentioned. If I’m gonna make the investment, I’m going to get decent quality from a good manufacturer.

Building materials: Real wood, no crappy particle board or plastic. Since my house is small, I can afford to use quality materials when I replace something and not cheap out.

Shelves, organizers: No more crappy plastic bins from Wal-Mart. If I need something like that, I’m gonna get a quality version that will last, even if it’s three times as much.

Basically, I’ve decided that it’s better to spend a bit more on the front end than deal with constant repairs, inconvenience, or replacement down the road. And since there are reviews on almost everything now, it’s easy to find good products.

19

The last time we did this, it was because of something that I said: guns. Pay a little more for the more reputable stuff and you’ll very rarely be sorry.

20

Here’s kinda another one. When our kids were really young, we made the conscious decision that any money spent on books and music was money well spent. Made things easier, because just about all such purchases are really luxuries, and books and music can be quite pricey. But there were plenty of other areas in which to economize.