There are those that claim there is a real difference between beet sugar and cane sugar for baking, which apparently does vary with brand ( some lower-end ones use beet sugar ).
There are also those that claim that while any cane sugar is fine, brown sugars do supposedly vary in quality.
I’m agnostic on the above, since I don’t bake. But apparently you can find advocates for anything :).
Basmati rice, on the other hand, seems to improve with age.
He was a cheapskate compared to the estimable Mr. Thain, final CEO of Merrill Lynch.
Thain suggested to the directors that he receive a bonus in 2008 of as much as $10 million, because he “saved Merrill” by selling it off to Bank of America. After the compensation committee at Merrill refused the request, Thain reportedly dropped it on December 8, 2008.
It was revealed on January 22, 2009 that Thain spent $1.22 million of corporate funds in early 2008 to renovate two conference rooms, a reception area, and his office, spending $131,000 for area rugs, $68,000 for an antique credenza, $87,000 for guest chairs, $35,115 for a gold-plated commode on legs, and $1,100 for a wastebasket. Thain subsequently apologized for his lapse in judgment, and reimbursed the company in full for the costs.
*
Thain accelerated approximately $4 billion in bonus payment to employees at Merrill just prior to the close of the deal with Bank of America.
*
Much more eloquent than what I was going to say, Amateur Barbarian.
I was going to point out the difference between the cheap version of something and the inexpensive version of something. I’m reminded of the old saying “you can’t afford to be poor.” Which basically means that buying the cheap version of something will likely cost you more in the long run.
Having some experience with Ryobi, I say it’s utter crap - I needed a circular saw for a 4 month period while broke - I bought a Ryobi. It was trash within a month.
I much prefer plain old French’s yellow mustard to any of that fancy Grey Poupon and such. That other stuff is okay, and I do buy it but only so I won’t end up growing tired of French’s regular, which I would if I used it exclusively. But French’s yellow is damned good mustard.
EDIT: I also prefer Log Cabin and Aunt Jemimah’s pancake syrups over any of those more expensive Canadian and Vermont offerings.
From my car experience, never skimp on brakes or tires, but a lot of the other stuff does not have to be top of the line. If the car is pretty worn out already, why pay for a lifetime-warranty muffler?
Faddish items. If I expect to wear a clothing item a lot, or can see the style will last for years, I’m willing to pay more. But I go cheap with summer casual stuff because next year, most of it will change.
Most garden plants. Cheap is good, even if Home Depot mistreated it. The trick here is to be sure you know the growing requirements of the plant before you buy. Places like Home Depot and WalMart are likely to carry plants that don’t survive very well in your climate.
Books, I always check out the library sales and the used bookstores before heading to the Amazon site. Sometimes you even find valuable gems with autographs in them.
re tires, I stand advised! Thank you! I’ll bite the bullet and invest more wisely next time.
And, of course, when you get to Amazon, used books are often available and usually pretty cheap. What do I care if the dust-jacket is torn, or missing? What do I care if the spine is worn? As long as all the pages are there, and somebody’s kid hasn’t been at it with crayons, used books are fine!
But the words are all old and stale!
Perhaps at a chemical level they’re all the same, but they may have a different texture. I recently bought store-brand sugar and it has much larger granules than the name-brand. That doesn’t make a difference if you’re baking with it, but you may notice the difference if you eat the sugar as-is, like on a grapefruit or something like that. The name-brand has smoother and more consistent granules and it feels better on your tongue. Whether that’s worth the extra cost is up to you.
Cheap white rice is about $0.35/lb while basmati is closer to $1.50. I know Sams club has a 20 lb bag for about $1/lb but personally I don’t like the taste of their brand.
The lower GI and better taste is worth it though. Jasmine is also great and cheaper (but has a much higher GI).
Plastic and styrofoam cups aren’t any different when you get the cheapest. Toothpicks either. However plastic silverware and paper plates have a quality difference between cheap and higher cost.
Certain sodas (root beer, orange, fruit flavored, etc) are just as good cheap as the more expensive brands. However cheap soda is never as good as coke or pepsi.
generic OTC drugs (usually). Some have lower concentrations of active ingredients but most are the same.
Cheap razors are much better than the expensive ones.
Sorry but I have to disagree with this. In my 40+ years in the auto repair business I have seen hundreds if not thousands of car problems that can be directly traced to inferior fuel.
Google Top Tier fuel. Also consider this. Chevron does not sell fuel in Michigan. The big three all truck Chevron in from Tenn. for use in their emission certifications.
There are very few sugar refineries in the US, and I assure you that they do not vary crystal size when they pack product.
I go fullmetaljacket cheap and root cuttings from plants I or my friends/neighbors already own.
For whatever reason, my store brand sugar is coarser than the name brand.
They may not do it intentionally, but they can vary steps in the process which ends up producing different results. It could be that they run the line faster to produce the cheaper sugar or something like that. So maybe things aren’t stirred as long or heated as long to save money and it ends up producing larger granules.
Do you have any idea how many varieties of commercial food good there are - without varying the base product in the slightest?
Cargill makes something like 54 varieties of salt - pure, plain NaCl. It comes in highly controlled variants of size, clump and crystal shape, and each has its purposes in food production or table use. Varying the type slightly can have a big effect on a finished food good - e.g., fluffy flakes might blend better than hard grains, or vice versa, depending on the exact nature of the process and product.
So the idea that sugar mills produce one and only one specific kind of granulated sugar is probably wrong. There are two or three kinds on any grocery story shelf, just as there are for salt… given the nature of sugar in food production, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were as many or more varieties produced for the industry. It’s entirely possible that lower-tier “granulated sugar” is different from Domino’s first-shelf brand for many reasons, including lower production cost or getting rid of excess stock of a “grind” that’s somewhat different from the usual consumer product. (That is, the producer might have a few tons of overstock in a larger-grain or other variant sugar, and package it as the generic brand that week. Next week it might be finer grains, or even a flaked variety… whatever they can get out the door at the lowest cost. It’s all sugar, no one’s being cheated or fooled… but the variations are there.)
Which is one reason careful cooks, and even slightly careful bakers, weigh instead of measure.
I’ve yet to find a cordless drill yet that I couldnt get at least a couple weeks worth out of. The issue usually is the batteries which always go bad over time and they often cost about $25 a piece.
For example this 18 v. cordless drill, cost $39.99. These 2 batteries for a 18 v Dewalt cost $67.55 or $33 a piece.
Now if I’m a contractor and use my Dewalt everyday that is the best value. But for only occasional use or working on a single project the HF will work out.
But its interesting that even Dewalt has its cheaper line.
Plus quite frankly, what good is a tool if its lost or stolen? I used to be a stickler on insisting on only Klein tools, then I’d lose them and say WTH and buy cheap.
I have a Black & Decker cordless drill, and couldn’t get it to charge. So I ran down to Home Depot to buy a replacement battery… which was $4 less than a new drill. So I bought a new drill instead. Then I got home and realized it wasn’t charging because the breaker that controlled the outlet was tripped.
So I returned the other drill. It occurs to me that the original drill has lasted something like six years, though.
Yes, the pricing strategy is pretty much “buy two batteries, get a free tool.” I’ve given away three or four good cordless drills with one pretty-good battery because the other had failed and it wasn’t worth 50-80% of the cost of a new drill to buy a replacement. (The better, contractor-grade tools tend to be a higher proportion of value; it’s the light-duty consumer stuff where the tool is a prize in the bottom of the battery box. But buying a $40 battery for a 4-5 year old tool with worn bearings, chucks and casing when a new one is less than $80-90 is a hard choice to make.)
I am proud to say I have never, ever done any such thing, and I stand on my reputation as the biggest liar in three counties. 