The "Things *Not* to Cheap Out On" Thread

While I like a deal as much as the next person, some things are worth plunking down the extra dough on.

Things like:

-Plastic surgery.

-Q-tips. I loathe the cheapies that unravel upon use and/or bend.

-Dollar store scotch tape. HATE. It doesn't snap off on the dispenser, it stretches. Fuck that shit-spend the extra dollar and save yourself the frustration.

-Tooth picks. Another item to bypass at the Dollar Tree, unless you don't mind picking splinters out of your gums.

-Cheap cheese, especially sliced American. Think "Shurfine" and the like.

-Detergent. My mother is fond of the "Sun" brand. She's ok with having to mix up the detergent with hot water and a spoon in a cup before incorporating into the wash (a must if you want to avoid powdery residue). I'm not. I spring for the better dissolving product.

-Toilet paper.

-Dog food. Granted, most pet foods today are little more than corn and wheat, but the dollar stores' no-name offering is an especially shitty "food" to feed to your pets. My dogs refused to eat it and continued to refuse. Apparently their hunger was not enough to compel to them to eat sawdust in the form of kibble.

-Razors. The yellow disposable Bics are horrible; my shins are *still* sporting scars. Who knew that shaving could be accomplished without a thousand cuts?

Anything else?

Birth control!

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michaela

"A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter." -Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal

Underwear. I just don't trust buying it at a thrift store.

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"Be yourself, no matter what. Some will adore you, and some will hate everything about you, but who cares?

It's your life. Make the most out of it."

When I think "cheap," I'm thinking "poorly made," not "inexpensive," because they're not necessarily the same at all.

So, ditto on the turlet paypah and pet food. Also agree with the shoes. If my feet hurt and aren't happy, the rest of me sure isn't.

I'll add cheap paper towels. I did that once; never again. It took 3 cheapies to equal one good one.

I was raised by Depression-era parents, and on top of that we had very little money. So my parents were able to make a penny stretch a fucking mile. It was ALWAYS off-brand everything, and when those generics with the black and white labels came out (80s?) my mom had a field day. Ugh.

Those practices were ingrained in me, though,to this day. I am always on the hunt for a bargain, like most of us I would guess. However, I think we all draw the line somewhere and have our foods and personal items where only the name brand will do (like the Q-tips and toilet paper mentioned above, which is the same for me). In some cases I actually like the off/store brand better than the national brand, but that's not often.

Some things where I must have a specific brand:

Adams Natural Peanut Butter (Crunchy) - the other "natural" brands just aren't the same
Pepsodent toothpaste
Listerine mouthwash
Playtex tampons

That's all that comes to mind at the moment.

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Shauna's like a gluten-free Jim Jones for dumb, lifeless middle-aged women. I swear, this bitch could set fire to a orphanage and they would applaud her for bringing them light. ~ Miss Hannigan

I'll second cheap paper towels.

Makeup. I know, trivial shit. An eyeliner for $2 might seem awesome, but it is not worth it when I have to re-apply it 15 minutes later. So yes, I will gladly spend $8 or $9 on an eyeliner that doesn't smudge or disappear within an hour.

Shampoo. Generic shampoo sucks, and it's not worth even a buck when I need to use half the bottle in one sitting to get any actual lather going on. I got this crap once from the hospital pharmacy that claims to be as good as Matrix Biolage (which I think is like $15 a bottle). I had to use 3 or 4 handfuls to get any suds in my hair. Note I do not have a lot of hair - about shoulder length. I'd rather spend a couple extra bucks on my new favorite Garnier Fructis shampoo. I get a lot more use out of it because I don't need a whole cup of shampoo per shower.

Baking products. If you can get good brand name ingredients at a low price, then great! But I would not recommend generic flour, sugar, extracts, etc. Anything I've ever baked with store-brand ingredients either tasted like shit or didn't rise or had some other problem with it.

I try to only go to the dollar store for something like wrapping paper or a drink. Sometimes a store brand snack (because it's hard to screw up chocolate-covered peanuts). But I've learned my lesson about buying poorly made cosmetics and bathroom products. If you have to buy stuff from a dollar store, make sure it's a brand-name; Dollar General carries brands besides their own and that's where I get my shampoo from.

Tampons!

Pens

Paper towels and TP

Car parts (and Mechanics)

Sheets, pillow cases, blankets; Cheap = scratchy / harsh / not soft / fall apart.

I don't have any pets presently but I would say pet food - I would want my pets to have good foods.

Pizza

Beer

Cheese - OMG - there's "Imitation Cheese" out there! Gawd only knows what that is.

Men

Friends

Brie is for real. The fat free cheese on the other hand....if I can make it in a chem lab, I ain't eatin' it.

I spend more on pet food than my own. Mine will not get supermarket brands; they get grain free, China free food. Except my kitteh, who inexplicably only eats Fancy Feast.

Cars. I just bought a used car with a high reliability rating, over new ones with lesser. Parts and labor should not be skimped on either.

Clothing. I once had an argument with a coworker about a 50 dollar shirt back in 1991 (Liz Claiborne before she went to shit). She said she bought 3 tank tops in Valde-Mart for 15 bucks. I said my shirt will still be around long after her shirts wear out. It was.

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From a bottle cap message on a Magic Hat #9 beer: Condoms Prevent Minivans
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I want to pick up a bus full of unruly kids and feed them gummi bears and crack, then turn them loose in Hobby Lobby to ransack the place. They will all be wearing T shirts that say "You Could Have Prevented This."

Maxi pads - The store brand doesn't have enough glue and they shift around.

Cream cheese - I brought the generic brand and had to throw it out because it had the consistency of silly putty. I don't even want to know what it tasted like.

I also agree with not buying cheap American cheese. It was also very rubbery and WOULD NOT MELT in the toaster oven. I don't want to know what the hell was in that either.

I also do not recommend buying makeup or food products from the 99 cent store. All the ones by me have products made in China, and I know they do not have the same laws for manufacturing and environmental protection that we do. So who knows what kinds of chemicals are in that stuff. A few years back, there was a massive recall around here on toothpaste made in China because it had something poisonous (that I can't remember) in it.

-Food (except some things)

-Toothbrushes

-Shoes

-MP3 players (bought cheapest one at squallmart and it broke after 5 months)

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navi8orgirl
Except my kitteh, who inexplicably only eats Fancy Feast.

FF is all my 2 girls will eat too. And only specific flavors.

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Clothing. I once had an argument with a coworker about a 50 dollar shirt back in 1991 (Liz Claiborne before she went to shit). She said she bought 3 tank tops in Valde-Mart for 15 bucks. I said my shirt will still be around long after her shirts wear out. It was.

I still have clothes from the 80s - some sweaters and socks. Stuff was built to last back then.

Too bad Liz sucks now - I used to buy lots of her stuff back in the late 90s (along with Jones New York). I especially loved the Emma James line.

Merlin will only eat FF seafoods and only with gravy. He will not touch the pate "classic" line regardless of flavor.

I still have quite a bit of classic Liz and JNY in my closet; Jones still has clothing that trills the scale from golf to work suits. Liz also owned Dana Buchman, another favorite of mine until they sold it to Kohls. Now I am betting I won't be able to sell it on eBay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From a bottle cap message on a Magic Hat #9 beer: Condoms Prevent Minivans
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I want to pick up a bus full of unruly kids and feed them gummi bears and crack, then turn them loose in Hobby Lobby to ransack the place. They will all be wearing T shirts that say "You Could Have Prevented This."

I have a nice Buchman jacket in brown paisley velvet, size 16. Tight in my shoulders. Also had a nice teal cocktail dress in her Luxe line, size 14. silk dupioni. Short but will work on a short torso with killer legs lol. I have a long torso so it kind of rides a bit high in the hemline lol.

Haven't decided on pricing but these were not the cheap Kohls crap.

Perhaps we should have a sales closet in here....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From a bottle cap message on a Magic Hat #9 beer: Condoms Prevent Minivans
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I want to pick up a bus full of unruly kids and feed them gummi bears and crack, then turn them loose in Hobby Lobby to ransack the place. They will all be wearing T shirts that say "You Could Have Prevented This."

Hot tubs. Get a good one and you'll be glad you did when your utility bill comes in. The one I have now is old and not energy efficient at all. It need replaced.

Also, doors, windows, insulation, light bulbs, and large appliances. Get ones that will save energy. They'll eventually pay for themselves in savings.

Good fresh spices; we get ours from a local Indian market. Anise, cumin, turmeric, cayenne...mmm. So fresh and good, and it is fun to go there.

Quality seeds/plants for the garden. There are a lot of less-than-good nurseries out there. Avoid any that have catalogs with drawn color pix instead of photographs OR nurseries in states not the same as/adjacent to yours, with the exception of my favorite, R. H. Shumway's.

Socks. Our strategy is to buy packs and packs of the same kind (black cotton from Meijer's) and we share them. Pairing problems: over; we have 5,000 black socks, end of discussion. Each of us get a little pile of them after each wash.

Fountain pens. There are a lot of shoddy manufacturers out there. Also, choose Noodler's Ink; that is the best, and they have lovely colors.

Eye color: Eyestudio makes a cream eye shadow, "Eye Tattoo," that lasts forever instead of flaking off as powder does in my experience. Lots of pretty colors. It comes in a little pot, applied with a brush. Available at CVS.

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Established tiling methods are for unlambent nonbreathers filled with tiny rage.--CrabCake

Duct tape - The Dollar Store brand doesn't keep it's 'stickiness' so well when used. It tends to loosen.

Olive Oil - No so much cheap, but some of the olive oil cartels over in Italy tend to dilute some of the exported products with other oils. They do this because it's an easy way to make more profits since it creates more 'olive' oil to sell. An easy way to tell if the stuff is real olive oil and not fake? Stick the bottle in the fridge for a day or so. The real stuff solidifies into a sort of goo.* The fake stuff won't. It will stay liquid.

Don't worry, the real stuff turns back to liquid once it's out of the fridge.

Floss.
oh my god, NEVER get cheap floss. It shreds between your teeth, lodges itself up under your gums and causes a major hassle as you have to use a backhoe to try to dig it out for hours. Blood, swollen gums... it's a nightmare.

I second good shoes.
I wear Dansko's for work and I beat the crap out of them but my feet never hurt. If I wear sneakers even one day on the job, when I take them off at the end of the day my feet are aching miserably.

I also second good cars.
When my 1999 BMW finally needed someone who knew cars better than us to take care of it, we sold it to a mechanic friend and I ended up with a 2005 Mazda 3. I felt like I was in a tin can on the roads here in Boston. PS. if you don't know, Boston is pothole and shoddy asphalt patch job heaven. A few years later and here I am in a 2009 BMW! It was like a breath of fresh air not to have to tense my body every time a drive over a crack in the pavement at more than 5 mph!

and finally... Construction supplies. Build it like you mean it. Our whole garage is 2x6 construction and we are building out all the original 1925 house walls up to 2x6 and in some places, 2x8 depth. It is more work but a second house could fall on ours and our house would probably survive.

*Laundry detergent. We were going through liquid off brand like crazy and the clothes still didn't look and smell clean. Now I buy a big bowl of those Tide individual packs that kids like to eat and while they cost more, they greatly cut down on waste so they save money in the long run.

*Off-brand products that don't work for your hair/skin type. I love me some Suave Clarifying Shampoo and it costs around a dollar. It also works perfectly for my hair but makes one of my friends look like dry grimy rat's nest. Same with soap. I use the plain no dye Dial soap and it works great. Irish Spring costs about the same and makes me feel like I have a gross, slimy film on my skin.

*Light bulbs. The environmentally friendly ones cost more but I have some that are now going into their 6th or 7th month where the cheapos burned out in less than a month.

*Underwear and shoes--if they don't fit just right don't buy them just because they are on sale. Bad fitting underwear and shoes are just miserable.

*Any type of cheese that can not actually be labeled cheese but must be labeled "cheese food."

*Food products that are on sale because they are about to go out of date. I know a woman who buys gallons and gallons of milk on sale like this and ends up tossing most of it because it spoils before she drinks it.

*Tights/legging/pantyhose/thigh-highs--I would rather spend a bit more money for something that isn't uncomfortable and fits

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evilchildlessbitch
*Any type of cheese that can not actually be labeled cheese but must be labeled "cheese food."

OMG! That's like "ice cream" which is labelled as "frozen dessert" (i.e. frozen OIL) and "chocolate milk" which is labelled as "chocolate dairy beverage"!

Butter. Real, honest butter. I buy Land O Lakes unsalted butter, and man... it is sublime to cook with. I also bought some hand-rolled Amish-made butter from a local Farmer's Market that almost made me come.

I've found the cheaper butters to be entirely unsatisfactory to cook with. Many of them burn even when they're not supposed to, and generally do not have that good, creamy, buttery flavor. In addition, I've detected a extremely faint metallic taste in cheaper butters even when I only used some to butter noodles. I checked the pot the noodles had cooked in, which was enamel, so I don't think the flavor was from there. Had to chuck those noodles, couldn't stand eating them. I don't know, maybe I had a gustatory hallucination, or something.

Just making a simple no-frills omelette fried in good-quality unsalted butter is sheer heaven! The butter blends into the omelette while the omelette batter is still loose in the pan, and just makes the inside of the omelette so buttery, so creamy....

And don't get me started on margarine. Just the ingredient lists of margarine products made me shudder, and I know how they are made. Give me good-quality butter made from sweet cream any day!


Oh man I know that if I get started on food, I tend to yak on. Sorry loves! But... BUY REAL BUTTER!

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cerebralherpes
Butter. Real, honest butter. I buy Land O Lakes unsalted butter, and man... it is sublime to cook with. I also bought some hand-rolled Amish-made butter from a local Farmer's Market that almost made me come.

I had some butter like that recently. It was so damn good I was slathering it on my bread - like half bread and half butter. Normally I use just a little bit.

I think that's an argument for getting a less good butter so I won't be tempted to consume it at that rate.

Try Vermont Butter & Cheese's European-style cultured butter with sea salt. Holy shit, I reached enlightenment. I use it for cooking and for just slathering on warm bread.

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"Why children take so long to grow? They eat and drink like pig and give nothing back. Must find way to accelerate process..."
- Dr. Yi Suchong, Bioshock

"Society does not need more children; but it does need more loved children. Quite literally, we cannot afford unloved children - but we pay heavily for them every day. There should not be the slightest communal concern when a woman elects to destroy the life of her thousandth-of-an-ounce embryo. But all society should rise up in alarm when it hears that a baby that is not wanted is about to be born."
- Garrett Hardin

"I feel like there's a message involved here somehow, but then I couldn't stop laughing at all the plotholes, like the part when North Korea has food."
- Youtube commentor referring to a North Korean cartoon.

"Reality is a bitch when it slowly crawls out of your vagina and shits in your lap."
- Reddit comment

"Bitch wants a baby, so we're gonna fuck now. #bareback"
- Cambion

Oh whatever. Abortion doctors are crimestoppers."
- Miss Hannigan

LALALALALA I can't hearrrr you! I'm dieting (lost 10 lb so far) and have pretty much cut out butter for now. Smart Balance Olive Oil spread isn't a bad substitute, but yes, I love me some real butter.

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Shauna's like a gluten-free Jim Jones for dumb, lifeless middle-aged women. I swear, this bitch could set fire to a orphanage and they would applaud her for bringing them light. ~ Miss Hannigan