What purchases do you refuse to compromise quality

[isabella]

I'm really trying to be more careful in how I spend, this board is helping me a lot.
But, there are a few things I just can't seem to give up what I believe to be quality for a lower price. Don't get me wrong I will look for sales, mark downs, coupons etc... on the more pricier purchases I desire. I'll delay until I am in a comfort zone in savings for the month/year etc..

A few of my no compromise items ... shoes, sunglasses, hotel accommodations when I travel, purses

eta ... plastic wrap for leftovers, the name brands work better than the generic/house brands to me. So it's either Saran Wrap or Glad wrap.

[Waffle]

Large appliances. Trying to buy the cheapest thing has turned out badly for me more than once. Vaccuum cleaner that had to be replaced within the year and washing machine that had to be repaired within the first few months and never really did work right. Finally got a new one a couple of years later.

[Deleted]

Contractors. It is not worth getting the low bidder.

Food. A guy at work is always telling about this or that he can buy for $1 at the cheapo grocery store. I'd rather pay $6 for the same thing at Whole Foods.

[Agatha]

I'm with waffle on this one. Appliances! I just realized yesterday my Cuisinart has been my best kitchen friend for over thirty years! It was one of the first ones out and very expensive but it has certainly paid for itself and then some! My washer and dryer are the other two. Yes, I bought them the same year. Both of them dowagers (in appliance terms) of over thirty years.

Short story (I will try anyway). My dryer was ten years old when I had the repair tech out. No biggie. Ten years ago after I moved to Texas my washer was leaking. My then DBF said, "It's old. Let's just buy another one." I looked at him with narrowed eyes and proceeded to call a repair tech. Internal hose replacement; Less than 100 dollars. Hearing tech say "Even Maytag doesn't make them like this anymore." and being able to shoot evil grin at "thrifty" BF. . .priceless. ;D

Personal P.S. "Thrifty" BF and I are no longer a couple but we remain dear friends.

[The J]

Larger, more expensive purchases. I'd rather pay more upfront for better quality, than save a little upfront and deal with the hassles of repairs or replacements sooner down the line.

Some foods -- olive oil, cheeses, spices, vinegar. Pretty much flavoring agents. Sometimes other foods, but that all depends.

[gsbrq]

Large purchases--I look for the best value rather than the lowest price.

Skin care--I use a prescription face wash because I have sensitive skin, and no other face wash does as well.

Hotels, I won't go for the rock bottom one, but I don't need anything fancy

Shoes, clothes, accessories, sunglasses--I'll buy the cheapest thing that looks & feels good. I've never seen a need to spend a lot on any of those items. The best looking pair of jeans I own came from Target....more expensive doesn't mean better. I will spend more money on a quality bra, because I need good support & comfort.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Femnine products. I've never had success with generics. I stick to Kotex or Playtex. IMO that time of the month is worth spending a few extra dollars on in order to feel comfortable.

[patchwork150]

1. Undergarments*

2. Certain peices of clothing. My black wool pencil skirt was worth every penny ($55 I think, on sale), and my winter wool trench ($150, reg. $340). Most of my stuff is cheap though, most of my pants were $6-$19..., etc*

3. Certain brand names for food- I like Mazola and extra virgin olive oil, etc. Most anything is OK generic, but some things don't taste as good. I LOVE kashi granola bars.*

*I am willing to pay more than the cheapest price out there, but that doesn't stop me from shopping sales!

[Deleted]

Food, hotels, skin care, shampoo, shoes, appliances, dog food.

I do, however, buy inexpensive purses.

[coffeegrl]

Feminine products and my makeup/cleansers & moisturizers. I truly do believe that Mary Kay is the best product out there for my skin. The only time I get so much as a single blemish now is if I'm getting sick.

[oreo]

Toilet paper--I like the Charmin. It doesn't stick to me and I can use 2 squares rather than 3 or 4 squares of the cheaper stuff (or in the case of the stuff we have at work more like 8-10 squares).

Heinz ketchup (Simply Heinz now)--I won't use anything else.

I'm also going to say undergarments. I used to buy them at Mervyns (like 20 years ago) but after washing them once or twice they'd have little holes in them (I guess the fabric was just really weak). I now get them at Victoria's Secret. They cost more but they last for years so in the long run they are actually less expensive.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I have brand loyalty for certain items ~ electronics, cameras, cars, appliances, even some food and household items.

We buy expensive cat food because of the ingredients (grain free, organic, low carbohydrate)

We certainly don't select the cheapest restaurant we can find when we eat out ... nor do we plan vacations that way.

Heck, I'm even particular about bird seed.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

We buy expensive cat food because of the ingredients (grain free, organic, low carbohydrate

I gave up on that when my dog refused to touch it and five minutes later I caught her eating Q-tips out of the bathroom garbage.

So unless they can make Q-tip flavored organic dog food I am not wasting my money on it anymore.

[rubyslippers]

Shoes, bras, garbage bags, peanutbutter (Jif), perfume, makeup foundation, sheets, and towels are just a few things I won't compromise on but I can get many of these for a lot less when combining coupons and sales. I won't stay at hotels that I'm not familiar with either, because I've had a vacation nearly ruined doing that years ago.

[daylight]

Appliances, but luckily, I need very few at this point in my life. (I wish I've never purchased a hair dryer. I don't even use it once a month.) I'm buying quality undergarment on sale. Towels (also on sales), since there are such low quality towels sold that don't even soak up water. I was very surprised to find that some store brand frozen veggies taste a lot better than name brands that cost thrice as much.

[bobbysgirl]

Just about everything I get is quality. Junk is just that to me. I either wait for a good deal or don't get something. My jeans are from the Loft, BUT I get them at a thrift store. I look at every pair of jeans and go back until I find what I want. I do this with everything. As far as appliances are concerned, that is one item my EF covers. I don't think about it until the need arises. If there's an emergency need, I suck it up and get what I need. On the other hand I couldn't fork over money for a new furnace, so i paid 450.00 for a new thingie.

I think the circumstances dictate the decision.

[cael]

Personal care stuff like skincare and makeup etc. I won't cheap out on. Food we usually don't cheap out on either... for a few reasons: one, I care about what I put into my body and while all generic brand stuff isn't awful, I'd rather get the quality stuff. Two, it's not worth the aggravation of going to Market Basket and fighting through the millions of idiots there to save $10. My mother always asks why I don't shop at MB, and it's because I don't want to deal w/ the store! (and it's out of town, so it doubly isn't worth driving 15m away for)

[domeasingold]

Tomatoes

[cael]

Feb 17, 2011 16:49:09 GMT -5 @daphne87 said:

Feb 17, 2011 16:30:25 GMT -5 cael said:

Personal care stuff like skincare and makeup etc. I won't cheap out on. Food we usually don't cheap out on either... for a few reasons: one, I care about what I put into my body and while all generic brand stuff isn't awful, I'd rather get the quality stuff. Two, it's not worth the aggravation of going to Market Basket and fighting through the millions of idiots there to save $10. My mother always asks why I don't shop at MB, and it's because I don't want to deal w/ the store! (and it's out of town, so it doubly isn't worth driving 15m away for)

<<karma when I regenerate>> I completely agree with your assessment of Market Basket!. I find their food to be inferior and the aisles are too tight for the millions of people trying to get the cheapest price on every item....

Also, we call our local MB "Ghetto Basket" for a reason....

LOL, yeah, there's one north of us that isn't too bad (I hear), but no way I'm driving 40 mins to go to MB. I hate those damn stores! The store brand items are crap, customers are crap, crowdedness is crap. My local Shaw's may be a bit pricier but at least I like it.

[oreo]

So is Market Basket a regular grocery store or something else? We have a store here called GTM that was supposed to have discounted stuff. We went there once and the stuff wasn't discounted much and they were selling open boxes of cereal and other opened items. I'm not going to buy opened food no matter what the price (I was surprised that they'd be allowed to sell opened food)! Is Market Basket that sort of place?

[cael]

No, Market Basket is a regular grocery store around here, not discount or anything. I don't know anything from other parts of the country to compare to... it's definitely not a higher end grocery store though. Regular but cheap.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Clothes and shoes. I have a cashmere winter coat that I paid nearly $500 (on a huge sale + I opened a CC at the store to get an additional $100 discount) is over 15 years old and looks as good as the day I bought it. It's classic, never go out of style and feels wonderfully soft and is my warmest coat.

I tend to stick to certain brands of shoes, but will look for them as inexpensively as possible.

I agree with the person who said kitchen appliances. I was given a Cuisinart food processor for Christmas back in 1986. It still works beautifully.

[998fbird]

I only have 2 appliances I've been truly impressed with, my ancient Maytag dryer that was in the house when I bought it and my Dyson vacuum with the pet hair attachment. I would absolutely only buy another Dyson vacuum. Pretty much everything else is negotiable. I have purchased some highly rated items (Lazy Boy furniture) and been seriously disappointed, so for my experience, in this day and age it is always a crap shoot if something is worth the money.

[bobbysgirl]

Feb 17, 2011 13:58:49 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

I think one has to be careful not to overplay the "quality" point. And, I used to use this as a reason to buy more than what i needed, better than what I needed, etc. I realized that this is often a ploy to get you to spend more for something that really doesn't matter all that much.
However, having said that, there are indeed things I buy to which I prefer the quality. I do think I got a bit smarter over time and now know when to really buy quality versus spending needlessly in the name of quality.

SNERDLEY is right on with this. A quality washer only needs to wash your clothes and last a while, not iron them and steam them.

[kansasflower]

Hiking boots ~ I figure that spending enough for good quality comfortable boots today will save me the cost of expensive foot surgery in the future. For regular shoes, I find that medium cost shoes are perfectly comfortable.

Dog and Cat food ~ Extending their already short lives by one or two years is worth it to me.

Fruits and vegetables ~ No matter how expensive these get, I will continue to include them in my diet and try to purchase organic when available.

Energy saving products ~ When I have an option, I choose the more energy efficient product as long as I can expect to recoup the added cost by the end of the product's life.

[tiredboomer]

Shoes. I have very bad feet and need very good shoes.

[museumgal]

I like Consumer REports for things such as cars and appliances. If it's going to break down constantly after only 5 years, I'd rather spend a bit more up front and get something that will last. Work clothes -- although I hunt the sales.

[texaspn]

Shoes, makeup and skin care(love Mary Kay), dogfood, clothing( but I buy it on sale or clearance only).