Which high quality items do you buy?

[jar7709]

Can it be both? We don't really do "luxury" but sometimes we do choose more expensive over cheaper. It does seem like more expensive/better quality items do last longer and there is more satisfaction in purchasing them. We, personally, would rather shop carefully something and end up building something more expensive that is perfectly suited to our needs that will last a longer time, than buy something cheaper that almost meets our needs, but we'll be dissatisfied with and likely be replacing sooner. For us, this is an across-the-board philosophy, which usually ends up meaning we buy name-brand (but not luxury) cars, underwear, shoes, appliances, electronics, knives, mattresses, etc. Basically anything that gets heavy frequent use.

 

Oh, and DH's work pants. He is REALLY particular about his work pants.

[Aspasia]

Most importantly, I do not buy cheap ice cream. I only eat Ben & Jerry's, Haagen Dazs, Cold Stone, and (as of recently) Kirkland vanilla. No cheap stuff for me. And that really goes for most desserts.

 

We buy quality vehicles, but not fancy pants ones. We have a Honda Civic and a Honda Odyssey.

 

I actually do buy cheap clothes...from Target. For the kids, they only wear them for one season, and I only buy about a week's worth of clothes. They get worn through and through. For me...well, I'm just cheap. Same with shoes. If I could wear flip flops year round or go barefoot, I would.

Edited November 14, 2012 by infomom

[Hannah]

Can it be both? We don't really do "luxury" but sometimes we do choose more expensive over cheaper. It does seem like more expensive/better quality items do last longer and there is more satisfaction in purchasing them. We, personally, would rather shop carefully something and end up building something more expensive that is perfectly suited to our needs that will last a longer time, than buy something cheaper that almost meets our needs, but we'll be dissatisfied with and likely be replacing sooner. For us, this is an across-the-board philosophy, which usually ends up meaning we buy name-brand (but not luxury) cars, underwear, shoes, appliances, electronics, knives, mattresses, etc. Basically anything that gets heavy frequent use.

 

Oh, and DH's work pants. He is REALLY particular about his work pants.

 

This is us...sans the work pants... dh is particular about his shirts. :001_smile:

 

We have less items (not counting books!!), but what we do have the best quality we can afford. Dh likes to research to make sure he knows what we're getting for larger (pricier) items. It's paid off as our furniture, appliances, kitchenware, electronics, cars, etc have lasted decades. You get what you paid for. Although the most expensive is not necessarily the best value for money.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Hannah

[fraidycat]

I try to buy better to best quality wherever I can afford it. Shoes is the number one thing that I do not scrimp on, especially for the kids while they are still growing and forming their foundation. Then food, organic when possible.

 

Next, household/kitchen items. We have Amish made dressers that the kids will probably be able to use for their kids. My kitchen gadgets are on the pricey/quality side - KitchenAid mixer, Blendtec blender, etc.

 

Jeans (for me). I have learned my lesson. Yes, my jeans are over $100 for one pair, but I do not ever walk around looking like saggy bottom poopy pants anymore, and I only have two pairs because at home I live in Yoga pants or sweats mostly, so two is enough and they were a gift.

 

Middle quality: Kids clothes. They grow out of them, so I don't spend huge amounts there. I get their stuff from places like Target, Kohl's, The Children's Place, etc. T-shirts for the adults, etc.

Vehicles - we get from point A to point B, safely.

Anything else really.

 

There is truth to the phrase, you get what you pay for, so I tend to not go for the cheapest available unless it's also got great reviews. I like a bargain, but I've learned that a bargain and buying bottom dollar are not one and the same.

[jar7709]

This is us...sans the work pants... although dh is particular about his shirts. :001_smile:

 

We have less items (not counting books!!), but what we do have is the best we can afford.

 

Exactly. We'd rather have less stuff but have it be the good stuff than more carp, ykwim?

[caroljenn]

Food- 90% of the food I buy is organic. There has been a run of cancers in the family and the GMOs and pesticides are not worth the few bucks I would save buying non-organic foods.

 

Shoes- I have an 11W foot with a bunion, so good shoes are essential. I buy most of my shoes at the Nordstrom Rack- good brands with a bit of a discount.

 

Cars- hubby likes having decent cars, but nothing too fancy. Upper level Ford is about as exciting as it gets.

 

I am overall a pretty big cheapskate, and most of what I buy (except for the food) is on sale!

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

Massage oil and Foot lotion, coupons do help!!!

 

 

Organic Coffee on sale!

Dark chocolate to nibble,

Organic raw almonds in bulk and cheaper than at the store

 

Any Organic veggies on sale or with coupons :001_smile:

 

Right now there is a great place I stop on the way home from shopping and get biodynamic fresh veggies for $1 or less.

We have been enjoying cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, jalapenos, pumkin, greens, kale, and winter squash!!

 

I also have 2 square foot garden boxes that I spent alot on, and am growing organic veggies, mums, mint, and dill. I bought organic seeds on sale 1/2 price.

 

Books if I cannot get used, or have a discount card or coupon!

 

Almost forgot: GRASS FED BEEF from a friend. We had a whole calf this year so I had to give some away!

Edited November 14, 2012 by TGHEALTHYMOM

[Amy in TX]

You can also buy clothes there. My local Tesco is about 90% food/household goods and 10% clothes.

 

OT, but I love Tesco! My dd and I bought clothes and shoes there super cheap when our luggage was lost on a trip to London two years ago. I still wear the jeans, shirt, and socks I got there.

 

I will spend a lot on organic meat, milk, eggs, and produce. Our food budget is outrageous. But we spend very, very little on cars, clothes, or anything else. We travel only when we can pay for our tickets with miles (dh travels alot for work, so we generally have a lot of miles). I used to buy $75 bOOkshelves (I am hard to fit), but now I find that Playtex's 18-hr line works just as well for me and they only cost $15. I can't wear very cheap shoes because of my arthritis, but mid-range ($50-$60) does me fine. So it's really only high-quality food that I don't scrimp on.

[Jennifer in MI]

We choose what we buy VERY carefully. We buy quality things, but we don't buy a lot. For example, we have a Vitamix, but it doubles as my grain grinder. We chose to buy a couple of really GOOD knives instead of a cheap set. (Taking from examples I saw talked about earlier in the thread.) We use things to death! I drive a 13 yo minivan right now. We will keep it until it dies.

 

The ONE thing we do splurge on is vacation. Very early on in our marraige, dh and I decided we wanted to travel a lot with our family. We do a LOT in our house to save every penny we can so that we can afford to travel a couple times a year. (I'm thinking of starting a blog about it, actually! You'd be surprised how much you can save doing a few little things!)

[Mom2Es]

First just to clarify, a supermarket in UK is not the same as in US, is it? We buy food at the supermarket. Can you buy food and suits at the supermarket?

 

Depends. I used to live near a Tesco, and I would describe it as "Super Wal-Mart Lite." They sold a lot of the same brands of kids clothes that Target carries in the States. Some locations of WalMart and Target in the States have a grocery department. A coworker of mine had a really nice office-wear outfit that she got at Asda (before WalMart bought it). So that doesn't hit me as weird at all.

 

I did think it was strange that M&S sold food, though. THAT set-up I can't think of anything comparable for.

[Farrar]

Well, if we're thinking about juxtapositions, I buy brand new, name brand shoes for my kids every time. They have wide feet and a terrible sense of their own level of comfort when trying things on. We go to the children's shoe store with the experts who really know their products and never buy online as a result. We spend a small fortune. And *everything else* they wear comes from the thrift store and the Target.

[Hockey Mom]

Shoes for the kids.

Technology (we are Apple snobs, but my laptop is a Samsung)

Books are my personal weakness.

Ice hockey skates for the kids.

 

And my most recent obsession is sheets. I just never knew how awesome high-count thread sheets were until I bought them on sale a few months ago. I don't think I could ever go back to the cheap sheets.

[AnIslandGirl]

Oh my! I feel as though we will continue to purchase "luxury" items as long as we are financially comfortable.

There are just some things in life, where the price doesn't matter to us. Safety is first, comfort is second, and hobbies are third.

 

DH- He like fancy classic cars. It's his "thing" so I go along with it. We have more bays in the beach house garage than we do bedrooms.

 

DD8- She has an entire room for her American Girl collection with all of the dolls and a plethora of their accoutrements. She also refuses to wear the same outfit twice and has a love of higher end designer clothing.

 

I am a vacation-a-holic. A vacation to me means never having to lift a finger, and camping is a 4 star hotel. I like my custom boats and our home interiors are a priority. Our last re-model I had imported marble, hand painted tiles and custom busts installed. It's the little details that thrill me the most. I'd rather pay for art with a few extra zeros than spend it on handbags and shoes like some of my friends. We all have our priorities!

 

No matter what you like to spend extra on, if it makes you smile at the end of the day, it's completely worth it!

[Lisbeth]

Shoes. I love Uggs, Keens, Merrells, and Frye boots.

 

Curriculum. I buy the best because I can't stand it that there might be something more enriching out there that I'm not using. :tongue_smilie: I'm kind of OCD about it. We also buy all of our reading books...no library.

 

"location, location, location" - we don't go cheap on where we live...even though the property tax bill and cost of a house/land can be cringe worthy.

 

Lessons. We pay for lessons...lots of them.

 

Clothes - we sometimes have to pay more because I insist on conservative and modest. I hate the skimpy clothes for girls out in regular stores - no. I also am not a fan of words on clothes, especially cutesy sayings.

 

Cars are just appliances to me...though, with the laws of physics in mind, we go big. I don't care beyond that, except reliability and safety rating. I guess going big means we also pay a lot for gas.

 

House - my hubs wants to double our house size. I don't care. More to clean, in my opinion.

 

Weapons - we don't go cheap on firearms, ammo or bows.

 

I am an extreme couponer. I don't buy HIGH FASHION high heels or $200 jeans. I don't care too much about the sheets (seriously, we have crappy sheets) and PREFER cheap Scott toilet paper I do my own hair with professional chemicals (I didn't always, but i can do it and it's $12 per 6 months...so reasonable). I use drug store facial soap and mineral oil at night (thanks Pauley Perrette for that idea!) Our Church advises against coffee, alcohol and cigs, so we have none of those expensive habits.

 

Ok...juicing is expensive. But I pay less in health bills. I think.

I do not do mani or pedi appointments - ever. I hate long nails and it seems like such a waste.

[magnificent_baby]

Shoes. Cheap shoes are too painful on our flat feet (we ALL have flat feet). :glare:

 

Orange juice must be Tropicana. I can't believe what I pay for it, but anything else does not taste right to us.

 

Hair products. Fortunately my SIL can get most of it at a discount rate for me. I have very curly and fine hair which is so hard to manage without professional products.

 

Egglands Best eggs. Anything else doesn't seem right, just like the juice. :D

 

Hebrew National hot dogs. Same as above.

 

Otherwise, I shop at Goodwill and garage sales for most clothes and coats. I use coupons and try to get everything else as cheaply as possible, though you probably wouldn't know it by looking at our house/clothing (hopefully). :001_smile:

[MomtoCandJ]

The only things we are really "snobish" on is Kogel's hotdogs, and Kraft Veggie Mac and Cheese. Clothes well it depends on what, I really like Old Navy Sweet Heart jeans. They seem to be the only ones available in my size where I don't have to worry about my butt crack showing. Jewelery well mine has to be at least 10 carat gold or I can't wear it (allergies). Other wise if it's to last a long time then we research and get the best we can afford :)

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Food. That's my biggest expense. Everything else around here is carp. Except my car. I did get the car I wanted, which was kind of pricey way back when. It had better last me at least 3 or 4 more years. The goal was 10 years, but I'm aiming for 11.

 

Oh yeah, shoes for me. I have horrible feet and can only find expensive shoes that work for me.

[iona]

I found a bra I really like and have been rebuying the same one the past few years.

 

I'm sure there are more things, I'll have to think about them though.

[OrdinaryTime]

Well, if we're thinking about juxtapositions, I buy brand new, name brand shoes for my kids every time. They have wide feet and a terrible sense of their own level of comfort when trying things on. We go to the children's shoe store with the experts who really know their products and never buy online as a result. We spend a small fortune. And *everything else* they wear comes from the thrift store and the Target.

 

Totally. We have the exact same problem (super wide feet, one kid needs orthotics, blah, blah, blah) so I spend an obnoxious amount of money on shoes, but buy almost nothing else for the kids. If I don't have enough hand-me-downs and am forced to buy clothes for the kids, it is thrift store or Target.

 

Oh, I do spend money on quality eyeglasses for the kids.