"Never Again!" Share your budget misfires.

[OceanAnnie]

I mentioned the Bounty "Basic" we purchased thinking it saved money in the "How much?" game thread. It didn't save money. It was somewhat less expensive, but the sheets are so thin it takes 2 or 3 to dry off or wipe up a spill. Counterproductive.

What is a, "Never again!", purchase for you?

 

[Kristie911]

Any boxes of macaroni and cheese that isn't Kraft brand. Seriously.

Gag.

 

[havaneselover]

Great Value (Walmart) ice cream sandwiches. They aren't a great value if you have to throw the box out because they are so bad.

Kroger ice cream sandwiches are awesome though.

 

[Disney4Shaw]

Cheap Dryer Sheets. I bought some cheaper Snuggle Dryer Sheets instead of the usual Gain brand to save a little money. While I was pregnant the smell of those dryer sheets made me SO SICK I ended up throwing them away. I still can't stand that smell.

 

[donkeyandshrek]

SAMs choice diet drinks. Yuck. Will pay more for my Diet Coke

 

[eliza61]

For me it was Arm and Hammer laundry detergent. Now I totally admit that my love affair with Tide maybe psycho-somatic but I brought one huge bottle of the a&H and not only did it never clean my clothes, but I ended up washing stuff twice.

so much for saving 10 bucks.

 

[havaneselover]

Just thought of another one:

I used to buy my now ex-husband Tom's deodorant because I was worried about the aluminum content in regular deodorant (he used so much). One time I bought him the Trader Joe's natural deodorant because it was cheaper. I came home and googled it and one of the reviews said it was great if you wanted to smell like a homeless person : ) Needless to say, I didn't buy it again.

 

[sherry7]

Opinions definitely differ, as I've bought (and liked) most of the products mentioned so far. I agree though, that Arm & Hammer detergent sucks. We ended up using what was left of it to scrub our wooden deck.

I'm very brand loyal to Heinz ketchup. DH bought Hunt's once because it was on sale, and it ended up getting tossed. It even made meatloaf taste weird.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Opinions definitely differ, as I've bought (and liked) most of the products mentioned so far. I agree though, that Arm & Hammer detergent sucks. We ended up using what was left of it to scrub our wooden deck.

I'm very brand loyal to Heinz ketchup. DH bought Hunt's once because it was on sale, and it ended up getting tossed. It even made meatloaf taste weird.

We are the same with Heinz. I bought Hunt's by mistake once. Just once.

Opinions will differ, that's true. But some stuff stands out. Nice to be forewarned.

 

[GracieB]

San Francisco has soft water, so any cheap detergent works as well as Tide.

 

[usnuzuloose]

The one thing I really miss , is Alta Dena Milk, it did not have plastic in it. I don't know if it is any longer made as it may be really costly.

The one thing I would say is cheese. I will pay a little more for cheese. Even with Mac and Cheese I can make it fresh.

 

[amberlynnhawkins]

Dishwasher detergent from ALDI.... it left MAJOR residue in our dishwasher that took FOREVER to clean out just enough to get dishes clean (we never were able to get all of it unstuck from the machine).

 

[sherry7]

Dishwasher detergent from ALDI.... it left MAJOR residue in our dishwasher that took FOREVER to clean out just enough to get dishes clean (we never were able to get all of it unstuck from the machine).

I shop at Aldi frequently, and the dishwasher detergent is one of the very few items that I haven't liked. We didn't have an issue as bad as yours, but the dishes just didn't get properly cleaned.

 

[mrsabbott]

Cheap coffee! I have tried several less expensive "gourmet" coffees but I can only drink Starbucks or Caribou..

 

[sarahk0204]

Kroger's toasted oat cereal (their Cheerios knockoff). It tasted nasty. Luckily Kroger was offering the money back guarantee for trying the store brands. Glad to get our money back, even on $3 worth of cereal.

Sam's pod dishwasher detergent. Loved their liquid, but the powder in the pods made my glasses all filmy.

 

[Jamie25UGA]

Kroger's toasted oat cereal (their Cheerios knockoff). It tasted nasty. Luckily Kroger was offering the money back guarantee for trying the store brands. Glad to get our money back, even on $3 worth of cereal.

YES YES YES to this, though the Kroger version of honey nut cheerios is good.

 

[kymom99]

Suave body wash in the winter. It does okay in this weather but in the winter I thought I would draw blood from scratching. Give me my Oil of Olay body wash in the winter.

 

[fofinia]

The one thing I really miss , is Alta Dena Milk, it did not have plastic in it. I don't know if it is any longer made as it may be really costly.

I had to look this up- Alta Dena Milk. It seems like they are still a functioning dairy. http://www.altadenadairy.com/index.htm

But what did you mean by "It did not have plastic in it"? Does other milk have plastic in it?????

 

[usnuzuloose]

I had to look this up- Alta Dena Milk. It seems like they are still a functioning dairy. http://www.altadenadairy.com/index.htm

But what did you mean by "It did not have plastic in it"? Does other milk have plastic in it?????

At least back in the 90's it did. But Alta Dena tasted so much different and a whole lot better.

 

[donnsuz]

We must use Best Foods (Hellmans) or Kraft mayo - regular or light is okay. I cannot do off brand...or any other brand of mayo - and I'm a cheapo! However, I'm interested that several of you have mentioned that Kroger brands are okay and yet I haven't had great luck with their brands.