Which items WON'T you go budget on?

[Minnie]

For me it is a lot of things., My DH and I both feel that paying more and having less is often the real bargain.

ITA

Books - Kindle all the way.

Absolutely!!!!!!!!!! Kindle2!!!!!!

 

[enchantingodin]

Charmin here too. In fact I usually bring a roll with me on trips for our hotel room. Sorry but that scratchy stuff can hurt after a few days...

Always and Tampax for 'ladies' products too. The other stuff just doesn't seem to work as well.

Cameras. I love Canon's. And won't waste my time on anything else.

I'm sure there are other things too...

 

[cm8]

Processed foods, we do organic and or local
TP
Personal Products to include soap, toothpaste, shampoo and laundry detergent
we use all organic.gluten free products.......


shoes, NB and that is about it!

 

[cm8]

TP
Paper Towels
Hot Dogs, they are bad enough and I can't imagine buying a whole package of them for 99 cents

I remember seeing those 99 cent hot dogs at children parties!! Freaked me out......... they look so pink that you KNOW they are bad for you!!
If we have to have a hot dog ( which is rare) it has to be Nathans!!!

 

[charming23]

We do a lot of store beand shopping but I will not buy generic brands of

Shoes- I want ones that last a long time and will not hurt my feet (well except flip flops cause those only last one summer anyways)
Shampoo/Conditioner- Has to be a name brand
Q-tips
Charmin
Always or Kotex depends on what is on sale
Pop
Cereal
Toothpaste (Colgate)

I am sure there is more but I can not think of any

 

[thebigkahuna]

Charmin here too. In fact I usually bring a roll with me on trips for our hotel room. Sorry but that scratchy stuff can hurt after a few days...

LOL, of all the things I pack, I never have packed TP!!
( I will now though!)

I do usually pack wet wipes, and I won't go budget on those either. I am very brand loyal to Charmin.

And the hot dog issue -99 cents?? No way! Every 2 or 3 years I will indulge in hot dogs, and when I do, I get the Boars Head all beef hotdogs.

 

[Planogirl]

Tea - I only drink certain brands and most of them are English

Peanut Butter - only Jiff

Ketchup - only Heinz

Books - if it's a book I really want, I only buy it new. Even though I love puttering around in old bookstores...

 

[Purseval]

Helmann's Mayonnaise

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

Anything that goes in or on my body...

I can taste the difference between generics and the good stuff, and I'll spend the bucks on make-up, health and beauty items, etc.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

Kraft mac n cheese
band aid brand bandages
q-tips
toilet paper and paper towels (I am not loyal to only one brand but I have standards and brands I won't use)
chinet paper plates

and KIDS shoes. I will not buy any shoes from walmart etc. I do shop around and get very good deals on quality shoes. I think it's worth every penny when they are growing. I hit up sears and often get reeboks or other good brand name shoes for $10 if you time it right.

 

[deerhart]

Toilet paper (either northern or angel soft for us)

kraft mac and cheese and it MUST be the powdered cheese not that yucky velvetta stuff (and I have been that way since I was a kid)

I will only buy Praire Farms small curd cottage cheese (god help me if I ever move out of the midwest. Its BAD enough that I can't buy Prairie Farms Milk here in STL, it is just SOOO much better then everything else)

Tampons (either playtex or tampax)

Deodorant (degree only for me, occasionally a dove/secret)

soda (caff free diet coke for me! I will buy generic sprite or root beer but only rarely)

trash bags (glad or hefty)

Laundry detergent (all free and clear only)

Dishwasher soap (Finish or Cascade)

I do buy kids clothes at Walmart (the wrangler jeans last several years with my kids) because my kids are always into something so if they do get ruined its not that big of a deal and we haven't had any problems with the clothes lasting through 2 boys for several years.

Shoes it doesn't matter, we buy the cheap $10 ones my youngest blows them out in 3 months, we buy more expensive ($30-$50) ones he blows them out in 4-5 months. Tears the toes up horrible. Also he's only JUST stopped growing out of a size every 4 months as well.

I also refuse to go cheap on underwear and bras anymore... all Vicky's for me now. I will NEVER go back to regular old undies again (feels like wearing sandpaper against my skin now)

We also only buy name brand computers, computer equipment, and electronics. We did buy the Best Buy Insignia brand for our TV (its made by LG).

Everything else from peanut butter, ketchup, hot dogs (we buy Hunters which is normally on sale from $0.79 to $1.00), cereal, pasta, pasta sauce etc as store brand. Generally the store brand here is made by a name brand company and just repackaged differently.

 

[Green Tea]

There really isn't much I am brand specific on. Ones that come to mind are Nilla Wafers, the graham crackers in the red box only. Pet foods.

 

[Green Tea]

A couple more:

OPI Nail Polish

Clinique foundations or blush

DH will only eat Duke's mayo.

Stouffer's Macaroni and cheese unless I'm making my own

Kraft American cheese. Never store brand. Never individually wrapped.

 

[mster425]

dog food! 100% paying a little more for this saves me $ in vet bills

TP- learned THAT one the hard way. Accidently bought the economy size 1ply pack, twice. Thought we'd never run out!!

chicken- we get store brand for the dog sometimes and there is DEFINITELY a quality difference

 

[eliza61]

Exactly! the bargin isn't so much of a bargin if I have to repurchase the item in a few months anyway! ( clothes, shoes, etc.)

And as for household items, Charmin is DEFINITELY worth the cost.

100% agree. A few summers ago I decided to buy some summer polo shirts from Kohls. Never again. although they were 1/2 the price of the ones my husband and son really like (lands end) they shrunk after 1 washing and the red ones and black ones faded so badly they look like we had had them for years. I returned them thinking I got a bad lot but the new ones were just as cheaply made. I haven't brought any thing out of that store since.

I'd rather pay the extra money and have the shirt last for 2 or 3 years.

Can't live without my Tide detergant.

 

[pezheadmeg]

Soda. It has to be Diet Pepsi or Canada Dry for the ginger ale. But the only time I buy not on sale is when I'm desperate.


Polly-o string cheese. I can tell the difference.

Benefit concealers, they work miracles.

Flip-flops, once I started wearing Reefs I was hooked.

Pop tarts, they're a guilty pleasure. A box of 8 can last months.

Dried fruit, preferably Harry & David. But I'll buy sunkist and ocean spray.

Liquor--the only time I get hungover is when I drink the less expensive brands.

But, I prefer malt-o-meal cereal. Go figure that one. And peanut butter, it has to be fresh ground-- no jars for me.

 

[sdemore]

Tide
Panteen Sham/Cond.
Always and Playtex tampons (but not any more)
Q-Tips
Coffee (Dunkin' Donuts Hazelnut/Gevalia Dark Chocolate Truffle) great flavor mix
perfume
Chocolate :

 

[MamaJessie]

I actually tested a few friends with brands they swore by and Oreos and Coca Cola were the only thing EVERYONE could actually tell.

My only other brand namer - strange but true - condensed cream of mushroom soup has to be Campbells. I don't use it very often but I tried buying a generic once and it ruined everything. I saved .50 cents or so and wasted much more than that on the chicken, veg and rice that stunk.


All these TP comments crack me up. I only use Marcal because it is recycled. I bought Angel Soft once when it was on sale and my family went through it so quickly it was a complete and total waste. I'd rather buy generic any day.

 

[AntePrincess]

If by budget we mean cheap, than nothing really. I mean, I buy cheap toilet paper, but everything else I'm either going full quality (typically on sale) or do without. We're kind of food snobs here: all scratch ingredients just about straight from the farm.

 

[Green Tea]

Ziplock brand sandwich and gallon bags. The store brand repeatedly never matched up right. Drove me crazy