When do you think is it ok to spend BIG on something?

sparrer

Torkijo wrote: »

I would add cars to the never buy cheap list

I bought a (new) Hyundai Accent 1.3 auto for £7k in 2001. So far it's passed every MoT with only minor costs (tyres, brake pads etc), does 114 at 2am on the M1 (so I'm told :whistle:) economical to run and although not the prettiest or vainest car on the road is a terrific work horse with boot space enough for a couple of GSD's, and will last another 5 years at least. Mind you I hanker after the Tucson, but that's twice the price!

IMHO cheap is a state of mind..if you buy a cheap can opener/washing machine/mobile/car/anything, more often than not you'll treat it like one. I can't afford to pay for 'names' and on the whole don't have any problems cos I have to look after things and get the longest life out of them I can. What do I never stint on? My weekly £1 lotto ticket :rotfl:

Mr.Mulla

xyz123 wrote: »

not sure if you meant normal shopping or eating out. Anyway have you done a blind taste test? Get someone to give you same product from two different places, remove all packaging and then see if you could taste and tell the difference and identify which product is from where. i think that food quality is a lot about perception rather than reality....others may think differently...

I meant to say I wouldn't go cheap ON food. Anything as long as it is food. But I haven't tried those blind taste tests. I'm skeptic in trying it out. I've seen some of those in the malls.

Everybody's input are very interesting. It just shows that we all have different insights on spending on something. I guess maybe it actually depends on the the lifestyle that we are used to. Just like what rictus123 said, spending big is different to every person.

Inactive

bendix wrote: »

Never buy cheap: Beer. Furniture. Watches. Shoes. Whisky

Never buy expensive:

Wine.

Why not, my £2.99 watch from Lidl's tells exactly the same time as a watch costing £1000's.:)

jackieb

I spent £80 on a Brabantia kitchen bin. It had £20 off of it in the sale. I've wanted one for ages. I spent a bit extra because it was fingermark proof (I could've got a shiny one for £16 less but would've been driven mad trying to keep it smudge free!). I love the bin. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I'm definitely not a fashionista :rotfl: My husband said I was mad to spend that on a bin, but he spends £80 every fortnight on cigarettes!

I spent £100 on 2 pairs of identical shoes 2 years ago. A bit more expensive than what i'm used to, but I still wear one or the other every day. That was well worth it.

Savvybunny2009

I feel it depends on what is important to you. For example my husband will only drink Nescafe coffee, as the key factor of coffee is the taste and he drinks so much of it why compromise? For me I pay more on makeup and toiletries than I need to without a doubt, but it's something I enjoy and I pay extra for the quality. I would be wasting money if I bought products that were cheap and didn't give the results I wanted. We compromise on costs of other things to accomodate these things.

I feel that if it is something you will use frequently i.e. everyday and without it would make a big impact on your life you shouldn't compromise on quality but shop around for a good price or deal. Things I would include would be cars, homes, perhaps even clothes like suits could be included.

Edited to add - Meat should be included here too, the cheap value stuff is a waste of money in my eyes, why pay for bad quality meat at all that you wouldn't enjoy when you could spend a little bit more and know the quality is far better.

poppy_f1

toiletries and make up i guess, spent a fortune on cheaper brands before biting the bullet and buying the likes of clinique and bobbi brown which work way better for me so i doubt i would ever compromise on that
in terms of everything else i've just tried to get the best value from the money that i have at that time, i ended up buying a bush 26 lcd tv after my old telly went kaput as thats all i could get for £300 at the time (had £80 of argos vouchers so really only paid £220 for it but 3 years on it still works perfectly
if i can afford it when i move house im hoping to get a bigger tv/blu ray/home entertainment package however i will be going for one of the bigger names like samsung, song, lg etc same with white goods, going for a namebut again looking for the best value for my money

Kerry_Anne_3

I've had a series of relatively cheap beds and mattresses over the years and when you add it together it's quite pricey- not to mention the backache I've been suffering.

Last year we splashed out on a massive Tempur bed and mattress (1.8m x 2.10m). It's worth every penny - I now get a good night's sleep and my backache has completely gone which to me is priceless.

Tim_Deegan

Kerry_Anne wrote: »

I've had a series of relatively cheap beds and mattresses over the years and when you add it together it's quite pricey- not to mention the backache I've been suffering.

Last year we splashed out on a massive Tempur bed and mattress (1.8m x 2.10m). It's worth every penny - I now get a good night's sleep and my backache has completely gone which to me is priceless.

I'd have to argue with this one.

It seems that you have gone from one extreme to the other. Although Tempur mattresses are very comfortable and give good support. You can get far better mattresses with far superior support for a fraction of the price if you know where to look.

Tempur mattresses are very expensive because they are the big name in memory foam, and have a huge advertising budget. This is because they held the patent for memory foam until it expired. However there are other companies who now manufacture memory foam that is just as good (if not better than Tempur) fo far less money. You have to remember that Tempur came out bottom in the Which Magazine report.

Tempur mattresses are constructed from reflex foam with memory foam on top. Until memory foam came about reflex foam mattresses were regarded as cheap and nasty mattresses that were hot and sweaty. But pocket sprung mattresses were regarded as those giving the best support. So it makes sense that a pocket sprung mattress with memory foam would be better than one that is reflex foam with memory foam. And it would also have better ventilation as the air can circulate through the spring layer and dissipate the heat from the memory foam.


There is a big difference between cheap and good value for money. For example with a cheap budget mattress you would get what you paid for (a mattress that doesn't give very good support, and that isn't very comfortable due to lack of quilting). On the other end of the scale you could go to a big retailer who will sell mattresses from big brands, that are full of gimmicks. And the sales staff will probably tell you things like "the more pocket springs the better", and "the more memory foam the better", in an effort to get you to spend more. They also display highly inflated RRP's, and then tell you that you are getting a huge discount. Or they will have a price promise, but all of their models have been renamed so that you can't buy them anywhere else.

The truth is that to get a good quality mattress for a good price you need to do the following:

1. Stay away from big brand names, as many of them have cut quality over recent years to cut production costs.
2. Buy on line from a seller who gives a proper satisfaction guarantee that allows you to actually unpack and sleep on the mattress.

ajharris

Mr.Mulla wrote: »

I've been trying to save money on a lot of things after being drowned from debt a couple of years ago and was just wondering what are some things you think you really should spend a lot of money on and what are those you can go cheap and that it is totally okay?

In my experience, I wouldn't go cheap on food except in those places that are really expensive. I love eating, but it is not practical to eat at expensive places where you can find the same quality of food at other places. I wouldn't also mind spending when it comes to my health.

Other stuff like fashionable clothes, which one could always find an alternative. There are also unbranded clothes you can buy, you just have to be creative. Fashion comes with personality anyway.

You guys might wanna share some of your ideas or insights.

You get what you pay for and you earn what you are worth. Buying better quality can sometimes be cheaper as the purchase should in theory at least last longer. By all means treat yourself to lavish things, you know better than anyone what you can affored. The important thing is that you are saving something every time you get paid.

Mr.Mulla

ajharris wrote: »

You get what you pay for and you earn what you are worth. Buying better quality can sometimes be cheaper as the purchase should in theory at least last longer. By all means treat yourself to lavish things, you know better than anyone what you can affored. The important thing is that you are saving something every time you get paid.

That is actually true. Buy cheap things and not get what you expect for. Of course once in a while you need to treat yourself to some things you know it's worth or some things that you have been wanting. That's a treat for yourself for working hard.