What things can't you compromise on?

mortgagefreeby_2023

Hi, we have cut back on loads of gear, and have saved a bloomin bomb thanks to this lovely forum. Some things I cant so without and thats my lenor, free range eggs (but local so cheaper than Mr T) and regular glasses of vino through the week. There aint space to tell you what we have done without/done cheaper!!!!! LOL

pawpurrs

Earl Grey Tea (sainsburys)
Proper Coffee
Decent Bread
Free Range Eggs
Decent Meat

paulwellerfan

well heres my 2 pennies worth.
i wouldnt give up carling ( couldnt drink any other beer, even if they were giving it away)
do like my kerry gold butter as well, and also my Goldblend coffee.
wouldnt ever go back to normal telly either, so much prefer my plus box.:T

DianneB

Angelina-M wrote: »

Cooking utensils!

But its not alway the most expensive that is best.

I only use very good quality pans. I have some wonderful old griswold cast iron pans that cook everything beautifully, one of them is over eighty years old. I have a full set of Le Crueset but it hardly gets used as I favour the griswold.

I also have a semi commercial oven with steam injection. I don't have to worry about the temperature settings as its constantly monitoring itself and giving a read out. Also because of the steam injection I get fantastic bread, no more faffing about putting ice cubes in the bottom of the oven to get oven spring.

Cooking is my thing so I need good tools

Agree totally about the pans, a good quality saucepan will last a lifetime. Gutted about the oven info, have just brought a new oven and never thought of this option - will now do a bit of googling and see what I am missing out on!!!

missbargain

Good coffee, chocolate and cheese.

Actually, good food full stop. No compromise there.

Good quality jeans, no shapeless sacks for me .

Good quality shampoo and conditioner.

Kitchen knives, as anything cheap is just the false economy (and the pain in the neck to work with).

Good hairdresser, it really makes a difference, at least to my straw.

I also stopped buying papers every day. They are full of gloom and doom and have really dumbed down (even the Times, don't like it any more). I only buy it on a Sunday, and in the middle of the week I will buy The Guardian, and I love the Evening Standard on a Friday because of the ES magazine )

Unfortunatelly, very often when I tried to economise, it didn't work, as the quality was so bad, that I just considered it a waste of money, as it ultimatelly didn't work properly, or looked good, or served its purpose as it should have. I rarelly find something good that I paid very little money for (not taking into consideration paper staples, rubber bands and things like that).

Wasn't it an English person who said "I am not reach enough to buy cheap things"?

Mrs_Ryan

Quite a lot for me Im afraid

Sanitary Towels - Always Night-Time (no wings) are the only ones that work for me..
Deodorant - Nivea Pearl Beauty or Adidas Woman (the one with the orange cap, or the green Sensitive is quite good too) any other deodorant brings me out in spectacularly sore patches of broken skin (yuk - wish it didnt, that Nivea stuff is DEAR!!!)
Perfume - only CKIn2U or Lacoste Touch of pink - cheapo stuff leaves me with nasty rash;
Trainers - have to be a 'good' brand name (Nike, Adidas, or Reebok) I have really bad feet and cheap trainers dont last me two minutes - I have 2 pairs at the mo, Adidas and Reebok, have lasted me well, about 11 months, but on average they last about 6 months :eek: likewise with shoes - work shoes at the mo, £50 Kickers, 3 months old and knackered already :eek:
Batteries for MP3 player - cheap ones dont last 5 minutes - I buy the Energiser Lithium, extremely expensive but at least they last longer!

Im not bothered about shampoo - I'll use anything, I usually use baby shampoo as its cheap and just as good for my hair... Im not really bothered with food either, OH flat refuses to buy any 'value' stuff (fair enough, he pays for it!!:p )but I would be quite happy eating it.... it just seems like the other stuff Im fussy about!!!!!!!

missbargain

Yes,
I guess with this downturn, I don't actually buy value stuff or cheaper foods/cosmetics/items, because very often, I find that the quality is not there. Not every time, but very often.

But I reduce the frequency of buying the things, and make the things I buy last longer. Eg. I used to go to restaurants twice a week, now I go twice a month. I used to buy 2 pair a jeans a year, now 1 will do, etc.

But I still try to buy the good quality stuff, as I find that it always looks/tastes/works better, and lasts longer, so in the long run, it is more worthwhile buying that the cheaper stuff that has to be replaced more often.

I learnt this lesson by experience, many times I did the "Buy cheap - buy twice", and I didn't enjoy it in the process as it didn't look or feel good.

Pitlanepiglet

missbargain wrote: »

Yes,
I guess with this downturn, I don't actually buy value stuff or cheaper foods/cosmetics/items, because very often, I find that the quality is not there. Not every time, but very often.

I think it depends what you are buying. I always believe that Value stuff was of lower quality and avoided it like the plague. I now realise that if you are buying raw foods and ingredients there really is very little difference.

I buy very little processed food and as a result the majority of my shop is Value.

missbargain

Yes, I agree with what you are saying, Piglet. Perhaps things like grains and flour and similar are perfectly good non branded.

I am thinking more about "ready to use" stuff, such as milk, butter, chocolate etc. I don't buy processed food at all, but I find that lots of branded goods are better/tastier that value stuff. This does not mean that value stuff is bad, it just may not always be the same quality as branded.
And I find that for example most cheap clothing I bought (except some socks perhaps) were terrible, bobbled straight away, lost shape, looked bad.
But I am sure that there is some good value food stuff out there, it just takes time to find them (or reading through this Forum more thoroughly )

rachbc

Having notched the thermostate down a degree and cut the time its on by half an hour this morning got me thinking about were I wasn't prefared to cut back.

So far for our amily its been loo roll - no-one can stand the smart price stuff so its back to nice soft white for us.

Also I will only by good quality bath stuff, shampoo, creams etc. No parafin/ petroleum or sls as I find it irritated mine and dd's excema so Lush, Neals Yard, Tesco's Natural range etc. I'm happy to make cut backs in other areas to fund it though!

I buy cheaper cuts of good quality meat and eat less of it rather than buy 'cheap meat'