You can always spend too much money on....

[SpeckledlyHen]

Based on another thread about what you can "never" spend too much money on, all I could think of is what people spend too much money on when they don't need too.. my list is as follows:

Loo roll - it basically does not matter unless it is the weird paper stuff we used to have at school
Any branded cupboard staples - I can never understand why people would buy a branded product like flour, pasta, salt, cornflakes, teabags, salt, sugar etc - it is what it is regardless of the name on the front.
Handbags - now I like a good handbag, think LK Bennett, or Ralph Lauren but I simply don't get the £££ on some really high end designers that you put in a dust bag and leave in the cupboard for 363 days of the year.
Shower gel - it washes you. I cannot get the difference between Molton Brown (£21 a bottle) versus a supermarket brand for £1 a bottle.
Washing up liquid - they all do the same thing
Weddings - especially flowers.. Nah,
Cars - I do remember a relative of mine buying a £50k car. I bought a £25k car and both of them did exactly the same thing (apart from drive) and had exactly the same gadgets. One was a Range Rover and one was a Kia.
Dogs - my very hard up friend who I subsidised during lockdown just bought a 2k puppy. What about battersea dogs home? a companion for life for free?

arrghh..

@Mansplainee

Need to show my DH this thread. He refuses to use any shower gel except for Aesop which is £30 a bottle. I use own brand.

@Mansplainee My DH would bankrupt us if he were like yours 😬🙈 a standard bottle of shower gel lasts him about 4 showers 🙄 I swear he must drink the stuff!

Paracetamol and ibuprofen. Own brands are so much cheaper and exactly the same as Nurofen, etc.

Tortilla chips. Sainsbury’s salted basics are the best.

No cornflakes are as good as Kelloggs.
As others have said, tea is definitely not all the same - I usually have Yorkshire, occasionally Twinings if it's on offer, premium own-brand or other branded if desperate, but would never buy really cheap stuff.
Also loo roll - I will buy own brand, but only luxury own brand, e.g. quilted, but cheap stuff is awful, so thin and certainly not soft.

I am a tight arse Aldi shopper about half the time but I do disagree, not all cheap alternatives actually work properly.

@Camrette

I disagree on some of your cupboard staples. Different teas taste hugely different. Also cornflakes, own brand is fine but basics are like an entirely different product. Pasta, we usually have own brand but on the rare occasion we get the expensive one it feels like a real treat, it’s a completely different texture and taste.

I bought a Lidl own brand rice krispies once. They were so dry. Like eating sandpaper. No matter how much milk you put on the spoon they still tasted dry. After a plate of those my tongue s was sore because they were so dry. I tried to persevere with the box but in the end had to chuck them out.

The Asda own brand rice krispies are fine though

Kia has all the gadgets on it. Heated seats, cooling seats, auto wipers etc. It depends on what model you get

@ChampagneWorries

Kia has all the gadgets on it. Heated seats, cooling seats, auto wipers etc. It depends on what model you get

Indeed - but generally LR entry levels tend to be pretty swish as standard.

Disagree on tea bags op. I like strong tea and hardly any cut the mustard. Pg tips extra strong all the way

Each to their own on the handbags.

I do however understand your frustration on the dog purchase. Has your friend even indicated how and when she's going to pay you back?

Washing up liquid - they all do the same thing

Some of the cheaper brands are a false ecomomy you need to use much more.

Though TBH with a lot of brands it is try the cheaper versions and see - some are fine even better - like Aldi chocolate - and some aren't.

@Mansplainee

Need to show my DH this thread. He refuses to use any shower gel except for Aesop which is £30 a bottle. I use own brand.

Mine buys the 50p tesco one! Its great.

£30 shower gel

I’m going to say biscuits- sugar crap is sugar crap- 40p biscuits, same hit as a £1.40 pack of biscuits

Have you tried refilling his posh shower gel with a cheap one 😁

Have you tried refilling his posh shower gel with a cheap one 😁

Haha. Should probably try that. To be fair it does smell amazing and he doesn’t generally splash out on himself otherwise, so I’ll allow it!

25k on a car is not cheap, what planet are you on?

And Maldon salt is head and shoulders better than the rest of them.

Dishwasher tablets however, the cheapest work the same as the ones 10x the price.

when BIL3 was a student and had to really watch the pennies he still bought luxury toilet paper.
I always admired him for that (amongst other things), there was something so classy yet defiant about that🤣

@daisyjgrey

25k on a car is not cheap, what planet are you on?

And Maldon salt is head and shoulders better than the rest of them.

Dishwasher tablets however, the cheapest work the same as the ones 10x the price.

I think with dishwasher tablets it depends on your water-my parents live in a soft water area and the cheap ones work brilliantly, we have hard water and have to buy more expensive ones as otherwise everything comes out gritty and still dirty.

I disagree with absolutely all of your examples! Some of them I buy fairly cheap myself either due to necessity (car) or lack of interest (handbag) but you are clearly getting very different products at different ends of the price scale for both of those - no one would mistake a cheap one for an expensive one or vice versa. I personally wouldn't get a pedigree dog but again there is a clear and obvious difference between getting a pedigree puppy and a rescue.

I personally wouldn't get a pedigree dog but again there is a clear and obvious difference between getting a pedigree puppy and a rescue.

They both bark, wag their tails & shit.

@iklboo

I personally wouldn't get a pedigree dog but again there is a clear and obvious difference between getting a pedigree puppy and a rescue.

They both bark, wag their tails & shit.

Having a dog from a known background that you train from puppyhood is a really different experience to getting a rescue dog, with both pros and cons on both sides.

Always use decent washing powder and fairy liquid.
Always buy.. decent coffee for the caffitiere
.. Heinz baked beans
.. branded cereals
..Lurpak
Twinings tea bags ( they are the best)
..Decent pasta

Don't mind supermarket own loo roll..
..and floor cleaner
..bleach..
..baby wipes..
...nappy pants

@VeniVidiWeeWee

The Kia won't go up a 45 degree slope.

I once took one up Porlock Hill. That's near enough.

Definitely agree on paracetamol and ibuprofen, and pretty much any other drug/suppliment. They have to have a measured amount of the active ingredients and everything else is just filler and adds nothing.

The only other example I can think of is things like herbs and spices. What's the difference between schwarz dried thyme for £1.65, and asda dried thyme for 80p?