Things that are worth paying a bit extra for

[SpecialSpaghetti]

Just spent the best part of 45 minutes with DC going through numerous (5 - DC is a stationery fiend!) and doing an audit of all the working pens/pencils/felt tips/colouring pencils etc.
Never ceases to amaze me how disheartening it is when the leads in the pencils/colouring pencils constantly snap when you are trying to sharpen them.
The branded ones were a dream in comparison.
Pic (hopefully attached) shows the difference in quality.
The staedtler ones were great.
The ones from unknown origin had chipped wood and snapped leads.
There was even one that could not be sharpened! The wood just wouldn't 'give'.

What things in your life do you consider it worthwhile to pay a bit extra for?
Colouring pencils and pencils are now firmly in my list.
Bin bags too.
Split bin bags are not a pleasant experience!

Makeup wipes
Coffee
Bread
Shampoo
And like so many of you, BIN BAGS

Yes to bin bags and hair products.

Swimwear for me. If I’m going to walk around in public in what is basically underwear, I want to feel as comfortable as possible.

Also agree with bin bags & hair products.

I used to say marmite but Lidl's yeast extract tastes the same but is easier to spread

Shoes for my son when he was younger (he buys his own now).

Mutti tomato products.

Toothbrushes.

Good coffee beans. Life is too short for bad coffee.

Mayonnaise, tinned tomatoes, pasta.

I bought cheap Asda pasta yesterday. It is WEIRD. It's strangely overcooked and undercooked at the same time. Gritty and slimy. Unfortunately I bought 3kg (we eat a lot of pasta!). I think I'll have to return the unopened packets because it is disgusting.

Shoes and mattress/bedding if you're not in one you're likely in the other. Good quality cotton bedding and the right mattress can bé the difference between being constantly exhausted due to poor quality sleep and actually feeling close to human occasionally.

Butter, good butter is one of life's greatest pleasures. Also olive oil. Good olive oil tastes of olives and is often green not yellow.

Coffee, cheap coffee is vile

Bin bags 100%. Don't have time to be faffing about with flimsy bags that break of you breathe on them too hard

Hair care products - no £1 Alberto balsam Shampoo is not amazing. May as well be washing hair with fairy liquid

Ditto skin care. There does come a price point where you are paying for name over effectiveness but the low end stuff just doesn't have the concentration of active ingredients to be much better than a bit of vaseline

Cling film
Bin bags
Walking boots and wellies

Definitely agree re: rubber gloves and a few other things too. Have discovered aldi gold label tea bags are perfectly fine and some other things I used to buy expensive don't matter so much. I swapped expensive cleanser for a cleansing balm and cheap face wash and it works just as well for well under half the price.

Mattress. Replaced two late last year and paid so much more than I ever had previously but the difference is huge. Dh and I have separate bedrooms, his mattress is quite hard but it's still comfortable and he loves it (he didn't think he needed a new one), no more hips and back ache in the mornings, mine is supportive but soft, it feels like I'm climbing into a cloud and I would stay there all day if I could, I have fibromyalgia so even a creased sheet can hurt but the difference this mattress has made is amazing. On a side note I bought fleece sheets and duvet cover for dh intending to only use when it got really really cold but he loves them so much I got more, now he doesn't want to revert to normal flannelette or cotton, I love my cool crisp cotton bedding which costs so much more than the fleece (dh reaction to his bedding has really amused me, removing it is a bit like hiding a child's lovey).

Is there any own-brand that’s indistinguishable from Weetabix? It has gone up a lot in price and we go through a lot of it! When we lived in Ireland, the SuperValu own brand was so good that if you put it in the Weetabix box, nobody ever noticed…can’t get it in UK though 🥲

Mutti canned tomatoes

Never ever going back to Waitrose tomatoes after discovering Mutti. Better flavour, better texture.

Skin care, I use Clarins for everything apart from moisturiser which is Aldi - unless anyone can recommend a good face wash and toner?

Lenor/comfort
binbags
hair products
cling film
Dog food
sandwich meat (which is way too expensive now to feed 5 people for lunch everyday, so cook an Aldi gammon joint every Sunday for the week, much nicer and saves a fortune)
Tinned tomatoes

Decent Cheddar.

Butter (proper salted ones), tomatoes on the vine, Branston Beans, Fairy laundry powder & fabric conditioner, coats & shoes.

Shoes and a bed, your always either in one or the other

totally agree with the pencils, I’ll only buy the staedler ones for all the reasons you photographed!

100% bin bags and cling film.

school backpacks. Realised the other day I’ve not bought any of my kids a new school bag since 2018 when they all nagged me for a Herschel bag. They’re still going strong despite being used daily.

Wine. Shoes and jackets for the kids.

Bread! Such a nicer sandwich experience with a good loaf!
Shampoo/conditioner
Shoes/trainers , I've learnt the hard way that cheap shoes just don't last and support you correctly
Dishwasher tablets

Sketchers.

Most of my clothes get bought at the charity shop. But working all day on my feet, I live in sketchers. I have found which work for my feet and I just get the exact same pair when the wear out.

Kitchen roll. Anything other than Plenty is just pointless. Loo roll too, no point buying cheap thin stuff as you use loads and your fingers just go through it, yuck.

Another Mutti fan here.

Bedding
Socks
Bacon

Cat Litter
Litter Tray Liner - we use thick draw string bags
Bin Bags
Kitchen Roll
Loo Roll
Pens/Pencil/Colour Pencils/Markers/Felts
Bedding esp pillow cases, sheets and bottom sheets
Tea/Coffee
Shampoo - Switched to John Frieda Frizz Ease Weightless Wonder, £9 a bottle but worth it as my fine frizzy hair is so much better now.

my random list:

Jam
mattresses
beds
bedding
face cream
perfume
children’s car seats

Drinking chocolate
Cat food
Chocolate chip biscuits
Toothpaste
Dawn dishwashing liquid
Watties spaghetti and baked beans