to think there are some things you shouldn't scrimp on?

[MardyBra]

I've just used some cheap Sainsbo's dental floss and my gums are rebelling. AIBU to think that you shouldn't compromise on certain products - recession or no recession!

Just found this thread, and I agree with most things,.

No to cheap....
coffee/tea
Bras,
kids shoes
cleanser/tone/moisturiser
loo paper
washing up liquid
laundry stuff
bread

Will compromise on wine, was a wine merchant for many years, and I can recommend Sainsburys own label Shiraz, fantastic price! Great Wine!

Everything else I will try to 'down grade' on the label, but if its on offer and I will use it I will buy it.

Lucky to have a MIL who also buys the 'BOGOF' offers, and so we split them between us!
I've found in the past that if I buy the cheaper stuff it either does not work, or last as long, and I end up buying the original thing I wanted anyway.... that's no economy!

I won't scrimp on;

Make up - I buy No 7 which is cheap to some but I like it, I wait for the £5 off vouchers boots usually have on. I have Mac make up for 'going-out' as it's too heavy for day to day

Meat - hence we hardly buy it

Shoes - Kids always have 1 pair of decent fitting, leather shoes, I usually buy from Clarks and DH Skechers.

Bras - My GG monsters have to have decent support!

Coffee - DH moans if I get cheapo make

Beans - DH won't eat anything other than heinz or branston - says the other give worse wind than normal (suspect that may be a slight exaggeration on DH part)

Bread - I try to get decent bread as cheap as poss (can usually get kingsmill on 2 for 1.70)

Strawberry bloody milkshake - According to DH it has to be nesquik, everything else is vile

Peanut butter - Whole earth stuff for DH

Clothes for kids - Now I've started buying Boden I'm struggling to force myself to buy anything else (I do buy in the sale/% discount offers)

Mattress/Bed

Flooring/Laminate - Cheaper is false economy IME

Couldn't give a stuff about

Loo roll - actually prefer asda/tesco's own brand and we go through pack of 12 every week and a half, for 1.30 that is fab value

Tinned tomatoes - smart price all the way

Pasta - all tastes the same

Clothes for me - I look shit in everything so what's the difference

Furniture - Will buy Ikea stuff, found it to last well and price is agreeable, although since sitting on my sister's cheapy corner sofa she got from tesco I will always get a decent sofa (new or second hand, don't care, in fact never had a brand new sofa in the 10y I've been with DH).

TV - Always had second hand, not fussed about flat screen etc.

Bras definitel, especially as I am an H cup. Mattress - work night shifts - need my sleep. Sheets and loo roll because I am precious.

Perfume and make up - can't bear the cheap stuff - can't afford the nice stuff so have very little and only wear it on special occasions. Never wear foundation - convinced I have good skin because I never wear it.

Tomatoes and strawberries - don't care how expensive they are - if they don't smell as they should then they won't taste as they should - and yes I do sniff them in the shop.

gosh i feel quite poor tight compared to you lot aside from the bread and coffee i really do buy cheapie everything.
Oh oh just though. Sausages. Value sausages arent worth it. they shrivel up to nothing when you cook them. There im not total tight wad.

i like branston beans so i stock up when lidl's do a pack of four for £1.. it's actually cheaper than tesco value

I have bee sting norks, so am perfectly happy with 2 for £8 bras from Peacocks.

OTHM

loo roll- the Charmin double roll stuff which lasts much longer than anything else and is nice and soft. Even my mum decided to switch to it (having used Andrex for hundreds of years) after she got snowed in with us for a few days and surprised herself by noticing the difference. Plus the fact it is double roll means I only need to change them half as often and need less space to store a big pack.

olay 'daily moisture' - having used clinique, clarins etc for years but never had great skin, down pegged to no 7 after having ds1 and ending up with the boots offer voucher. skin not different so carried on using. Then when they stopped making the one I liked, they had the olay one on offer and within a few days I was getting compliments on skin/me looking much better. however I have to be careful not to get their 'daily moisturiser' as that is different and not so good. Wish they would choose names that were more different too!

avoid the pampers wipes in orange packs - bought a box of them as they were on offer and dh and I grumble every time we need to use them - they are half the size of normal wipes and you seem to need about three times as many, not least as you seem to get more poo on your own hands [yuk smiley]

oh yes, sofas. would always get a good sofa.

unfortunately can't tell you which brand as 5 years after moving we still have old sofa (quite comfy, lasted well and still going strong at 15 yrs, supposed to be going into a different room) instead of the 2 new matching ones we need...

all because I can't actually find a sofa that I think is comfy and fits my criteria (which I think are pretty basic but seems not - long enough for me to lie on flat, cushion high enough at the back to rest head on, deep enough cushion to sit on without legs overhanging and thick enough cushion so can't feel the support bar underneath my knees. oh and look nice too.) Have tried hundreds of different sofas in all sorts of different shops and am still looking...

dh is now understandably getting a bit fed up of not having decent sofas to all be able to sit on, so think I am going to have to compromise. Thinking of multiyork who have one that is very comfy but has big ugly round arms or one that looks better but isn't quite as comfy.

so hoping somebody will recommend some really comfy sofas!

YABU. Some people have no choice but to "scrimp" (odd word) wherever possible, so it's pointless and insensitive to say they "shouldn't" do so.

It's only a bit of fun ClipArt!!
Crikey There have been times in my life when I had to nick pub loo paper I was so hard up but I wouldn't have begruded anyone their favourite branded stuff.

I'm glad I can afford what I want now but I'm always half expecting to be skint again.

Lighten up!

I think it is meant to be light hearted ClipArt , although i am slightly jealous of the people who can not scrimp on so many items but there you go such is life.
I wouldnt begrudge them of it either, same as upahill. ( Ive also had to nick loo paper more than once. Those massive ones are an absolute bugger to fit in your bag !)

It's in AIBU though... might have posted a different reply in chat!

LOL @ so many saying loo roll. I couldn't care less as long as it's not that scratchy stiff stuff, or pink.

But I must say I'm fussy about toothbrushes. If I must use a manual, it has to be a quality one.

And yes this is light hearted.

But I'm serious about carpets. I currently have bare boards (sanded and varnished) in one room because I can't afford the quality of carpet/underlay I want.

Just catching up on the thread - what a bunch of discerning MNers - and agree with loads of the comments.

ClipArt - it was definitely meant to be lighthearted - there are plenty of lighthearted threads in AIBU, you know. My gums were severely under attack from the cheap dental floss. It was like using a piece of cotton (which I have been known to do in an emergency - not a good idea). Chinnity - you might be surprised by the amount of crap that lurks between teeth. After eating a steak (good one of course), I can potentially have half a meal lurking there. It probably depends on how one's teeth are configured though. DH never seems to get food stuck in his teeth like I do.

Yes I understand it's a lighthearted thread, although I didn't realise at first reading of the OP. And I have no money and no sense of humour!

I never scrimp on bra's. 38DD's don't do cheap or they will be around your waist before you know it. Just to prove it, my Bazoomas were admired by a couple of 30 somethings and not in a letchy way... I'm 50

Oh there are so many things - agree with lots of the above.
Here are mine;

Mattress is top of my list - bad back
Panache Bras - big boobs (perhaps the two are connected)
Heinz baked beans
Meat (or I'd rather not eat it at all)
John Frieda conditoner
Toothpaste
Coffee
Shoes and clothes (although I do buy second hand, but good makes)
Paint (has to be F&B or equally as poncy)
Where I live

Obviously if I had to then I would economise on any of these things, but at the mo its what I can afford and like

The non negotiable one:
My cats wont scrimp on Felix As Good As It Looks!

Food in our house is a top priority, never buy meat from the supermarket, always the butchers. Although we do have less of it. Also buy expensive wine, but only when its on offer. Only buy decent bras when on sale. The list goes on. I dont think since giving up work, I would say we have had to scrimp as such, however the impulse buys are a thing of the past, planning is much more prevalent and nights out are rare. Everything else though is a must. Otherwise I would go mad. But if I was to choose one thing never ever ever ever to buy cheaply, it would be tea. Why buy supermarkets own, PG tips its the only way. Mind you i did complain yesterday when it cost me £4.25 for 160. I worked it out when I got home at 2p per cup which made me happier, but its a fairly big outlay for a drink x

Phoning a councellor about a year after my mum died and going to the first appointment and then having the guts to talk about everything. It was either that or I would have lost my mum and my marriage. I dealt with my mum dying even though it was sudden reasonably well, probably too well looking back at it now. However it has made me a better person for it.

Also, setting up my own bookkeeping business after my DS turned 1. Being a stay at home mum seemed to ruin all of my confidence and so I was terrified of going back to work. I had my first meeting with a guy and ended up getting some work out of him and now he wants to me to work more and more hours. The sense of achievement and bravery from that day has made me feel that I can take on the world.

balls, made kids dinner whilst posting a comment on another thread and well never mind x

Hijack alert.

Everyone who says mattresses - I need to have a bit of a blow out on a serious mattress when we move back into our house - recommendations please for me NOT to scrimp on this!!!!!

I wouldn't scrimp on bread meat eggs or dairy products, would rather go without. Always buy cheapest tinned tomatoes, fresh veg, loo roll etc, happy to buy Clarks shoes, sale stuff from gap etc. since a year on SMP my tastes are much more modest. Do like Bobbi Brown lipstick though...

I have no choice but to scrimp and do without but if I had money that I could justify spending on myself I would chose to but a comfortable bra.

I kind of follow my parents' lead here - they weren't poor but not huge amounts of spare cash either and they always saved up for good quality stuff e.g. furniture, carpets, clothes etc.. And Mum always bought good food because when her and Dad were married he had just fully recovered from an illness and doctor's orders were good nutrition.
So I don't begrudge money spent on good quality food of any type. and the kids always got good shoes and coats.
However, I don't care about some things like kitchen roll, washing up liquid, t-shirts, socks, shower gel or cleaning products.

ketchup ....got to be Heinz ketchup