If you can't afford the best...buy the cheapest. AIBU?

[ClawHandsIfYouBelieveInFreaks]

I've always bought into this. Basically if you can't buy top of the range then don't fall for mid-range as they're not good enough and the cheapest is often as good anyway.

This goes for things like vacuum cleaners imo.

DH disagreees and ours has broken. We can't spend 200 quid on a hoover just before Christmas so I told him to buy an Argos value one for 18 pounds. We had one once before a few years back and it was fine!

NO says DH. I'm getting this one for 100 pounds.

He doesn't even DO the vacuum cleaning!

I do!

I should know shouldn't I??

That makes no sense. Get the best that you can afford. It might not be top of the range, but it's unlikely to be bottom of the range, either.

Agree a budget, and look for the best hoover you can get for around that price.

As a stopgap yanbu

If you're in Tyne and wear I have a cheap useless one

I had an value Argos vacuum to use whilst we had building work carried out. It was no way as good as my normal one...

DH and I work on a Second Cheapest principle. Nice enough? Stick with it. Crap? Go up a level next time.

Vacuums - buy a Henry.

An £18 vaccum cleaner will be really crap.

What do the reviews say?

Sorry I'm with infinity but it does depend.

How big is your house and how much is carpet?

Do you have pets.

If the answer are quite big, lots and yes then get the absolute best you can afford. Look for deals these kind if thing often get discounted before and after christmas because no one plans to but and expensive Hoover before christmas.

If the answer is small, no much and no then the £18 will be fine.

Oh alright alright. I am being unreasonable!

I don't think,it works like that. I bought a cheap microwave an
About 18 months ago and I thought it was great and that I was a fool for ever buying anything different ever again. But the inside started going rusty and the buttons became unreliable and we had to get rid of it. It was a false economy as we've had to replace it.

If you had a cheap Hoover a few years ago it can't be that good as it's broken. Like my microwave. I've had my Hoover for at least 11 years.

I had a very cheap one from asda. It wasnt fab but it was doing the job. It is now 10 yrs old. Few years ago we did buy a new one but we used the asda one when the other broke, then we used it for when we need to clean a small area and too lazy to get out the other. And then i gave it recently to my dn.
So you could buy the cheap one for now. Unless you have a massive house or a b and b.

So the hoover you really want is £200. You can't afford it just now (temporary cash flow problem) so you plan to buy the cheapest as a temporary measure and save up for the one you really want. Sounds fine to me. Especially as you've tried the cheap one and are sure it will work fine. Better than being stuck with the mid price hoover you don't like. Also probably better than going into debt to get the one you want now although might be worth comparing actual costs.
Or does he object on principle to getting the more expensive one?

This works with certain things - I always buy the cheapest wherever possible

… but not with Hoover's!! Agree you could probably get a good one for around £70 ish. Mine was about that price and is better than my mum's Dyson (her words not mine!!). We had a very cheap one before that and it was worse than useless..

I bought a Hoover one in Argos for about £100 and it knocks the socks off the previous Dyson/s and Vax. I didn't expect it to be as good. So yeah, splash out on something that will make your life easier.

Well at £18 if it lasts a year and cleans well why not, if it doesn't suck dirt up well enough you can still go up in price to the next model that is more powerful and have change from the £200 for a branded one

The old adage 'buy cheap, buy twice' is pretty accurate in my experience. And never buy the second cheapest wine on a wine list. It won't be better than the house but will be more expensive. Go further up the list for more quality.

Haven't read everything but for £100 you can get a Henry. It was one of the best vacuums i had. We have now got a bosch which i love it's very quiet and very effective. I think it was around 180, but my old henry was just as good for suction but not as qiet and not as many filters etc.

We bought tesco's cheapest vacuum when we were renovating our house...we used it for fine builders dust and bought it with the intention of chucking it...but I was actually really impressed.

The suction was really good, but it was the lack of extras that made it 'shit'...a shorter wire, shorter hose meaning you have to bend, less attachments and a hard brush rather than one that will get into carpet pile.

That vacuum survived the builders dust, had a good clean and we still have it two years later...I use it downstairs on the hard floors and it's great, but have a better upright one for the carpets.

One of the best hovers we had was from pound stretcher . It lasted for years. On the other hand I loathed the Dyson we had which was much more expensive. As a stopgap pre-Christmas I think yanbu.

If you are going to save for a more expensive one then it makes sense.

BUT you don't need to spend £200 for a really good hoover. Get a Henry,it will pick everything up,and I mean everything!

Henrys are always chosen by contract cleaners for a reason!

He wants that Hoover.....he Hoovers with it ....