To ask what you think is worth spending a bit extra on?

[ethelfleda]

And what you think isn’t?
Can be anything - food, clothes, holidays etc etc?

For example, I’ve just bought some socks that are a cashmere blend and wonder how I could now ever go back to boring old cotton.
Likewise, I usually spend a bit more on coffee for good quality. But some food items such as tinned pulses - I don’t think it matters buying cheap.

What items do you spend a little more on because you think they’re worth it? And which do you buy the cheapest of because you can’t notice any difference?

Thanks for taking part in a mundane thread

Shoes and boots, winter coats, handbags, beds, bedding, pans, towels, knives, wine, make up, toilet roll, fairy liquid, nappies, clothes for my DD.

Paint!

It’s always worth paying more for proper natural materials. Wool, leather, cotton, silk and linen for clothing. Wool, wood, stone, metal around the house, not plastic. They always look better and feel better.

Mayonnaise!

already mentioned by several but butter is a decent shout. unless you eat it by the fistful, using [say] salted lurpak over some cheapo spread won't cost you that much over the course of a year, & you'll feel a lot better for it.

alreay mentioned i think getting kids' [certainly primary school age] clothes secondhand [especially decent quality secondhand] is a good shout for a way to save money without really losing out at all.

Fairy liquid (ends up saving us money overall I'm sure as it lasts so long, so not sure if that counts)
Shampoo
Ketchup
Wooden furniture
Bedding
Pillows

I spend money on..
foundation Estee lauder only because I wear this on special occasions so it lasts me nearly a year .
Perfume

Cheap stuff

Aldis for general shopping
Paracetamol
Toilet paper

Meat, especially sausages, mince and steak
Chocolate
Bedlinen
Mattresses
Decent seats at the theatre/cinema

Tinfoil. Lakeland own brand is excellent and can be reused.
Bog paper. I can't see the point of the cheap stuff, you just use more of it.
Flights - if you're going somewhere where you need luggage, the major airlines do not work out much more expensive then el cheapo ones. And you get treated like a customer, not just a cash cow.

Worth paying more : Food, wine, beer, holidays, shoes, tyres.

Not worth paying more : cleaning & household products (Lidl own brand is fine). Phones : my iPhone 6S does everything I need and cost a quarter of the price of a 11. First class on trains. Premium branded petrol - there is no noticeable difference from Asda’s stuff.

I must admit I am a little bit of a brand snob when it comes to groceries.

Hair cuts. Having previously gone to my local salon, I've just been to one that's three times the price. But they did a fantastic job on my hair, just what I wanted without having to show them a picture. I've also had lots of compliments. Never going the cheap place again.

Buy cheap buy twice is my motto.

Jeans are worth spending a bit more on, if they are made out of actual denim.
Winter gloves. Thin ones are miserable and make you feel poor.

Up until a month ago I would've said Clarins Double Serum, but I've since found Avon's version, and so far it seems to be even better...

Foundation though, is worth spending on, especially for my 51 year old skin.

Other than that, I was advised many years ago to spend good money (if available) on good shoes and good winter coats, and that seems to be good advice.

High welfare meat.
Ethically produced clothing.
Locally produced food.

Apologies for the repeated use of the word good

(My English teacher would rightly have told me off for that...)

Organic dairy - not veggies, unaffordable unfortunately

Shoes - they get way more wear and tear than a primarni T-shirt would and cause so much pain if not right!

Mobile phone- you get a good warranty and technical support

Would never pay more for..
-branded cereals etc £3 for a box!! What a joke
-nurofen instead of own brand painkillers £5 vs 50p!
-toiletries, some cheap are amazing some expensive are rubbish total luck of the draw

Reclining double seats at the cinema. I rarely go and I'm already spending a small fortune on two tickets, so why not spend the extra £3 to be able to lie down and cuddle DD with a blanket over us! Much more comfy on my back and DD isn't wriggling about in an upright seat. Far more enjoyable!

I also buy more expensive coats and shoes than I used to. I suppose they're still "cheap" by others' standards but they are more durable and nice looking than the new look shoes I used to buy.

I recently replaced a coat stand, it was from amazon and fell apart quite quickly. I got a gorgeous John Lewis one instead and it's the first time I've bought non-second hand furniture (save for a few IKEA bits). Was definitely definitely worth it.

Any kind of home improvement, the cheapest quote has always turned out to be a false economy. Good standards of work are never the cheapest.
And butter.

Furniture for the house and garden - it’s always been a gradual slow process with every home we moved to but paid top dollar for superior quality, design and functionality. Consequently everything is edited to perfection. Taps and door handles, silly money but they get used all the time so they have to look and feel great and work perfectly.

Best cars we can afford at the time of making a car purchase in terms of safety, performance and style.

All these are big considerate purchases and not made on a whim but I couldn’t live with a crappy car and ugly furniture.

I buy cheapest shampoo, bar soaps (as long as they are non perfumed), detergent - basic stuff like this. However, only Andrex toilet paper would do according to my family, which I think it’s overpriced for what it is.

I make my own beauty treatments so buy the best ingredients I can find for those but the cost per use is virtually nothing.

The best winter coats tend to expensive but they last for decades (padded coats as well as smart wool coats).

Meat
Shoes
Coats
Bedding
Foundation
Laundry detergent
Coffee
Running shoes

For me, the practical stuff has to be good. It's so annoying cutting veg with a poor quality knife, or boots that leak.
I see a lot of it as a one time/long term purchase so kitchen ware and equipment, shoes, coats, underwear, furniture etc. So Richard Sheffield knives that I've had for 15 years, my timberland boots, wool coats 10 years. Yy also to flights, parking, butter,
I tend to buy in the sale/outlets as I get better quality for the same price as normal.

Cheap things are usually things that I will get rid of or lose before they break, - hair bands, fashion fads, phone chargers, decorations,

I agree that certain things are equal quality and cheaper, for me cars, certain beauty product dupes, lentils, nail polish remover.

Aldi/Lidl/ Wilko's have definitely helped me realise that the correlation between price and quality is not what it used to be.

Spend more: Biscuits. Cheap biscuits are horrible.

Not spend more: Gin/wine. Cheapest you can get.

Tea- I got some own brand green tea, and couldn’t get through a cup, it was awful.

Mattresses- always go for the best I can afford.

Always buy lenor, but I use own brand washing liquid

Real leather shoes rather than fake, last much longer and can polish out scuffs so they look like new.