There are certain things that I find it impossible to skimp on – no-name brand just will not do in certain cases:
*Paper Towel – I always buy the Sponge Towels. They are select-a-size, they hold together beautifully, and they’re not thin and “papery” like no-name brand ones
*Plastic Freezer Bags – I will ALWAYS buy Ziploc with the double zipper, because after packaging a few pounds of raw chicken, the last thing I want to do is struggle to close the stupid bag, think I’ve got it, realise that I haven’t, get mad, throw the bag away and put the chicken into a new bag...it’s worth the extra change in my wallet to buy the “good” baggies.
*Diapers – I only ever buy Huggies. I don’t know why, victim of marketing I suppose. I’m not convinced that generic brand diapers can contain the stuff my little guy puts out. When it comes to containment issues, I feel it’s best to leave it to the experts.
*Macaroni and Cheese – sorry, but it’s worth it to spend the extra $0.05 or whatever and buy the KD Extra Creamy. It’s not going to break my bank account.
*Coffee – ah yes. No previously-ground-freeze-dried coffee junk makes it into my home, except on the RARE occaision a tin of Tim Hortons. But when I can buy a 2lb bag of Starbucks House Blend at Costco for, what, $10? TOTALLY worth it.
Now, there are some things that ARE worth skimping on and buying the “store” brand:
*Kirkland Baby Wipes – these are BY FAR the best baby wipes EVER. I am never without them, and the rare times I am forced to buy a different kind I use them grudgingly until I am restocked on the good ones.
*Joe Clothes from Superstore – I’m embarrassed to say that I purchase many of my clothes (and the boy’s clothes) at the same place I get my groceries. BUT the price is right, the quality is good, and the styles are cool. Can’t argue with that (although I still like to hit the sales at Gap as much as possible).
*President’s Choice Formula for Berry Baby – I can buy the “good” kind with the Omega 3 stuff for a fraction of what I would pay for the brand name stuff. And, I was informed that the PC brand is made by the same company that makes one of the brand name formulas, so what’s to lose?
*Kirkland Toilet Paper – by far my favourite double-ply. Soft, thick enough, and dependable.
That’s my 2cents worth. Where do you skimp and splurge?
3 comments:
That is so funny. I'm a sponge towel, Ziploc, KD, girl as well. But I admit to being a scrooge on paper towel and use it mostly for "contaminated surfaces" and not for washing windows and general cleaning (I use microfibre and cotton for that). Oh and I wash and re-use my ziploc baggies until they start to tear at the seams. I am not so frugal as to bother "ironing" the seams back together as I have heard suggested by true frugal hacks. I'm just a frugal newborn if we want to compare apples to apples).
I'm not sure I can say I "prefer" the Kirkland diapers to Huggies, but they are 100% as good in my eyes. I usually buy Kirkland diapers and only buy Huggies if I am not making it to Costco and am at Walmart or Superstore or some other mega store.
You *know* I don't care too much about the coffee brand, but you may be rubbing off on me in that regards. I do especially enjoy your coffee...
We also buy the Kirkland TP, wipes and superstore clothes (especially on sale, cause I'm *really * tight on clothing allowance money, but even regular price is amazing too.)Those shirts the girls were wearing on wednesday, can you believe 2.98 each??? Adorable~ Frugal is fun. Sometimes the best way to be frugal is to buy high quality though, rather than cheap crap that you keep replacing.
lol - washing and reusing Ziploc bags is a continual source of contention between me and my Mom when she's here. She insists on washing and reusing, I refuse to wash or dry the things and will chuck them as soon as they appear hanging over various faucets, jugs, etc to drip dry.
the amount of recycling I *don't* do is also amazing to her - conversations usually go like this:
(mom) "do you recycle this?"
(me) "no"
(mom) "oh....really?"
(me) "nope - into the burning barrel"
(mom) "oh...."
it distresses her (lol)
Have to buy coffee by the bean and love the Ten Thousand Village selections so I am a spender in regard to coffee as well.
We will cheep out on clothing and toilet paper and diapers but we spend more money on groceries if we have, to in order to get organic and local cuz we just love our veggies, fruit and dairy fresh and chemical taste free:)
Example...After switching to organic bananas we can't keep them in the house and I never get any brown for baking anymore. Seriously they taste so much better but you do pay about .20 cents a pound more:)
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