What products don't you go cheap on?

[RedHedd]

Everybody got it right with cheese! I'm from WI (Little Chute- home of the Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival) We buy cheese from specialty stores. Kraft is horrible. Real CA cheese my rear end! It says "artificial coloring red and yellow and artificial flavoring" right on each package of kraft cheese product.

Kraft masquerading as California Cheese! Well, I NEVER! No way! That orange Kraft stuff isn't cheese at all is it? I thought it was plastic - isn't it related to Velveeta?

I'm a California native and can certainly taste the difference in MY cheese!

[IRescue452]

I think Kraft is plastic: melted nasty orange plastic

I can only eat Jif peanut butter. I hate hate hate the taste of skippy and peter pan.

[caseysmom]

I like the tillamook cheese...not sure if its from WI or not.....my daughter loves the kraft swiss individual wrapped slices but she is 14 what kind of taste can she have

[Randi]

LOL! I was searching to see if anyone use "Best Friends" cat-litter and came across this thread. It's funny to see how nearly all of of you have peanut butter and ketchup in your kitchens. It's probably 20 years ago I last had peanut butter and I can't remember ever buying ketchup. Do you use it for hamburgers or what?

Btw, I got a bag of "Best Friends" cat-litter from a friend who moved, and I don't like it, but I mix it with the one I have.

[Scooter's Mom]

Thanks for bumping this thread. I really enjoyed reading through it!

Some things I do *not* skimp on...
Toilet Paper - must be Quilted Northern - the purple package, 3 ply kind.

Sugar Free pudding cups - Jello brand is the only I buy. I love the dulce le leche flavor!

Soda - Hubby has to have Dr. Pepper & I either drink Diet Coke or Sprite Zero. (Sprite Zero is my favorite but not as available as the Diet Coke)

Pet food - dogs eat Wellness and the cats eat Taste of the Wild. It's not as good as some folks feed, but my crew is really happy with it.

[chocolatepuppy]

Coke, Log Cabin syrup, and of course dog food, cat food, and kitty litter.

[pomtzu]

LOL! It's probably 20 years ago I last had peanut butter and I can't remember ever buying ketchup. Do you use it for hamburgers or what?

Yikes - no peanut butter or ketchup in your pantry?? That's pretty much unheard of in the U.S. And yes - ketchup on hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, and a whole lot more.

With the economy the way it is and since I retired, I'm not as strict on my brands as I used to be, but here are some items on my "must be good stuff list" with no generic or less expensive brands:

Soft drinks - Pepsi or 7Up
Mayo - I don't do mayo so it's Miracle Whip
"Butter" spread - Shed's Spread or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
Baked beans - B&M or Bush's
Fresh chicken - Perdue or Tyson's
Cranberry sauce - Ocean Spray
Maple (flavor) syrup - Mrs Butterworth's
Dog food - Myndi has to have K/D prescription only. Sparky - all he will eat is Pedigree or Cesar's, or fresh cooked chicken. Not the best, but I have NEVER fed cheap store brands.
Bras - Barely Breezies
Sandals - Birkenstock
Toilet paper - Angel Soft or Quilted Northern
Toothpaste - Crest or Colgate
Shampoo, conditioner & gel - Pantene
Hair spray - L'Oreal Elnett
Other makeup - A good brand - no super cheap junk

[Edwina's Secretary]

Yikes - no peanut butter or ketchup in your pantry?? That's pretty much unheard of in the U.S. And yes - ketchup on hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, and a whole lot more.

I have never eaten peanut butter (or jelly!) and I do not use ketchup. Before I was married I had a jar of peanut butter someone had given me as a joke. I used it to bait mouse traps... my mother always kept a jar for feeding the birds in winter. No one in my family ate peanut butter.

As for ketchup - I would have those little packets from the fast food places in case a guest wanted it.

My husband likes both (and does the grocery shopping!) so they are in the pantry now. But I can't even bear the thought of eating peanut butter, jelly or ketchup!

[Catty1]

Peanut butter and honey or raspberry jam sandwiches - loved those as a kid. I couldn't understand friends who had peanut butter and BANANA.

If you mix ketchup with horseradish, you get a quick shrimp or seafood dip.

Pop/soda - diet or otherwise - I had my first serving yesterday in about 3 months. No biggie. Most fast food places have orange juice or iced tea. Yes, iced tea has lots of sugar in it, but won't hurt my bones like the fizzy stuff will.

Karen - there are quite a few recipes for home-made ketchup online. This one looks pretty good.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/ketchup/detail.aspx

I don't skimp on cat food - which kinda gets tough with 3 kitties now. (I know, I know...but there was no sending Zoe back! ) I use the Loblaws/President's Choice natural clumping litter - made entirely out of ground corn husks. It's a bit expensive, but lasts a surprisingly long time.

I try and buy beef etc on sale - but today was happy to pay $15 for a frozen chicken sold at the local Farmer's Market by the Mountainview Hutterite colony. They are officially inspected (tagged) huge and delicious and one chicken goes a long way.

Nor do I skimp on Internet.

[Karen]

Maple syrup - Mrs Butterworth's

Just a point of correction, Pomtzu! There is no actual maple syrup in Mrs. Butterworth's! It is primarily corn syrup, with molasses and other stuff, but no maple!

Thankfully, I am not allergic to maple syrup, so I can still have the real stuff. (I'm allergic to corn/corn syrup so now have to be picker than ever.)

[krazyaboutkatz]

Regarding peanut butter. I still eat PB&J sandwiches almost every day. The peanut butter has to be Jif extra crunchy and I prefer the jelly to be red raspberry. I've been bringing my lunch to work for quite a while now to help save money instead of eating out all of the time. PB&J on wheat bread, a protein bar, and an apple help to get me through the day at work. I grew up eating Jif extra crunchy with only grape jelly. Now I can't stand grape jelly. I also ate some Fluffernutter sandwiches(Fluff (marshmallow cream) with peanutbutter). They were pretty good too.

[Karen]

It's probably 20 years ago I last had peanut butter and I can't remember ever buying ketchup. Do you use it for hamburgers or what?

Yup - ketchup goes on hamburgers, hotdogs and most especially on french fries. My brother-in-law puts it on scrambled eggs, which I can't even look at!

Now, though I cannot have ketchup, as it all has corn syrup in it, and I am allergic to that.

We don't go cheap on paper towels, you need so many more of the "cheap" kind that it makes buying the good stuff worth it. And I only buy Scotties' brand tissues, as Kleenex and especially the generic kinds are far dustier.