What products don't you go cheap on?

[Miss Z]

I never buy cheap and cheerful mascara. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's watery, lumpy, useless mascara!

Of course anything for the animals I'll always make sure is of the highest quality.

[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

[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.

[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.

[pomtzu]

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

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.

$15 for a chicken??? You're kidding - right? I could buy a decent sized turkey for that. I pay 78 Cents per pound for fresh huge Purdue roasting chickens at Sams. They come packaged in 2's, and average about 6 or 7 lbs each. Too bad I can't send you some packed in dry ice. One chicken feeds us (3 adults and one teen), with some left over for the pups. I guess I would starve if I lived in Canada.

And peanut butter and banana is delicious, tho I prefer it with strawberry or peach preserves. I use it more in other recipes for baking, than I do just eating on a sandwich tho.

[Catty1]

pom - it's a fresh farm chicken, free range. The flavour is amazing - and I have to use turkey roasting directions for the size of the thing.

[K9karen]

The peanut butter posts made me laugh. My 98 y.o. uncle puts peanut butter on bread, waffles, pancakes (PLUS the syrup!) Maybe that's his secret to longevity! I buy him the biggest jar of Skippy or Jif that I can find and it's gone in no time! I rarely ate pbj as a kid. My mom thought it was more of a "treat" not a lunch meal. For some reason same with pizza. It was a late snack on weekends. (not now, though-pbj on raisen bread!! yum!)

I love ketchup! I don't put it on everything, but my brother does..scrambled eggs, baked beans, sloppy joes.

For me, certain foods have GOT to be real: butter, mayo, ice cream, cheese (not those prepackaged slices), bacon. All the high cholestrol, fattening stuff. That's OK though, I use a sugar substitute!!

[Alysser]

I'm also gonna add laptops to my list. Never again will I settle for a $600 Dell since they never work right, at least for me. I'll always be a Mac person.

I'll also add workout clothes to the list. Many people just wear any old tee and shorts to the gym, but I'm always in Under Armour or Nike. I also ALWAYS wear basketball shorts. I don't like being sweaty so under armour is fantastic and it also just feels so much easier to move around in. I also use it for work. I do, however, usually buy it at discount shops or outlet factories. Even then UA is still quite expensive.

Last year, I purchased an Olympus Stylus Tough 6000. It was $275. For a point and shoot camera, people found that pretty ridiculous. You can buy decent point and shoots for $120-140. I've had many cameras, some of which broke for no reason, some I broke, some that were just way too outdated. Because I broke my camera before my Olympus I was looking for something way more suited for my lifestyle. I got out alot, I'm always outside, I go swimming/beach alot. I needed something that could survive all that. This camera is waterproof, shockproof so it can be dropped, and freezeproof. It may have cost me a bundle but it was well worth it. I never worry about dropping it, I'm always swimming with it. I take it everywhere with no problems, even in the snow! It's a little out there though. It's pretty beat up but it works great still. I'm looking into buying the new updated one for $250 with much better features, but of course I'll always love my first one!

[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.