Simple Things Worth Paying Too Much For

[disneysteve]

I pay more for decent alcohol, instead of whatever is cheapest. Same for beer - I'll gladly pay $8 for a six pack of imported or micro brew, instead of $11 for a 12 pack of swill.

Life's too short to drink cheap vodka.

[GREENBACK]

Life's too short to drink cheap vodka.

Gotta second that. Drank my share of the cheap stuff when I was young...wasted youth

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

When buying olive oil, look for the stamped the date of when it was pressed Get the youngest oil available. Olive oil begins to change quickly. If your oil has no pressing date I think you can assume it is old. (Geeze, wish I could grow olives! Ah!)

My price-is-no-concern item is well fitted shoes. Most of my life I could wear anything, but always wore comfortable shoes. Now what is comfortable is far more limited and good shoes are worth a small fortune to me. Interesting that comfort seems to go along with quality construction.

[PetMom]

The better treated the chicken the stronger/healthier the egg - I do find a difference in the more expensive eggs. Farm free range eggs with well fed chickens (not fed the bizarre stuff a CAFO feeds) have very strong shells.

DisneySteve good point about Olive Oil - most in the US and on your standard market shelves are actually mainly soybean oil.

Honey is actually beefed up with corn syrup (probably high fructose corn syrup).

That healthy expensive margarine spread made 'with' olive oil is actually mainly soybean oil and a small percentage of olive oil.

We now buy our olive oil only at the health food store from a reputable company and don't buy the expensive margarine spread and just buy plain corn syrup.

And also agree with those who wrote that as long as you consume the healthy fats - some eggs in moderation are not a problem.

Unfortunately, with food, there are so many loopholes manufacturers and advertisers are able to fool us with.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

But reading the labels helps. Those mixes of olive with other vegetable oils will be noted on the label. You don't normally even have to read small print. If the honey has corn syrup added, the ingredients should specify. (I've never seen that.)

I can buy pretty good olive oil in our biggest grocery store, but get better at a better price from an Italian import store. Plus I get to spend all the savings on expensive specialty olives from the deli while I'm there! (I'm tellin' ya-- I really need an olive tree.)

[myrdale]

I pay more for decent alcohol, instead of whatever is cheapest. Same for beer - I'll gladly pay $8 for a six pack of imported or micro brew, instead of $11 for a 12 pack of swill.

Unfornatuely I am not cultured enough in the alcohol department. Weither it was beer or vodka, while in school all I could afford was the cheap, bottom shelf. Now on the rare occasion that I do drink, I still have limited myself to the cheap stuff.

I'd love to find a local microbrewery though. The thought of that is pretty cool to me.

[disneysteve]

Unfornatuely I am not cultured enough in the alcohol department. Weither it was beer or vodka, while in school all I could afford was the cheap, bottom shelf. Now on the rare occasion that I do drink, I still have limited myself to the cheap stuff.

My friends always liked my college parties best because I refused to serve cheap alcohol. Nothing ultrapremium of course because I couldn't afford that, but I only served Smirnoff vodka while everyone else served Banker's Club or Fleischmann's or some other swill.

[Mjenn]

Hmmm, I tend to go for the frugal option most often, but I am also an 'ethical' shopper - which means I try to make choices based on where products are from, made, etc. This means only free range eggs, don't like the way the chickens are treated otherwise. If the price differential is huge that week, I'll wait off on eggs.

I try to buy local produce, mostly organic. We get it delivered from a local farm, and it is only a little more expensive compared to what we buy in the shop, negative is you don't get to chose, you just get the freshest available veggies. Does make for creative cooking.

I guess I just like to know what I'm eating.

We also buy more expensive pet food as well, not top of the line, but mid range.

[wedge421]

Definitely have to agree with Feh on this one. Im a beer snob so I have no problems at all paying for good beer.

[good2goo]

Aren't eggs high in colesterol? Your going to have a heart attack at a young age, so live it up.

They also slow your digestion making you hungry less often. If your are hungry less often then you are eating less, meaning you are likely not fat. Skinny people have a lower rate of heart attack, so really it just depends on your entire diet and not just one item.

[zetta]

A professional massage. I get terrible knots in my neck and shoulders, sometimes to the point where I can't turn my head. While my DH can and does often give me a 10 or 15 minute shoulder rub that costs us nothing, it can't compare to an hour of focused attention from someone who knows exactly how to release the knots and whose thumbs don't tire as quickly! (Note: I have already done all the tricks to make sure my desk and computer are ergonomically correct. It helped reduce the frequency of the knots, but it still happens every now and then.)

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Beer, wine. I'm too old already for the cheap stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'm not super premium rich yet...but I'm getting there.

Also I pay a premium for good knives and cookware. I bought cheap stuff in college, didn't last. 4 years ago I bought expensive stuff after our wedding. It's PERFECT.

[Justice44]

Re: Simple Things Worth Paying Too Much For

This topic has come up before. It is all about VALUE vs. PRICE. Just because something is cheap doesn't make it a good deal. In fact, it often just means the item is poorly made and won't hold up and the better deal is buying the more costly product that will last.

HI Disneysteve,

I do agree with you up to a point. However, there are plenty of overpriced items. I have seen items at Wal-Mart that share the same quality with the same items that are sold in other stores. The latter often costs 25% more.