The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: KBecks on March 09, 2014, 09:26:03 AM
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I started making a list of "things that are worth the money"
So far…
-- raspberry plants and seeds for the summer garden. We will reap veggies and fruit that are worthwhile
-- I want to try an LED light bulb and change over to this kind of lighting to save electricity.
I am also hoping to buy a used ping pong table on Craigslist for the family. Needed, used furniture at 1/2 price or better seems like a good thing. Good warm down blankets also seem worth it for us.
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Big trees vs. small trees when you've got something ugly you want to hide. Fruit trees!
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Kids and dogs. Most days.
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Craigslist weight set and running shoes. No gym membership fee required.
My homemade greenhouse. Allows me to extend the growing season, and I should be eating greens and radishes from it weeks earlier than planting outside.
Good technical material running clothes - see above - gets me out the door in almost any weather.
Quality tools that let you DIY.
Also, quality cookware that makes scratch cooking easy and enjoyable.
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One of my problems with ER is that I want to enjoy NOW. We have three kids, ages 5, 9, and 11. I want to be able to do things with them now, even if that means not retiring as early. I will never have their childhood years back, and neither will they. So we travel with them (including having a non-Mustachian mini-van for sanity's sake during such travel), spend money on lessons to nurture their interests and talents, and pay a little more for a house in a good school zone (which in the long run means we save, as we don't have to pay private tuition). It also means I have said no to extra responsibilities at work because it would take away from family time, so I might not have progressed up the ladder (and pay scale) as fast as I otherwise might have. BUT we eat at home a lot, shop at Aldi, don't buy crap or brand names, etc.
How about you? what are your splurges or not willing to spend less on categories?
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Were very similar. We have a 15,13 10 and 8 year old all in soccer and the oldest 3 travel all over the country competing. We turn this into entertainment, family time etc..We have become (not what i ever imagined) a soccer family and would give up a lot to keep that lifestyle. We also have ridiculous housing costs to be in a school system where in but that again is something for now were not willing to trade. Sams and Aldis for us and we don t do much other stuff so those are our 2 biggest costs. Sports and housing. We have become a lot Mustachian over most of the other things but believe at least for us some give and take supports that.
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jack and stands you trust for working underneath your car
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[Mod Note: Merged duplicate topics: "Things that are worth the money" and "What are your splurges/things you're not willing to compromise on spending?" that were created the same day.]
Also, anyone interested in this topic may want read earlier discussions such as this one:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/things-you-value-more-than-money/
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Things that are worth the money:
Good knives, a good bed, good wife. In no particular order, but don't tell my wife that.
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I don't see the purpose of the knives in your scenario.
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I don't see the purpose of the knives in your scenario.
Yes, this seems a little foreboding.
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I second that good knives thing! But I would say almost anything kitchen related is worth the money to me...not frivolous gadgets of course, but good cookware, knives, Dutch oven etc. You get so much more longevity out of them when they are good quality! Good bed and good clothes, by which I don't mean fashionable, but will wear for a long time. Also good tools if you're into DIY. And good food, organic etc. This one is the most important to me.
Also I ashamedly admit, good makeup and good booze...hey we all have our vices
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Live opera and live music in general. There are ways to do some of this on the cheap, but world class performances are worth spending some money on.
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Live opera and live music in general. There are ways to do some of this on the cheap, but world class performances are worth spending some money on.
That's true. I think that supporting the arts is important. We are guilty of pretty much only attending free musical performances, but we happily pay to see family-friendly plays put on by the local theater company.
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Supporting local, ethically-grown sustainable agriculture. We just dropped $600 to sign up for a CSA and I feel so good about having spent that money. Over the long run (24 week harvest, produce enough for 4 adults) it's not a bad deal but even if it were I think it's important to support ethically-grown food over factory farming.
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For the many people recommending a good bed . . . I slept on the floor of my room from about age 13 to my mid 20s because it was more comfortable to me. Although the wife now requires that we sleep in a bed, and the new bed is comfortable my sleep is not better in any way. I don't understand the 'good bed' argument at all.
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I actually think this is a really interesting topic, since I just finished reading Schor's "The Overspent American". In it she discusses a variety of studies that suggest that people's judgments of quality are hopelessly bad, and most can't tell the difference between items once you switch the name brands around. Indeed, the studies seem to support the view that people substitute name brand for quality, whereas in practice clothes, makeup, food and many other items are manufactured at the same or very similar plants using the same procedures and have no real "quality difference". Indeed, people hide status related preferences under their claims about "quality".
I've been examining my own responses to brand names. With food I've known for years that almost all generics are just brands with a different label slapped on the can or package. It's something of a game with me to figure out which generic is which brand. I've even been told, for example, that virtually all pasta in the US is manufactured at the same few facilities, regardless of brand. But I've also been trying to see if I can detect honest quality differences between cheap and expensive store brand clothes (especially since I know something about sewing). The answer is, for simple items like t-shirts, skirts and sweaters I can tell very little beyond fabric weight, preshrinking and seaming style (seam types; how many seams are properly finished, for example). I couldn't tell much quality difference in construction between clothes bought at say, Kohl's and LL Bean. I've never bought genuinely high end clothes, so I'm not sure what I'd see there. I'd be willing to bet it would be minimal in anything simple and "off the rack", except for clothes that are made of super high end fabrics, e.g. Harris Tweed, and in suits and other harder to construct items or truly bespoke pieces.
If this is the case, then it seems a Mustachian principle must be to make sure that price or brand differences really are quality differences. The quality differences must also be relevant for our purposes (e.g. how important is cut verses longevity in clothes for a Mustachian?)
What constitutes real quality and how is it to be identified? Does anyone here actually know why they think certain products are higher quality? BTW, this is actually a serious question, not an accusation of non-mustachian-ness!
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What constitutes real quality and how is it to be identified? Does anyone here actually know why they think certain products are higher quality? BTW, this is actually a serious question, not an accusation of non-mustachian-ness!
I would say that reviews could be a good indication of quality, but I wonder how much brand influences them.
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What constitutes real quality and how is it to be identified? Does anyone here actually know why they think certain products are higher quality? BTW, this is actually a serious question, not an accusation of non-mustachian-ness!
I would say that reviews could be a good indication of quality, but I wonder how much brand influences them.
Exactly: if people in general are not good at detecting quality, and get influenced by brand and so on, then why would reviews be helpful? Plus, reviews tend to be biased in that not everyone who buys a product reviews it, and they are much more likely to write a review if they got a bad apple. They also tend to be more useful, I would think for effectiveness rather than durability (since they tend to be written shortly after products have been purchased).
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What constitutes real quality and how is it to be identified? Does anyone here actually know why they think certain products are higher quality? BTW, this is actually a serious question, not an accusation of non-mustachian-ness!
I would say that reviews could be a good indication of quality, but I wonder how much brand influences them.
And recently I heard an ad on the radio about a service that will remove bad review for small business. This is mildly infuriating. I felt like online reviews provided a reliable way to separate the good from the bad, but with services like these it feels like there is no longer any credibility.
Exactly: if people in general are not good at detecting quality, and get influenced by brand and so on, then why would reviews be helpful? Plus, reviews tend to be biased in that not everyone who buys a product reviews it, and they are much more likely to write a review if they got a bad apple. They also tend to be more useful, I would think for effectiveness rather than durability (since they tend to be written shortly after products have been purchased).
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What constitutes real quality and how is it to be identified? Does anyone here actually know why they think certain products are higher quality? BTW, this is actually a serious question, not an accusation of non-mustachian-ness!
I would say that reviews could be a good indication of quality, but I wonder how much brand influences them.
For clothing, since that's what I know:
1. Are the seams straight? Are they finished? How much allowance is there for letting out seams/hems.
2. Has the fabric been cut on grain?
3. How thick is the fabric? Does the fabric drape?
4. What is the fabric made from? Not all fabrics are created equal.
5. How will the fabric wear? Will it pill?
6. Is the garment well cut? Is the jacket lined? Did someone take the time to put bust and back darts in correctly? Is the sweater fully fashioned to narrow at the waist?
7. Is the fiber long or short staple? Is it a good quality of the fiber or a shoddy one?
8. Is the weave/knit appropriate for the thickness/thinness of the yarn?
I can tell what from quality clothing, though brand is, at best, a guideline. I have a Marc Jacobs silk dress that originally retailed for $1200, and while it's a nice dress, it's not worth that, and I paid a tiny fraction of that. On the other hand, I have a Scottish cashmere cardigan that's fairly old and was worth every penny. I got in on Ebay for a song, but it's thick and plush, and wholly unlike even the high end cashmere on the market today.
This is a brilliant list, thanks! A couple of those didn't occur to me, like being correctly cut on the grain. The other issue is how many of these are likely to result in durability, rather than appearance issues? I would have thought fabric wear and pilling, long vs short staple fibers and seam finishing were most important. You clearly have more clothes construction experience than me - what would you say?
Also, do you tend to notice a lot of differences between medium brand clothes and lower end, or is it just obvious between the Walmart and the Mike Jacob clothing?
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What constitutes real quality and how is it to be identified? Does anyone here actually know why they think certain products are higher quality? BTW, this is actually a serious question, not an accusation of non-mustachian-ness!
Tools and appliances: Made of good, quality metal, limited moving parts, no electronic parts. Good cast iron is thick, heavy, smooth not pitted.
Needless to say, very few of these qualities are available in new products, so most of what I buy when I have the choice is used. The "no electronic" gets me the low end of appliances, but they last.
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I did this poll among my readers a couple years ago, and got the following:
Home gyms.
Pressure cookers.
High-efficiency washers & dryers, which pay off in electricity & water savings.
FoodSaver vacuum sealers.
Yard sales.
Black Friday fabric sales, stocking up on supplies for the entire year.
Farmer’s markets.
Habitat ReStore.
Canning supplies: the jars, a canner, a jar lifter.
My favorite reader response was "My own home."
My personal list is:
Craigslist (we’ll never set foot in a retail furniture store ever again).
Goodwill (our daughter was raised on its clothes, toys, and even shoes).
Garage sales (she was raised here too).
Do-it-yourself skills in the yard, the home, the kitchen, and for car maintenance.
A home gym, for the convenience and its selection of loud classic rock music.
Finally, here’s one that I’ve grown to appreciate over the last decade or so of military retirement: surfboard repair kits.
http://the-military-guide.com/2012/03/12/completely-worth-the-money/
Of course that post was preceded by its bookend topic:
http://the-military-guide.com/2012/02/22/a-complete-waste-of-money/
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Good knives. Socks that don't stretch out or fall down. A good mattress. LASIK.
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I'll throw out LASIK as #1 (since I love sports and jogging) and a safari (in Tanzania) as #2. The rest of my life can be ho-hum, but listening to a herd of elephants crushing trees in the night, yeah, I really don't know how to put a value on these two things.
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Organic milk & organic versions of the "dirty dozen" produce. I'll save my money and buy conventional most of the time, but those are two places I splurge.
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(For me only), Apple products. I know I am paying a premium for good design, but I use my iOS products so much that it is money well worth spent. I have tried using Android phones and tablets before, and the frustration was overwhelming.
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Quality mattresses
Well-made shoes, with good arch support
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Anything that makes you money: stocks, real estate
Anything that saves you money: tools, maybe some kitchen stuff
But for me it's mostly about what makes you happy. I spend a LOT of time on my laptop and phone so to me it is completely worth it to spend a lot on those. I could do my work with the company provided laptop and a really basic phone with email; I would not enjoy it.
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Quality workbag/briefcase. I have a bad habit of buying cheap ones, and then the fake-leather straps fray and they look like crap after only a few months, so I buy another. I am sure I have spent WAY more money over the past 12 years of my corporate life replacing cheap bags.
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Things that are worth the money:
Good knives, a good bed, good wife. In no particular order, but don't tell my wife that.
This must be because cooking dinner for the wife is good foreplay.
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- Wife and daughter. They're not high-mainenance, but definitely worth spluging on.
- The home. We could live cheaper (also a lot more expensive), but we love our home.
- The car. Technically we probably don't really need it. But last weekend we helped our daughter and her boyfriend move and it is great to be able to help them out moving heavy boxes on short notice (with them, it's always short notice).
- A good matress. A chiropractor is a lot more expensive. And a good matress lasts at least 10 years, so per year it's not that expensive.
- Good food and good drink. It makes you last longer, and it's one of these things that makes life worth living.
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Well made American/British shoes like Allen Edmond or Alden. Will last you a lifetime and look good doing it.
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booze. it may be franzia but booze makes me happy. i would never cut it from my budget to save money.
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A smartphone. I recently switched to the talk and text only plan with Republic Wireless, but I love still having the smartphone. I recently tried to text using T9 on someone else's dumbphone and immediately started having flashbacks. I quickly decided it wasn't worth it and just called the person instead.
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When it comes to bread knives, the super cheap grocery store one we just got works great. So, maybe for a carving knife it's worth going good quality, but cheap serrated knives work fine for us.
Super worth-it: The razor scooter I got my son from kijiji for $15. Even at full price it would have been a great deal for the amount of play value. (Your kid may vary)
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Quality workbag/briefcase. I have a bad habit of buying cheap ones, and then the fake-leather straps fray and they look like crap after only a few months, so I buy another. I am sure I have spent WAY more money over the past 12 years of my corporate life replacing cheap bags.
+1
Buying the most expensive handbag I've over owned has turned out to be a real money saver for me. Turns out leather lasts pretty well and holds up to constant use :-)
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What constitutes real quality and how is it to be identified? Does anyone here actually know why they think certain products are higher quality? BTW, this is actually a serious question, not an accusation of non-mustachian-ness!
Hi,
I can say that with plastic wrap and the little plastic sandwich bags, I think that there is definitely a difference. The cheap plastic wrap is hard to handle and often I get it so tangled that I ended up throwing pieces away because of this. OTOH, while it is really good at clinging to itself, it was very bad at clinging to Tupperware. As for the sandwich bags the cheap ones are thinner and harder to get a good seal. Another item is aluminum foil. The cheap store brands are NOT worth the savings of a few pennies every few months.
I now buy all of these items at Costco. They are easier to use and I believe worth the cost.
Jan
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One thing that is worth the money is Roku. I have already cut my cable bill in half and once I get used to the Roku am planning on cutting it out completely. The cost was about $80.00 and with that I received 6 months of Acorn and since I watch a lot of PBS shows it is great. I have since discovered that PBS if free on Roku and so are most of the other channels that I watch so I expect that next month I will cut out Dish all together.
My house is definitely worth it. I saw someone mention Lasik and that too was worth it. Most travel is worth the money spent.
Jan
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condoms
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One thing that is worth the money is Roku. I have already cut my cable bill in half and once I get used to the Roku am planning on cutting it out completely. The cost was about $80.00 and with that I received 6 months of Acorn and since I watch a lot of PBS shows it is great. I have since discovered that PBS if free on Roku and so are most of the other channels that I watch so I expect that next month I will cut out Dish all together.
My house is definitely worth it. I saw someone mention Lasik and that too was worth it. Most travel is worth the money spent.
Jan
How does Roku compare with Chromecast?
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condoms
^^^This!
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Reliable car (for people that have jobs where you can't be late or for people that shouldn't be stranded)
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I second that good knives thing! But I would say almost anything kitchen related is worth the money to me...not frivolous gadgets of course, but good cookware, knives, Dutch oven etc. You get so much more longevity out of them when they are good quality! Good bed and good clothes, by which I don't mean fashionable, but will wear for a long time. Also good tools if you're into DIY. And good food, organic etc. This one is the most important to me.
Also I ashamedly admit, good makeup and good booze...hey we all have our vices
I do 99% of the cooking in our house. Works out well for the DW, and since I consider cooking a sort of hobby, all the better!
One thing I cannot stand is a single-purpose kitchen gadget. If I can't use it for more than one thing, or I don't do that one thing weekly, it is OUT of my kitchen!
Also for this kind of thing, I find the buy-it-for-life sub-Reddit quite useful.
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What constitutes real quality and how is it to be identified? Does anyone here actually know why they think certain products are higher quality? BTW, this is actually a serious question, not an accusation of non-mustachian-ness!
I would say that reviews could be a good indication of quality, but I wonder how much brand influences them.
I believe in buying well means buying once. I try to limit the amount of crap and impulse buys I bring into the house and really trying to think things through - even ordering some replacement toiletries. Honestly this is what has bumped my savings more than anything.
I think there are some worth to reviews but they are often influenced by the brand and price too so you need to read between the lines. I see expensive things that are not worth it and I see low end brands deliver some great quality. Overall though I feel quality is getting tougher to find. I am a bit of a nerd so I have no problem reading up how to identify quality in most of my purchases.
I have certain products were I paid a lot more for the quality. For example I bought a top of the line Wustoff knife. I found one knife that could be a chef's knife, break knife, etc. I received as a present some cheaper Wustoff steak knives (which I also use as a paring knife) and scissors - the kind you find in Target and Bed Bath and Beyond. 4 years later my top of the line knife looks brand new and is still sharp. My cheap knives and scissors are dull (even freshly sharpened) and are rusting (even with only hand washing their entire lives).
I have tried to apply similar to most things I own except when I had a good reason to like kids clothing.
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Here's a good post from another PF blogger that I follow which talks about how to find quality items: Day 13: How to Identify Quality in the Products You Buy (http://www.stopworryingaboutmoney.com/2014/03/day-13-how-to-identify-quality-in-the-products-you-buy/)
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Ethically/sustainably produced organic local food.
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Time.
And leather shoes.
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Time.
This one is HUGE, but so often overlooked.
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I second that good knives thing! But I would say almost anything kitchen related is worth the money to me...not frivolous gadgets of course, but good cookware, knives, Dutch oven etc. You get so much more longevity out of them when they are good quality! Good bed and good clothes, by which I don't mean fashionable, but will wear for a long time. Also good tools if you're into DIY. And good food, organic etc. This one is the most important to me.
Also I ashamedly admit, good makeup and good booze...hey we all have our vices
I do 99% of the cooking in our house. Works out well for the DW, and since I consider cooking a sort of hobby, all the better!
One thing I cannot stand is a single-purpose kitchen gadget. If I can't use it for more than one thing, or I don't do that one thing weekly, it is OUT of my kitchen!
Also for this kind of thing, I find the buy-it-for-life sub-Reddit quite useful.
So tell us what you have in your kitchen and what you have jettisoned over time as not meeting your criteria.
I keep getting tempted by one of this hand blender things. A lot of people seem to swear by them. They always seem gadgety to me (thou I confess I have never used one), and I have managed to get along without one for lots of years.
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My iPad. I know MMM claims to not see a need for one, but I love reading and the iPad satisfies my reading habit daily for hours for free. I also use it for homeschooling and save a lot of $$$ pulling up what we need without having to print things out from the computer or purchase curriculum.
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Time.
Time is better than money. As I told my department chair the other day (about taking on an extra class), I can always make more money.
... But I like her, and she needed help, so I took the damn class.
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My iPad. I know MMM claims to not see a need for one, but I love reading and the iPad satisfies my reading habit daily for hours for free. I also use it for homeschooling and save a lot of $$$ pulling up what we need without having to print things out from the computer or purchase curriculum.
Same here. I live in a place without any public library access at all, so being able to read pirated books on my iPad is what keeps me learning and improving. I wish I could just buy the ebooks, but I am currently too poor to spend $20 on a book. And I read many, many books each month.
I do not have access to Amazon.com or paper books, either.
The iPad simply works for me.
That said, if I really wanted to save money, I could have just gotten a Kindle or a cheap Chinese-made tablet. But I use the iPad so much that having a good user experience is paramount, and Android products simply do not compare.
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Michelin Tires
Good running shoes (I guess tires for my body)
Slightly expensive scotch
Books that I can't find from the library
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Michelin Tires
Good running shoes (I guess tires for my body)
Slightly expensive scotch
Books that I can't find from the library
I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch.
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Michelin Tires
Good running shoes (I guess tires for my body)
Slightly expensive scotch
Books that I can't find from the library
I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch.
The kind you are talking about is better than mine :)
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Time.
Time is better than money. As I told my department chair the other day (about taking on an extra class), I can always make more money.
... But I like her, and she needed help, so I took the damn class.
I mean that if I could give you money and you could give me my own time... That is worth the money!
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Time.
Time is better than money. As I told my department chair the other day (about taking on an extra class), I can always make more money.
... But I like her, and she needed help, so I took the damn class.
I mean that if I could give you money and you could give me my own time... That is worth the money!
Oh, yeah, definitely. And that's pretty much what we're all doing here, isn't it? The point of a stash is to buy time.
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For the many people recommending a good bed . . . I slept on the floor of my room from about age 13 to my mid 20s because it was more comfortable to me. Although the wife now requires that we sleep in a bed, and the new bed is comfortable my sleep is not better in any way. I don't understand the 'good bed' argument at all.
Me too, I sleep on the couch most nights as my wife and kids take up the bed and can't take my TV to fall asleep thing (I have ADD, my brain works differently than yours and tv actually makes me fall asleep way faster than any of the experts techniques).
Before that I often slept in my car when I was a pilot, it saved a long trip home when I had an early morning show and meant I could sometimes actually get 8 hours of sleep. This was pre Colgan crash crew rest rules. I never minded it, even on the morning when I would wake up with a quarter inch of ice on the inside of all the windows. Thank god for down sleeping bags.
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Knives, a solid commuter bike, good running shoes and a good winter coat.
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What a wonderful thread and a good thought exercise.
Time
Clothes that fit (I'm petite/curvy so cheaper brands end up requiring a lot of tailoring)
Great shoes (I wear Vivo barefoot and Vibrams)
Great produce
Good quality backpacking gear
Good quality music instruments (since I enjoy playing)
Apple products
Travel to foreign countries
Being able to take friends/family out to dinner without worrying about picking up the bill
CA state parks yearly parking pass :)
90-minute prenatal massages for lower back pain
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Chacos! I have a pair that I've been wearing since high school and they barely show any wear after over 7 years of use. Plus they have a lifetime warranty so that if the soles or straps ever wear out, they'll replace them!
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Cookware. I am fed up with replacing my crappy teflon pans every year and am beginning to replace them with nicer cast iron brands such as Le Creuset that I am finding on Craigslist. I'm hoping they will last a lifetime. I feel I am getting my money's worth because they are a joy to cook with and I am able to make restaurant quality food.
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Good dental floss... I use glide comfort plus.
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So tell us what you have in your kitchen and what you have jettisoned over time as not meeting your criteria.
I keep getting tempted by one of this hand blender things. A lot of people seem to swear by them. They always seem gadgety to me (thou I confess I have never used one), and I have managed to get along without one for lots of years.
If you mean an immersion blender, I swear by mine. I have a very simple Krups, only the blade attachment, and I use it nearly every day for smoothies, salad dressing, pureeing soup in the pot, etc etc etc. I've had it for 12 years and you'll pry it out of my cold dead hands. It's not great with large ice cubes, but that's not what I need it for, mostly. Frozen drinks are why my regular blender still has a home. :)
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Vitamix! Use it every day. Bought it refurbished, of course...
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Zipties.
My Trek FX bike
Teva sandals
Wool anything
I suppose my iPad. My DW bought it, never uses it, and I use it multiple hours a day.
A good miter saw (manual or electric). Very hard to do any quality woodwork without it.
State park permit.
Zoo pass.
Memberships to any museum you'll visit more than once a year.
Outerwear made of GoreTex or the many competing (and vastly cheaper) versions of it.
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I second that good knives thing! But I would say almost anything kitchen related is worth the money to me...not frivolous gadgets of course, but good cookware, knives, Dutch oven etc. You get so much more longevity out of them when they are good quality! Good bed and good clothes, by which I don't mean fashionable, but will wear for a long time. Also good tools if you're into DIY. And good food, organic etc. This one is the most important to me.
Also I ashamedly admit, good makeup and good booze...hey we all have our vices
I do 99% of the cooking in our house. Works out well for the DW, and since I consider cooking a sort of hobby, all the better!
One thing I cannot stand is a single-purpose kitchen gadget. If I can't use it for more than one thing, or I don't do that one thing weekly, it is OUT of my kitchen!
Also for this kind of thing, I find the buy-it-for-life sub-Reddit quite useful.
So tell us what you have in your kitchen and what you have jettisoned over time as not meeting your criteria.
I keep getting tempted by one of this hand blender things. A lot of people seem to swear by them. They always seem gadgety to me (thou I confess I have never used one), and I have managed to get along without one for lots of years.
Somehow missed this reply, please excuse the lateness of my reply.
Anyway, I have a number of gadgets: Blender, Food processor, immersion blender (makes making mayo a snap!), a crock pot, a pressure cooker, and a Kitchen Aid stand mixer I got as a wedding present that sees little use now, mostly just the meat grinder attachment. My wife occasionally uses a waffle maker.
While that's a fair number of gewgaws, I've also eliminated a lot of useless things. I got rid of a number of 'as seen on TV' kind of things like onion choppers, bell pepper containers, etc. as well as pasta stirrers (not sure why a wooden spoon is not good enough to stir pasta) and various specialized things like that. My rule is that if I don't use it once a year, it's gone. That's especially important now that we've moved and have a smaller kitchen space.
When I moved in with my wife, she had a huge number of impulse buys and ill considered gifts which we sorted through to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. I've kept on paring down the number of things, so I can finally fit it all in our drawers. If I find something I need, I buy it and have asked people not to buy things for the kitchen for me unless I've asked for it directly.
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What a wonderful thread and a good thought exercise.
Time
Clothes that fit (I'm petite/curvy so cheaper brands end up requiring a lot of tailoring)
Great shoes (I wear Vivo barefoot and Vibrams)
Great produce
Good quality backpacking gear
Good quality music instruments (since I enjoy playing)
Apple products
Travel to foreign countries
Being able to take friends/family out to dinner without worrying about picking up the bill
CA state parks yearly parking pass :)
90-minute prenatal massages for lower back pain
I'm wearing Vivobarefoots right now! LOVE THEM.
Where does one buy these shoes?
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New to the boards but wanted to chime in.
First off, I am so glad that someone posted this thread. I've been reading MMM for a few weeks now all while having a mental battle in my head about a decision I've been putting off making for over a year because from a financial standpoing only, it will increase my monthly outflows. No way around that. But from a peace of mind, value, moral standpoint .... I need to make it.
Anyway. Glad to see what others consider of value. I'll be moving & on my own soon and have been debating about different things. What to spend money on vs. what not. I've alway sbeen told good kitchen gear. Glad to see others think so too.
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New to the boards but wanted to chime in.
First off, I am so glad that someone posted this thread. I've been reading MMM for a few weeks now all while having a mental battle in my head about a decision I've been putting off making for over a year because from a financial standpoing only, it will increase my monthly outflows. No way around that. But from a peace of mind, value, moral standpoint .... I need to make it.
Anyway. Glad to see what others consider of value. I'll be moving & on my own soon and have been debating about different things. What to spend money on vs. what not. I've alway sbeen told good kitchen gear. Glad to see others think so too.
There are things that are worth it, but that doesn't mean they're worth it right away.
Sometimes you may want to put up with crappy kitchen gear for awhile, for the sake of financial stability, peace of mind, etc.
Too often "quality" is used as an excuse to spend. Yes, spend based on value, but there are times when that should be delayed too.
Just something to think about. Welcome to the forums. :)
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My backpack. It is the swiss army brand and was $50 at target 8 years ago. I decided to get the really nice looking one that was $50 instead of the $15-20 ones that were cheaper because my job was going to reimburse me for it. Turned out to be one of the best purchases of my life and well worth every penny. I use it daily for personal use and work and it is in just as good shape now as it was 8 years ago. I highly recommend this brand of back packs to anyone in the market for one.
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Cool story about the swiss army brand luggage.
Started in late 90's by brothers in St. Louis that were tired of the zippers breaking.
They wanted to make reliable luggage but did not want to try to jump in the market with an unknow brand and go through that battle so they picked a very iconic brand and paid them for the rights.
Possibly, one of the most profitable branding strategies in the last 20 years.
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Cool story about the swiss army brand luggage.
Started in late 90's by brothers in St. Louis that were tired of the zippers breaking.
They wanted to make reliable luggage but did not want to try to jump in the market with an unknow brand and go through that battle so they picked a very iconic brand and paid them for the rights.
I'm definitely getting that next. I have had trouble with luggage zippers and now I am worried everytime I wait for my luggage after a flight.
As for backpacks I also definitely think it is worth it to get a good one. I have had many many school bags that failed after 1-2 years. Then I started working and bought 3 sizes for different needs:
Small marmot laptop bag for commuting to work. 10+ years old and still going strong.
Medium north face backpack with side pouches for water bottles for day walks. 10+ years old and still going strong.
Huge gregory expedition bag for multi-day hikes and plane travel. 10+ years old and still going strong.
Also now own a very small and light Salomon hydration pack. 1.5L of liquid + a few very small pouches for food and stuff. I use this for trail running. Only 1 year old but I think it will last.
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... But I've also been trying to see if I can detect honest quality differences between cheap and expensive store brand clothes (especially since I know something about sewing). The answer is, for simple items like t-shirts, skirts and sweaters I can tell very little beyond fabric weight, preshrinking and seaming style (seam types; how many seams are properly finished, for example). I couldn't tell much quality difference in construction between clothes bought at say, Kohl's and LL Bean. I've never bought genuinely high end clothes, so I'm not sure what I'd see there. I'd be willing to bet it would be minimal in anything simple and "off the rack", except for clothes that are made of super high end fabrics, e.g. Harris Tweed, and in suits and other harder to construct items or truly bespoke pieces...
Your question is interesting to me because I've never bought extremely high end clothes, either. Talbots, LLBean etc are my "high end" and Talbot stuff I find at the thrift stores. I wonder the same thing, what does high end clothing really look like?
Very high end stuff, by designers, use luxe fabrics, for one thing. Fabrics that need careful wearing and careful care. I love silk and silk blends, but really, for my every day life? Not for me.
So I like fabric with some heft, and primarily cotton. Cotton is expensive. I prefer to buy in thrift stores rather than on ebay because I want to feel the fabric. I want to know exactly how heavy is that fitted cotton t-shirt. I don't mind if there is a little cheap poly/stretchy fabric in it, but cotton is key for me. I won't wear wool at all, so that eliminates some expensive articles. I've passed by cashmere in the thrift store because it's just the cheap stuff and I have no interest in taking care of it in the way it requires.
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What constitutes real quality and how is it to be identified? Does anyone here actually know why they think certain products are higher quality? BTW, this is actually a serious question, not an accusation of non-mustachian-ness!
I have one jacket made by north face. They guarantee it for life. I wear it almost every day in spring and autumn. The zipper broke after a few years and they replaced it for "free" after I paid for shipping. Most of the stuff I buy at hiking/camping stores seem to be of higher quality than normal clothing and also comes with better warranty.
T-shirts I buy the cheapest ones and replace often. Pants I replace when the bottom starts to unravel. Jackets are forever.
Cars I go by past models reliability. So basically Toyota and Honda on top.
I have not yet found a good brand of house stuff; furniture or appliances. Those seem to all be equal.
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I have one jacket made by north face. They guarantee it for life. I wear it almost every day in spring and autumn. The zipper broke after a few years and they replaced it for "free" after I paid for shipping. Most of the stuff I buy at hiking/camping stores seem to be of higher quality than normal clothing and also comes with better warranty.
Interestingly, the "no questions asked anytime returns" are offered by LLBean, Lands End and, of all places, Kohls. You can literally take back anything that fails, at any time, and get it replaced. As others have noted, this seems to be an alternative to making good items. I agree that "practical" clothing stores, such as the hiking shops, etc. do seem to make more durable items (probably because the main or only purpose of their stuff is to be appropriately functional).
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I find very little any more that is worth spending extra. Goods are just so damn disposable these days. If I need something, I look for it used and prefer an older model that almost always was built better than the new version.
I do buy new shoes though. I spend $100 every year on a pair of Keens. Most everything else in our home was bought cheap at the resale shop.
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A smartphone. I recently switched to the talk and text only plan with Republic Wireless, but I love still having the smartphone. I recently tried to text using T9 on someone else's dumbphone and immediately started having flashbacks. I quickly decided it wasn't worth it and just called the person instead.
I am a little amused, as I just sold my verizon smartphone, bought a nokia smartphone and a Airvoice $10 per month plan, and am loving it. The key to being okay with the switch though was turning OFF T9.. I am fast manually texting, but T9 did not work at all. (Having a tablet to text for free (from my old google voice number) is nice, but makes this a bit less badass. The tablet cost less than three months of verizon service though)
What I agree with everyone else on though, is good kitchen supplies. They make everything, including cleanup, easier than the cheap/free ones I used to use. We still try to be frugal with this though, and get the best value possible, rather than just the best. (Victorinox knives that have great reviews on cooks illustrated, etc)