I grew up with $20 walmart blenders, and hated anything that required a blender.
Recently bought a ninja and there is no going back. I’ll never use a crappy blender again.
Anything else like that?
Boots.
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. … A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
A cute little passage from Terry Pratchett, but it holds very true if you ever need boots.
Paying for quality boot work, especially the kind that can be re-soled, is worth it for anyone who has to wear boots with any regularity.
When I first got a job that needed boots I was using an old secondhand pair. It was hell. Eventually I saved up for a quality pair and was totally worth it. I’ve not underspent on boots since.
As for suggestions as to what brand to go with these days for that… I’m less sure on that because I’m researching new brands myself since Red Wings are a joke compared to what they used to be. Danner still seems pretty all right these days.
You don’t truly appreciate a good pair a boots till you park a 2 ton pallet jack on your toes and laugh it off.
Safety boots with steelcap? That’s another category though. Don’t want to use them for a walk.
That hasn’t stopped me. Just think of it as training weights.
I always walk my dog after I finish work in my steel capped work boots. The times that I actually do walk in my sneakers is so weird, like I’m not used to not having weights on my feet while I walk.
Generally, don’t skimp on anything that goes between you and the ground. Shoes, mattresses, tyres… your future you will hate you for cheaping out on those.
I second boots. I went through 3 cheap pairs of hiking boots (between £40 - £70) all promising the world and dry feet. In the end, sacked it off and bought all leather boots with a vibram sole. Requires maintenance of waxing them but they’ve had many miles in them now and just as good as day 1.
For most things in life I generally follow Adam Savage’s advice: “Buy cheap tools until you know what you really need from that tool, then buy the best version you can afford.”
However, when it comes to things that are related to safety or protect you from harm the more expensive/high quality they get, that advice goes out the window. Case in point, PC PSUs. You probably don’t want your newly built PC to burst in flames because you skimped on it to buy a poorly rated PSU.
I sometimes buy pretty new (1-2yr old) premade computers from foreign exchange students at the end of a school year. They often sell them for the cost of just the GPU, sometimes lower. The number of garbage PSUs I’ve had to swap out is ridiculous. People buy like $3k+ computers and are content with $80 PSUs it’s amazing. I’ve had them pop on me after only a couple months use. Meanwhile the PSU in my current machine was a major purchase for me back in 2010 and thing still runs every upgrade I throw at it.
A PSU isn’t a tool, so I think his advice actually holds even here. /pedantry
It’s almost always better to not buy a cheap sex toy. There’s no regulation of the industry and many materials in cheaper toys are just straight up dangerous. Here’s an article (it’s NSFW, there are pictures) that goes over what materials are and aren’t safe.
Like thinking you’re wearing a 100% silicon butt plus to an MRI….
Maybe not the expensive expensive versions but good headphones and earphones make a massive difference.
Kitchen knives, definitely. A good knife is a fucking godsend.
Quality underwear (once you’re an adult).
A good office chair (not necessarily one of those expensive as fuck mesh ones - I hate those… But something quality).
Also, I’d distinguish between pointlessly expensive and quality.
Idiots buy expensive gaming chairs. They feel like you’re sitting on plywood. I don’t care how many colors it has im going to be sitting on it for hours a day.
Put that into a good office chair, where they put research into making sure you’re comfortable for that entire time
You can get open box, unused steelcase chairs on eBay for cheaper than “gaming” chairs, BTW. There’s no reason to buy those abominations.
So, I should buy my kids cheapo underwear?
Absolutely, growing humans will almost never wear through clothing.
I believe in the adage of, “If it sits between you and the ground, don’t skimp”.
Shoes, socks, desk chairs, lounge chairs, sofas, car( seat)s, mattresses…
You spend too much time in or on all of these things to be uncomfortable.
I also see posted here the Adam Savage advice of buying cheap tools first, and then upgrade after you better understand your needs. I also think that’s great advice you can apply to most things. Just not the above things.
Niche musical instruments. A “cheap” hurdy gurdy can cost up to 2000 dollars and still sound like a bag of cats in a washing machine.
Some new recent models that are relatively cheap and sound okay exist now, but you really need to do your research.
I’m now really interested on how does it sound to have a bag of cats in a washing machine but there’s some ethical problems…
BearMcCreary used a Hurdy Gurdy to make the music for the TV show “Black Sails”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utLXgOnIwdo
Might give you an idea how hard this instrument is to master.
Escorts
What were you expecting for $5, 🦞?
Laptops. Cheap and midrange ones defined how people perceive laptops in general: slow, hot and awful to use. Expensive ones are usually amazing, but you still have to do your research before purchasing it.
Also, cigars. Nothing comes close to proper Cuban ones.
Just as long as you’re not searching for a “gaming laptop”. IMO those do not exist to any degree of satisfaction. They are all a “choose two” among performance, size/weight, battery life, and noise.
Unless you are so mobile that you are never ever at home, and the prosect of only scraping mid graphical settings at best while being permanently anchored to a wall outlet any time you play is worth it to you, I’d suggest taking that money and instead putting it toward a combo of a desktop rig and a cheap netbook. You won’t be gaming on the go, but you’ll have a better experience for the price. And if there’s a more mundane task that the little netbook can’t handle, you can, provided you have an Internet connection, always remote in to the desktop workstation at home and delegate expensive tasks to it.
If all you need though is something that runs well with a dozen browser tabs open, doesn’t struggle playing back high definition video, and can handle playing a less demanding game every now and again, you can definitely find laptops that can do that while still being relatively slim, quiet, and cool. Just temper your expectations on how far you can push it.
GPU’s, usually the budget ones have worse performance per dollar ratios
I am going to replace my 980ti this year. Most expensive GPU I ever bought, but I have been using it for almost 8 years. I am not optimistic about my next one lasting that long. Waiting for the Supers to release so I can get some benchmarks and see what prices do.
Take a look at the rx cards as well
I am actually hoping the 4080s causes a $200 price drop on the 7900XTX. I think the 24 GB of memory makes it the best long-term prospect.
I bet a lot of users will get 8 years out of a 3080 if they bought it at launch. 4080 value went uh, a bit downhill
Pretty much all kitchenware is worth getting the good stuff if you can afford it, even if cheap versions will work.
Probably safety-related items.
I feel like there are too many exceptions to this rule. Maybe dont get the cheapest but you dont need to spend a lot to have a very good:
- Cast iron pan
- Carbon steel pan
- Enameled cast iron pot (seriously, look it up, I see people saying how much they love their Le Creuset all the time but I got one from KitchenAid of all brands at 50 euros in my local supermarket)
- Baking tray
- Cooling rack
- Baking bowls
- Spatula of any kind
- Peeler
- Electric mixer
- Kitchen scale
I could go on but I believe Ive made my point.
- Chefs Knife
I bought of pair of real, honest to goodness birkenstock sandals. They were stupid expensive compared to the shoes I normally buy.
…now I almost never wear any other shoe. They fit, they’re comfortable, the straps dont cut into my feet now that they’re broken in, and I can take them to the store to get resoled for way cheaper than if I had continued my pattern of buying cheap sandals and running them into the ground every few months.
I don’t know if that’s just a German thing, but: Swiffer.
The knockoffs are all crap.
Parachutes.
I guess this gets filed under “Anything that separates you from the ground for long periods of time.”
I haven’t seen it mentioned, so let me say: Outerwear. Especially if you are into snow sports, the difference between quality outerwear and cheap garbage is not just getting wet sooner. It could very well save your life if you’re wearing something that will keep you dry while maintaining breathability. And nothing beats lifetime no questions asked warranty where you just hand it in and it gets repaired for you. In the long term this saves a decent penny whil also reducing your environmental impact
Same goes for base and mid layers. Cotton will kill you, and lots of cheap synthetics don’t breathe well. Spend money or higher end synthetics or merino.
Lastly, don’t get cheap goggles from Amazon or eBay. Heck, don’t get the cheapest models from even more reputable brands. You will want your goggle lenses to provide good UVA and UVB protection, while also providing contrast enhancing features like polarization and very importantly: fog resistance. You will not have a good time if you can’t see where you’re going. I can’t stress enough how big of a difference visibility makes for your enjoyment and safety.
