What are you not willing to scrimp on?

[Orchidflower]

Cable/Satellite for the tv; DSL; top quality shoes; the best skin cream for moisturizing; Wall Street Journal; Land-O-Lakes butter. Everything else almost is negotiable.

 

[Dog]

broadband internet
haircut & color
wine & microbrews
an occasional good steak
DH says golf
a nice purse every two years
toilet paper

 

[Shawn]

Veterinary care and pet food
Means to exercise (e.g., quality bicycles, outdoor equipment)

 

[bright eyed]

food used to be high on the list, but after xmas we're onto rice and beans (ok, organic rice and beans...)

good shoes (a must!)

in general, i like quality stuff, so i try to cut the quantity...i try - i swear!

and forgot who mentioned it - but what's the diff w/ washing in hot water? i do all cold and everything seems ok...

 

[TromboneAl]

For those of you who won't scrimp on wine, here are some statistics that I just made up:

1. 84% of the experience of drinking wine has little to do with the actual taste

2. 71% of the times that you take a sip of wine, you don't notice the taste because you are thinking about something else (food, conversation, etc.).

3. 92% of wine drinkers could be fooled into thinking that a $3 bottle of wine is a $70 bottle of wine, or vice versa.

That's why I scrimp on wine. I get the $2.97 bottles of wine at Safeway (Searidge Zinfandel, Cabernet or Syrah), with 10% off if you buy six at once. I have about one glass per day, so the bottle is in the fridge for about a week. By the end of the week, the flavor has further deteriorated.

I know this sounds crazy, but I get 84% of the pleasure I'd get from a better type of wine, I get used to the flavor, almost any wine tastes great with a good spaghetti, and one still gets that nice buzz that lasts through the afternoon nap.

 

[ziggy29]

aThat's why I scrimp on wine. I get the $2.97 bottles of wine at Safeway (Searidge Zinfandel, Cabernet or Syrah), with 10% off if you buy six at once. I have about one glass per day, so the bottle is in the fridge for about a week. By the end of the week, the flavor has further deteriorated.

When we're entertaining, we tend to start with a bottle or two of the "good" stuff (as in $10-20 a bottle) at first. After that, the cheap stuff comes out since people may not be able to tell the difference after a couple of glasses.

 

[spncity]

Agree on the Smartwool socks

Just got an aircard after forever on dial-up.

Shoes
Books
The right pillow
The right bed (newest addition to the list)
The right tool for the job

Just splurged on Bose ear buds for the iPod nano that I won. I'm listening to the same music but I'm hearing instruments in the recordings that I'd never heard before...

 

[W2R]

Agree on the Smartwool socks

High quality socks are worth the money!

Last year at the Bass Pro shop in Springfield, Missouri (our planned ER location), I bought 5 pairs of Thorlo Trekker socks. Here's a link showing them:

Hiking Socks

I am one of those people whose feet get cold easily, and with thick wool socks like these, they are never cold! Plus, the extra cushioning of very thick socks feels so luxurious. I doubt I will ever go back to ordinary socks.

They never get lost in the wash, because they are so bulky that they can't "hide" inside other clothing without being detected.

They cost me $16/pair, so for $80 a year ago, I am in heaven.

 

[ziggy29]

I am one of those people whose feet get cold easily, and with thick wool socks like these, they are never cold! Plus, the extra cushioning of very thick socks feels so luxurious. I doubt I will ever go back to ordinary socks.

As much as people can go back and forth about keeping a home sufficiently heated, the bottom line is that it's impossible to feel warm if your feet are cold. I think someone with good, thick socks and/or house slippers could feel warmer with the thermostat at 66 than someone with thin socks could feel at 70. As a result, even very costly socks would return a good ROI if it meant heating the house less because your feet stayed warm.

Warm feet, warm heart.

 

[tightasadrum]

3. 92% of wine drinkers could be fooled into thinking that a $3 bottle of wine is a $70 bottle of wine, or vice versa.

I don't know about your statistics, but it reminded me of the operations officer on my first destroyer.

He and his wife were both from NYC Italian families. They would have all the officers on the ship over for holiday meals and serve Italian food, spaghetti, lasagna,etc. Red wine was always part of the meal, served from corked bottles with impressive labels. (what did I know, it looked impressive to me.) A couple of guys, who prided themselves as being knowledgeable about wine, (they happened to be from the NE ), would not shut up about the quality of the wine being served. Our host fed their questions like a wine steward. To this Georgia boy, wine just tasted like wine.

After our wine expert guests had waxed on for some time, our host pulled out the real bottle all the wine had come from, a cheap gallon jug, screw-top from Napa Valley, poured into special bottles just for the occasion. It was perfect!

 

[Khan]

As much as people can go back and forth about keeping a home sufficiently heated, the bottom line is that it's impossible to feel warm if your feet are cold. I think someone with good, thick socks and/or house slippers could feel warmer with the thermostat at 66 than someone with thin socks could feel at 70. As a result, even very costly socks would return a good ROI if it meant heating the house less because your feet stayed warm.

Warm feet, warm heart.

I have the thermostat at 60; it requires warm socks and cabin slippers and various throw rugs.

 

[Khan]

That's why I scrimp on wine. I get the $2.97 bottles of wine at Safeway (Searidge Zinfandel, Cabernet or Syrah), with 10% off if you buy six at once. I have about one glass per day, so the bottle is in the fridge for about a week. By the end of the week, the flavor has further deteriorated.

You need to buy the box wines, they don't oxidize.

 

[growing_older]

I don't feel like I am "scrimping" on much of anything anymore. Maybe I'm just adjusted to my own cheap ways? Years ago when I was just out of school, we deliberately scrimped by renting a dirt cheap apartment to save for a house and then scrimped on everything discretionary to try to save more, faster. It worked, though I still no longer care for bologna sandwiches.

Now, I feel like I am able to choose, but that's not the same as scrimping. I'm an easy mark for my kids and will quickly get them most anything educational, books, pay extra for classes, good shoes, new coats, good food, fresh fruits and veggies year round, piles of art supplies, musical instruments, lessons, pets and their care, little league, team parties, or even trips. But I'm unlikely to "choose" to spend on video games (luckily, for kids there are grandparents and aunts), designer clothes (we'll pay well for top quality, but not extra for the "name" or for certain fashion trends), expensive cable TV, lawn service (we do it ourselves), jewelery, and so on.

I'm in the market for a new vacuum. I'll likely pick an expensive one, but probably not the "top of the line" since what I want is top quality mechanics (and am willing to pay whatever it takes for that) but don't want a lot of "features" that I won't use and will be prone to breakage. Am I scrimping? I don't feel like I am, since I can pretty much buy whatever I want. I'm just deciding what I want.

I used to collect wine, even some top names. Now they are so popular that they are too expensive (hundreds of dollars per bottle and up) for the enjoyment I would get and I've moved to less expensive vintners. Am I scrimping? Maybe, but there's some kind of mental calculation of value received for money spent. I still feel like I'm able to drink plenty of very, very good wine, as much as I choose to, even if I never spend what seems to me insane money for top names anymore.

I agree with the statement that even average folks now enjoy a lifestyle of luxury by historic or world standards, for which I am very thankful. I don't feel like I "scrimp" on anything, I just get to choose what is important to me. Since FIRE is something I want more than consumerism, I spend less on some things and more on others.

 

[growing_older]

For wine in the fridge, you might want to look into Vacuvin or similar. It's a stopper you put in the top of the bottle, then are able to evacuate much of the air from the remaining wine. The top (commercial) ones put a layer of nitrogen in to replace the air, but even the cheap hand vacuum pump ones seem to considerably slow down the rate of deterioration of the remaining wine.

 

[bright eyed]

As much as people can go back and forth about keeping a home sufficiently heated, the bottom line is that it's impossible to feel warm if your feet are cold. I think someone with good, thick socks and/or house slippers could feel warmer with the thermostat at 66 than someone with thin socks could feel at 70. As a result, even very costly socks would return a good ROI if it meant heating the house less because your feet stayed warm.

Warm feet, warm heart.

i agree, since i work at home and am often home alone i got a pair of $30 Fugg (fake ugg) boots from costco and have been toasty ever since. I don't want to heat the whole house for lil'ol me...

 

[TromboneAl]

This is the second forum on which people talk about how much they love SmartWool socks. Guess I'll have to check it out. We get socks at blackandwhitesocks.com.

 

[Moemg]

I will not skimp on good quality lipstick or foundation .Mascara I'll buy at CVS but strictly Estee Lauder or Clinque for lipstick and foundation.

 

[Orchidflower]

Moemg: I bought some Maybelline Airwear foundation and just love it, but it is cold here so maybe it works differently in humid weather.
Ziggy29: I think your wine idea about starting with the expensive and switching to the cheaper is shear genius.

 

[Meadbh]

Ziggy29: I think your wine idea about starting with the expensive and switching to the cheaper is shear genius.

It may be sheer genius, but it's not a new idea (see below)!


The Wedding at Cana

2 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." 4And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." 5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it. 9When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." 11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they remained there a few days.

 

[TromboneAl]

And thou shalt scrimpeth not on wine, if thy wine is from the first bottle, and if thy wine doth flow from the second bottle, thou shalt scrimpeth with wine from the dollar store.

 

[megacorp-firee]

Food. Either eating out or raw materials for cooking.
Lobsters, crab, prime rib, chicken liver, peanuts I like, a good burger, or Italian beef, a good bowl of menudo, a great samosa, green curry with coconut milk anything, ... beer and wine (a good cab) I prefer, Remy Martin XO, Johnnie Walker (up to Gold now), Patron, every now and then a shot of sambuca ...

 

[bongo2]

3. 92% of wine drinkers could be fooled into thinking that a $3 bottle of wine is a $70 bottle of wine, or vice versa.

I used to work with a complete wine snob and I liked to get a rise out of him by suggesting that if wine was an acquired taste you might as well acquire a taste for the cheap stuff. Roald Dahl had a good short story about this called "the butler."

RoaldDahlFans.com - Short Stories - "The Butler"