What are you not willing to scrimp on?

[tangomonster]

Good walking shoes.
Good food.
Now that I finally broke down and got it: DSL-lite
A Netflix subsription: just upped it to 4 at a time
Safe car

 

[donheff]

Food, wine, broadband, AC, travel, bikes.

 

[SecondCor521]

Plastic baggies and hot showers.

2Cor521

 

[waltwill8]

Still eat off the dollar menu at McD's, but spring for the $1.99 tuna in olive oil at Trader Joes and get our Chorizo from Spain. Find a good wine - buy a case.

 

[Bikerdude]

Food, wine, beer and cigars .

 

[MikeD]

Food is our biggest temptation to which we succumb in splendor. Also my dog's medical care including prescription food and pain pills. Apparently, we spend money on the stuff (and beings) we love.

Mike D.

 

[Caroline]

My parents.

I'm taking them on a cruise to Alaska in May. (I'd rather go hiking, but they're in their 80s, so whaddaya gonna do?)

Mama wanted a balcony room on the ship but didn't want me to spend too much. So I got the balcony and lied through my teeth about the price.

She's worth it.

 

[Moemg]

My parents.

I'm taking them on a cruise to Alaska in May. (I'd rather go hiking, but they're in their 80s, so whaddaya gonna do?)

Mama wanted a balcony room on the ship but didn't want me to spend too much. So I got the balcony and lied through my teeth about the price.

She's worth it.

I took my Mom on a cruise to Bermuda for her 88th birthday .Best money I ever spent .Of course every year we have a big celebration because we think it may be the last but she's still going strong !

 

[Outtahere]

I wouldn't say we scrimp, we just don't over spend. But like MikeD, I don't scrimp on the care of our pets, the late lab and now the the puddy cats are well cared for.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

what i'd go back to work for if required: good food, not including restaurants as i've already enjoyed those. what i spend too much on: insurance so i'm considering overseas or at least out of south florida. my current insurance bills run 25% (before deductibles) of my minimum budget which just irks me. it makes me want to sell the house & the car, move overseas and get health insurance at half price. very likely i'll be scrimping that irk one day.

after food i'd list shoes and then bedding (if you are not in one you are in the other) but if i switch to a vagabond life i'll be giving up that last comfort for a while. i don't think i'll mind scrimping on bedding. the unencumbered life can be cheap but does not come without cost.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Humanely raised grass-fed beef, pork and chicken. Local vegetables from the market.
Travel (one big trip every other year or so)
Whatever tools DH needs for his projects
Live music and music festivals
Keeping the old Airstream motorhome running
Moderately priced dinners out-our faves are Mexican and Cuban

 

[Achiever51]

Good food and wine
Pet care and food
Luxury sheets and down filled comforter & pillows
Shoes
Occasional splurges on vacations, special concerts, events

 

[W2R]

Plastic baggies and hot showers.

2Cor521

Plastic baggies? You mean you aren't among those of us who wash them out and re-use them? (gasp!)

Oh well. You can still post here!

Besides, I only wash them out once, usually. Sometimes twice, but if they get greasy, they're outta here!

 

[deserat]

When we eat out (which isn't often), I'm picky about the restaurant. Otherwise, we look for value prices for everything - I've found that if one has the time, they can find the price point at which they can acquire something. That could also mean that one doesn't buy it! Oh, and we do wash our plastic bags

 

[RE@45]

I will NOT scrimp on...

I never scrimp on cheap facial tissue or toilet paper, both for the same reason...the cheap stuff is like tree bark!

 

[Grizz]

ditto on toilet paper, beer, shoes and heating the house. I learned to not go on a caribbean all inclusive resort vacation if I can't afford 5 stars.

 

[Janet H]

Socks.
Really good socks that have no seams running across the toes.
Socks that remain soft and supple in the face of abuse by my hiking boots, clogs and the washing machine.
Socks that have cuffs just the right height and breadth to stay up without binding or being too bulky.
Socks that are not too thick (I can double them up if needed) to wear with all kinds of shoes.
Socks that require no special care other than regular washing, socks that can be dried in the dryer without shrinking, pilling or melting.
Socks.

 

[citrine]

Good Coffee.
Good food.
Tubes of great oil paints, mediums, and canvases.
Good food for Casanova.
My hair products.
Santiago....my wonderful masseur.

 

[twaddle]

Three pages and nobody has said it:

Chocolate.

And, of course, condoms. You never want to buy discount condoms.

 

[MikeD]

You never want to buy discount condoms.

It's hard to poke holes in that statement.

Mike D.

 

[SecondCor521]

Plastic baggies? You mean you aren't among those of us who wash them out and re-use them? (gasp!)

Oh well. You can still post here!

Besides, I only wash them out once, usually. Sometimes twice, but if they get greasy, they're outta here!

Thanks ;-)

Nope, I throw 'em out, even if they've just had pretzels or something like that in them. I only use 'em for the kids' lunches, and I only fix them lunches about a 1/4 of the time. Figure three baggies per kid, three kids, so that's 9 baggies about 90 days a year, so I go through about 810 baggies a year. I'm not sure how much that costs, but I don't figure it can be that much.

I do pinch pennies on gas purchases, though. I get it at the cheapest station in town, use a store loyalty card to knock 3 cents off per gallon, and then use my PenFed card to get 5% back on top of that.

I could probably splurge on gas if I washed out baggies, and I could probably retire a few minutes earlier if I economized on both.

2Cor521

 

[W2R]

I could probably splurge on gas if I washed out baggies, and I could probably retire a few minutes earlier if I economized on both.

That sounds like an accurate analysis! I buy my gas at the most expensive station in town (the big, beautiful new Chevron on the corner just down the street). I only fill it up every 6 weeks, though. At 16 gallons per fill-up, each extra penny per gallon means another $1.44/year spent. Oh horrors!

 

[Nords]

Socks.
Really good socks that have no seams running across the toes.
Socks that remain soft and supple in the face of abuse by my hiking boots, clogs and the washing machine.
Socks that have cuffs just the right height and breadth to stay up without binding or being too bulky.
Socks that are not too thick (I can double them up if needed) to wear with all kinds of shoes.
Socks that require no special care other than regular washing, socks that can be dried in the dryer without shrinking, pilling or melting.
Socks.

You really need to spend some time in a warmer climate...

 

[haha]

You really need to spend some time in a warmer climate...

But out there where Janet lives it's a dry cold.

ha

 

[Joss]

Hunh. I sort of felt my materialism was settling toward about zero. And after scanning through all the these posts.... nothing lit me up. I guess I'll scrimp on about anything. Except maybe my tip for good service.