The photographer in me says:
Never buy cheap lenses
Never ever buy cheap tripods

The Outdoorsman in me says:
Buy good boots
Never buy cheap raingear (just spring for the Gore-Tex)
Never ever buy a cheap tent

Never buy cheap cellphones or service plans. No voice mail??? Are you serious? Or, you want me to call YOU back and your phone didn't ring and the voice mail didn't show up for 6 hours? Or, I can't hear what you're saying for all the static or calls keep dropping. Maybe you should get you phones someplace that's not a gas station!

Oil. Especially if using it everyday. The cheaper oil I've seen tends to be full of butane and adulterants that cannot be good for health. Co2/oxygenated can be trusted better.

gr8ful bruin wrote:


I liked the Costco stuff for Paloma and Rex, reasonable too, just hard to get to Costco and harder to leave without dropping some $ on other stuff I don't need. Great results with Wellness, it was a long hard road getting there. I had no idea dog food could be so awful and the cause of so many health related problems. Never going back.

Maple syrup...check when out for breakfast....usually it's imitation
Organic milk...lasts longer tastes better
Chocolate...the good stuff really does melt in your mouth
Lip balm with SPF...I didn't realize how important it was and got skin cancer on my lips and had to use chemotherapy cream...needless to say it was a nightmare...use it often and a high number
Mattress... I spend a lot of time there so why not
Headphones...nothing like loud clear music
Eye exams...you just can't go to pearl vision and think you're gettin good health care cuz you ain't
Massage therapy...pay what you must to have the evilness squeezed outta ya...
Sheets pillows...nothing like soft sheets right off the laundry line and soft pillows to sink inta

trisha wrote:
Use grade B. It's more robust, so you use less. I could find a way to put maple syrup in everything I make if it wasn't so pricey.

trisha wrote:
That's for sure. They all taste like wax, and they all leave a film in your mouth with a tangy aftertaste. It's to the point I only bother with Lindt and the $1.50+ bars and Ghirardelli chocolate chips. Even if your taste buds are dead, you can surely feel the vast difference in texture. You can get an 11.5oz bag of Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips for like $2.50. Best deal in decent chocolate that I've found. I don't even bother buying candy bars anymore (I'm a candyholic). I buy the Ghirardelli bag. A candy bar is less than 1.5oz for $.65-1.00 at this point. It's like getting 7.67 candy bars for $2.50, and it's still quality chocolate that doesn't feel like I'm eating a candle.

Spenco arch supports come with a lifetime guarantee and they last forever. If you're not getting proper arch support from your shoes, a simple addition will make a world of difference.

I don't like money or the human money-centered-world, so I generally seek quality products for reasonable prices. To me, cheap has a connotation of poor quality, disposable, throwaway items, and fast food - all items that I tend to avoid. If cheap refers to inexpensive, I would only purchase a specific item if it's a quality product that I was seeking, not because it is available at a great price. Bargains are often found as I do much of my shopping at local second hand stores. I am a poor example of an American consumer, but I try to be a conscientious human.

Ethics requires that I not support sweatshops, slave labor, etc. yet often those who work in sweatshops are living their dreams.
Would I rather see them return to scavenging at the garbage dump? Our atmosphere and oceans are being destroyed by the economic activities of humans. I do not want to support these humans and their poor stewardship of our planet. As we view a specific product from cradle to grave, what kind of footprint is it leaving on our planet? These are the difficult questions. We must make wise choices if we are to be good caretakers.