Even though I try very hard to be frugal and save what I can, there are some things that I just won't compromise on even though I could get a cheaper version. What are the things you won't compromise on?

Here's my list:

Bounty paper towels (select-a-size)
Cascade complete
Charmin ultra toilet tissue
Dog/cat foods
International coffee creamer (french vanilla)

Kotex tampons (which usually aren't too expensive anyway, but I tend to buy mostly generic when it comes to things)

Cottenelle toilet paper

Bumble Bee Tuna Fish...

that's about it!

I am spoiled OK?
Beef/Turkey Jerky
Eating lunch out at work everyday
Using the A/C in my car
Energy Drinks
Bottled Water
A cell phone with internet and email
High speed cable internet
Pizza
Not cooking from scratch

~ Contact lense solution (just can't afford for my eyes to get worse)
~ Internet
~ Kotex pads
~ Ivory Pur, Lux or Lever 2000 soap (mainly because I am sensitive to soaps)
~ Trojan condoms (gotta buy the best!)
~ Arm & Hammer baking soda toothpaste

The only foodstuffs I can think of is Heinz Tomato soup and So Good Soy Milk.

Oh, good topic! I like to save money/be frugal on some things so I can afford the things I really won't compromise on!

My list:

VIVA paper towels (use rags mostly, but NEED paper towels for animal accidents!)

CHARMIN Bath Tissue (my butt is picky! LOL!)

OB Tampons! (but buying a Diva cup this week!)

DAWN dishwashing liquid!

ALBACORE tuna (can't do the mixed bits in a can)

ORGANIC milk and meat! (I would rather spend my money on antibiotic free, hormone free, artificial color and additive free food than at the doctor)

Good quality (no grain fillers) dog/cat food (again spending money up front instead of at the vets)

CABLE MODEM! (you would have to pry this out of my cold dead hands! LOL!) (and yes, we give up other things to afford this cause it is a luxury)

Pet food
Almay deoderant and Ivory soap for dh
Fragrance free laundry detergents
Northern Bath tissue, I buy it on sale and now have 1 years worth:whistle:

Stain Stick--everything else, I will fudge on!

Forgot about pet food, but his is perscription.

My stuff:
*Dawn
*Pepsi or Coke
*Internet
*Nike shoes

Folgers Hazlenut coffee (hope they aren't discontinuing it !)

Cottonelle TP

Shoes

I always go for really good quality shoes. We don't have a vehicle so we walk everywhere, and if I don't have good shoes, I get blisters and sore feet and knees. I walk between 1-3 hrs/day. It's not worth it to get cheaper ones as not only does it cause pain but they wear out really quick.

Other than that I usually buy what is least expensive, not brand loyal at all.

Thanks everyone! It is so interesting to see what is important to people. In fact, I saw somethings that I had totally forgotten about.

For us:

internet
eating out once or twice a month

That's really all I can think of because I'll try any cheaper/different product at least once. I have almost no brand loyalty at all. I honestly prefer most Kroger generics to more expensive items, so you might say I'm committed to generics. ;)

Things I won't compromise on:

--Playtex tampons
--decent toilet paper (brand doesn't matter as long as it's not the cheap, cheap stuff)
--Internet
--Lunch out 1 or 2 times a week with my husband (Our only time to go out since he works evenings. Plus lunch out is usually cheaper than supper out.)
--Special clothes detergent for our son who has eczema.

--Michelle

Dh must have Cheerio's brand cereal

I also only use Best Food's Mayonnaise

Internet Service

Good quality pet food

Hormone/antibiotic free meats
Organic milk and half and half
Real butter and fats
Organic and fair-trade coffee
Sateen cotton sheets
Pendleton blanket for the winter
Quality clothes and fabrics (thrift store!)

Oh simpleselu. . .the sateen sheets reminded me about my sheets experience.

Something I also won't compromise on are my bed sheets. I used to buy the cheaper sheets and I couldn't sleep comfortably. Always was pulling the sheets off the mattress with my tossing and turning. I switched to Northern Nights flannel sheets (yes, flannel in Florida in summer time - keeps you cool) and have been sleeping so good since. I slept like a baby the first night I used them. I got them from QVC when they were on special/sale. I will NEVER buy any other brand of sheets!!!

Cable internet
Kotex tampons
Folgers coffee for dh
Progresso soup for dh
Head & shoulders shampoo for dh
Degree deodorant

I scrimp in some places to spurge on others for sure!

Organic milk & yogurt
High quality dog and cat good
High speed internet
Fiji bottled water (thats my splurge for myself)!

kotex pads
iams dog food
gym shoes (nike or reebok)
herbal essences shampoo (my hair is so thick)

I love flannel sheets too! :D

I have to add cable internet and good cat food for my kitties too. I'd give up telephone and I HAVE given up cable tv before my high speed wireless.

Vaseline Problem Skin Therapy skin cream for my feet. It's the only thing that works for them adn I've tried zillions... even the special stuff for cracked heels.... it just doesn't work as well.

Every thing else I'm not so fussy about.

Have to have Heinz Tomato Soup
Can't eat the cheap ice cream - have to have one of the good brands but am now making my own and it is really good.
Don't like cheap coffee.
Have to have cream in my coffee, not milk.
Real chocolate chips.
That's all I can think of right now - sure there are more.

I have to add Whiskas cat food. Our oldest cat is 15yrs old and if we try to switch food she gets really sick. It isn't as cheap as store brand cat food but it is one of the cheaper brands.

1. Pepsi :pepsi:
2. Albacore tuna in water
3. Tampax tampons
4. Jersey knit sheets
5. Bottled water

My silly cat will eat nothing but the basic Cat Chow. I have purchased the better brands for her and she turns up her nose at them. So I suppose I have a thrifty kitty.

The things I will not compromise on:

Tide detergent (gets clothes cleaner)
Cable TV ( my major source of entertainment)
Internet (2nd source of entertainment, but also education and connection to others)
OB Tampons
Good perfume (my biggest luxury - the cheaper stuff irritates my skin and smells funny on me - one bottle of the good stuff lasts a year)

*Most makeup (there are a few items I will buy drugstore brands, but most of my makeup is from Sephora - I think it's better quality and last longer)
*Listerine for DH
*Colgate Toothpaste
*Real Butter (not brand picky, but I won't use margarine)
*Coca-cola soda
*Victoria's Secret bras/underwear
*Science Diet Cat Food

I'm sure this won't be the same as what I have written on this subject in the past, but here is my current list:

-Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers, no cheap trans-fat-filled knock-offs
-Cape May vacations, despite the fact it is getting ridiculously more expensive every year.
-ob tampons
-Burt's Bees Lip Balm
-Hair cuts with my stylist (I drive 2 hours to get there and have been going to him since I was 15.)
-I'm a butter over margarine person, too.

I'm sure there are more, but that is all I can think of for now.

Oh, yeah, butter over margarine here too.

One of my best friends who is an engineer told me that margarine is only 1 ingredient away from plastic in chemical makeup. Margarine was developed to feed to chickens to fatten them up, but researchers found it too unhealthy. Sadly, the makers then marketed it to us humans! YUCK!

One of my best friends who is an engineer told me that margarine is only 1 ingredient away from plastic in chemical makeup. Margarine was developed to feed to chickens to fatten them up, but researchers found it too unhealthy. Sadly, the makers then marketed it to us humans! YUCK!


OMGoodness!!! Now THAT is scary!! And we wonder why so many people have cancer and diseases. Could play a part in it. I'm throwing my margarine away. Good thing I love butter. . .I'll never eat margarine again!!!

Have to play the cynic here - looked it up on Snopes.

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp

Jockey underwear (fit right)

Downy (smells good and doesn't set off my allergies)

Daisy sour cream (no nasty additives)

Good shoes to fit my orthodics
Health care - ie. chiropractor, acupuncture, massage therapist, etc.
Internet

Jean

I guess I'm not really too picky with most things if it is a non-food item I go with the cheapest but for food items I impatiently wait for sales on:
CHIPITS brand milk chocolate chips
Heinz ketchup
Purex TP
Crystal Lite for my son

Cat food and cat litter
Free range organic eggs (I miss having my own laying hens)
Butter (1 pound can last us over 3 months, since we use it so rarely)
Toilet Paper

Everything else we try to buy as cheaply as possible

frugalwitch

Let's see...

Food Items - Heinz Ketchup (The cheap stuff always tastes too sweet for me.)
Miracle Whip
Whatever that brand of Salsa is at Aldi's. (Yummy)

Non-Food Items

Cable Internet (I agree with the person that said, they'd have to pry her cable modem out of her cold dead hands. I love my internet access)
Purina Cat Chow Indoor - One of my cats has a sensative stomach and this is the one food I've found that doesn't make his stomach upset)

I'm sure there are a few other things. But I can't think of them right off the bat. Pretty much I'll try anything once, that being said I have very sensative skin and am very careful about the lotions and soaps I buy.

Eukanuba dog food
Charmin
Dove Sensitive Skin deodorant
Downy fabric softener
Crystal Light drink mix
HBO
Cable modem

Everything else can be generic or homemade, but those things are non-negotiable!

Name brand foundation
Get my hair highlighted
Sabon Bath Products from Isreal
Good shoes (Have not purchased any since May):cheer4:
Northern Bath Tissue

These are things I scrimp on;
Do my own manicure & pedicure once a week
Hand wash dishes
Make my own household cleaners and detergent
Cook at home
Socialize with neighbors instead of going out
My DH & I do not exchange holiday gifts
Workout at home
Do not purchase papertowels (Use white flour sack towels from Wal-Mart)
Do not purchase kleenex (Have over 60 hankercheifs we use)
Do not use papernapkins (Use cloth napkins)
Grow my own herbs & cook with them


:fdance: Tori

Our cellphones (DH is a truck driver and has to have one...and we don't use a landline right now so I need mine in case of an emergency)

Butter-I just can't use margarine.

Adidas deodrant. It has no alumium in it but it keeps me drier than anything else. I love it.

Science Diet dog food
charmin toilet paper
viva paper towels
Kraft cheese slices
cable internet

I'm pretty flexible on most things.

Butter to cook with.
Northern Bath Tissue
Eating Out

Getting my hair cut and highlighted at a salon (only about 3 or 4 times a year though).
We don't wear thrift store or garage sale clothes.
Name brand soda.

-Scott tp
-Tampax tampons
-Always pads
-cable internet
-albacore tuna
-running shoes
-electronics
-coffee

I have a few:
Coffee beans (Costco)
pet food/litter
fresh fruit
albacore tuna
shoes (I've never been a shoe snob *until* I started wearing Keens!)

Eukanuba cat food
Birkenstocks
Clinique lip gloss
Fiber optic internet (although that's more DH's thing)
Braums dairy products (DH's thing--I don't drink milk, so I don't care)

I'm sure there's plenty more, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.

I'm easy, I will probably comprimise on anything except for a few things...

Dying my hair
Internet
at least some fruits and veggies in the house

thats it!

~Shoes (generic make my feet stink, so I must wear leather)
~Marlboro cigarettes
~Friskie's canned and dry food is the only kind my furbabies will eat
~Fresh step cat litter
~Fixodent Control for DH...he will not use anything else!
~Diet pepsi
~Dove chocolate
~Sunbeam bread

Most of everything else we will at least try a generic. Like another poster mentioned, I prefer Kroger brand over most national brands of food.

Kotex feminine products
Kerasal ointment for my feet
Downy softener
Dawn dishsoap
Liquid Gold wood cleaner/ conditioner
Conoco Gas (One of only a VERY few companies that doesn't sell imported)
Costa Rican Coffee ( still cheaper than Starbucks!)
Iams dog food ( any other makes them sick)
Bertolli Pasta Sauces

Great thread!

~ Bushells Teabags
~ Stayfree Sanitary Pads
~ Rexona Deodorant
~ Nivea skin cream
~ Trill Birdseed for my budgie


Everything else, I am happy to buy cheaper alternatives... :umbrella:

Oh, and Dynamo liquid laundry detergent - I wont compromise on that as it is the only product I can use in the laundry that wont cause my dermatitis to flare up....

I'll have to say my Magic Eraser. I love that thing!

There's not alot that I won't try a cheaper version of and if it compares then I will buy the cheaper. Here's what I have found that I just can't find the cheaper will do
Iam's dog food
Kraft cheese...the off brand ewww when it doesn't melt in the microwave it just grosses me out
A/C in my house and car...I work too hard in the house to go without, if I get to hot well the housework won't get done...in the car eck I don't want to go into work looking like a wreck and smelling funky
Cable tv and dsl internet...its my cheapest form of entertainment (keeps me out of the store)
Coke I have search high and low, nothing else compares; though I have cut down considerably
really thats about it
oops editing to add my lotion, I buy it at Sally's I can't stand dry skin and it's the thickest/most well working lotion I have found

I will never buy cheap band-aids again. They just fall off. What a waste of money.

Have to play the cynic here - looked it up on Snopes.

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp

uhhg!!! thanks for the info. we were buying butter, but i failed miserably at the grocery challenge so i've been buying margarine again. after reading that i think it wise to save my pennies elsewhere and treat us to butter again! health is too important to comprimise over a few bucks here and there. so i will add it to the list below.

BUTTER!
heinz ketchup
charmin tp
cable/internet
a good hair cut (salon colored-since i go a long time between visits, not alot spent over a year)
a real tree at christmas (gotta have)

oh yeah, and milk... i won't water it down or make the powdered stuff, it has to be real milk.

Mountain Dew !!! No other will do!!

JIF PEANUT BUTTER!!!! I LOVE THE STUFF..........:lip:

My list of things I won't compromise on:
shower gel, bar soap makes me break out
coke
cottonelle TP
Always ultra thin pads
Pace picante sauce, mild

I have to have:
3 of the dogs(2 are 10 and 11)Pedigree adult Original flavor Small Crunchy Bites

The Puppy We found about 5 weeks ago Nutro Natural choice or Nutro Ultra for Large Breed Puppy but there for every 10 bags I get the 11th free.

Cats 2(1 used to be feral and the other is a kitten from another stray/feral cat)Science diet Original kitten and original adult mixed

Cats 2 both with urinary problems(mother and daughter)Hill's Prescription diet C/D

Stray/Feral outside Cats get Purina Cat and Kitten Chow Dry. Sometimes mixed with what is on sale to stretch it lie iams,Friskies,Etc.Also if someone's cats don't ie their food they give it to me and I use it to stretch what I buy. Also they somtimes get a few cans of Friskies in seperate bowls.

Always pads with wings

DSL(I will not go back to dial up)

Cottonelle Toilet Paper(husband won't use any other kind)

Frontline Plus for Cats

Advantage and Heartgard for Dogs and Puppy

I will not buy cheap razors or cheap bandaids.
I learned that the hard way.
I don't mess around with toilet paper or peanut butter, either.