<p>Purelogy Hair Conditioner. The only thing that gets the knots out of my hair.</p>
<p>Education & EC’s for the kids.</p>
<p>Education & EC’s for myself. Hair and Skin care, house aesthetics, including art…Workouts…Food and Coffee.</p>
<p>Liquor,particularly wines and whiskey</p>
<p>I ordered new glasses and frames today. Didn’t look at the price on frames, just looked at the best style for me, asked for the thinnest lenses and all the bells and whistles (I have a strong prescription). If it’s going to be on my face all day, every day for the next couple of years, I want the best and I’m willing to pay for whatever insurance doesn’t cover.</p>
<p>chocolate, gelato, excellent shoes (due to foot issues, I can only wear soft-footbed birkenstocks, Keens and some athletic shoes if I add metatarsal supports…) - and education for my kids. (Been there, now have done that. YEAH!!!)</p>
<p>Organic fruits/vegetables and other healthful foods, comfortable clothes and shoes (not necessarily expensive, just comfy) and I only buy clothes when they’re on sale, medical care and college education for children. I won’t use anything but Charmin with Aloe & Vit. E, and Puffs Plus - I take my own TP everywhere.</p>
<p>Love this thread… We are surprisingly similar!</p>
<p>I do not skimp on:
donations to family schools
2 DDs’ education and enrichment and healthcare
my haircoloring at salon
dogs’ health and food
organic: milk, dirty dozen produce (grapes, berries, apples, peaches, etc.)
pastured meats and eggs
I do try for all organic and non-GMO…
personal stationery
[My husband skimps on NOTHING- LOL - but he is “up in the air”- always looking for the travel bennies and freebies, like upgrades and use of airport clubs!]</p>
<p>I do skimp on:
office products (buy only at OfficeMax/Depot or Costco)
paper goods
entertainment (TV and cable are free, so is radio and internet)
gas (drive a hybrid which takes regular)
DDs’ clothing: we start the shopping at the low-end, like Walmart and Target, and work our way up. Nothing much higher end than Macy’s, occ’ly BCBG for a splurge! We get all our bras and undies and sox at Walmart.
my clothing: always on sale, nothing higher end than Talbot’s.
Vacations: only travel is related to DDs- school. summer programs…
Car: look for most reliable and least expensive to own with good safety and enough space</p>
<p>BTW, I use only single-ply TP- the other stuff clogs the pipes. So it does save money- two ways!
I prefer the paper towels with half size tear sheets, too.</p>
<p>Love all the tips here!</p>
<p>organic veggies</p>
<p>When the kids were little, I was glad to have a good job so that I didn’t need to skimp on child care. That always seemed money well spent. (Interestingly the college spending decisions were tougher. It’s hard to analyze the value-add of more expensive options. AND you need to keep paying the bills even if you loose the job.) </p>
<p>We sometimes skimp on car replacement. But we try to never skimp on tires.</p>
<p>HImom - We will pay more (to a point) for direct flights on our desired schedule. But for us that sometimes does mean red-eyes flights. We’ve learned that flying to Boston very late Friday gets us to Boston around 5:30am, before the Cape Cod bridge traffic backs up. My BIL’s condo is near the bridge, so for us this really beats taking a Saturday flight.</p>
<p>Food. I try to buy only organic and/or local. We eat meat so that is very expensive but worth it imo. Charmin and Viva. </p>
<p>My monthly appt at the salon. </p>
<p>My tennis. I have to play indoors from Sept-May. Membership plus court time is very expensive but I’d go crazy if I wasn’t able to play. </p>
<p>My kid’s education. Private school tuition on top of very high school taxes. </p>
<p>My dogs. </p>
<p>Oh, and shoes. </p>
<p>We skimp on the cars we buy - strictly used and our house. We are in the 1st house we bought 20 yrs ago. We’ve done quite a bit of remodeling but our mortgage is still only $650 a month!</p>
<p>I don’t like Charmin or other supersoft TP. I like Scott best and the rolls last longer. I buy real butter, real beer, real maple syrup, real coffee and real vegetables. Restaurants - if I am going out I want it to be better than I would cook at home.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, we don’t scrimp on college.</p>
<p>Sunglasses.</p>
<p>My H is extremely frugal. What he doesn’t skimp on-Flights out of our regional airport. Hate having to go through security at LAX.
Condo at the base of the lift. It is worth it for him to pay more and not have to drive to the mountain. He does book last minute to get the last minute special.
Housing- location is key. Worst house in a better neighborhood versus best house in an okay neighborhood.
He will repair almost anything on our house. Does his own pool work. Fixes the pool sweep. But hires a painter. He hates to paint.</p>
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<p>A little bit of trivia - Fendi, Gucci, Prada, etc. do not make their sunglasses. 70% of all designer sunglasses are manufactured by the Luxottica Group. Yup, in Italy.</p>
<p>Experts say: get a pair that is comfy and UVA +UVB-blocking, and you are in a good shape. A $10 pair has the same eye-protective benefits as a $300 one. Polarized lenses are nice to have, but add nothing for protection of your photoreceptors against harmful UV light (blue light is the most damaging to the retina). Add some fish oil to your diet, and you might avoid developing dry form of AMD later in life.</p>
<p>I prefer to buy less expensive sunglasses so I don’t feel bad when they’re lost, scratched, broken, or for whatever reason need to be replaced. I just splurged on my first ever pair of prescription sunglasses! It’s great, since I do drive a LOT in daylight and the bright sun is very strong. May continue splurging on Rx sunglasses–might buy a pair mail order cheaply for a backup.</p>
<p>I only buy those with maximum UV protection & polarized–we have a LOT of glare.</p>
<p>I’ve been quite frugal all my life, but since both kids have graduated from college and are financial independent, I don’t skimp anymore. If I want something, I usually just get it, within reason of course.
Both H and I use money to buy convenience, we always stay in well located hotels,take cabs rather than airport shuttle vans,valet our car rather than park a mile away.
Also we are willing to pay for services we don’t care to do ourselves, so we’ve had a house cleaning and gardening service ever since we got married</p>
<p>won’t skimp on tissues (Puffs) toilet paper (Quilted Northern) or ketchup (must be Heinz). I used to buy cheap sunglasses and didn’t care about them but found when I bought a good pair of Oakley’s I take very good care of them, put them in the case and know their whereabouts at all times. Have had the same pair for 3 years now. That’s a record for me!</p>
<p>wuggroe, I’m right there with you on eyeglasses. I’m blind as a bat without them so I buy them fully-loaded – progressives, high-index, every possible coating – all the stuff that’s excluded in the fine print on sales flyers, and insurance won’t pay for. I don’t require designer frames, although I steer clear of the $49 rack. Spring-hinge is my only non-negotiable on frames.</p>
<p>We also don’t skimp on household appliances. We don’t buy high-end, but we consult Consumer Reports for their Best Buys, which usually aren’t the least expensive. We once bought a cheap-o dryer – big mistake.</p>
<p>I’m happy to say that DH did not skimp on our 20th anniversary last year. A dozen red roses delivered to me at work, and dinner at Ruth’s Criss Steakhouse. :)</p>
<p>And yeah, we’re not skimping on D’s college either, although we do pinch pennies on the peripherals – travel, allowance, and D is becoming quite the bargain-hunter for textbooks.</p>
<p>Life is too short to skimp on certain things:
maple syrup, really good bread, fine tea from Paris, Saran wrap and Reynolds foil, Honeycrisp apples, theater or opera tickets (my vice)
I don’t mind skimping on:
Movies (never go), eating out (rarely do), panty hose</p>
<p>On maintenance and repair of : loved ones (health care for my daughters, myself and our pets) and on things that take care of loved ones (autos, houses, etc). And on peanut butter and soda… Jiffy extra crunchy and Diet Coke all the way, no generics on those!</p>