this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2025
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Prices keep climbing, so I’m trying to pick my battles in the supermarket. Which items do you refuse to cheap out on, and why? Taste, health, longevity, peace of mind… I’d love to hear what’s worth the few extra dollars for you.

For me, it’s honey from local beekeepers—supermarket brands locally are known to sell fake or adulterated sugar syrup as honey.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Fresh corn tortillas.

Tequila.

Haircare stuff

Husband bought "the good eggs" once and has not looked back since. I used to keep chickens and the bougie store eggs are much closer to those than they are to the factory farmed thin shelled light yolked ones.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

The best eggs are eggs from a farm that are unwashed and you keep on the counter. They taste a zillion times better and last for a long time. I get 3 dozen for 15 dollars at the local farm. It's honestly better than the store.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Good ketchup Real butter, not reconstituted which should be illegal Good bread, fresh or at least not the cheapest stuff

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (2 children)

For purely economic reasons, the less often I need to buy it, the more I allow myself to splurge.

So vegetables and my go to drink I consume everyday are bought the absolute cheapest, but that spice blend for those veggies lasts me months so I really don't care if there's a cheaper alternative.

Of course, expensiveness is measured per kg/litre, paying a bit more up front is always worth it if it means a lower price per kg (if you can consume it before it goes bad).

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

If I'm going to skin or peel the vegetable, I go with the cheap stuff. If I'm eating the skin then I go organic. I never buy the prewashed lettuce and salads when they are on sale because those have already started to go bad usually. And when it comes to things like berries, strawberries, tomatoes, and peppers I go with whatever looks like it will taste the best. Cheap blueberries for instance, absolutely do not hold up against the good stuff; life is too short for tart blueberries.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Spices are a great investment! Small independent Asian stores often have amazing ones which last way longer that supermarket ones. I don't have any shops like that near me so I buy on amazon and have found great ones there

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago
[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Paper Towels and Trash Bags - the cheap ones just don't hold up as well

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah, if we end up with cheap trash bags by mistake I find the rim always rips apart when I go to take out the trash and I end up using a second trash bag anyway.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago

Local
Whatever the product is, I'll pay an extra dollar for domestic (and especially within the province)

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Pasta. It takes pasta dishes from "eh, it's food" to "this is really good".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Whole Foods, oddly enough, is the place I find the cheapest good pasta. Their store brand is less than most places and really good.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Coffee. It's something that I refuse to compromise on. It may be especially important to me because I like to drink it black. If it doesn't taste great without adding anything to it, it's not with drinking at all in my opinion.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

They said $1-5 not $10-20, half decent coffee is "fuck you" expensive.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I'm two ways about this.

In recent years I've become quite a coffee lover. I've experimented with a lot of brewing methods, and got into small batch beans from independent roasters, with interesting qualities like being aged in whisky barrels (that one tastes and smells sooo good)

At the same time though I grew up in a family where the only coffee my parents ever drank was instant - a teaspoon of granules with some hot water and milk and maybe sugar. When I go over there to visit that's what I'll get, and I'm not going to turn my nose up at it. In some ways it's got that taste of nostalgia lol.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I didn't drink coffee for half my life because I was usually always around burnt, bottom tier coffee.

After moving largely away from whiskies and runs due to medicine I was on, I wanted a complex beverage to fill that void and gave some decent coffee a shot. It was of course worlds beyond most of what I've had anywhere else, and now I try different single origins every month.

But the real wild thing, is now I apply that tasting ability I've developed to diner coffee, and now the particular funk of a Waffle House cup gives me the memories of old road trips. The coffee from the local diner reminds me I'm home. Now that I can pick out one cup of low grade from another, it lets me appreciate the times I do go low on coffee.

Your comment made me think of the semi-famous Tom Petty coffee story from Rolling Stone. In searching for the article, I saw something claiming his daughters refuted the claims of his brand of choice, though still others claimed Mr Petty had personally verified it with them, so who's to say for sure at this point. But anyone who likes coffee, Tom Petty, or some food storytelling should like this tale of a man and his quest for the perfect cup. For anyone that hasn't read the story, I really enjoy it and think it's a fun read and a reminder of simple joys in life.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The coffee story is quite a long way in, but it was an interesting read, thanks.

I guess the message is, things aren't always good because they are objectively good. Sometimes things are good because of when we had them, and who we enjoyed them with. And that's definitely true.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

It does meander a bit, as it's more a reflection of the author's history with Petty on the one year anniversary of his passing that just happens to eventually settle on a tale about coffee perfection.

I like it overall as a tale about simple pleasures and what will people remember most about us after we're gone rather than a guide on how to achieve the perfect cup. I have reservations about if I'd agree that was the best cup ever if I had been there with them, but that was what reminded me of the story while I was reading about you having a mug of instant coffee with your family. 😊

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Mozzarella (talking about the balls of fresh mozzarella you get sealed in with their brine).

Can't do store brand anymore after having tried Galbani.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (3 children)

It's pretty easy to make those with some high fat milk, rennet, and cheese salt

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago

I mean, yea. But it is also easy to buy them, they're everywhere and fairly cheap. The Galbani one is also just 1€ or so more expensive.

To be clear, making your own is fantastic, it's just not anything I'd want to do 2x/week

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

All of them really. Once I find a brand I like, I'll stick with it. I'm usually not paying attention to prices anyway. I'll even go to another country just so I can get the proper brand of tomato paste. (It's not that bad, just around 15km away).

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