When Buying the Best Makes Cents

Dear TEAMS,

Two words:  Nutty Nuggets.  That was the name of the cereal at the grocery that was the store brand equivalent to Grape Nuts™.  This was back in the day when going to the grocery store was my only respite and time alone.  (Never live far away from your parents, unless God has called you there!)

So I was trying to decide whether or not to buy said Nuggets, because I knew from past experience with store brands that usually they were less tasty, but bearable.  However, there could be duds.  Plus, with Grape Nuts™ being my favorite cereal, I didn’t know if I wanted to chance it.  But to save $1.20…that was tempting.  And the lure of knowing I had $1.20 more in my pocket was too much.

That $1.20 savings melted into a $2.49 loss with my first bite.   

You all know my tastes, and that I am a very adventurous eater.  You also know that rhubarb and liver are the only things I won’t eat.  That day, Nutty Nuggets joined rhubarb and liver on my banned substances list.  Truly, they were awful…so awful that I knew right away that I would never eat the box, I could never “hide” the cereal in something like muffins, nor could I stand it in tiny bits sprinkled on yogurt.  I threw it in the garbage that day, much to your father’s surprise, since I can, actually, get blood from a turnip.

Over the years I have compiled a list of other items that simply have no equal in my mind.  These are items that are worth the money to spend, either because their generic equivalents hinder the purpose we use them for, the generics cause you to use more or waste more, so they are actually more expensive or equal to the name brand price, or because they are so far above anything else in their genre that they are worth every penny and more that we pay for them.

I know that when you are finally reading this, things may have changed.  There might be better things to use than what I have listed below, or there might be new brands.  In 23 years, these things haven’t changed.  But if you reflect on the “whys,” I’m sure you’ll be able to update the list with what is present around you.  Except for the Body Balance, of course.

• Q-tips™ -- for the purpose they serve (and yes, we actually do insert them in our ear canal despite the instructions), we need the cotton to stay attached but still provide cushioning.  Store brands simply have the cotton wound too tightly (thus hurting the skin in the ear) or too loosely, thus risking losing the cotton tip in the ear.
• Tampax™ tampons – Seriously, store brand tampons just don’t cut it.  M and S, your wives will educate you.  It is costly to have to replace garments.  The applicator and packaging is biodegradable and won’t be around when you are reading this.  Enough said.
• Scott® toilet paper – economical but strong enough to avoid “toilet paper failures,” as someone wiser than me once said.  I really believe in not spending a lot on something that goes down the drain with waste on it, but it has to work. 
•  Puffs™ tissues – Your father has a hard-won convert in this one.  I tended to lump tissues into the same category as toilet paper, in that it’s forgettable in its use.  However, with the runny noses due to allergies and colds in a big family, I concede that I get more “content” into Puffs™ even though they are the same size as Scott® or Kleenex® tissue, and they feel better to boot.
• Body Balance™ by Life Force International -- never has a product done so much for the human body for so little per day.  It’s vitamins, supplements, naturopathic remedy, food insurance, medicine avoidance, healing, preventative all in 2-4 ounces per day.  It marvels me at how inexpensive it really is, given everything you would have to buy to equal it.
• Dyson® vacuum – I still remember the secretary I worked for on work-study at Elizabethtown College’s Housing Department, Pat March.  She looked after me while I was cleaning the office, showing me when to change the water based on its color.  Somehow, we got onto house cleaning and she said, “Whatever you do, when you are setting up house, spend a lot on your vacuum cleaner.”  I never understood why I would want to do that until I used really cheap vacuums.  They do nothing.  I don’t even know why they exist if they aren’t going to pick up the dust with the scraps on the floor.  Cheap vacuum cleaners waste time, because you have to spend more time to get the floor somewhat clean, and then you have to vacuum more often because the floor is never clean enough.
• Candidae or vet-brand dog food – buying cheap dog food creates more waste to clean up per each poop and creates higher vet bills in the future.

 The following are items that we specifically buy any brand name over the store brand/generic because we feel we use less (and save money) per use, or there just isn’t a good generic equivalent:

·         Brand Name shaving cream

·         Brand Name contact lens solution

·         Brand Name Coffee

·         Brand Name self-adhesive bandages

Love,