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  3. What grocery items are always worth the extra $1-$5?

What grocery items are always worth the extra $1-$5?

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  • starlinguk@lemmy.worldS [email protected]

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

    V This user is from outside of this forum
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    [email protected]
    wrote on last edited by
    #106

    Ever since I tried bronze pasta I cannot look at regular pasta the same way. I cannot buy that yellow stuff anymore.

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    • B [email protected]

      Canadian maple syrup.

      B This user is from outside of this forum
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      [email protected]
      wrote on last edited by
      #107

      There's nothing wrong with new england maple syrup, but yes, real maple syrup not "pancake syrup" with maple flavoring.

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      • L [email protected]

        That sounds like a big increase in pain-in-the-ass for not that big an increase in savings. I'm happy to trade money for convenience on this one. 😉

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        [email protected]
        wrote on last edited by
        #108

        There is also a potential health difference. Lunch meat tends to be loaded with preservatives and falls into the category of "processed meat".

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        • R [email protected]

          Just had some of the worst “store brand” honey mustard. How do you mess that up? Tasted like they watered it down by adding extra vinegar. Watery. Gross tasting. Lesson Learned.

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          [email protected]
          wrote on last edited by
          #109

          Came here to say Dijon mustard. A jar of mustard lasts me 6 months, so a couple extra bucks for the good stuff doesn't amount to much.

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          • A [email protected]

            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.

            B This user is from outside of this forum
            B This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote on last edited by
            #110

            Real parm instead of the canned stuff.

            Chicken breasts - you can get massive pumped up chicken breast for the same price as "normal" chicken breasts. The problem is when you cook the big ones, they just leech out all their liquid.

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            • B [email protected]

              Real parm instead of the canned stuff.

              Chicken breasts - you can get massive pumped up chicken breast for the same price as "normal" chicken breasts. The problem is when you cook the big ones, they just leech out all their liquid.

              N This user is from outside of this forum
              N This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote on last edited by
              #111

              The huge ones are just gross.

              I think "woody" is the technical term.

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              • M [email protected]

                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.

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                wrote on last edited by
                #112

                Coffee seems to be one of those things supermarkets regularly price cycle.

                If i buy 4x 1kg bags when it's 30% off, i rarely have to buy any at full price.

                This doesn't work for artisan's coffee you buy direct from the roaster obviously.

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                • T [email protected]

                  I've seen a few people saying that it's cheaper to buy stuff that's in season over the years but I've never seen prices drop on in season stuff before. Idk if it's just a thing where I am but the supermarkets seem to just pocket the difference and leave the prices the same year round.

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                  wrote on last edited by
                  #113

                  This is less applicable to supermarkets a d more applicable to local green grocers.

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                  • C [email protected]

                    Butter, life is too damn short to cook with and eat shitty butter.

                    Also anything that goes between me and the ground, my bed, my shoes, and my tires.

                    toomanypancakes@lemmy.worldT This user is from outside of this forum
                    toomanypancakes@lemmy.worldT This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #114

                    I can say from personal experience this applies to vegan butter too. Get Miyoko's, or Violife if you absolutely have to, but for all that's good don't get shitty butter.

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                    • plutoniumacid@lemmy.worldP [email protected]

                      4-ply toilet paper.

                      F This user is from outside of this forum
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                      wrote on last edited by
                      #115

                      If the IBD folks don't unite under this answer they are probably living with bidets.

                      K 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • R [email protected]

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

                        toomanypancakes@lemmy.worldT This user is from outside of this forum
                        toomanypancakes@lemmy.worldT This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #116

                        Toilet paper too! As someone who needs to use it for peeing, it likes to stick if you get the cheap stuff. Not fun!

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                        • P [email protected]

                          I'm going to sound like a hater, but the food in season and local is what you should be eating, and that will always be the cheapest. If you're talking processed food brands and shit in boxes in the middle of the store, I'd argue none of it is worth the extra money, its all bad for you, stop. That said, the frozen arby's curley fries are bomb, and no one does cheesey things like cheetos or smartfood.

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                          wrote on last edited by
                          #117

                          Have you had the smartfood popcorn with Cheeto flavoring?

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                          • A [email protected]

                            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.

                            toomanypancakes@lemmy.worldT This user is from outside of this forum
                            toomanypancakes@lemmy.worldT This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #118

                            Honestly a lot of stuff I like to get the nice version. Most packaged products you can get away with cheaper, but paper products you wanna splurge on, and produce you wanna get from a local store with good stuff rather than your local megamart when possible. A farmer's market or even just a neighborhood grocery store is usually gonna have fresher, tastier veggies in my experience. A little more expensive, but worth it.

                            T 1 Reply Last reply
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                            • toomanypancakes@lemmy.worldT [email protected]

                              Honestly a lot of stuff I like to get the nice version. Most packaged products you can get away with cheaper, but paper products you wanna splurge on, and produce you wanna get from a local store with good stuff rather than your local megamart when possible. A farmer's market or even just a neighborhood grocery store is usually gonna have fresher, tastier veggies in my experience. A little more expensive, but worth it.

                              T This user is from outside of this forum
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                              [email protected]
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #119

                              The paper thing stopped being true in the past year around here. Name brand paper towels are now so thin, store brand is thicker at half the price. Q-Tips don't have the same cardboard in the middle, less cotton Kroger brand is closer to the old q-tips (but still a step down from what I grew up with).

                              Toilet paper is basically a toss-up, the nicer store brands are about comparable to the non-specialty name brands now. For the extra strong or extra soft, name brand still wins, but it's changing.

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                              • U [email protected]

                                it’s just a bit slow. i’ve waited 20 minutes just to buy a battery before

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                                wrote on last edited by
                                #120

                                have you done this? what did you think?

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                                • M [email protected]

                                  I like buying local California olive oils, then I know it's real.

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                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #121

                                  Yep. Read “Extra Virginity” and you’ll likely never buy imported EVO again.

                                  M 1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • B [email protected]

                                    Real parm instead of the canned stuff.

                                    Chicken breasts - you can get massive pumped up chicken breast for the same price as "normal" chicken breasts. The problem is when you cook the big ones, they just leech out all their liquid.

                                    P This user is from outside of this forum
                                    P This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #122

                                    150% on real parm.

                                    I’d also argue for getting whole chickens (and spring for the nicer ones too). Roast it, pull off the breasts and eat those, eat the drumsticks if you enjoy them, or use the entire rest of the carcass for making really good stock.

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                                    • F [email protected]

                                      If the IBD folks don't unite under this answer they are probably living with bidets.

                                      K This user is from outside of this forum
                                      K This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #123

                                      No, just perpetually constipated.

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                                      • ? Guest

                                        Have you had the smartfood popcorn with Cheeto flavoring?

                                        P This user is from outside of this forum
                                        P This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #124

                                        My god...never heard of this...
                                        https://www.smartfood.com/products/smartfood-cheetos-cheddar-flavored-popcorn

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                                        • R [email protected]

                                          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.

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                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #125

                                          I got a tortilla press and masa harina. I will not buy premade corn torillas again. Masa isn't that expensive, add salt, water, mix, press, and cook on a dry pan (or super lightly oiled, i put a very light layer on mine since it's cast iron)

                                          So much tastier than store bought and better texture.

                                          K 1 Reply Last reply
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