Tires. Never cheap out on tires.

Toilet paper. My asshole deserves Angel Soft.

batteries.

Video game controllers.

I know the divide is not quite what it was with stick drift affecting almost all of the 1st party offerings, but there's just something that feels so cheap about using any generic controller, even ones that are marketed as higher end.

Computer hardware

Q-Tips (cotton swabs.) Generics seem universally worse.

Running shoes. Antipronation shoes are fucking expensive, but having bad support will eventually hurt my feet, ankles or knees. I would get hurt very fast if I started running in cheap sneakers or something.

... Siracha.

At least before the debacle with Underwood Ranch. I unknowingly bought extra before it happened and am close to running out. I'm not sure what to do afterwards but I'm not inclined to support Huy Fong.

Mac&cheese

It's Kraft Dinner or nothing.

Dawn dish soap is simply unbeatable

Toothpaste. Generics are awful.

Liqueurs, because usually generics don't exist

And Ziploc bags. The quality is worth the extra dollar over the store brand. I might start doing the same for trash bags as well

Fisherman's friend cough drops. They're not the tastiest cough drops out there, but they fucking work.

Mooncakes for mid-autumn festival. Như Lan bakery or skip. The other brands (even the 'fancy' ones) have too much sugar. In HK there are other good brands too, but in VN Như Lan is the best.

I guess also expensive tools like oscilloscopes (Siglent, Uni-T). It's a big enough investment that I need it to work well, but I'm not rich enough for the fancy brands.

Oh, and motorcycles -- Honda please (yes, we have unbranded motorcycles here, we call them 'ghost bikes'). There's always a repairshop that can fix a Honda within walking distance, but I've never actually needed to go to one. When I had a Yamaha it broke once in a while, and that meant a long walk in tropical heat.

Tires. Every time I've tried to save money by purchasing some PrimeWell or Sentury or other no-name tire I've worn them out in no time flat or they burst when I hit any bump that stands more than 1cm above the road surface. If they are that weak then they aren't safe.

Ballpoint pens. Bic, Papermate, and Zebra are pretty much all I would consider buying.

Edit: there are lots of other brands that I forgot to consider. I'm mainly talking about inexpensive plastic tubes, but included Zebra (a metal tube) which I'm a fan of.

I take vitamins because of malabsorption related to celiac disease, and I've read that a lot of cheap vitamin brands are total scams.

Fortunately, I've been finding some major brands at the dollar store, of all places, for $1.25USD

Game console controllers. Miss me with that flimsy shit.

Except the Xbox Series X controller. That thing’s a nightmare. I use my old One controller for that.

Soda, chips, candy, etc. If I'm gonna buy it, I'm buying the good one. I've tried many different off/store brand peanut butter cups, and they're always fucking horrendous.

Surprisingly, frozen pizza is the opposite. The store brand ones are really good (at least the ones I get at Shaw's and Market Basket). Meanwhile, I've payed much more in order to try out the big name brands. They are usually smaller, lower quality, and taste worse than the store brand ones that cost nearly half as much.

Orange juice. The cheap stuff is never worth it.

Mobiles, laptops, SIM card, Wifi provider

Butter. Kerrygold is simply the best.

Windex for cleaning mirrors and glass. All the other knockoffs feel like watered down blue food coloring.

Puffs tissues. They hold together better than Scottie and aren't dusty and awful like Kleenex or most of the knockoffs.

Stuff a certain company or organization can simply do that others cant

• Fedora
• GrapheneOS + stupid Pixel phones
• Coreboot laptop, whatever brand
• actually sustainable products
• some Bike components but if I find something better here I go!

Ketchup for sure. There is a hierarchy of quality, and store-brand is the bottom rung.