Where can I find this all cheaper

[Angrboda]

If I were you, I'd concentrate on getting few things, things with considerable versatility, and concentrate on investing the money to get good quality in those few things.


For example, if rice is a staple of your diet, a high quality Korean or Japanese rice cooker, a talking one, might be well worth the investment. The little touches that come with a quality item make it much more pleasant to live with. Having a smaller lifestyle, concentrated on good things, is, to my view, more rewarding than having the use of a ton of mediocre crap.

I would go through your list and cut out half the things on it. You'd be surprised how little you would end up using many of those items, and how little you'd miss not having them.

But then, I'm a Taoist, so I lean that way by nature.

My first thought was Walmart, or Target for a little higher quality. But a lot depends on the specific items, as you'll really need to shop many of those items individually.

Perhaps an example might help. I bought a 5-liter hot water pot that keeps water at one of three temperatures. It's like a knock off of a Zojirushi, which is the number one maker of such hot water pots. Mine was about $80, is good quality, has the main features that a Zojirushi would have, but not the fine points that comes with a top quality product. A Zojirushi would have cost me double that. However, as much as I use it, as I'm a tea, beef and chicken broth, hot cocoa, etc. addict, when I am able, I will likely invest in the cost of a Zojirushi. The little extra design touches will matter enough to me because it is such an essential part of my life that everything about it will affect me. I also could have bought a cheaper clone, that would have had problems with scaling, breaking down within 1-2 years, or having its performance degrade, and having to put up with that in something that is so much a part of my life would have made me feel miserable. And I could have bought a cheap, $20-30 electric water kettle, but it wouldn't have been near as versatile and functional as the pots that keep water hot at select temperatures. I can have instant drinks in seconds, any time of the day. So, I did good by researching until I found one that was both good quality and inexpensive. If I'd bought lower quality, I would have likely ended unhappy, and probably given up using it. I didn't expect it to be as important an addition to my life as it has, though, and if I'd known, I would have spent the extra money for the Zojirushi. I was halfway to buying a Zojirushi when I read the reviews of this one, and it sounded like it was a knockoff that was of sufficient quality that it wouldn't have the problems that plague most of the knockoffs I looked at. And it hasn't. Still, I look forward to owning a Zojirushi sometime soon.

I would pare your list down to bare essentials. Where quality isn't that important, buy bargain items (much of the kitchen stuff, like knife sets, can be functional without spending a lot of money, unless of course cooking is a big part of your life, and then it would pay to invest in a small set of high quality knives; ceramic if you can afford it). And concentrate on items that have multiple uses; largish brandy snifters can be used for wine, sake, and hard liquor equally. They're similar in shape to a wine glass, and the globe shape prevents sake and hard liquor from oxidating too quickly as you drink it. Once you have a better idea of the things you realize you took off the list but really would use, after living with things a while, you can go back and fill in the gaps. I think you'll find a lot fewer gaps than you anticipated with your current list.