Just the essentials or all the bells and whistles?

[brewer]

Another what do you prefer thread. When you purchase something do you more often pick economy or luxury? Function or flash? Somewhere in the middle?

Our washer recently crapped out and we needed to but a new one. The last one my wife selected, top of the line. Must have had 50 different types of wash cycles that could have been programmed in. How many variations did we use, 8 tops. And we hated it, was not kind to the material and never really spun effectively causing us to use extra dryer time.

I picked out this washer, has a dozen cycle variations, was middle of the road on price and my wife loves it. I'm shocked.

So I guess I'm a somewhere in the middle person leaning toward essentials, economy and function. I tend to purchase vehicles this way also. I almost dread the next vehicle purchase.

[arewethereyet]

I would say I am more middle of the road too. If something will do what I need it to do and doesn't break the bank, I am good with that.

Many years ago when my husband and I bought our first house, he had a friend who had a refrigerator that was pretty new but too big for his place since he and his wife split and he was in a trailor for a while. We bought the fridge from him but he voiced his concern that I wouldn't be happy because there was a mark on one side from moving it. I asked if it would freeze the stuff I put in the freezer and keep the food in the fridge side cold. He said that it worked perfectly. I said, then it's perfect. As it turned out the mark was never seen since it was up against the wall.

A couple years ago my husband wanted to buy new appliances for the kitchen. He wanted to know if I wanted to come along to pick them out. I said if the fridge keeps the food cold/frozen, the stove and microwave heat food up, and the dishwasher washes the dishes...I am happy. And I have been.

Husband has a zillion gadgets in his truck that he never uses....but he would use the CD player if it had one. I'm quite happy with my little car. Anything it won't do for me, my phone will so it's all good...and it's paid off.

I am holding back from buying a new laptop though. I get a little nuts when it comes to my computer. That's where I may go a little overboard.

[Spongebob]

Another what do you prefer thread. When you purchase something do you more often pick economy or luxury? Function or flash? Somewhere in the middle?

Our washer recently crapped out and we needed to but a new one. The last one my wife selected, top of the line. Must have had 50 different types of wash cycles that could have been programmed in. How many variations did we use, 8 tops. And we hated it, was not kind to the material and never really spun effectively causing us to use extra dryer time.

I picked out this washer, has a dozen cycle variations, was middle of the road on price and my wife loves it. I'm shocked.

So I guess I'm a somewhere in the middle person leaning toward essentials, economy and function. I tend to purchase vehicles this way also. I almost dread the next vehicle purchase.

Most of the time I'm with you, just the basics, please.  But sometimes I'm surprised.  We had to replace our AC and it came with a new thermostat.  This one has a 6 inch touch screen, connects to our wifi, downloads the weather, displays the indoor temp in large font and I can access it from anywhere with an app.  I'm pretty much loving it even though I haven't touched it twice since it was installed.  Call me a geek.

Also, I really enjoy renting cars because I get a lot of whistles and bells that my car doesn't have, even though I'm just renting boring midsized cars.

[Angrboda]

It depends upon what it is. In general, I have three guidelines. Don't skimp. Buying quality pays for itself. And good enough is good enough.

I spent many years doing the change something, test / change-something, test cycle over and over again with computers, so now I buy as much quality as I can afford and don't skimp.

With food, I'm not picky eater and have a poor sense of smell / taste, so generics and less expensive brands are fine with me.

With alcohol, I find it's better to buy one expensive bottle that I'll be happy with than three cheap bottles which will only partially satisfy.

I just bought a bed, and while I've looked longingly at beds in the $1,000-1,500 range, compared to the crap I've been sleeping on for 20 years, I think a $500 bed will be sufficient. I may regret that.

In general, I'm not a bells and whistles person. Quality and function are my keywords.

[Ahriman]

Another what do you prefer thread. When you purchase something do you more often pick economy or luxury? Function or flash? Somewhere in the middle?

Our washer recently crapped out and we needed to but a new one. The last one my wife selected, top of the line. Must have had 50 different types of wash cycles that could have been programmed in. How many variations did we use, 8 tops. And we hated it, was not kind to the material and never really spun effectively causing us to use extra dryer time.

I picked out this washer, has a dozen cycle variations, was middle of the road on price and my wife loves it. I'm shocked.

So I guess I'm a somewhere in the middle person leaning toward essentials, economy and function. I tend to purchase vehicles this way also. I almost dread the next vehicle purchase.

Most of the time I'm with you, just the basics, please.  But sometimes I'm surprised.  We had to replace our AC and it came with a new thermostat.  This one has a 6 inch touch screen, connects to our wifi, downloads the weather, displays the indoor temp in large font and I can access it from anywhere with an app.  I'm pretty much loving it even though I haven't touched it twice since it was installed.  Call me a geek.

Also, I really enjoy renting cars because I get a lot of whistles and bells that my car doesn't have, even though I'm just renting boring midsized cars.

I used to work at a rental car place, and driving around all the fancy cars was a lot of fun.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Kinda like ‘Boda - it depends on what I’m buying. I’m reasonably handy, so the occasional breakdown of an appliance doesn’t trouble me that much (I don’t buy Cheapo Deluxe, but I can’t see spending $1000 on a dryer, either).

Food has to be top quality, no exception.

Clothes - I could not care less (except shoes - gotta have good shoes).

Electronics - I have no idea what I’m buying, so I probably spend more than I need to.

Tools - see ‘food’, above.

And so on. All over the map, really.

Boru

[Ranjr]

Don't skimp on whisky or toilet paper.

[onlinebiker]

"Extra Features" are more often than not some design engineer's justification for his existance.

A flashlight that blinks is annoying. A flashlight that flashes SOS is just stupid.

A shop worklight that flashes is a justification for murdering design engineers.

On/off- that's all the button needs to do.


Flashy assholes.

[HappySkeptic]

I prefer having a small amount of things that are the best.

[Fireball]

I prefer simple, mostly because all the fancy stuff eventually breaks and is expensive to fix. I bought a Kia Forte new in 2016, and it has way more bells and whistles than I wanted, but the supply of them looked pretty much alike. I did pony up for the 10k miles/10 year extended warranty. Felt stupid doing it on my previous new vehicle, a 2005 Corolla. It ended up getting about $6k of warranty work, the major one being an automatic transmission one day before the extended warranty was up. $3500. I don't need power door locks or windows, or a remote entry fob, for example. I have two keys, and when the battery dies in one, I will use the other until it dies. Then they will just be "dumb" keys. Too cheap to even put in a new battery!   Fortunately my wife doesn't care about dented appliances. We bought a brand new dryer that was returned because the delivery people dented it- in the back. Can't see the back; got it for a song.

Tools- top of the line as required. I have a large collection of wood carving tools, mostly made by Pfeil, pretty much the best in terms of quality. Only going to buy them once. Cheap tools (wrenches, etc.) break and bend more than good ones. If you buy cheap stuff and then replace it with the good stuff after it breaks, that's wasted money, right there.