Cheaper Isn’t Always Better

For the most part I’m a thrifty shopper when it comes to groceries and home goods. I don’t buy generic all the time, but when I know it’s the exact same product I’ll choose the cheaper route. I figure that by saving money and cutting corners on some items, I can justify spending larger amounts on things that work well and deliver what they promise.

I’ve noticed over the past few weeks that by cutting corners I’ve ended up with a distinct lack of quality. For example I bought Breck’s toilet wipes for kids (at the Dollar Tree) instead of my usual Kandoo flushable wipes purchase ($3). The first time our son used one and ended up with you-know-what all up his arm I threw them away. One look at the actual wipe indicated the size was considerably smaller and see-through.

After some searching, I found that Breck’s is made by Greenbrier International and that company does not have a website you can contact them through. In other words, if you buy their stuff for a dollar you can’t register a complaint.

Speaking of bathroom products, I had a coupon and brought home Scott toilet paper for the first time. Our usual brand is Charmin, but the lower price of Scott caught my eye. Toilet paper is toilet paper - right? Wrong! In college I would bring my own toilet paper to the dorm because what they provided wasn’t worth a crap (literally!). I always wondered what brand it was and now I know it had to be Scott.

Imagine, if you will, trying to wipe with a piece of wax paper. Scott’s tissue provided that exact smoothness that absorbed nothing. Lessons learned in the bathroom…

Another item that provided this lesson was Glass Plus window cleaner. It was cheaper, but definitely not better than my usual product, Windex. After spraying it on the windows you expect a paper towel to clean up the wetness, only Glass Plus wouldn’t dry no matter how much I wiped. I probably made up for the cheap price by wasting paper towels with this product.

The real kicker was finding out that both Glass Plus and Windex are made by the same company, Johnson Diversey.

We all have those things we splurge on for one reason or another, however, you now have three good examples of why to avoid those cheaper products.