W is for Worth It
There are some products that are extra money or extra effort, but they are worth it to me. Today’s quick post is about a few of them.
Eggs – I am very picky about my eggs. I like a dark orange yolk with a rich taste. I started buying pasture raised eggs because I felt bad for the chickens, not having room to run around and be in the sunshine, and then I found I much preferred the taste too. Pasture raised eggs come from chickens that have a more varied diet, and live a better life (I think), than chickens kept in cages. My brand of choice is Vital Farms, and I pay extra for them. I can get them for as little as $7.99 a dozen on sale, but usually they are closer to $10.00.
Orange Juice – I’m not sure when I started getting picky about OJ. I used to drink the frozen from a can and that was fine, and then I would get Minute Maid, and that was fine. Then I tried OJ that was not from concentrate, and I found the flavor to be much brighter and refreshing. My favorite is Evolution Fresh. Recently I bought another brand of fresh, not from concentrate, OJ, and it just wasn’t the same. I’m ashamed to say that I dumped it out once I had my trusty Evolution. Wasteful. I tried to give it to a neighbor or two, but one was going out of town and the other can’t have citrus, so that was that. I hate wasting food, but at least no animal (or even plant) had to die just to be dumped down the sink.
Peanut Butter – We’re not quite as strict on this one. Sometimes if I go to Costco, I will get their organic peanut butter, and it’s fine. What I’m looking for is the best peanut taste, with no added sugar or stabilizers, and very little salt. Our favorite brand is Santa Cruz Organic, which is spendy, but sometimes you can get it on sale, and when we can, I definitely buy it. (So now I have a conundrum – the website I linked had this PB for about $2.00 less than the local grocery stores. Do I buy it online? Do I buy $60 worth at a time to avoid shipping charges? Hmmm. I will give this some thought.)
These items are not expensive per se, they just take some effort.
Tea – The tea is not the same as what I find at my regular grocery store, so I need to go downtown to an Indian grocery to pick it up. I think it is imported, perhaps from India. Tetley has tea that is grown in Georgia, and this is NOT that. I LOVE THIS TEA. It’s just black tea, I’m not sure what it is about it that I love so much, but I do. When we travel, I bring a big baggie full. When I went to France last year, I ran out, and had to buy some tea there. I ended up getting Tetley English Breakfast Tea, which was OK, but not the same at all.
Raw Toast – The bread is from a small local chain, Boudin bakery, which is known for their sourdough (the original store/restaurant being on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco). This bread not sourdough, and is a little thick for sandwiches, but I love it for toast. Toast with cream cheese and raspberry jam, toast with peanut butter and fresh berries, avocado toast with lemon pepper. All are lovely with this bread. It’s a multigrain, though I do love a local sourdough for toast as well. I’m the only one who eats the Boudin bread, so I keep it in the freezer.
Hot Cereal – The Alaska Flour Company Cream of Barley cereal is something that was available on the train ride from Fairbanks to Anchorage when we were in Alaska this summer. I didn’t have it, but some of our party did and they really liked it. I thought it would be easy enough to get at home, but I was wrong. Apparently they sell it in Alaska, and that’s it. I went ahead and splurged and ordered some for myself, online. It wasn’t expensive, but shipping was. Know what? I like it! The ingredient list is “Barley”, and I like that. It’s quick and easy, and a nice variation from oatmeal.
The good news is that I found another way to buy it, which is through a company called Azure, and they are sort of a neighborhood co-op, but without a storefront. So I ordered online, and then instead of having it delivered to me (which was an option, just means I would have paid for shipping), they deliver a neighborhood’s worth of items on a truck to a local parking lot, and you meet them at a designated time to pick up your items. I liked the idea of fewer trucks on the road by not having it delivered to my house (that doesn’t mean I don’t have things delivered to my house all the time, sadly enough), so I decided to give it a try. You know what? It was really easy! I like the concept a lot. I saw people picking up canned tomatoes and potting soil and flats of apples and juices and all kinds of things. Now that I know how easy it is, I’m going to look through their catalog and see what else they may have. They come once a month, and for free delivery, you have to buy at least $50 worth of stuff. So I now have enough Cream of Barley to last me until Spring.
Candles – Another thing I like is my Lucid candles. This time of year we like to have candles burning, and these are filled with lamp oil, so you don’t have to replace them all the time. They were kind of expensive, but when you think that they will last forever (hyperbole I know, but they’re pretty well made) and save me the effort and expense of buying new candles, they save me money in the long run. They’ll sell you lamp oil, but you can buy it at the hardware store for less. If you’re interested, they have sales pretty often, including for Black Friday. Other items in this picture: A large vase I inherited from my Great Aunt, Maya’s graduation picture from college, candles, clock, wedding photos, bird shaped gourds that will be on their way out pretty soon, and a lovely portrait that Maya painted in art class. I’m not sure if the items on the mantle are off center, or if it’s the picture on the wall. Time will tell after we decorate for Christmas.
What are your worth-it items? Things you are willing to spend extra on, either money or effort?
26 Comments
Elisabeth
Hmmm. I like E.D. Smith Cherry Pie Filling for my cheesecakes; no other brand tastes right, even if they are the most expensive.
For peanut butter, we are a Kraft family (and my sister, from the US, always stocks up on Kraft PB/ ditto my brother who now lives in Denmark – it really is the best PB).
Aside from that, I’m not overly picky. Some store brands I prefer over the name brands! But I also feel like where I live in quasi-rural Canada we don’t have a huge selection anyway.
J
I’m with you on the store brands, I love when they are as good or better than the expensive name brand. Or even not as good if it’s something I don’t care about. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kraft peanut butter. I guess since your family stocks up, it must be a Canadian thing. I like when the only ingredients are peanuts, and maybe a bit of salt.
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
My best financial advice is to save money on boring things and to splurge on the things that bring you pleasure! I can’t put my finger on any specific thing that we like that costs a lot more than an alternative, but we have our things. I adore the French Roast coffee at Trader Joe’s, and it’s cheap, but the time and effort to go to TJs plus all of the other goodies that I seem to buy while I’m there make it less cheap. My husband and is family are all die hard Tetley fiends – just regular Tetley – and when we went to Chicago last month everyone regretted not bringing their own tea instead of drinking the hotel’s tea. We only get one life, so live it!
J
I forgot my Tetley when I went to Portland a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully I was only there for a couple of days. I will have to try the Trader Joe’s French Roast. My husband is a big fan of the French Roast. I have been meaning to try their almond butter.
Suzanne
This was so fun to read. I love the idea of a delivery co-op. What a smart way to help people save on shipping and to reduce the number of trucks on the road.
My favorite tea is from Tea Squared, which is in Canada and is quite expensive. But I haven’t found anything I like nearly as much so once in a while I will splurge and get a bunch of it.
Kerrygold butter is our favorite “good” butter, and it’s spendier than the regular butter. But we can still buy it at Costco, so that’s good.
J
I haven’t heard of Tea Squared! Now I’m curious.
nance
The barley cereal looks wonderful. And Maya’s painting is lovely.
I buy the Dave’s Killer Organic bread, wide pan size, 21 Seed variety. I, too, am the only one who eats it.
Rick and I stock up our wine cellar with wine when we go to NotL, Canada. Even with the currency conversion, we spend about 50-60 dollars per bottle, average. It’s worth it to us. We know the winemaker, we know how it’s made, and we love the wine. That’s our splurge. Life is too short to drink mediocre wine.
J
I’m with you on the wine! I rarely spend $50 or $60 a bottle, but when it makes you that happy and it’s the whole experience (going to Canada, seeing your friends, etc.) it’s worth it. I do really like the cream of barley cereal. It’s tasty!
Margaret
My must haves are Equal Exchange Mind Body and Soul coffee and Monin’s Dark Chocolate Sauce for my mochas. I’ve tried a variety of coffees and chocolates and not found anything to match them. Unfortunately, I can only get them from the Evil Empire. (unless I want to pay substantially more plus shipping)
J
I haven’t heard of either of these items. It is nice to have our ‘must haves’ though, isn’t it?
Jenny
I’m pretty picky about my peanut butter- I don’t like extra oils or sugar in there. And I prefer it to be organic. Luckily our grovery store brand has one that fits my criteria. And I also love the Trader Joes brand. Oh, and it ALSO has to be salted and crunchy. I guess I’m REALLY picky about my peanut butter.
I love the Starbucks earl grey tea and am always looking for one that I like for home. I wonder if Tetley makes an earl grey? I’m going to check! Oh, I’ve tried that tea Suzanne is talking about- it is good, but it’s shipped from Canada, so… I’m still looking around.
J
Everyone seems to love the Trader Joe’s PB! Interesting. We agree, we don’t like all of the extras in our Peanut Butter. Though we are mainly a creamy family.
Coco
I love this post! I am cheap on many things but few that would pay extra cost to get the one I like:
– eggs
– milk lab almond milk, perfect for my morning capuchino after trying dozen of brands
– pumpkin kabocha if I can find
– coffee . Used to like nespresso capsules but changing it to a local brand recommended by my a coffee snob
– workout cloth. I use them so much that I’m willing to pay extra like lululemon as they really last for a long time despite daily wash.
J
I love that you are picky about eggs, like me!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
I totally get it that it is worth spending some more on quality items and food. I always buy organic eggs. But man they are getting expensive here. Though, when reading your egg prices I am shutting up quickly.
I also found some really amazing nut butter last year. I am waiting for their black frriday sale to snatch up some because it is very expensive. But what isnt expensive anymore.
J
You’re right, goodness, everything is so expensive these days.
Rachel
Your worth it items are definitely worth it!! Especially eggs – I love good eggs. We buy peanut butter in 2.2 lb buckets, we get the kind that are just peanuts and maybe some salt. I don’t like sugar or weird oils added. For us we also spend more on meat. I love the truck delivery idea too! Sometimes specialty products are really hard to find and I also hate paying for shipping.
J
Rachel, yes, we go to a local store that has really good quality meat, and we buy there mostly. We save our cheaper spending for other things that we don’t care about as much. I guess we are food snobs.
Nicole MacPherson
I spend extra money on protein powder from the UK. I have tried so many protein powders, but this one is absolutely delicious.
I recently started wearing jeans from Mott and Bow which are expensive, plus US exchange rate, plus shipping! But jeans that feel like this are worth every penny.
I also have been taking Nutrafol which, again, I’m working with exchange rate and international shipping – BUT WORTH IT.
J
Oh goodness, I’ve never heard of Mott and Bow, but now I need to find out if they exist around here. Some things are worth the extra money AND effort, right?
Ernie
The co-op that delivers sounds so cool. I do not usually drink tea but if I do I only like Irish Breakfast Tea. Is that the name of the brand? I am not even sure, but it’s what I drank the year I lived in Ireland. *I’m laying in bed this morning getting caught up on blogs, so I am being lazy and not running to the kitchen to check.
Did Maya paint the portrait of a woman in the blue headscarf hanging over your mantle? It is stunning. Wow. Is art what she does as a profession?
J
Ernie, I think Irish Breakfast tea is a type, not a brand. I’ve seen it in the stores. 🙂
Yes, Maya painted that, for a class. We love it, but she will be the first to tell you that she got a B on that assignment. Crazy to me. No, she does not do anything with her art currently, I wish she did.
Melissa
I generally pay more for eggs from a regenerative farm, mainly because I want to support farmers trying to do things differently but hey also taste great. I also buy milk and other groceries either from on online shop that delivers all the groceries including milk in returnable packaging that they get refilled or I take my own jars to the bulk store near me.
J
I love that Melissa!
San
Oh I love this post – some things are DEFINITELY worth spending more money on.
I think you’re so right about eggs. You can taste the difference for sure. But almost $10 is steep.
I don’t eat a lot of toast (most of it tastes like nothing), but I order organic dark rye flour (in 25lb bags) to bake my own bread and it’s expensive but worth it to me.
I like good coffee. TJs coffee is pretty good, but if I really want to splurge (which I don’t do ALL the time), I buy Stumptown or Temple Coffee which is like $16 for 12 oz.
I also will spend money on imported (German) meat products and (organic unsweet) soy milk.
J
So many real egg fans, that makes me feel validated. My husband really likes Peets, and says that the Peets he gets at the Peets store is better than the Peets at the grocery store. I don’t drink coffee so I know nothing about that, except my husband likes it a lot stronger than me.