Major Chain Considering Free Parking and/or Free Drinks?

Part of the issue in the cheap/not so cheap debate is that a higher price or a name brand doesn't always assure better quality. Many "designer" clothes are made no better and last no longer than off the rack clothing at discount stores. I know of people who bought fancy coffee makers that cost nearly $200 dollars that broke within a few months. If you're going to spend $400-500 a year on coffee makers, you may as well run out for a cup every day.

I think if an item does a good job at what it was intended, and is of good quality, buy the least expensive version you can. There's no point to spend extra money for bells and whistles you don't need or will never use. But there are also times when you don't want to go cheap and you should fork out a few more dollars to make sure you're getting better quality.

The moral is, you pick and choose the times you should spend extra money. Cheap and inexpensive are not the same thing.

Yeah, basically what I was getting at on page 11. There are some things that you pay more for a name. But I can honestly say that the first time I paid for designer jeans (at a discount store, btw), they lasted longer than any other pair of noname jeans I got from a Dollar Store type of place. The quality was better, the fabric was better.

Again I'll bring up sunglasses. I recently read an article that showed how you can buy cheap sunglasses and they work just as well as expensive ones. I have about 15 + pairs of sunglasses I've purchased in the last year (sunglasses fetish comes from getting LASIK). I have probably 5 pairs of glasses I've paid more than $10 for, a pair of Oakley glasses, some Arnettes, a pair of Brooks Brothers, and some Body Glove sun glasses.

I paid for the name. I paid for the 'fashion'. My white Oakley and Polo knockoffs, that I often wear to parks, BTW, are just as good, and if I lose them on a ride, no harm, no foul.

RatherGoodBear said:
Cheap and inexpensive are not the same thing.

Exactly. And to a further extent value has little to do with price (or quality) alone.

Something that costs more can be a better value then something that costs less.

But I think we've sold out the 'value' aspect at the expense of cost. We (as a whole) would rather spend less on an inferior product than more on a superior one.

I suppose it's up for debate though.

Many "designer" clothes are made no better and last no longer than off the rack clothing at discount stores.

There's no point to spend extra money for bells and whistles you don't need or will never use.

But what if you're after designer clothes? Or want bells and whistles?

Life is much more than meeting simple utilitarian needs.

Lord Gonchar said:

But what if you're after designer clothes? Or want bells and whistles?

Life is much more than meeting simple utilitarian needs.

I'm not saying that every purchase has to be only for meeting utilitarian needs. (I don't think anyone would argue that paying admission to an amusement park is utilitarian.) There's plenty of choices in between buying designer clothing and shopping at the Dollar Store.

If designer clothes are what you want to buy, then by all means by them. But if you can get buy without the absolute best and most expensive coffee maker, pair of jeans, or TV, you'll have more money to spend on an upgrade of some other product. I know I can't afford to buy the best of everything, so I have to decide where I'm satisfied with good enough, or yes, even the simple utilitarian product, and where I want to spend more.

Maybe I should just give all my money away, say, to a charity.

I can remember going to Cedar Point, you know, Back In The Day: my mother had this thing about parking in the front row so we always got there at an ungodly hour. My brother and I would skedaddle to the entrance the minute we saw people starting to line up. We'd decide which coaster we were going to line up for first -- the park opened at 9, rides started up around 10, so we were deciding where we were going to go stand for an hour. After that, ride, ride, ride, stop by Fascination to ask Mom for some money, ride, ride, ride. And the end of the day had to be carefully considered, too, which ride to line up to squeeze out that one last ride?

Nowadays it's all about showing up late to avoid the opening throngs, catching a few favorites, having some fries...

I need to be there at opening because I want to ride the popular rides without waiting in a long line. Unless its a non Saturday in the fall or a weekday early in the season (at parks that are open on weekdays then) that means getting there at opening. My tolerance for more then a 30 minute wait for anything has much decreased in the past few years.