10 Items That You Absolutely Should Never Cheap Out On

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You want to skip the buy-one-get-one offers when it comes to certain items.

Pinching pennies could come back to bite you or even kill you if your inner miser manifests on the wrong store aisle.

So while “parachute” and “personal security service” aren’t on this list, that’s only because they’re too niche. Those are precisely the sort of answers we’re looking for as we identify items you should never cheap out on.

1. Pets

There’s a reason why the puppy is half-off. It could simply be an owner desperate to rid themselves of an unexpected litter. Or, it could be heartworms, a vicious temperament, or a host of other red flags accounting for the price drop.

You don’t have to spend your life savings on pure-bred Cane Corso, but you don’t want to check Sort by Price: Low to High when shopping for your best friend. If it’s worth owning for 9-12 years, it’s worth spending the extra couple hundred for. You’ll save in veterinary bills, anyway.

2. A Lawyer

There’s a reason the public defender is free, and the elite corporate law firms charge more than $1,000 per hour. You get what you pay for. So what do you want, to go to jail or go free?

If you like your freedom (or value whatever else is leading you to hire a lawyer), do what you must to pay Johnny Cochrane’s fee. You can’t put a price tag on sound legal advice. Well, you can, but you get the point.

3. Power Tools

High-quality power tools will potentially last you a lifetime (more than making up for their premium price), and you’ll also avoid the potentially dire consequences of a power tool malfunctioning.

Of course, if there’s one item you really can’t afford to malfunction, it’s a power saw or nail gun for obvious reasons.

4. Fire Extinguisher

Always pay your dues to the local fire department, keep the batteries in the smoke detector fresh, and don’t buy the foreign-made fire extinguisher that’s half the price.

Rules to live by, or rules to—let’s not go there.

5. A Doctor

If you can afford a higher-quality insurance plan that allows you to see a better doctor, pay for it. If you can afford a concierge doctor, pay for it.

If you’ve ever been rushed in and out of the doctor’s office and spit back into the packed waiting room you just waited an hour in, you know that the price of personalized, attentive medical care is worth the steep price.

6. Dental Work

If you’re going to have any kind of oral surgery, pay for a good dentist.

You’ll save yourself pain (nothing worse than Dr. McClumsydrill) and potentially a crooked smile if you spend a bit more on your dental work.

7. Tattoos

Don’t just pay the tattoo artist what they deserve. Do your homework, look at the artist’s portfolio, and be willing to say “no thanks.”

This way, you’ll avoid becoming the guy with a “No Ragrets” tattoo on their bicep. Don’t be the lady with a mural of their grandmother that looks like a mural of their grandfather on her pec. Pay top dollar for your tattoo artist.

8. A Bed

You’ll find that most resources say a mattress should last seven years at a minimum. That’s 8 hours a night (ideally) on a mattress, 365 days per year, for seven years (minimum). As far as we can tell, that’s 20,440 hours spent on the mattress.

And you’re considering buying an el-cheapo mattress to save $200? Makes sense.

9. Tires

You’d think people would know better than to purchase discount tires, yet the discount (and even secondhand) tire market continues to thrive.

And we wonder why car accidents remain a prolific claimer of lives.

10. Plastic Surgery

How could the Kardashians look like they do and Farrah Abraham look like she does?

Money makes all the difference.

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This thread inspired this post.