> companies are extracting every ounce of value they can from budget offerings, usually by sacrificing quality to drive down cost

I grew up poor. Not like destitute or anything, we had food and all the necessary basics, but there were 3 of us sharing a 50m^2 apartment on a single income with a dad who wouldn’t pay child support. So it was kinda tight.

Now I’m sorta upper middle class in SFBA. There’s 2 of us sharing 1500sqft, each saving almost 2x/year than my parents salary was back when times were tough. The fear of no-money never quite leaves you.

Here’s what I learned: Buy the most expensive thing you can afford. Use that thing until it dies. Do regular maintenance.

Thought I was super clever when I figured that out, but it’s just the Vimes Economic Theory of Boots – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory

Also never try to keep up with the joneses or buy things just for status. Unless you can leverage that status into financial opportunities.