Growing up poor I learned the hard way that cheaper is more expensive.

Say I needed to buy a tool that I expected to need regularly and my options were $20, $40, $60 or $100. When I was dirt broke and couldnt afford anything else I'd choose the 20 buck option which would soon break and wear out, so I'd replace it with another one and another one. Eventually I'll get tired of it breaking and get the upper mid range/lower upper range tool for $60 and be set but it cost me $120, more than if I'd picked the most expensive one right out of the gate.

It is expensive being poor. It became frustrating knowing I'd pay more but not being able to afford the upfront cost. These days I try to automatically pick the upper mid tier or lower top tier of all products and look for the best quality for cost, above that for most things you are getting significantly less gain in quality for the money.