What’s your top BIFL purchase, that might not in itself has been all to frugal, but long term, will be?
After having 5-6 different office chairs over the last 10 years, none of which I liked. I went and bought a Herman Miller Aeron chair. It’s ridiculously expensive, but I’m so pleased with it and hope to keep it for well over 15-20 years. If that actually succeed, I will have spent less money one chairs than if I hadn’t bought it.
What similar items (cheap or expensive) do you feel the same about?
Maybe not literally for life, but having family that's into the whole thrift store thing is pretty decent. Got a big honkin' cast iron skillet and a stainless pan for super cheap, easy to fix and they're likely to last a long damn time at least.
Quick note about cast iron, they are great on induction stoves, but if you have an induction stove and you want to get cast iron for it, before you buy the cast iron put it on a flat surface and see if it wobbles.
If the cast iron has a warp to it it will not be ideal for an induction stove and the only way to fix it is to Mill it out which costs more than buying a high quality piece of cast iron.
The last couple years, I’ve mostly switched over. After yet another over-priced set of non-stick “good” cookware started peeling, and now that I’m the one in control of the kitchen ….