The advice from you seems to be “spend the least you can on everything.” I have tried that, and it sometimes results in misery. When the cheapest room available comes with a creepy roommate who spies on you. On the cheapest car available breaks down frequently and requires a lot of repairs (and therefore is not actually the cheapest car). But I do believe in trying out the cheapest option to see if it works for you and then slowly moving up to more expensive options until you find one that works for you. A lot of products I buy are generic, but the ones that are brand-name are products I have determined where that actually makes a difference to me. QED, the advice “spend the least money you absolutely can on everything” isn’t really groundbreaking or helpful for a lot of people.