Sound familiar?
You bought the good one, and it still broke
- The coffee maker died a month after the warranty ran out.
- The repairman said the circuit board costs more than a new machine.
- Your mother’s mixer still runs. The one you bought a few years ago doesn’t.
- Every list online names different brands, and you can’t tell who’s being paid.
- You keep the old one going because you’re afraid the new one won’t last.
It isn’t your fault. The way things are made changed, and nobody told you what changed or what to buy instead.
What you were told, and what works instead
Spend more and it will last.
Price often buys the name. A famous 10-inch tri-ply skillet was $150; the plain one I’d sell you, $29 to $46. p. 83
The famous brand is the safe pick.
Names get bought and sold. I show you who owns whom, the year where I could read it, and where I read it. p. 70
Newer is better.
A touch pad or a screen means a circuit board. I show you the plain one with a dial or one switch, still made. p. 37
When it breaks, just replace it.
Some are worth fixing. If the quote is under half the keeper’s fair price, I say take it to the shop. p. 147
Used is a gamble.
Some of the best keepers are secondhand. I tell you what to check, and what never to buy used. p. 131
What the name costs
Two skillets and a knife, bought two ways
Buy the famous name
- All-Clad HA1 nonstick fry pan, 10-inch$80
- Wüsthof Classic 8-inch chef’s knife$170
- All-Clad D3 stainless fry pan, 10-inch$150
Buy the keeper in my book
- The Restaurant Nonstick Skillet, 10-inch$11 to $46
- The Eight-Inch Chef’s Knife, Victorinox Fibrox$62 to $67
- The Tri-Ply Stainless Skillet, 10-inch$29 to $46
You keep at least
$241, once
That’s three things from one aisle of the book. The whole book is $27, once.
Both columns are store prices I read in October 2026, before tax, from the table on page 83. Prices change. What the famous name buys, like a lifetime warranty, is on the maker’s own page, and whether it’s worth the difference is your call.
Look inside
See the pages before you trust the list
Swipe to see all 4 pages →
What’s inside Too Poor to Buy Cheap
Too Poor to Buy Cheap gives you the 65 kitchen keepers I’d still sell you, each with its warranty, its parts, its circuit board and a fair price.
| # | Aisle | Page |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Start Here: The 10-Minute Kitchen Check. Know in ten minutes which old things to keep using and which are done, and leave with a one-page plan. | 13 |
| 2 | When Mother’s Finally Dies. Find the closest thing still made to your mother’s mixer, toaster, percolator and pans, nine at a glance. | 17 |
| 3 | The Plain One Wins. Buy without screens, apps or subscriptions: the plain ones with a dial or one switch, still made. | 37 |
| 4 | What Came Back. Spot the part that fails first, in the store, in two minutes, with the Counter Test. | 54 |
| 5 | Who Owns Whom. Know which famous names share an owner, and the year each joined, before you pay. | 69 |
| 6 | Paying for a Name. See what a famous name costs beside the plain keeper, both priced at named stores. | 82 |
| 7 | The Keepers, Shelf by Shelf. Fill the everyday shelves, knives to colanders, each keeper with its tells and a fair price. | 92 |
| 8 | Make the Store Keep Its Promise. Get the store to keep its warranty: what to keep, what to say, when to write the maker. | 125 |
| 9 | Good Used. Buy the good used ones at the flea market and walk past the ones that won’t last. | 130 |
| 10 | Can It Be Fixed?. Know which small appliances are worth fixing and how to find the person who fixes them. | 146 |
| 11 | Lighter in the Hand. Find pans and tools that last and are light enough for sore wrists. | 157 |
| 12 | Peggy’s Counter Cards. Take the pocket card to the store and keep your receipts and warranties in one place. | 170 |
A few things you’ll find out
- The three checks I made at the counter before I’d sell anything, two minutes in allp. 55
- The closest thing still made to your mother’s mixer, toaster and percolatorp. 18
- Which famous kitchen names share one owner, and the year each one joinedp. 70
- The drip coffee maker with one switch, a 5-year warranty and its parts still soldp. 29
- What to check on a flea-market mixer before you pay for itp. 132
- The four sentences to say at the counter when a store won’t honour a warrantyp. 127
- Lighter pans that last, for wrists that can’t lift cast iron anymorep. 157
At the back: a quick reference, the Buy-Once Plan sheet to fill in, and an index by what the thing is. Every price names its store and the month I read it. No brand paid to be in this book.
Who says so
Forty years behind the returns desk
I was eighteen when the store on Main Street put me on the housewares floor, in 1970. In a store that size, the housewares clerk also took the returns. So for forty years I sold the mixers, toasters and coffee makers, and I was the one you brought them back to.
A sales sheet tells you what a thing is supposed to do. The returns desk tells you what it does. I learned which parts give out first. I learned that a thing with ten buttons has ten more ways to come back than a thing with one switch.
My mother used to say we were too poor to buy cheap. She was right. Buying the same thing twice costs more than buying the plain one once, and the plain one isn’t always the dear one.
My granddaughter Hannah just set up her first kitchen, and we’ve been choosing her pans together. This book is what I’d tell her, and what I’d tell you across the counter. I didn’t test anything in a lab. I tell you what I sold, what came back, and what the maker’s papers say today.
Peggy Pruitt
Is this book for you?
It’s for you if
- You’re tired of replacing the same kitchen things every few years.
- You want the modern thing closest to the one your mother had.
- You’d rather have plain and reliable than smart and fragile.
- You like a good secondhand find and want to know what to check.
- You want a short list you can take to the store.
It’s not for you if
- You want the newest gadget with the most features.
- You’re shopping for refrigerators, washers or ranges; this book is the countertop and the cupboard.
- You want lab test scores; I tell you what I sold and saw, and what the makers’ own papers say.
What still needs a professional
Rewiring, anything that plugs in and needs opening, and anything that runs on gas go to a repair shop or a licensed technician. Warranty disputes that go nowhere go to your state’s consumer protection office.
What this book won’t do
It won’t tell you a thing will last some number of years, and it won’t tell you a material is dangerous or safe for your health. For that, read the maker’s papers and ask your doctor.
Get Too Poor to Buy Cheap
Too Poor to Buy Cheap
- All 65 keepers, each with its warranty, parts, circuit board and a fair price, so you know before you pay
- Start Here: the 10-minute kitchen check and the one-page Buy-Once Plan, so you know what to keep and what to replace first
- The Mother’s Match chart: the closest thing still made to nine classics, all on one page
- The Counter Test: three checks in two minutes, so the new one doesn’t die just after the warranty
- The brand family tree, so you know who owns a name before you trust it
- What to say at the counter and when to write the maker, so the store keeps its promise
- Six counter cards to print and use with a pencil: the pocket card, the receipt log, the secondhand checklist and more
- PDF and EPUB, to read on a phone, tablet or computer, or print at home
Secure checkout. One payment, no subscription. You keep the book even if you ask for your money back.
Right after you pay, the download page opens and the link comes by email too. Start with the kitchen check on page 14: ten minutes with a pencil, and you’ll know what to keep.
The Returns Desk Promise
I ran a returns desk for forty years, so here’s my own. If the book isn’t for you, write to me within 30 days and you’ll get every cent back. No questions, no box needed, and you keep the book.
Questions people ask me
Is this for big appliances like refrigerators and washers?
No. This book is the countertop and the cupboard: mixers, toasters, coffee makers, pans, bakeware, knives and small appliances.
Did a brand pay to be in it?
No brand paid for anything. Every brand fact has its source and the date I read it, and every price names its store.
Did you test these?
No. I sold them for forty years and saw what came back. Where I say why something lasts, I give the fact behind it and where I read it.
I’m not good with computers. Can I print it?
Yes. It comes as a PDF you can print at home on ordinary paper, and the cards are made to use with a pencil.
What if a brand changes after I buy the book?
Names do get sold. I give you the checks to do in the store and on the box, so you can see a change for yourself.
Will it help with secondhand finds?
Yes. There’s a whole aisle on what to buy used, what never to, and what to check before you pay.
Why is there a clock on the price?
The launch price of $27 holds for 30 minutes from your first visit. When the clock runs out, the book is $37. The clock is real.
Buy it once, and buy the keeper
Next time something in your kitchen dies, you’ll know which of the 65 keepers to buy, and you’ll know it before you’re standing in the store.
I sold it, and I saw what came back. Peggy
P.S. P.S. 65 kitchen keepers that still last, for $27, with the 30-day Returns Desk Promise. If you only read one page tonight, make it the Mother’s Match chart on page 18.