My method is more like the following, which I believe is the better way to go:
1. Do research to understand your options
2. Purchase a mid-grade but not garbage quality version of whatever tool you need.
3. If you find out you use it often or that it has any annoying shortcomings, go back and buy the highest quality version you can afford and gift the mid-grade one to a friend who might need an upgrade from their average/low quality option from the box store.
This is how I ended up with a lot of Tekton hand tools and after I got more serious about racing cars and doing work on cars I upgraded to Hazet, Wiha, Wera, Nepros, Mitutoyo, Engineer, and Asahi tools. But at no point did I just go to Harbor Freight and fill up my trunk with random quality junk made in China ready for the landfill. I was then able to pass on the Tekton stuff to friends in need as I replaced it with higher end German/Japanese made tools and it's still more than capable of getting the job done even if it's not the utmost design in terms of speed or ergonomics for doing that particular work. All of the mid-grade stuff I've owned along the way has been reliable enough to last until I gifted it onward, or to stay in use up until now (and beyond).
There's WAY WAY WAY too much disposable quality drek on the market at bottom barrel scraping prices that people buy and then just throw away and buy another cheap one, thinking that the lifespan of a pan should be 2 years, that you should just buy a new set of cheap knives when the old ones don't cut well anymore, or that it's normal for an adjustable wrench or ratchet to eventually have the gears strip their teeth out.
I'm fortunate to be able to afford to buy twice and I'm nice enough to pass along my tools to others, but if you can learn anything from me, it's that it's worth not buying the absolute bottom barrel stuff in the first place. It's all garbage and in so many little ways adds to cognitive load and stress in your life, especially when trying to do hobbies you're supposed to enjoy, and it's just not worth it. It's actively bad for your life and it's catastrophically bad for the environment. If you can, buy it once and buy it for life. If you can't, buy it twice, and make sure the first option was at least good enough you could pass it along instead of throwing it away.
1. Do research to understand your options
2. Purchase a mid-grade but not garbage quality version of whatever tool you need.
3. If you find out you use it often or that it has any annoying shortcomings, go back and buy the highest quality version you can afford and gift the mid-grade one to a friend who might need an upgrade from their average/low quality option from the box store.
This is how I ended up with a lot of Tekton hand tools and after I got more serious about racing cars and doing work on cars I upgraded to Hazet, Wiha, Wera, Nepros, Mitutoyo, Engineer, and Asahi tools. But at no point did I just go to Harbor Freight and fill up my trunk with random quality junk made in China ready for the landfill. I was then able to pass on the Tekton stuff to friends in need as I replaced it with higher end German/Japanese made tools and it's still more than capable of getting the job done even if it's not the utmost design in terms of speed or ergonomics for doing that particular work. All of the mid-grade stuff I've owned along the way has been reliable enough to last until I gifted it onward, or to stay in use up until now (and beyond).
There's WAY WAY WAY too much disposable quality drek on the market at bottom barrel scraping prices that people buy and then just throw away and buy another cheap one, thinking that the lifespan of a pan should be 2 years, that you should just buy a new set of cheap knives when the old ones don't cut well anymore, or that it's normal for an adjustable wrench or ratchet to eventually have the gears strip their teeth out.
I'm fortunate to be able to afford to buy twice and I'm nice enough to pass along my tools to others, but if you can learn anything from me, it's that it's worth not buying the absolute bottom barrel stuff in the first place. It's all garbage and in so many little ways adds to cognitive load and stress in your life, especially when trying to do hobbies you're supposed to enjoy, and it's just not worth it. It's actively bad for your life and it's catastrophically bad for the environment. If you can, buy it once and buy it for life. If you can't, buy it twice, and make sure the first option was at least good enough you could pass it along instead of throwing it away.