I stand by my statement. You might occasionally find classes of long term consumable goods where the literal cheapest is just too short lived to work or medium term consumable goods where the fancier options last longer by a big enough margin to be worth it (sawzall blades and dish soap are the only two I can think of). The majority of long term consumables get destroyed by a mishap long before it succumbs to wear and tear. Coats and pants get torn. Tools get broken from too much being asked of them in a pinch. Anything with an electric motor will live until you do something dumb that lets the smoke out. If you want to save money your default should be to cheap out. You will win some and lose some but the losses will be so, so, so rare as to be a rounding error. More often the problem is you buy something that is cheap junk and it refuses to die so you are left suffering though it forever.

I went through my fair share of Walmart black no slip shoes before moving into tech. I hope financial hardship is in your future as well as your past. Maybe you'll figure it out the second time around.