This is less like "well, I could get the $10 pants and have to replace them in a few months, or the $70 pants and have them last a decade" sort of cheap, and more the "well, I've been saving a mortgage down-payment for 15 years in the top 30% of individual wage earners, and this is the best built house I can afford" kind.

The options are either pay more for this one thing than literally any other possession you or anyone you know will ever own, or live in a tent or worse.

I feel like criticizing people for pragmatism in the face of (literally) existential threats is some kind of next-level privilege.