COOKWARE
Other than the food itself, perhaps nothing is so important in cooking as the pots and pans and knives used. This is one area in which you get what you pay for. Cheap cookware will give you cheap results--quality cookware will give you quality results. Cheap cookware is actually more expensive than quality. A good set of cookware will last your whole life, a cheap set a couple of years. So in the long run, both for cooking and for expense, it is far better to invest in quality.
Pots and Pans
Knives