I'm a big fan of the Harbor Freight Pareto Principle

If you're a hobbyist or doing something at home, a lot of the times you're gonna buy some random tool and only use it a few times. 80% of the time, the Harbor Freight knockoff is going to be good enough. If you use a tool so much that it breaks, then it's time to spring for the expensive and high quality version.

However you may want to go straight to the nice version for things that have safety implications (skip the infamous Harbor Freight jack stands)