Shopping for Cookware

I knew it would happen sooner or later, I was hoping for a September time-frame. My wife was cooking a couple days ago and the handle came off while she was cleaning the sauce pan. Another sauce pan is now leaking at the handle and I suspect it's going to have the same fate.

Here's our choices:

1. One of our roommates has a set in their room they brought with them, we all use in the house (but I'd hate to damage their set).

2. Purchase a couple of cheap pieces to tide us over. Our current set we bought 3 years ago from IKEA.

3. Purchase an entire set with 10 year warranty. I'm looking at the Simply Calphalon Stainless 10-Piece Cookware Set for $139.99. They are the 18/10 stainless steel kind I've heard recommended, though they have the aluminum core versus copper.

4. Purchase a high-end set with a lifetime warranty. These normally are in the $300+ range, have the copper core instead.

For now I'm leaning toward a mix of #1 and #3. If I get paid for my work this weekend quickly, then I'd be looking at us purchasing #3 at the end of the week. If they're slow at paying, I'd be looking at #3 next month and we'll go with #1 until then.

One interesting item I did comparing the 10 year warranty and the lifetime warranty was saying "If I had $300 today, what would be the best purchase in the long run?". I took the difference between the two options ($160 on the low end), decided to put it toward something making or saving 6% (i.e. my mortgage) and figured out how much I would have after 10 years. For the Saving 6%, I came up with $96 after 10 years (and my original $160). For the investing at 6%, I came up $126.54 (and my original $160). At a higher investment rate (8%), I could buy another set every 10 years without touching the principal and having extra leftover ($45).