Watercolor Academy Paint VS Professional Paint

The biggest mistake I made thus far with watercolor is spending 100's of dollars on worthless paint supply. I do have a job, but I don't make much, so when I do save up as much as I can, I do like to spend that money on my watercolor supplies. The problem though is knowing the right kind of paint to buy. I advise ANYONE looking to buy art supplies to speak to a professional first. So when I first started out in the fall before I spoke to anyone, I bought the student grade paint, about 5 colors ranging from $5- $10 each; not bad. Throughout the year I found out that the artist quality paint is so much better. It's more pigmented, better blending, it dries better, etc. And a very great trusted brand is Windsor Newton. So I go to the art store and buy a whole bunch of paint in the Windsor Newton brand each about $5. I come to find out that:

1. I can make most of the "extra" colors I bought using 2 or 3 of them. So that means I spent my money on unnecessary colors.
2. Just because it says Windsor Newton on it, that doesn't automatically make it artist grade paint. Now it makes sense why the smaller tubes (5 ml) were literally 2x the price of the bigger tubes (8 ml).

As you can see in the photo, the paint tube farthest to the left is a student grade paint (Academy) in the Grumbacher brand. The one in the middle is Windsor Newton but it's Cotman which is also student grade pain. The one fatherest to the right is also in the Windsor Newton brand but its the artist grade paint since it says professional on it. So I learned my lesson with that. I purchased some professional essential colors so far and let me tell you, there is a difference. Definitely worth the money difference.