For me, it’s definitely a reusable silicone food storage bag. It’s like Tupperware but 100x more convenient. You can throw it in the freezer, microwave, or wash it with no fuss. It’s the small things that save so much time!
As a very petite female with muscles of a cat, I need help opening jars so I have a $5 grip tool that I use that can open jars. Even my boyfriend uses it for really hard to open jars.
It’s called Speed Stick! It’s not expensive! It’s called Speed Stick! It’s not expensive! It’s called Speed Stick! It’s not expensive! It’s called Speed Stick! It’s not expensive!
earbuds. they allow me to listen to what i want, when i want, and have a legit reason to ignore everyone who attempts to interact with me. indoors only cuz society.
Big packs of metal-free hair ties from the dollar store. One pack in purse, one in car, one in sports gear bag, one in bathroom, one in toolbox, one on table with keys by front door…never will my long hair be an obstacle again.
Baby wipes!! Good for post messy eating, quick spot cleaning, emergency stinky armpit cleaner, post sex, feeling fully clean after the bathroom. I keep them in my room, the bathroom and the car and they have saved me more times than I can count. It’s the one thing people always tell me “hey I started doing your trick! I can’t go back!”
A shovel. I keep one in my truck at all times, any time you have trouble with terrain or you need to raise or lower some dirt a shovel is invaluable. Ever try digging by hand? Also great for moving snow.
The long pick up tool that has teeth on the end I have used this thing to get stuff between seats in car. To get things from under sofa and fridge. On and on.
I work in healthcare so I used several apps for quick reference. If we are saying under $25 I like the FP notebook app. It’s not my favorite one (epocrates is better) but it makes my life so much easier being able to freshen up on things quickly or look up alternative treatments when patients claim they’re “allergic” to first, second, and third-line treatments 🙂
A load rated carabiner.
Carrying keys? Carabiner.
Grocery bags? Carabiner.
Makeshift knuckle duster? Carabiner.
Need to haul something? Carabiner.
(Obviously not more than load rating, but yeah)
I hike solo in a wheelchair a lot, and the number of use cases I’ve found is shockingly high.
You can get a pretty decent pocket knife under $25. I end up primarily using mine for cutting open boxes but there are so many uses. Cleaning your nails, cutting a string that you can’t untie, prying something out of a crack, popping open a beer bottle… you never know when it might be handy.
This is so dumb, but I bought a holder for clothes hangers. They’re usually used in stores but ours is in the closet. When you grab a shirt, you throw the hanger on the holder. Then, when I do laundry, I dump the clean clothes on the bed and can grab the pile of hangers really easily. It has made laundry so much easier.
Bought a big box of binder clips of different sizes at a thrift store, dumped a bunch into a container in a kitchen drawer. Now I always have clips at hand for chip bags, opened bread, vegetable bags when we don’t finish them, anything at all that needs closing.
I’m a former smoker, but I still always carry a bic lighter with a few feet of duct tape wrapped around it. It’s extremely handy for burning off loose thread, lighting things on fire of course, and getting into stuff like packaging etc. duct tape is known to have limitless uses, and having some on you all the time is more handy than you think.
I work outdoors and do a ton of camping so I probably have an exposure bias to seeing it as more useful than many, but I’d rather have it and not need it than the other way around.
Literally there’s a store that has everything to make your life easier and it’s called harbor freight. Almost half of everything I ever buy from harbor freight in a given year for under $25 gets used.
Nitrile gloves for cleaning/airbrushing with VOCs/automotive work fixing my car. Other style of gloves are good for lifting/yard work.
Magnetic pick up tool to grab bolts/sockets that fall in engine bay. Magnetic trays to hold bolts I remove and organize.
Every flashlight known to man. I EDC a quantum that has more throw and brightness than my phone. Useful for random things. Having a magnetic bottom flashlight is useful in a vehicle hood.
Loupes for identifying fakes on MTG cards.
Cheap hammers in various types, nails, random washers, bolts of various sizes, o-ring kits, electric screwdrivers, cheap bits
Rechargeable automatic soap dispenser. I hate how when my hands are dirty (from cleaning or gardening) I need to rinse my hands first before I pump for soap, it gets water everywhere. Or needing more dish soap but your hands are soapy so you have to rinse again. Now I don’t get water everywhere, so much cleaner plus I get back that lost time trying to clean up the mess.
Those little color coded plastic key covers. Ignore the color coding part — just get ONE, and put it on the key you’re most often fumbling for in the dark, so you can identify it by touch.
Mine was 25 cents. Most cost effective item on this thread.
Honorable mentions:
$14.99 comfortable can opener.
$6.99 extension cord with a big push button for my bedside lamps.
Extra set of cheap measuring cups from the dollar store. Permanent cups living in my flour, cornmeal, sugar containers.
Smart electric plug, you can control it with your assistant be it Google, Amazon or Apple device. Turn off and on your devices such as lights, air conditioning, etc. You can buy a pack of them on Amazon for about $25 and make your life a whole bunch easier.
A portable meat digital thermometer. No more worrying about undercooking/overcooking meat. I can cook more confidently on more expensive meat purchases.
Lavender for my OCD and Anxiety, Reading app that reads university texts to me as my ADHD zones out and can’t focus and Green Tea, it always makes me feel happy.
I bought a portable travel bidet on Amazon for $25. I have a clean butt at home. I have a clean butt at hotels when I travel. I even have a clean butt if I have to use a public restroom. I use 4 squares of TP to dry while most of y’all wipe and wipe and wipe… it’s like you’re wiping a marker.
Get yourself your basic rice cooker. You don’t need a fancy one. (Unless someone wants to spring one for you.)
But it will save so much time and heartache on when you get hungry and you have no idea what to make. Cook up a bunch of rice. Roast or saute some veggies and sliced up sausage with your choice of herbs and olive oil. Pile the veggies and sausage on the rice. Season with some salt, pepper and a splash of extra virgin olive oil and bingo, you are good. You can even season the rice in the cooker. Add some turmeric, salt and pepper and saffron into the rice cooker along with the rice and you’ll end up with some unbelievably tasty rice. Add some grocery store/Costco roasted chicken and some roasted red onion chunks and you have another tasty meal.
Once you do this, you’ll start experimenting to see what other herbs and spices you can toss in to make your rice taste better. And what you can roast to go along with it. You’ll never be at a loss over what to cook next.
Comments
For me, it’s definitely a reusable silicone food storage bag. It’s like Tupperware but 100x more convenient. You can throw it in the freezer, microwave, or wash it with no fuss. It’s the small things that save so much time!
As a very petite female with muscles of a cat, I need help opening jars so I have a $5 grip tool that I use that can open jars. Even my boyfriend uses it for really hard to open jars.
It’s called Speed Stick! It’s not expensive!
It’s called Speed Stick! It’s not expensive!
It’s called Speed Stick! It’s not expensive!
It’s called Speed Stick! It’s not expensive!
just buy a whole stack of double or triple A batteries already and throw them in the drawer so they are all there ready for the year.
Electric toothbrush, oral heigine is important.
Suction cup base two armed plastic bag holder. Makes putting away leftovers so much easier.
wet wipes
Rechargeable batteries, or 1 pint of bourbon
Bottle opener.
Soon, very soon now, everything will be luxury.
Condoms
Tupperwares for meal prep. I bought an entire set and now make all my lunches a week ahead.
Nail clippers. Biting toe nails is getting too difficult.
Coffee… Always Coffee.
If you cook, a bench scraper. Idk how I lived 30 years without one.
Lube
Coffee, beer and alcohol
Cigarettes
earbuds. they allow me to listen to what i want, when i want, and have a legit reason to ignore everyone who attempts to interact with me. indoors only cuz society.
Ur mama
Baby wipes
Chat GPT Plus, I love studying with it! It remembers all of the things I missed and need to work on, its a lifesaver!
A Margarita on the rocks with a slice of chocolate cake
Scissors
Squatty potty or some derivative. Yo booty will thank you
Frozen pizza.
Big packs of metal-free hair ties from the dollar store. One pack in purse, one in car, one in sports gear bag, one in bathroom, one in toolbox, one on table with keys by front door…never will my long hair be an obstacle again.
Journal
outdoor solar PIR lights.
Condoms
Baby wipes!! Good for post messy eating, quick spot cleaning, emergency stinky armpit cleaner, post sex, feeling fully clean after the bathroom. I keep them in my room, the bathroom and the car and they have saved me more times than I can count. It’s the one thing people always tell me “hey I started doing your trick! I can’t go back!”
Condom
A shovel. I keep one in my truck at all times, any time you have trouble with terrain or you need to raise or lower some dirt a shovel is invaluable. Ever try digging by hand? Also great for moving snow.
Lip Smackers lip balm.
Fleshlight
Rechargeable double A’s and the charging base
The long pick up tool that has teeth on the end I have used this thing to get stuff between seats in car. To get things from under sofa and fridge. On and on.
A game of pool
A little bit of weed.
A shoe horn
I work in healthcare so I used several apps for quick reference. If we are saying under $25 I like the FP notebook app. It’s not my favorite one (epocrates is better) but it makes my life so much easier being able to freshen up on things quickly or look up alternative treatments when patients claim they’re “allergic” to first, second, and third-line treatments 🙂
Phone chargers.
$24 bills. They’re very convenient.
Hands down a Bidet
A pack of post it notes
An eighth of cannabis.
Comfortable underwear, socks, and undershirts. Game changers. Spend money on those things that touch your skin all day.
A cheap air tag type thing for my keys and a card for my wallet.
A load rated carabiner.
Carrying keys? Carabiner.
Grocery bags? Carabiner.
Makeshift knuckle duster? Carabiner.
Need to haul something? Carabiner.
(Obviously not more than load rating, but yeah)
I hike solo in a wheelchair a lot, and the number of use cases I’ve found is shockingly high.
You can get a pretty decent pocket knife under $25. I end up primarily using mine for cutting open boxes but there are so many uses. Cleaning your nails, cutting a string that you can’t untie, prying something out of a crack, popping open a beer bottle… you never know when it might be handy.
A thermopop
This is so dumb, but I bought a holder for clothes hangers. They’re usually used in stores but ours is in the closet. When you grab a shirt, you throw the hanger on the holder. Then, when I do laundry, I dump the clean clothes on the bed and can grab the pile of hangers really easily. It has made laundry so much easier.
Salad Spinner. Best $6 Temu purchase I made recently.
My medicine
Bought a big box of binder clips of different sizes at a thrift store, dumped a bunch into a container in a kitchen drawer. Now I always have clips at hand for chip bags, opened bread, vegetable bags when we don’t finish them, anything at all that needs closing.
A longer phone charging cable.
I’m a former smoker, but I still always carry a bic lighter with a few feet of duct tape wrapped around it. It’s extremely handy for burning off loose thread, lighting things on fire of course, and getting into stuff like packaging etc. duct tape is known to have limitless uses, and having some on you all the time is more handy than you think.
I work outdoors and do a ton of camping so I probably have an exposure bias to seeing it as more useful than many, but I’d rather have it and not need it than the other way around.
Flowers for the wife.
A condom
I spent $5 on one of those magnetic things you stick on the front of your dishwasher with a slide for clean/dirty.
It’s one of my favorite purchases.
Cast Iron Skillet will last a lifetime. Here’s a beautiful one for around 25 bucks. https://www.lodgecastiron.com/product/seasoned-cast-iron-sugar-skull-skillet?sku=L8SKULL
Literally there’s a store that has everything to make your life easier and it’s called harbor freight. Almost half of everything I ever buy from harbor freight in a given year for under $25 gets used.
Nitrile gloves for cleaning/airbrushing with VOCs/automotive work fixing my car. Other style of gloves are good for lifting/yard work.
Magnetic pick up tool to grab bolts/sockets that fall in engine bay. Magnetic trays to hold bolts I remove and organize.
Every flashlight known to man. I EDC a quantum that has more throw and brightness than my phone. Useful for random things. Having a magnetic bottom flashlight is useful in a vehicle hood.
Loupes for identifying fakes on MTG cards.
Cheap hammers in various types, nails, random washers, bolts of various sizes, o-ring kits, electric screwdrivers, cheap bits
Cheap batteries for quick testing/replacement
Multimeter I bought 8 years ago still works.
Tape measures, tape itself, pliers, clamps
List can keep going, they’re just that good.
Rechargeable automatic soap dispenser. I hate how when my hands are dirty (from cleaning or gardening) I need to rinse my hands first before I pump for soap, it gets water everywhere. Or needing more dish soap but your hands are soapy so you have to rinse again. Now I don’t get water everywhere, so much cleaner plus I get back that lost time trying to clean up the mess.
Metamucil or generic equivalent
Those little color coded plastic key covers. Ignore the color coding part — just get ONE, and put it on the key you’re most often fumbling for in the dark, so you can identify it by touch.
Mine was 25 cents. Most cost effective item on this thread.
Honorable mentions:
$14.99 comfortable can opener.
$6.99 extension cord with a big push button for my bedside lamps.
Extra set of cheap measuring cups from the dollar store. Permanent cups living in my flour, cornmeal, sugar containers.
Under $25 total.
an eighth of bud <3
Smart electric plug, you can control it with your assistant be it Google, Amazon or Apple device. Turn off and on your devices such as lights, air conditioning, etc. You can buy a pack of them on Amazon for about $25 and make your life a whole bunch easier.
Crown Royal….
A good notebook for bullet journaling. If they ever stop making it I will buy up the last of the stock for a lifetime supply.
A breakfast burrito
Rechargeable AA batteries. Energizer. Haven’t bought batteries in years.
– Phone case and screen protector: Even if they’re just cheap stuff from eBay, they make the phone thicker and protect it from damage.
– A good pair of slippers. So comfy.
– Backscratchers. Scratching that itch is the best feeling in the world.
A portable meat digital thermometer. No more worrying about undercooking/overcooking meat. I can cook more confidently on more expensive meat purchases.
Electric kettle
Shower head. Replace the one that came with your apartment.
A condom
Lavender for my OCD and Anxiety, Reading app that reads university texts to me as my ADHD zones out and can’t focus and Green Tea, it always makes me feel happy.
I bought a portable travel bidet on Amazon for $25. I have a clean butt at home. I have a clean butt at hotels when I travel. I even have a clean butt if I have to use a public restroom. I use 4 squares of TP to dry while most of y’all wipe and wipe and wipe… it’s like you’re wiping a marker.
Obvious answer. Condom.
24 dollars
A snake drainer. I have curly hair and so do my 3 girls. The bathtub drain has never been the same since we moved in 😓😓
Get yourself your basic rice cooker. You don’t need a fancy one. (Unless someone wants to spring one for you.)
But it will save so much time and heartache on when you get hungry and you have no idea what to make. Cook up a bunch of rice. Roast or saute some veggies and sliced up sausage with your choice of herbs and olive oil. Pile the veggies and sausage on the rice. Season with some salt, pepper and a splash of extra virgin olive oil and bingo, you are good. You can even season the rice in the cooker. Add some turmeric, salt and pepper and saffron into the rice cooker along with the rice and you’ll end up with some unbelievably tasty rice. Add some grocery store/Costco roasted chicken and some roasted red onion chunks and you have another tasty meal.
Once you do this, you’ll start experimenting to see what other herbs and spices you can toss in to make your rice taste better. And what you can roast to go along with it. You’ll never be at a loss over what to cook next.
Beer
Bidet. Truly life changing.
Bluetooth headphones for sleeping. I use a free app with ambient noise of a train. My wife snores. So do I, but I’m a light sleeper.
Condoms
Extension cables and double adapters.
90° ratchet screwdriver for a fiver