I’m currently using a pair of earbuds at work that I got for free in a bag o’ swag from a tradeshow. I fully expected them to be absolute garbage, but they have surprisingly decent sound and do a good job of filtering out office noise-- especially for the $0 I paid for them!
Back in '03, I bought at Staples, on Philly’s Market Street, a “monitor riser” that’s made of metal. It works beautifully as both a riser and a cooler base for laptops. Unlike most “cooler bases” it cools by temperature-differential transfer, by just being a good heat transmitter: no fans. I spent years looking for a similar one (I often have two laptops, personal and work) and finally found the exact model in a Swedish store.
It’s also available from amazon.
They have come a long way. I bought my black ceramic Kyocera in 2000 for $150, use it daily and have only had it sharpened once.
A couple of years ago I saw the regular white ceramic paring knives at Harbor Freight, only a couple of bucks. Works just as well as the Kyocera.
Dennis
Bought a Sony Walkman AM/FM in '91 when I started walking to work. Got it in the bargain bin at wherever. The earbuds were replaced constantly but the radio was always in my pocket when I left the house to work in the yard or the shop. Over the years the wife would get me MP3s or digital radios but none were acceptable. I wanted a radio not replaying the same music over and over. I also wanted a simple interface. Turn it on and spin the dial to tune and set volume. Last several years it started glitching as it would change channel if I flexed it. Finally gave up last year and found another similar to it new online. We’ll see if this lasts 20+ years.
It’s kind of been mentioned, but gas station/Target/Publix sunglasses.
I don’t wear glasses or contacts, so I don’t need to worry about prescriptions, but I see no reason to spend 100+ on sunglasses that I’m just going to smudge up/scratch at Disney World.
Some of the baby stuff we’ve gotten has definitely qualified. We got tired of hauling the Rock n’ Play from room to room when Farticus was tiny, seems you really honestly need some place to put them in every room you spend a lot of time in. Wasn’t exactly this one, it was actually cheaper (more like $20) and that thing was PRICELESS. When he was really tiny it was just a convenient place to stash him, then as he got older he could bounce himself in it and really liked the little hangy toys. You could jiggle him with your foot too if he cried. Except for it not bringing him nearly as high as the Rock n’ Play, which is an issue in other rooms, I’d call it superior in literally every way. It’s a hunk of wire with a sling and a couple toys. Brilliant.
Also, fuck expensive baby bottles. You get you a set of glass ones from Evenflo, them bad boys is like 3 for $9. You won’t break one unless you, uh, put your diaper bag on top of the car and it falls off onto the bottle, and they get so much cleaner in the dishwasher than the plastic ones and they’re not complicated and shit.
Also this beauty which I believe we got for under $10. I get one for everybody who’s pregnant now. Actually makes sure the bottle nipples get clean, and then when the kid’s older it makes sure the straws do too. I use it for other stuff now as well, little container lids and such, don’t know how I did without it. Brilliant product.
I bought a $7 watch at Wal-Mart once upon a time, and the sucker lived seven years on the same battery. I had another one that lived five years.
I have an awesome black inner tube swim float, that I have been using for years now. It’s adult size, has nothing cryptic written on it, is not a hideous colour and spends the off season, year after year, in my alternating freezing/broiling attic. It’s extremely well travelled, seeing lots of the South China Sea, the Andaman Sea, plus lakes Huron, Erie, Ontario, etc, etc, you get the idea!
I bought it over a decade ago, in a dollar store for $2. (It is just back from 5 gruelling days on lovely Lake Temagami during ideal weather conditions!)
Last week my wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary by renewing our vows.
We bought a pair of new rings for the occasion. Tungsten rings, for the amazing low price of $20 each.
We already have 3 sets of rings we have bought in the past: the original pair, a nicer pair in 18k gold that are hoop-shaped, and a pair of white gold rings that scuffed too quickly.
These $20 rings are more beautiful and more comfortable than all the others. They won’t scuff, they won’t tarnish, and they have a “comfort fit” form.
In 1995 I worked for a really cheap old-lady-gifts mail-order catalog (think Walter Drake, Harriet Carter, Lillian Vernon) that had a company store. I bought a bi-directional window fan for about $15 (something like this) that is still an almost daily workhorse in multiple rooms of this house, and the last 7 houses or apartments before this one. That thing is a gem. Whodathunkit.
Just be aware, if dropped they CAN shatter.
Mine just arrived in the mail (ordered because of this comment). I like it much better than the Fender tuner I have.
I got a pair of new workboots , still in the box at the thrift store. They are made of lavender suede. They cost $7.
Not only do they make me laugh every time I wear them, I got the biggest kick out of stranger’s reactions to my Lavender Suede Workbooks. A female police officer who was trying to conduct an interview kept looking at them. A store clerk noticed them and could not stop laughing. And I noticed a man coming towards me staring at them who looked at my face as we passed. It was Woody Allen (in the midst of his brouhaha with Mia Farrow).
Bought a phone charger out of the dollar store in June and it has been working so well ever since. I think I will buy another next week so I can have one for home and one for work.
Yep, paid $19 for one in 1981 or 82, finally broke in 2013. Well still works but the button to change the time no longer works. Replaced with a very nice citizen eco drive but can’t read the date on it as it is too small. Miss those big Timex numbers and young eyes.
I bought a $4 alarm clock at the dollar store and it’s fine after two years, just need to replace the AA battery once in a while.
Noted!
At least if it happens the replacement will be cheap. Some years back these rings would have cost the same as gold.
I have several tungsten rings. You would have to hurl them with force at a concrete floor for them to shatter, a simple 3 to 5 foot drop is not likely to shatter them and if it’s any surface other then concrete or stone or a similar very hard surface they are not going to shatter no matter how hard you throw them.
So yes they can be shattered but it’s pretty unlikely to happen accidently.
Phone case. I bought an OtterBox ($80, I think) that lasted less than 6 months before cracking (I didn’t bother returning it because I ended up not liking it much).
It’s replacement was a $4.99 case from a discount dollar-store type place. Looks good, works great. This must have been around 2 years ago.
mmm
Quite some time ago, I bought an Armorall product called a ‘drying cloth’. It came in a plastic storage container and was very inexpensive. I’m still using it today, as it does an unbelievable job of soaking up moisture after washing the car. Wring it out periodically and you can do the entire car, then put it away damp. The texture is almost rubbery feeling, so it’s not your typical microfiber cloth.
I can no longer find it anywhere online, so I’m guessing they quit making it for some reason; probably because they never wear out.