# What's the most useful thing you've ever bought for under $20?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 16, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249 "2014-07-16T03:52:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DonJohnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonJohnson)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/1 "2014-07-16T03:52:32Z")
Have you ever bought (or received) something because it was cheap, and you ended up loving it? …
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### Author:  [@MostlyUseless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyUseless)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/2 "2014-07-16T11:13:21Z")
Swiss Army knife
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### Author:  [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/3 "2014-07-16T11:38:16Z")
Condoms. Saved me 100’s of thousands over a life time. And no, I’m that kinda guy…
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/4 "2014-07-16T12:09:55Z")
I bought a full-sized wooden dresser for $8 at a used furniture place, stripped off the ugly white paint, refinished and stained it.
Nice, solid piece of furniture. I’m still using it.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/5 "2014-07-16T12:18:35Z")
[Gerber multi-tool.](https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=gerber+multi+tool&tbm=shop&spd=3526664227002004193)
Price seems to have gone up since I bought mine.
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### Author:  [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/6 "2014-07-16T12:34:09Z")
Neti pot.
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/7 "2014-07-16T12:45:38Z")
Marriage license
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/8 "2014-07-16T13:10:24Z")
I bought a cheap Armitron sports watch at Penney’s at least 10, probably closer to 15, years ago for around $20. It’s still running. As opposed to my “good” watch, which needs a new battery every 18-24 months.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/9 "2014-07-16T13:12:59Z")
A mug warmer ($10). The last sip of tea is almost as hot as the first. Once you use one, there’s no going back. (I’m in-house for a client three days a week this summer, and had to buy a second one for the office.)
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### Author:  [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/10 "2014-07-16T14:08:40Z")
A [Click Clack container](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/6165YQNzj9L.jpg). Each is under $20, and I’ve been using the same ones for over 12 years. They stack well, always seal tight, and I can open/shut them with one hand if I need to.
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### Author:  [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/11 "2014-07-16T14:11:34Z")
Just a few days ago I went to Poundland on a whim. I found an extension cable for my earphones and a long USB cable with a little cradle for my mobile phone. Better two quid I spent in the last few months.
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### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/12 "2014-07-16T14:14:52Z")
[An apple slicer.](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ikC5yr4Y-aA/SoECFbYCowI/AAAAAAAAAp8/IkEKES2Z7a8/s1600-h/appleslicer.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/13 "2014-07-16T14:30:20Z")
I don’t know that it was the best purchase under 20 dollars I ever made, but I stumbled across a jar of pan scrapers for a buck a few years ago and they’re quite useful not just for scraping pans but getting sauces out of ziploc baggies and frosting out of piping bags and toothpaste out of the tube until I realized the edge of the vanity works just as well.
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### Author:  [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/14 "2014-07-16T15:08:03Z")
A small chalkboard for the kitchen. Soon as we run out of something we scribble it on the board. Whoever’s going shopping next has an instant reminder list.
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### Author:  [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/15 "2014-07-16T15:16:45Z")
A “grabber” from Tractor Supply…I can get things from the top shelf,catch snakes that stray into the house and dropped books… Sturdy too,I’ve ran over it with my chair several times with no damage to the grabber…
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### Author:  [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/16 "2014-07-16T15:47:52Z")
My wife and I are regular habitués of dollar stores. Overall I’d day the pickings at them aren’t nearly as good as they were years ago, but we still do it.
My favorite dollar store purchase ever was a hinged plastic case with room to store six AA batteries and four AAA batteries.
It also incorporated a battery tester that worked with both sizes. You just stuck the battery in a slot with a spring-loaded thingee on one end. Green light for good, yellow light for on its way out, and red light for dead. It’s come in very handy over the years.
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### Author:  [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/17 "2014-07-16T15:52:32Z")
Those [pitchers with the mixer right in it](http://www.globeequipment.com/Dining-Room-Supplies/Beverage-Supplies/Plastic-Pitchers/3064-01) - they’re hard to find anymore because I guess people thought they were just gimmicks. But I love mine - I have 3.
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### Author:  [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/18 "2014-07-16T15:55:43Z")
A faux leather couch for $15. The seats where it’s exposed needs a little TLC, but the flip side has fabric. Overall, it looks mega expensive, is really comfortable and has held up extremely well through two moves and a couple of years. I’m pleased.
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### Author:  [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/19 "2014-07-16T16:25:04Z")
My oversize dark glasses, the kind that go over your regular glasses. I get them at Rite-Aid. My eyes are very light sensitive and I wear dark glasses whenever I go outside. Prescription dark glasses run (for my bad eyes) about $400 a pair. A pair of over-the-glasses sunglasses is $19.99 and usually last me about three years.
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### Author:  [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-useful-thing-youve-ever-bought-for-under-20/693249/20 "2014-07-16T16:26:08Z")
> [@bup](#):
>
> Those [pitchers with the mixer right in it](http://www.globeequipment.com/Dining-Room-Supplies/Beverage-Supplies/Plastic-Pitchers/3064-01) - they’re hard to find anymore because I guess people thought they were just gimmicks. But I love mine - I have 3.
I had one of those! Left it with my ex, which was a mistake. It was great.
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