I've broken a 5 year old plate that cost £5

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5 years ago i bought a cheap dinner set from wilkos for £5. Just to keep us going until I could afford a better set.

5 years of daily use by 6 kids and 2 adults and I've just broken one of the plates. First one to break.

I'm amazed they lasted so long!

Anything you've got that you didnt think would last as long as you thought?

My 'does everything' knife.

It is 41 years old and a thing of beauty. The blade is 4 ins long, and flat at the end, where I broke the tip stabbing a jar of pickles.

This 41yr old knife has never been sharpened, but still peels spuds, cuts cheese, i even use it to cut pineapple. I would carve meat with it too, if I had the time.
I lost it once (lurking in the deep reaches of the dishwasher) and dinner was delayed, considerably, until I found it becuase I am unable to function without it 😂

Marks and Spencer (yes the full name) single duvet set which my mum bought for me in 1974. My mum used it latterly but now she's no longer here I wanted to keep it but don't know what to do with it. Still in great Nic with no bobbling.

My parents married in 1960. They still use matching washing basket and dustpan and brush set bought for them as a wedding present.

The family piano lasted decade after decade, with candle holders and real ebony and ivory to show its age, and it pre-dated concert pitch. It had a crack in the frame, but always sounded beautiful. This instrument lasted much longer than they could have imagined, despite being bashed by generations of children, and several house moves, including to and from a third floor flat.

I think my parents hoped that a string would break or something, so they could justify getting rid of it, but it stayed solidly in one piece. On their previous house move, they left it behind, deciding it was too risky to move it again, or even have it tuned. We'll never know if it's still there!

Another vote for the Tesco value kettle.
I left it with my housemates when I moved out and in with now DH. We treated ourselves to an expensive posh kettle, which has been replaced. My old housemate still has the Tesco one ...

A flimsy Ikea cooking utensils set that was left by the previous owners in our first home. Still use them well over a decade later, despite having new swish utensils. The fish slice is very thin metal and bendy, it's basically the perfect fish slice.

In 1999 I bought a 99p potato peeler from Wilkinson’s. I still use it weekly and it’s just as sharp.

My DM still uses carmen hot rollers that were past down from her MIL. I think they are around 50 years old!

Our microwave. Inherited from DH's parents and about 35 years old. Built like a tank and still going strong.

Shopping in a french supermarket in 1995 I was given (for free) a fish slice type utensil from a chappy doing an in store demonstration - still the most used thing in my kitchen

A two-hole paper punch, bought at the local newsagent when I went up to big school and started using a ring binder. It’s light blue enamelled metal and has got a bit rusty and chipped, but it’s still going strong after 39 years.

Somewhere in the garage there’s a chrome and plastic music stand that I had for my recorder at Primary school and used for many years to transcribe hand written notes onto the computer.

My grandmother has a hand crank nut grinder that she bought forty years ago.
Is this for use in the kitchen or the bedroom?

Pretty basic but it’s stood the test of time!

Tin opener I bought for my student days in 1996. Still going strong and better than any others I've been given. Knives that were given to me by my parents so probably around 35 plus years old.
Set of cast iron pots and saucepans (4 in a pack) which I bought on a special deal for £5 in IKEA about 1999.

The Woolworths bath towels we got for a wedding present in 1999 are just about to be retired as they've pulled out of shape along the non- fluffy strip. Daily use for nearly 20 years isn't bad!

My DM had a shallow 4 compartment tin thing that she used for Yorkshire puddings, like a shallow cake tin, that I believe may be around 25 years old.

I said had because it now resides in my kitchen No idea where it was from but I'd imagine the likes of Woolworths or somewhere similar. Seldom used .... though It will never get thrown out,

I bought an Asda stick blender for 4.99 as a stop gap. Still going strong 10 years later!

The most perfect wooden spoon. Was a gift to me in 1993 and probably cost £3. It dropped onto the dishwasher element about 2 years ago and burnt. I was gutted. I was going to keep it for posterity, but my son then snapped it in half. The git.

I’ve never found a wooden spoon as good.

I wear my walking sandals every summer especially on holiday. I bought them in 2003 when I went to Japan. The same time I bought my suitcase which has also been used regularly for the past 15 years!!

My Sony clock radio was purchased in 1992 and is still going strong

I have a slow cooker which was bought for my grandmother in the 1980's - passed to me as she had no use for it - so I've had it around 25+ years.

My parents have many items that they have had since getting married in 1957 - and some older items still which belonged to my grandparents in the 1930's!

I’ve just remembered that the designated cat-drying towel has not only DH’s name written on it, but his first name has been substituted for his brother’s. DH is 46 and 48, and I doubt it was bought new for BIL (given its yellow and floral).

DH bought me a £1 block of little cheese knives from Woolies, I think, so a good decade ago. They still get regular use. But I have various kitchen bits that are 20+ years old and still going strong - a green plastic colander, various wooden spoons and spatulas, bamboo steamers... all costing pence originally. They look well-used, at least - the cheese knives are good as new!

My best silicon cake batter scraping spatula is one I got free on the front of a food magazine about 10 years ago.

This thread has reminded me that for years we had crossbolt shaped thing that we got from a discount cook shop for about 20 pence and was used for stiring pasta but I haven't seen it for a while. I think it was relegated to stirring paint, so will either be with the painting stuff or might have got binned.

Almost forgot. My dad recently gave us a paddling pool (sides fold up, not a blow up one). He'd kept in the loft since I was a child. It's about 30 years old but still in great working order. We've used it lots this summer!!