Most useful thing you've bought under £30

[KenAdams]

We do a game at Christmas where instead of presents, we do useful gifts in bags for people to win. Things like mango slicers, those cards that double up as ice scrapers, that sort of thing.

Have you bought anything surprisingly useful that you use more than you thought you would that cost under £30 please? I really need some ideas this year!

@clarepetal they are surprisingly light you doubt yourself they are going to be good, but they are brilliant

These are my absolute favourite useful thing

I like the Swisschamp one. I’m unlikely to ever need a hook disgorger or a wire stripper! But it’s a lifetime purchase so I think I’ll get it!

Mine is the most boring ever. New high quality tupperware so you can get rid of all the mismatched bits

I was just about to say the Oxo Good Grips peeler too. Best ever.

My partner has an annoying disability where he sometimes can't walk far and needs to rest his ankle. This stool is perfect for that 👌

@claresorry wrong @ and you can't change it. @clarepetal snap! ( Well similar, probably!) Falling over is in my top ten daily activities! Someone lent me one of those stools ( I'm not the lightest!) and was dubious how strong it would be, but it was great not heavy to lug about either

Are you my DH? He’s bought everyone we know one of those knife sharpeners 😂

A Crimpit - it’s used most days for breakfast or a quick lunch. We’ve got the little one but they’ve got a BOGOF deal at the moment and I’m about to order the bigger toastie maker and a wrap sealer.
crimpit.co.uk

Clothes steamer

Ooh good idea - is it able to light fire lighter cubes in a log burner?

A defrosting tray

I always forget to get the meat out of freezer the night before - that tray has saved me many times lol

I can't recall the name of the one I got but it does have all those accessories so maybe it was that one, I thought I paid about £60 for it though and I know it was in the sale.
It's worth thinking about what will be the most useful for your needs, I keep mine in my handbag and it's quite heavy.

Glue guns last year for the men, (went down really well) this year heavy duty staplers (the sort that you can fire a staple into a flat surface)

Spare phone cables in longer and shorter lengths.
extendable duster (if you have high ceilings)
packing cubes
vacuum bottle stopper for fizz, champagne etc.
electric sonic brush for cleaning nooks and crannies (it’s a bit like an electric toothbrush)
cordless electric screwdriver from ikea
jewellery cleaning cloth
clear case and travel sized bottles for decanting shampoo etc. for hand luggage
Travel neck pillow
cleaning caddy for carrying cleaning products and cloths etc. around the house when doing housework
battery pack for phone
goose neck phone holder
set of Allen keys in different sizes

I did not know this was a thing. Off to google, DH definitely needs this!

@WhatWouldTheDoctorDo you can do this in any baking sheet/ metal tray - cuts defrost time in half at least.

Masha for making mashed potato

Heatable things you put in your pockets to keep your hands warm

Tracker type thing for your keys (like an Air Tag but cheaper!)

Little tiny pill bottle that screws shut and you keep it on a key ring (if the person takes regular meds of course)

One of those key ring multi tool things, there are some really cool ones about.

A bit boring but they're expensive so it would be a useful treat for me, a lovely pair of warm waking socks

Apologies if I'm off target with these!

Well... Durex... As some gifts shouldn’t be lifelong commitments 😂

It's this one - https://amzn.eu/d/ie3kbjD

I've just ordered new ones to do exactly this about 20 mins ago, how strange. I've gone with glass ones.

Headtorch
I wear it when I walk or cycle to and from work when I'm on early and late shifts. Very cheap but very powerful and it came with extra batteries.

I had one for this and stopped using it because it would take ages to light them.

I can't remember who asked but the £30 is the most you can spend on one item. Sometimes we put in things that are like £1.

We've changed the game a bit this year, so we're putting some tape strips across a table with two gift bags on each. You roll the tin and choose one of the gift bags in the section it rolls into. Keeps going until all the gifts have been claimed.

I have some of the things mentioned but will repurchase for the game, like the dog hair thing. Tin openers will go down well.

Swiss army knives, oodies and recipe books have been done in the past.

I prefer my metal Bodum mug to Contigo - it's been going for 15 years!

Oodies have 50% off and the moment