Best Purchase of The Year

[Pommersy]

Sorry, I know these have been done before but I haven’t seen one for a while and I always get inspiration from them and a dent in my purse. It doesn’t matter how cheap or how expensive. What has been the best thing you have bought this year that has improved your life? (Eg in the past it has been heated throws, steam cleaners, beauty products etc)

If you want some really easy to follow clothing patterns for beginners try Tilly and the Buttons. They’re all in plain English and I made a pair of trousers first try!

A hose reel which reminds itself back in to the casing. I have one, but needed to water pots in an awkward place, so tried to 'save money' on a cheaper hose arrangement. It is infuriating. So got another auto-reel.....lifechanging!

Not for this year but in last 5 years (was reflecting on this earlier weirdly)

proper weight blanket big enough for my big bed. Can’t be without it.

nc ear buds - use them all the time and more than got
my monies worth in 3 y

decent black out eye mask for sleeping as I can’t be dealing with any light.

on my list for next time is proper indoor pizza oven…

Weekly massage. 👍

Revlon One step hot brush - the round brush. I have the oval brush but the round one is even better. Swishy bouncy blow dry every time.

I bought a second hand 30 year old caravan from Facebook marketplace!

I've travelled the Uk this 6 weeks!

A julienne peeler used mainly for carrots in coleslaw. An inexpensive but brilliant device.

A cat flap that stays locked if the cat has something like a mouse in its mouth....

A sneaky one for budget flights!

A neck pillow that is empty on the inside. You simply unzip it and stuff with smaller items of clothing, eg rolled up t-shirts and underwear.

Reformer Pilates. Started going once a week in January, now go twice a week, and it’s been genuinely transformative.

A tymo styling brush. I was cynical but holy god it works. I’ve never been good at blow drying my hair but now I have body? It’s silent too which is great.

A very specific one, but the Social Scripts series of books by Alan Wheelan. He goes into the ‘hidden’ social rules behind common interactions and throws a light on how to navigate common situations. I’ve found the workplace one really useful and I got the student one for dd.
Apart from that, I got some Egyptian cotton sheets and they make such a difference!

Water softener. We have Rock Hard water which meant descaling the kettle every week. We had it put in in the summer and it’s changed our lives. The dishwasher runs on a teaspoon of DW powder, washing machine on a quarter of what I was using before. Shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, you just need a tiny amount on your hand. Our central heating won’t get furred up now either.

A brushed cotton Bonsoir nightshirt.

I got the license for a photo restoration program as I wanted to digitize and repair some of the old family photos to store them in digital as the originals were severely damaged and we weren't able to organize good conditions for them to be kept safely anyway. It's called Photoglory, I'm sure there are plenty others but I really liked this one, totally worth the money. They also have articles like this one on digitizing old photographs, storing them properly, etc, which also comes in handy.

Robot vacuum that also mops. Empties itself into the docking station. 2 dogs and 2 young boys in the house so it definitely works for its keep, I'm not dreading the winter post walk paw prints anymore.

Could you post a link please
many thanks

Thanks for the recommendation. I was literally thinking the other day that I wish there was an insulated bottle for fizzy drinks. Order one on Amazon (on sale!) and it arrived today. Perfect!