Has anyone discovered anything this year that they could no longer be without?

[Straycatblue]

To wonder how Ive gone this long without having an electric blanket.

Got it for xmas and its the best thing ever, although I never want to leave my bed again.
Minus 10 outside currently but Im so cosy.

I suffer from lots of aches and pains and this is easing them so much.

Has anyone discovered anything this year that they could now no longer be without?

I'm 47 and have just discovered the utter joy of an automatic gearbox in my car. It's 8 speed, and just does its thing making driving a complete and utter pleasure. You just use one foot, and can totally focus on whats ahead rather than what gear you are in! I thought they were solely for old fogies but my god what a revelation .

An electric sofa throw is just the best thing ever.

I give you not just any old elecky blanket, but dual control eb

• DH likes to get into a cool bed and then put the eb on, as he gets that horrible itchy, restless leg syndrome if the bed is too hot.
• I prefer to preheat my side of the bed, then turn off as soon as I get in. We can do The Elecky Blanket Olympics at this rate.

Things I loved in 2017

• heated car seat, ahhhhhh warm bits.
• spiralizer
• Evernote and the joys of sync-ing on the cloud

A cleaner. Best money I've ever spent.

Dishwasher and electric carving knife.

I had people here for lunch today. Sliced a joint of ham, a joint of beef and an enormous loaf of bread in five minutes flat - washed the blades after each use of course!

Not this year but a decent food thermometer is so useful.

Dyson V6 handheld for dog hair on the sofa situation
New car rear camera and bluetooth stereo
The Guilty Feminist podcast
Sennheiser headphones instead of the iPhone ones
KonMarie convert here also

Non-slip, thick squashy steering wheel cover. Just lovely to hold. No cold hands in the morning before the heating warms up.

mindutopia ditto. A cleaner. I luffs her.

Roomba robot vacuum, house looks generally a bit more presentable

Ring doorbell camera - it picked up video footage of the twat that broke into my car

Netflix.

Soap and flannel. Never felt this clean.
Aldi’s!

Electric blanket.... aaaah

Podcasts. Never knew what they were till this year - now listen to them when doing housework - makes it so much more tolerable

Protect and prevent serum, about five years after everybody else

Exercise (jogging/gym)- not being smug and I'm far from fit but the best thing I've ever done for mental health, I start to feel all twitchy if I don't do anything for a day or two

I still haven't cracked iCloud / photo sharing etc. Drives me crazy. One for 2018!

Make up remover cloth from Amazon. Found it in a S&B thread few months back. Only a few pounds, and it removes all make up ( inc wproof mascara) with just warm water! Goodbye those stupid expensive wipes.

Bakolite non stick foil. I don't use anything else. Fab for oven roast veg. Or oven roast anything.

My Karcher window vacuum. I need never pay a window cleaner again.
Cordless dyson too, although it does run out of charge too quickly.

Eyebrow microblading
Fitbit
Soap instead of shower gel (MN recommendation!)
My septum piercing
Decent slippers - for the first time in years my feet aren't child while working at home
Nutribullet
Ready meals - finally gave up on trying to make myself cook

Yep, dual control elec blanket - had it years, still use it every day

sometimes I put it on during the day and go back to bed

This is the pluggy thing (technical term)

pluggy thing

Tidylike - why soap instead of shower gel? I'm intrigued

For those interested in the blepharitis lotion (sorry for the delay, was busy watching The Crown...) - this is the one I use, you can also get it online www.boots.com/blephasol-sensitive-eyelids-lotion-100ml-10153629.

There are also gel and foam versions, but I've only used the lotion. Used it twice a day to begin with, now down to once a day.

Oh you can also get the lotion on ready soaked wipes, individually wrapped - handy for travel.

Other discoveries of this year: Contigo travel mugs as per PP. The Crown

My cleaner - I LOVE HER
Shaping skinny jeans from H&M pulling my post baby body into shape
Jillian Michaels - responsible for 2 stone post pregnancy weight loss
Matcha latte (ditched coffee as a result)

Dry shampoo

Thanks straycat. I'm looking forward to ditching the hot water bottles!

My Elements dish drainer from Dunelm, just spikes and anything goes anywhere. Ten quid.

My much loved electric blanket suddenly became redundant when the hot flushes started.

Darlen.... buy a spare battery and keep one on charge

Method spray cleaners saddo the rhubarb for the kitchen and water mint for the bathrooms. Won't buy any others now. Love them. Always got shiny sinks now as they are great for hard water marks and work really well on grease on the kitchen.

Ocado deliveries. Life changing even sadder saddo as I hate, hate, hate doing big shops in supermarkets and I am so much more organised with dinner planning. Saved money too as I buy less crap and go for the stuff on offer.

J'adore perfume. Can't stand the ad but it's the first perfume I have really loved in a long time.

Slipper boots. omg.