To spend lots of money on things that make day to day life easier.

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I’ve inherited a very good knife and a little bit of money and I’ve used the knife today and it’s so sharp it’s life changing. It’s been a joy to chop everything and it’s made me wonder what I’m missing out on. What’s the thing you have that’s expensive but worth every penny?

We put a lot of thought into redesigning our tiny budget kitchen. These are some of my favourite bits:

• an enormous wooden chopping board that lives permanently next to the hob, makes prep so much easier
• a magnetic knife rack on the wall directly next to the chopping board, and cutlery/utensils in the drawer directly underneath
• using lots of cheap IKEA hultarp rails to hang various things and make them easier to get to without rooting through cupboards, notably our pans
• having only drawers, no cupboards (appreciate this is hard to achieve without replacing your kitchen though)

Other things:

• our second hand le creuset, it's huge and we use it for all sorts including bread
• the shutters in our bedroom with independently opening top and bottom halves, so we can have both natural light and privacy

-an ironing board, it sounds crazy but we didn't have one for years and I basically just only wore clothes that didn't need ironing

• a lil tree to store/display my earrings on
• lamps on our bedside tables, make the room so cosy in the morning/evening and feel nice to use (IKEA arstid)
• a monitor, keyboard, mouse, lamp and printer for my work station
• a dishwasher! Another thing we didn't have until recently. Truly life-changing
• a lil basket on my bedside table for my skincare, means I actually do it before bed
• subscriptions for boring things like dog food, dog mouthwash etc
• a whole separate mention for our naked sprout toilet paper subscription, it's the strongest toilet paper I've ever used and it's great value and eco friendly

Things that haven't sparked as much joy as we thought they would:

• dimmer switches, mainly because we still haven't sorted the right bulbs
• a Samsonite suitcase, they're just fundamentally more annoying to use than backpacks

Husband would also like to nominate felco secateurs and knipex cobra pliers

Muck Boots. I worked outdoors and neoprene muck boots were a game changer in winter. I wear them for winter dog walks still and they're amazing. They're the only non-barefoot style shoe I wear.

Also, barefoot shoes. I've had chronic knee pain since I was a child, switching to barefoot shoes has completely eliminated it.

My butter crock (the water type). I have successfully weaned DS2 (17) off crappy spreadable "butter" by having this and its genuinely made a difference to us. It's great to have butter out and at spreadable temperature at all times but not going rancid. £15 well spent.

May I ask what you use the Thermomix for most often, please? I'm not making full use of mine, which - given the price! - makes me feel guilty.

Would you mind sharing g a link to this please

If you stick "butter crock" into the search bar in Amazon loads come up. Mine is a simple white one but there are lots of lovely ones. The butter sits upside down in room temperature water so you just refresh the water every couple of days.

Yep completely agree with this. DC grown up now so don't need childminder anymore. Cleaner, gives us all weekend to do what we want instead of cleaning and yes still send my ironing out.

I used these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CITYORK-Rechargeable-Batteries-3000mWh-Charging/dp/B0BHWJPSRL

They look expensive, but the convenience (and higher capacity than standard rechargeables) is worth it in my opinion.

I cannot believe I have never heard of a butter crock before now!

I need a new rice cooker but the one mentioned by Zojirushi is v £££ and I know that's the point of this thread but I wondered if anyone had a cheaper 'good' one! also if anyone can rec a carpet cleaner please link a girl!!

If you have a microwave you can’t go wrong with this Joseph Joseph rice cooker - I was crap at rice before I got it and I haven’t fucked it up since. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

People who love their Thermomixes, what do you use them for?
I love a kitchen gadget but can’t quite picture how this would fit into my life.

I love my Bamix - I have all the attachments, including the little food processor bowls. It’s so handy and so powerful.

Ok...I didn't expect them to look like that. Will certainly have a look at them.
They look worth investing in if just not to have to keep buying batteries.
Thank you!

A car (didn’t get one til I was 31), a cleaner, dishwasher and a dryer!

Tempur mattress. It's 5 years old but still like new. So worth it to be comfortable.

My weekly cleaner - 3 hours a week so I can actually enjoy my weekends. Heaven.

@user120405 I second the butter crocks!
They’re excellent. Found one in France years ago, and now NEVER use spreadable butter.

Not very expensive but if you make your own salad dressing, I recommend using one of these…
https://www.johnlewis.com/oxo-good-grips-salad-dressing-shaker-pourer-250ml/p5641588

Blimey. All these expensive items and I’m just grateful for my heated clothes drier lol I think it was from Wowcher 🤷🏻‍♀️ I asked my mum to buy it for me as my Xmas present, great contraption

If you want a good rice cooker that doesn't break the bank, loads of Chinese brands do them. I don't mean the really basic old fashioned one that only has an on/off switch. I mean one that looks like the Japanese one at a fraction of the price.
I used to have one. It lasted 15 years after constant use. Not bad I say.
But yeah I did splash out on a Zojirushi one and it's great. Probably will last a life time.

100% recommend the Josph&Jospeh rice cooker .
I'd tried microwave in a pyrex bowl , in a saucepan ,
Pre soak /don't soak , steam/ boil
Nothing worked
This little beauty is simple and foolproof .

Our kitchen must be too cold to need a butter crock recently (or DD is making far too many flapjacks and cookies), but we are currently using one of these butter dishes:

www.henrywatson.com/UK/butter-cooler-in-terracotta.html

We've had it for decades (and/or might have bought a replacement on eBay)

The butter crock really comes into its own in the warmer months. You can leave butter out at all times without it turning rancid

Or perhaps just use a clean jam jar with a lid....

Anyone have recommendations for an ever sharp paring knife. I just cannot sharpen knives!! Havre a great chopping one but no makers mark and no idea where it came from