I need some advice. Splurge or save?

[LordOfTheFlies]

I'm looking at buying 2 small kitchen appliances and I@M not sure if I should just buy the really cheapie ones or splash out a bit.

1: hand held stick blender for soup. I've got a blender/food processer.But you know when you've got to get it out of the cupboard and set it up-too much effort. I don't make loads of soup, but it would be easier just to whizz in the pan

2:hand held dustbuster. I get bits of stray hay from the guinea-pigs.It's on their fleeces,hot water bottles covers and them. I usually sweep it but if I had one of those little vacuums....

Shouldn't really encourage my laziness I know.

1. I got a £5 from tesco or argos - does what I want.

1. Like a dirt-devil handy type thing? We had one as a wedding present, what a waste of space. No idea if it would work on hay but it is just such a faff - doesn't work very well and has a no-capacity bag. Can't you just use a nozzle attachment on your vacumn?

1. I have a hand held blender. TBH I find it doesn't work as efficiently but it does that job. My blender stays on the counter as I use it for so many things (especially the mill for my coffee beans :o) so I hardly ever use the handheld. I bought a cheapy one. Tenner maybe? Fifteen most!

1. I have been wondering the same thing!

1. We bought the basic version from John Lewis and it has been really useful, not just for soups but great mashed potato and chopping herbs prior to freezing.

1. No idea, but I think about getting one to counter the chaos my toddler leaves behind at every meal in a zone of about a meter. If I could dustbuster her before she moves the crumbs through the house.......

1. As others have said basic model is fine.
2. We have a hand held dyson DC 30 but I would not recommend it on guinea pig hay that is stuck on fleece, I find one Henry will remove it. It is great on small area, crumbs etc and the small bits of hay and food that has fallen out of their cage. Is is expensive though at £120 ish.

I love my hand held blender, but a Braun one is the only one worth buying.

Hand held vacuum; definitely not necessity in my book

Bamix and dyson handheld. My 2 favourite gadgets. I never use the food processor now I have the bamix and the dyson sucks up everything!! Had to search for the dustpan and brush when we took the Christmas tree down as we literally never use it anymore.

1. I have a Braun Multiquick (you can get a basic one for about £45 from Amazon, do check out comets and currys too) which is very useful as it comes with a small blender (great for baby food, chopping onion, herbs, etc), the hand held stick blender (great for soup purpose) and whisk (but I prefer my hand held mixer for this purpose). For me, it's very handy as it doesn't take up much space. If budget is tight, check out Ebay.

1. Bought one for my staircase and hardly use it (too much hassle like uncoil/coil wire). I just use my Blissel rechargeable sweeper for a quick 3-mins in the living room. Great for picking up my long hair and DD food crumbs but not too sure about guinea pig hair! Have you thought about sticky pad/sheet (saw something from Lakeland) for removing hair on clothes (great for on-th-go as well)?

re the stick blender I splashed out on a Braun one - it's brilliant and I use it lots.

Whatever you decide to spend I'd recommend that the stick bit is all metal - so you can stick it straight into hot pots of soup etc. (some of the cheaper ones are plastic).

Ours came with several attachments I use lots too. Two blender type attachments, a small and a large, and a whisk. The only thing it doesn't do is grate (apparently newer versions do that too) so for me it's virtually a food processor. Well used, I like the 'big' motor (600w I think) and it has a wee bracket to keep it handy on the wall.

I also have a Braun Multiquick, mostly used for soups (we eat loads!) and dds do not like bits. Upgraded from an old cheap one anc makes huge difference in terms of containing splashes, quickness, and lumpiness.

I have a sains basic hand held blender, does the job (soup) and the blades part goes in the dishwasher with no problems.