Cheap things you have bought that improve your life massively disproportionally to what they cost!

[wineoclockthanks]

I'll start!

12 ballpoint pens from the pound shop - this week has been a joy, no scrabbling about trying to find a writing implement (and not having to resort to a stubby pencil or purple crayon)

An eye mask (£2.99) - nearly 13 years of trying to contort body and duvet to shield eyes from hallway light (needs to be left on for nighttime trips to the loo), it's transformed my nights!

£1.99 for proper glasses cleaner cloth, as opposed to t-shirt or tea towel - I can see again!

Any more for any more?

My rescue cats. They are stress busters. They provide unexpected comedy moments when you most need one, they can halt a row by doing something stupid, they are warm in winter, and when you make them purr you feel as if you got at least one thing right today. They should be available on prescription.

Also cake tin liners from poundland, but they are not as funny as the cats. And you don't have to grease them. Although greasing the cat could be funny.

Astral face cream. It has left my skin looking great, has a nice matte finish once its sunk in, leaves a reassuring slightly medicated scent and costs less than a bag of chips, making it actually cheaper than chips.

If its good enough for Joanna Lumley...

A Now TV box to watch iplayer, 4OD etc on the TV instead of the computer. Like being able to dip in and out of the Sky packages too

£20 for a set of Roald Dahl books on CD. Have revolutionized long journeys with small children. We do a lot of long journeys small children.

Grey semi-opaque tights from TKMaxx. Bought in a lunchtime emergency about 5 months ago, worn all the time, they go with everything.

Ah ok we are looking to get rid of sky it so expensive and tbh we watch a handful of channels

Oh dd2 has those cds she has some learning difficultiies and when she was younger she couldn't read very well she loved them I am sure I got them on sale in waterstones.

I love ikea bags - but I seemed to have lost all but 1 ...live miles away from Ikea but next time I'm down there I'll have to stock up
I love the massive blue ones for all the light but bulky stuff in the supermarket - cereal boxes, kitchen roll, loo roll etc. I have to carry my shopping quite a long way into the house and you can put it over your shoulder and have two hands free for the heavy bags. I also pile in smaller shopping bags in one to carry those in after a shopping spree.
Also love my jute shoppers - I actually bought some from the manufacturer so not that cheap (£6 ish each) before Tescos etc did them, it wasn't common to reuse bags. They are about 10 yrs old, used more or less weekly and still going strong. I wanted them cos the cheap free bags split open, cut into your hands, fall over when you put them down and don't hold anywhere near as much (they mean fewer trips from car to house...)
Folding crates -I use for storing 'homemade' kindling for the wood burner ...so when I trim back the garden I cut medium size twigs into lengths into them (rather than trying to fit it into the council garden waste or taking it 12 miles to the skips) and they are just the right width for a length. I store them in stacks in the garage so it doesn't take much space. The holes in the side means the air can circulate and it dries out...so as long as I rotate I always have perfect kindling...and the folded empty crates (in winter) don't take up a lot of storage space.

21 people looking at egg poaching bags on amazon waves :)

We use giant Sports Direct bags ( about a quid each) as suitcases when we go on caravan holidays. They are squishy and you can get loads in the boot.

unlucky83

Amazon sell the ikea bags, £2.80 for 3 delivered:

www.amazon.co.uk/FRAKTA-BLUE-LARGE-SHOPPING-LAUNDRY/dp/B005SSJB68/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425160109&sr=8-1&keywords=Ikea+bag

I got them last year.

JSotherhalf -thanks! That's really handy to know...
(But if I'm honest I want an excuse to go to Ikea....)

Ditto the folding crates. We use one as a washing basket to put the wet clothes in. It then folds flat and fits in the gap between the washing machine and the the wall. I think I bought it from Lidl (or Aldi).

More than one pair of tweezers - a pair for the bathroom, one for the bedroom, and a pair in a drawer in the living room. I always spot a white eyebrow hair in the hall mirror just as I'm on my way out.

Over door hook from Dunelm Mill. Cost 99p and brilliant for popping shirts on hangers on when ironing.

ihatethecold mrsryangosling therestofmylifeiswaiting nfc tags are usually small stickers with a chip that your phone can read when it's held up against them. I get them off ebay and they're around £4 for 10.

You use a app on your phone (I use trigger) to set up the tasks, like turn on Bluetooth and open x app. You can make it the task as simple or complicated as you like. The app then writes this task to the nfc tag and when your phone is held up against it, it'll do whatever your task is (though the phone has to be unlocked if it's an android so I have a task to toggle my pin code on/off at the front door). It's really simple, but looks very impressive when you tell people 'oh yes, I programmed it to do xyz'

Sistema microwave rice steamer, about a tenner. Perfect rice every time, minimal mess.

Sains microwave mashed potato. £1, easy to prepare, minimal mess.

I like minimal mess

The Apple corer most definitely, helps us eat a lot more apples, and my latest gadget was a burger press for £4 changed our lives!! I now buy mince and make my own burgers using chopped onions, cream crackers and american chip spice, My claim to fame is that we fed 24 adults last year at a bbq with just 1 packet of mince from the butchers!

I promise if you try them you will never buy burgers again. I've so far converted my brother, mum, dad, 2 x sil & 2 x bil. They all went ald bought one!

Yes to the handheld dyson, I dithered about getting one for ages and managed to get a good deal in the Black friday sales. No more snotty looks from Mil when she calls round now as i use it every day and the main hoover for upstairs.

You put cream crackers in home made burgers?

Wooden spatula - 20p from the Chinese supermarket. I have had them for over 25 years...

Silicon baking sheets from Aldi - so cheap I bought enough to cut them to fit each of my baking trays.

Seam ripper... in my sewing world they are invaluable.

Napisan. Compleatly stops my husbands gym kit smelling, before it smelled rank after he had worn it for a few minuits.

Dyson lovers - which do you have?
Dc39
Dc44 animal
Dc 59 animal
We have animals

Silicon egg poachers. I bought mine in TK Maxx for £2.99

www.steamer.co.uk/m/cookware/pots_pans/egg_poachers/egg_poacher_silicone_set_2.htm?productid=949&utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&gclid=CJPW_YnWhsQCFUvLtAodOQcAZg

Prefer to the bags. You need to put a lid on pan while cooking and first time the white was not cooked through now I have the hang of it perfect eggs everytime

Also love egg timer you put in pan when boiling eggs

Little fold away step I am not very tall. Also from TK Maxx I love their home department

Draw organiser from ikea love that my underwear draws are so organised

These small things bring me much joy

Oh, I forgot the egg poachers.

Over 20 years I got chatting to a very nice man in a pub and bought him a pint, which I think cost a pound, to keep him talking.

He has just brought me a cup of tea in bed, as he does every morning he isn't working.

That pint was probably the best cheap purchase ever

Love that YesIDid!

Cream crackers in burgers? Nooo! Eww. Just mince,onion,garlic and herbs here and never use a burger press either,that's what hands are for :D

Yep I thought the same about the crackers to be honest but did as Jamie O said to try it and they were amazing, much better taste than without.

Trip I always used to use my hands but a. I hate getting the stuff on my hands, touching raw meat makes me sick, and b, I'm tight, so these come out at just the right size but make more than my massive shovel hands can ever hold