Cheapo shite you have bought that was worth it.

[MrSki]

For years I have had to empty the fridge and mop it out every few weeks regardless of the setting or trying to plunge the drain hole.

Saw an add somewhere for a fridge drain unblocker & did a search on ebay.

For £4.61 a syringe with a metre long thin rubber pipe & a mini bottle brush also about a metre turned up.
Well that was six months ago and have not had to mop the fridge out since.

Another cheap purchase was when my shower hose sprung a leak & got a replacement for under a fiver. At the same time saw new shower heads for around the same price that increase the power on the shower. Thought why not and it is great. Worth a thought if your shower is a bit shite or the head needs a good clean.

Share your stories of small purchases that have brought you a smidgen of short term happiness.

 

[krtek a houby]

Silicone oven gloves for the equivalent of 70p. Handy for lifting smaller hot items.

 

[Epona]

Silicone oven gloves for the equivalent of 70p. Handy for lifting smaller hot items.

I need to get some of those, hoiking a tin of stuff out of the air fryer basket is bit tricky with a tea towel!

Good tip on the fridge drain unblocker too MrSki

 

[dessiato]

We bought a thing like a mini drain snake for cleaning the inside of the taps. It works wonderfully well. The taps are sparkling clean. (No I don't know why you need to clean the inside of taps either. Mrs D is happy with it though)

Not so much cheap but cheaper, I recently bought and fitted the automatic headlights switch for the Golf. Switch only £130, programmed switch kit, €26.

I'm putting in additional USB sockets in the car now. £10 for two, with the loom they're £15. I'll have 4 USB sockets now. (SatNav, dashcam, and two spares for phones etc.)

 

[bellaozzydog]

I love searching Temu for good stuff. It’s full of absolute nonsense but if you know exactly what you want you can probably find it

Great for non electrical non technical stuff and if you’ve got kids perfect for Christmas stocking filler stuff

 

[High Voltage]

I got some Lenovo ear buds off Temu. They were priced <£1.25

I was not expecting much but they're not bad. Not bad at all

 

[Cloo]

Small plastic boxes from local homeware stores that I've used to organise our en suite bathroom drawers. It's been about 2 months now and things have not descended back into anarchy in the drawers so that's been a good investment

 

[MrSki]

Good tip on the fridge drain unblocker too @MrSki

Thinking about it this morning it might be the best £4.61 I have ever spent.
Remembering how horrid it was to mop out that near freezing water now that it has gone chilly still puts a smile on my face now not having to do it.

Other cheapo purchase is a heated scarf. Picked one up for £6. Already have the battery pack that costs twice the price but when working outside having a warm neck does seem to heat up the whole body.

 

[TopCat]

For years I have had to empty the fridge and mop it out every few weeks regardless of the setting or trying to plunge the drain hole.

Saw an add somewhere for a fridge drain unblocker & did a search on ebay.

For £4.61 a syringe with a metre long thin rubber pipe & a mini bottle brush also about a metre turned up.
Well that was six months ago and have not had to mop the fridge out since.

Another cheap purchase was when my shower hose sprung a leak & got a replacement for under a fiver. At the same time saw new shower heads for around the same price that increase the power on the shower. Thought why not and it is great. Worth a thought if your shower is a bit shite or the head needs a good clean.

Share your stories of small purchases that have brought you a smidgen of short term happiness.

How does the fridge thing work. I have the excess water thing.

 

[MrSki]

How does the fridge thing work. I have the excess water thing.

Well I poked the very long mini bottle brush down the drain at the back of the fridge. Got out a bit of gunk. Stuck the syringe pipe down to the overflow tank but it seemed to be pretty empty. Fridge has drained fine ever since.

Get it here.

 

[MBV]

Anker ear buds 16 quid. I do not trust myself with anything more premium. For the price I'm happy with the sound quality.

Knock off Moka pot. Yes its not as nice as my Bialetti but for taking away or making a second pot it works fine. Ignore that the handle broke off and there's a high chance of getting burnt.

 

[DotCommunist]

grinder made of hemp plastic, 4 year ago, 3 quid. Still going strong

 

[Fez909]

Just quoting myself from earlier in the year. I haven't bought a new one yet, but I've just checked the prices and they're now about £3 off eBay, or £8 at John Lewis(!!)

Black Halo recommended an Eggs Perfect in 2014. I was skeptical, but it was £1.25 so went for it. Absolutely the best £1.25 I've ever spent. Mine broke recently and I've not had a boiled egg since. I guess that's the downside - I've lost confidence in my non-gadget egg-boiling ability.

I'm going to buy another right now, actually. Wonder what inflation has done to the price in the 9 years since

 

[dessiato]

Just quoting myself from earlier in the year. I haven't bought a new one yet, but I've just checked the prices and they're now about £3 off eBay, or £8 at John Lewis(!!)

There's a local buy nothing FB page. I got an egg boiler/poacher from there. It makes great eggs but has taken away the fun we used to have.

I like a soft boiled egg, Mrs D can't make them. They're either hard or unhealthily soft (raw) so we had this thing whereby she'd cook the eggs and we'd have an opening ceremony after deciding how hard or not the egg was going to be. This has been an ongoing ritual for many years, the search for yhe perfect egg. Now all that is gone. But the eggs are cooked how I like them.

 

[Epona]

Well I poked the very long mini bottle brush down the drain at the back of the fridge. Got out a bit of gunk. Stuck the syringe pipe down to the overflow tank but it seemed to be pretty empty. Fridge has drained fine ever since.

Get it here.

Cheers!
I'm not sure it will fix my fridge, cos I think the issue with mine is that it's one with a small freezer compartment at the top which has broken, it over-produces ice and I think it's that causing the fridge to not drain properly, rather than a blockage.
It drains fine right after I've defrosted it , then starts dripping water when the ice has started to build back up, I'd need to defrost it about once every 4-6 weeks to keep on top of the issue.
At less than a fiver for that kit it might be worth a go mind, but I think my fridge is just borked and needs replacing.

 

[dessiato]

Just remembered another thing we got from Temu, we got a boiled egg cutter. Now I have nicely boiled eggs, and neatly cut tops. I’d lost my egg scissors.

 

[_Russ_]

One of those small folding hand saws with a double cut edge, bought it in liddle about 12 years ago for clearing stuff on the trails I ride but I've actually used it to cut down quite a few branches about 3" in dia just last sun day as I didnt want to disturb the neighbours at my new pad with the chainsaw....... think it cost like 4 quid

 

[_Russ_]

Actually It was Aldi