What's the most unexpectedly useful item you've ever bought under $20?
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Anybody know if these work with oat milk or almond milk? Does it froth?
A lot of brands have special barista oat milk, usually with pea protein I think or rapeseed oil to make the froth stable. Here in Germany they are often labeled "Barista oat milk".
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This post did not contain any content.wrote on last edited by [email protected]
[edit: I'm rambling about a lanyard!]
I don't know what it's called, but I chord you put around your neck, goes down to the belly with a metal hook at the end? Used to keep backstage/security passes visible, but I keep my keys on there instead.
Keys always end up at the bottom of my bag, and it can be frustrating and even painful to dig them out. I don't always have pockets suitable for keys. I have a place for them at home, but still misplace them constantly.
With this chord I can keep my keys around my neck when in use, like at work or going to the store, and even if I put them in my bag I can loop the keys around a handle and down through their own chord and they'll hang there to be pulled out when I need them.
The chord is long and colourful and way easier to find than just the keys, and often hang visible out of a bag when I haven't put the keys in their place.
It's great. I have different colours for different sets of keys, one colour is home+bicycle, other is work. Other keys I add only when I need them. It gets annoying having too many keys on at once.
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[edit: I'm rambling about a lanyard!]
I don't know what it's called, but I chord you put around your neck, goes down to the belly with a metal hook at the end? Used to keep backstage/security passes visible, but I keep my keys on there instead.
Keys always end up at the bottom of my bag, and it can be frustrating and even painful to dig them out. I don't always have pockets suitable for keys. I have a place for them at home, but still misplace them constantly.
With this chord I can keep my keys around my neck when in use, like at work or going to the store, and even if I put them in my bag I can loop the keys around a handle and down through their own chord and they'll hang there to be pulled out when I need them.
The chord is long and colourful and way easier to find than just the keys, and often hang visible out of a bag when I haven't put the keys in their place.
It's great. I have different colours for different sets of keys, one colour is home+bicycle, other is work. Other keys I add only when I need them. It gets annoying having too many keys on at once.
Lanyard?
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Hard disagree. The pry bar is the superior tool. For one thing, it is indestructible, unlike my spoons which were getting scratched up. It is satisfying in a tactile way and because it is so ludicrously overpowered for the task.
Flat-bladed screwdriver works just as well and has a better handle.
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Lanyard?
What an odd little word...So unspecific; could never have guessed it. But yes, that's it, thanks!
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A package of blue-tack - it is basically sticky play-dough that is completely opaque and you can use wads of it to blunt the pain of stupid LEDs on on your tech shit. I am currently sitting in my living room looking at my TV and various components including router and stuff...easily 20 gobs of blue-tack masking 20 blinking LEDs.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]It's also great for holding electronic components in place while you solder them into circuit boards - even LEDs lol.
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A pry bar. I use it to open cat food tins because my fingernails are not up to the task.
You could buy all of these for that price.
https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-mini-pry-bar.html -
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Small drafting table I got at Goodwill for $4. I've used it for actual drawing, and it has an adjustable tilt so it can be flat to use as a plain table.
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Why would I want to remove that smell
.(half joking)
Same, I love the smell of garlic. Do they make bars of soap made of garlic so I can always smell that way?
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An ezel. You know, the kind that artists use to put their cavvas on.
I'm a digital artist, so I have a display drawing tablet. Eventually having the tablet completely horizontally flat got annoying to draw on. I ended up sitting cross-legged and awkwardly perching the table on the edge of my desk on my lap to get some sort of comfortable angle on it. However that was annoying too.
I went and looked what a tablet stand costed for my tablet model and... It damn near costed the same as my tablet! The. I had an idea. There's this cheap ass hardware store called Harald Nyborg in Denmark, maybe they have cheap ezel?
Lo and behold they do. Made from the crappiest cheap wood available, it serves its purpose perfectly! I've had it for a few years now and never needed to think about getting that dedicated stand for my tablet.
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- knife sharpening steel
- squeezing bidet (made me realize how gross using toilet paper is)
- caffeine pills (extremely cheap [15€ for 180pcs. x 200mg] compared to coffee and great if you're in a hurry)
- Raspberry Pi Zero (tiny single board computer, tbh not in use anymore, but I had fun tinkering for days)
- remote controlled power outlets
- easily cleanable drinking bottle and switching to drinking tap water
+1 for caffeine pills, although 200mg is a bit too much for me. I prefer 100mg
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For some reason it makes me happy you're on here, I thought it was all tech neckbeards. Wish your family luck in bargain hunting!
Excuse you. Some of us have a well kempt full beard thank you very much.
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One way window heat shield. Reflects 85‰ of the UV back out. Sticks to the window using only water.
Noticeable difference in temperature for any sun-facing windows
Are you using these on double glazed windows? I've read this film could get them to crack under the heat.
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There is no way you got that for $20. I keep meaning to get one since I love my wool coat I got at a thrift store but they are never that cheap.
I mean, this was in, like, 2003. That's probably $50 in today money.
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An ezel. You know, the kind that artists use to put their cavvas on.
I'm a digital artist, so I have a display drawing tablet. Eventually having the tablet completely horizontally flat got annoying to draw on. I ended up sitting cross-legged and awkwardly perching the table on the edge of my desk on my lap to get some sort of comfortable angle on it. However that was annoying too.
I went and looked what a tablet stand costed for my tablet model and... It damn near costed the same as my tablet! The. I had an idea. There's this cheap ass hardware store called Harald Nyborg in Denmark, maybe they have cheap ezel?
Lo and behold they do. Made from the crappiest cheap wood available, it serves its purpose perfectly! I've had it for a few years now and never needed to think about getting that dedicated stand for my tablet.
I have a friend who does digital art as a side gig, always complaining about his back. Maybe I'll suggest he get an easel.
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I mean, this was in, like, 2003. That's probably $50 in today money.
Oh 2003? Nah $20 stretched hard back then, especially if it was a thrift store. Man even as a kid I could get so much stuff with $5 at a thrift store, I think I literally got a PC and a DVD player for like $10. Nobody was trying to maximize profit on every thing cause more was on the way.
Hasbrown at McDonald's were .80¢, they are now $2.70. That $20 was more like $67.50 in actual purchase power.
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Really good nailclippers:
https://www.victorinox.com/en-US/Products/Swiss-Army-Knives/Personal-Care/Nail-Clipper/p/8.2050.B1
If you're willing to go over the $20 barrier, you get more functionality:
I liked it enough, I bought two more.
Smallest MagLite:
https://maglite.com/products/solitaire-led-key-chain-flashlight-with-gift-card-gift-box
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I have a pair of these safety 1st nail clippers:
https://safety1st.com/en-ca/products/fold-up-nail-clippers-10435
They're meant for babies, and I think my parents got them when I was a baby, but to this day they are still sharper and easier to use than any other pair I've bought or used.
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Anybody know if these work with oat milk or almond milk? Does it froth?
Oat milk, yes, to some extent. Almond milk does a little (less than Oat), but not like cow milk.
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Are you using these on double glazed windows? I've read this film could get them to crack under the heat.
Yeah double glazed, and no hasn't been an issue by my reckoning
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Vacuum sealer.
They are always available used at thrift stores and they are simple machines but I can reseal bags of chips or other grocery items.
You can make your own bags for cheap from a roll and then individually wrap portions for the freezer that stay longer and don't get freezer burn.
And if you get one that has a hose attachment you can seal bottles of wine, mead, or Tupperware for the fridge if you get the right lids.
I liked the other attachment that fits around mason jar lids. Creates a tight seal, the jar does not crush the contents, and you no longer need plastic bags. Also, the glass jar can go straight into the fridge.
