Metatalktail Hour: The cheapest, but the best

February 18, 2023 2:24 AM

Happy weekend, friends, I hope you are warm, or cool, as the case may be, and feeling rested! This week I'd like to ask you about your beloved items that you can't do without, but which are also quite inexpensive ... and just work better than the pricier varieties.

They say you get what you pay for, but as everyone knows who has bought an expensive product because it was supposed to be the best, but it turned out to be a lemon — this isn't always the case. And sometimes the bargain find is actually the best and most satisfying. Tell us about your affordable faves, or maybe some of the regretted lemons!

Or you can just tell us what's happening with you, what you've been up to, what you're looking forward to, or whatever else is on your mind!

posted by taz (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 2:24 AM (56 comments total)

Over a decade ago I bought a cheap folding Harbor Freight utility trailer for like 250 dollars, and that thing has paid for itself many times over, hauling mulch and lumber and appliances and all manner of other objects. When its not in use it just sits unobtrusively in a corner of the garage. For years I pulled it with a Toyota Matrix, now with a small SUV. When it finally dies, I now have enough money that I'll probably get an Apogee folding aluminum trailer. But from a dollars-per-utility standpoint, its hard to beat a red trailer.
posted by rockindata at 4:55 AM on February 18, 2023 [3 favorites]

Last week I found a gently used Squier Mini P Bass at the music store down the street for $149. Sounds great to my non-bass playing ears and it’s tiny and cute and fun. Here’s me plugging it in for the first time and playing a sloppy disco riff. Includes a Fender gig bag and a free set up! Yay good deals.
posted by chococat at 5:28 AM on February 18, 2023 [3 favorites]

Twenty years ago on a driving tour around North America I was in New Mexico and stopped at one of the ubiquitous tourist souvenir shops along the Interstate and bought ten coarsely woven Mexican blankets for $5 each. I don't know why I bought them. They were just so pretty, and such a good price, and unlike so much of the rest of the random garbage one could buy to remember a trip actually useful. We still have them in constant use and rotation, as cat bed blankets, throws, serapes, chair covers, and just all around "hey i need a blanket or two" use. They've held up amazingly well for how often they've been washed.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:05 AM on February 18, 2023 [10 favorites]

There are times and places when Pabst Blue Ribbon, Stag beer, or Old Style are the best beers for the occasion. There's a time for $7 craft beers but sometimes a 50¢ can is the best.
posted by Tehhund at 6:19 AM on February 18, 2023 [5 favorites]

I bought a Blackberry Playbook in 2013 or so. At the time I thought it was much better than any other tablet out there. I only use it as an alarm clock now and occasionally as an ereader but it’s ticking along just fine! The alarm app was free and is the only one that I’ve found that I'm happy with since it lets me choose my own music for my alarms. There are free music alarm clock apps out there but this one is the best
posted by ashbury at 7:15 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

My latest is these tongs. I call them my lunch lady tongs because they remind me of utensils the lunch ladies used to pick up items and place them on student plates in my school cafeteria when I was very young. I have supposedly better (much more $$) tongs, but they are more awkward, and these are the ones I use all the time, every day, for all sorts of things, and they feel so good and right! 2€ from my online grocery. Love them.
posted by taz (staff) at 7:17 AM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

I used mine immediately prior to reading this question! They are my Joyce Chen Unlimited scissors and I bet I have used them nine days out of 10 for the last 30 years. They break down poultry, they cut through wire, they open impossible clamshell packaging, they trim flower stems, and after all this time they still cleanly cut fabric ribbon. It only just occurred to me now that maybe they could stand to be sharpened--for the first time ever.
posted by HotToddy at 8:07 AM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

Trader Joe's 3/$2 (?) milk or dark chocolate bars, great chocolate, great value.

When I was a young teen, I was super into Led Zeppelin, and some record store had a bootleg concert album (this was like, early 80's). I begged my parents for it, and my mother agreed to the $60 (!) price. I got it home, and it was unlistenable. Terrible sound, couldn't hear the music, awful. If I'd just waited a few years, actual concert recordings came out. I guess that's not necessarily something that was supposed to be the best, but I expected something for the price.
posted by Gorgik at 8:17 AM on February 18, 2023

If you don't clack those beautiful tongs together several times like a crab every time you pick them up ... I dunno, it would just be wrong.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:36 AM on February 18, 2023 [21 favorites]

Gaffer's tape, to fix the handle on my favorite very cheap offset serrated bread knife, along with a blob of Sugru. The tape costs more than the knife, but it's not slippery or leaving a sticky residue like duct tape. So I get to keep the knife forever and have great tape for other stuff, too.
posted by winesong at 10:06 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for" so don't really have examples of anything super cheap that I can recommend. The one exception is the EuroScrubby, which I buy locally for $3 each. Easily the best dish cleaning device I've found so far. Amazing for cast iron pans. They work better than a $20 chainmail sponge thingy.

Those of you looking for the best of something, regardless of price, this thread is still open: This is the best ____ I know of...
posted by dobbs at 10:52 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Harbor Freight stocks a brand of blue painter's tape that works much better than what I can buy at Lowes or Home Depot--sticks extremely well and ensures sharp lines.
posted by thomas j wise at 11:00 AM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I recently switched to pour-over coffee, and then found delicious, fresh-roasted coffee for $7 a pound! Anyone in Bremerton should check them Ootopia Coffee Roasters. Their Monsoon Malabar roast makes me happy every single morning.
posted by dbmcd at 11:15 AM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

My silcone basting brush is such a treasure, I ran across one of those bulb basters in a kitchen drawer and debated throwing it away. I didn't, but brushing is so much better and the brushes last forever.
posted by BibiRose at 11:16 AM on February 18, 2023

There are times and places when Pabst Blue Ribbon, Stag beer, or Old Style are the best beers for the occasion. There's a time for $7 craft beers but sometimes a 50¢ can is the best.

Heh. There was a time when my MO for going to parties was to bring a six-pack of Carling's Black Label, because I knew nobody else would want it and I could have it all to myself.

On a related note, it occurred to me today that my urge to spend money increases in inverse proportion to do I even need to finish this sentence.
posted by scratch at 12:30 PM on February 18, 2023 [5 favorites]

A while back I ordered a Chinese ceramic folding knife. It has a cheap plastic grip. I'm pretty sure that it is undetectable by x-ray. It is the sharpest blade I own, and I sharpen my own knives. It was $3.00 including shipping.
posted by Splunge at 12:41 PM on February 18, 2023

my urge to spend money increases in inverse proportion to do I even need to finish this sentence.

I didn't realize there was a fee to post complete sentences...
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:32 PM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

1. Restaurant supply stores are full of all manner of cheap-but-good utensils, containers, cookware, etc. I've bought at least half of my kitchen equipment in such places, for much less that what something consumer-oriented and not as robust would cost in, say, Target or Bed Bath & Beyond. As you might imagine, utensils targeted to commercial kitchens aren't fancy or over-engineered, but they are sturdy, enduring, and useful. I highly recommend visiting a local restaurant supply store to browse, you won't come home empty-handed (yet not empty-walleted).

2. This was something I found by accident. I was trying to find a decent cheap heated toilet seat, because the bathroom in my apartment is chilly for most of the year (long story) and cold seats are the worst in the middle of the night, amirite? What I stumbled on and chose instead were stick-on fuzzy/felt-like seat covers like these. They're quite flat, not cushioned, and I was skeptical they'd do anything; still, they were cheap enough that even if they didn't work, no big deal and I could continue looking for something better. Fortunately, as minimal a solution as they first appear to be, they do an absolutely amazing job of keeping bare skin from touching frigid seat. I've had the same set on, year-round, for a few years now; I wash them regularly but they still re-apply as well as they did the first time (and even if they didn't, they're so cheap that periodically replacing them is trivial). I no longer dread midnight bathroom visits. It's amazing how much peace of mind backside they provide!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:39 PM on February 18, 2023 [7 favorites]

aren't fancy or over-engineered

(missed the edit window) I meant to say "aren't fancy or over-designed"
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:48 PM on February 18, 2023

Got another one for you. If you like (or might like) fountain pens, the Jinhao 991 runs about a buck a piece from AliExpress and supports both liquid ink with the included converter, and standard cartridge ink. I like the hooded EF nib best. Maybe 1 in 10 of them is a bit scratchy and the plastic barrels will eventually crack after a lot of use, but just toss it out and use another one. I typically use them with my robots and they're dead on reliable, writing without a skip for hours at a time.
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:57 PM on February 18, 2023 [3 favorites]

What I stumbled on and chose instead were stick-on fuzzy/felt-like seat covers like these. They're quite flat, not cushioned, and I was skeptical they'd do anything; still, they were cheap enough that even if they didn't work, no big deal and I could continue looking for something better. Fortunately, as minimal a solution as they first appear to be, they do an absolutely amazing job of keeping bare skin from touching frigid seat. I've had the same set on, year-round, for a few years now; I wash them regularly but they still re-apply as well as they did the first time (and even if they didn't, they're so cheap that periodically replacing them is trivial). I no longer dread midnight bathroom visits. It's amazing how much peace of mind backside they provide!

I'm glad they are working well for you, but the idea of fuzzy toilet seat covers gives me serious heebie jeebies. When I was a kid it was a Thing for (mostly) older ladies to have shag carpet on the top of the toilet seat, but not on the part you sit on, and those still creeped me out. I'm just not a person who wants fuzzy and toilets in the same situation.

In the spirit of things that cost a lot but didn't give satisfactory results, I'm in the middle of a back and forth with a mechanic over work that they did which made the problem worse instead of fixing it. The most unsatisfactory part of the whole thing is that it was work that I could have done myself, but I was feeling lazy. So now I've spent quite a few hundreds of dollars, didn't get a fix, and have invested more time in dealing with the mechanic than I would have just doing the work.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:16 PM on February 18, 2023 [5 favorites]

Time to update the What To Buy AskMe compilation.

Recommendations for slightly-nicer-than-cheap things!
What kitchen/household objects SPARK JOY?!?
Great quality/good design is cheaper
Which moderately expensive thing has most radically improved your life?
Name a purchase of yours that was worth every penny!
Looking for retailers with lifetime guarantee / warranty
Best Long-Lasting Products Evar
Might as well have the best.
Now that I'm making enough to feel rich (without actually being rich?), what stuff would make my life way better?
What are some items you purchased that have had the net effect of simplifying your life or reducing the clutter in your home?
Cheap but bombproof
Cheap but bombproof II
Lifetime warranties
What tools/devices last decades allowing for routine maintenance?
Shopping Filter: When do I need the best of the best? What is the best of the best? And how do I know the difference?
What realiable durable goods wouuld you recommend?
What can I buy for £200/ $250 that will enhance my quality of life?
What do I want for $500?
This is the best __________ I know of....
posted by zamboni at 3:57 PM on February 18, 2023 [29 favorites]

I see keffiyehs advertised in the $20 range these days. I bought two in Khan el Khalil market in Cairo in fucking 1992 for something like $1.10 each and have worn them through more than thirty Canadian winters since. They are both 100% Egyptian cotton: light and airy when loose, warm and comfy when wrapped up tight, and I think they both have yet to lose a single thread.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:29 PM on February 18, 2023 [3 favorites]

I use Aleppo soap for my skin and hair. It's great. I don't really need any other skin care products anymore (except deodorant, which is a stick of alum salt in my case).
It costs all of 3 euros for a block. I cut it into three slices and each slice lasts more than a month... maybe two.
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:07 PM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

During Covid I worked for that big Maine outdoor clothing retailer, so had access to their employee store. Sometimes there's a production issue, a customer returns something with a minor defect or whatever, and I bought a rain shell, a fleece-lined parka, and a pair of insulated, side-zip boots, all really cheap. I needed to review sale items every day, and bought a down coat when it was going on clearance, over 1/2 off. Having warm and really warm coats to choose from makes me so much less cranky about going outside. I had good outerwear before, but gained weight.

i may not 100% embrace, There is no bad weather, only bad clothes! but I'm coping with winter better.
posted by Mom at 6:32 PM on February 18, 2023 [4 favorites]

Costco wool hiking socks, insurance policy for warmth in general. Metal tea ball, and boxes of loose tea, to make pots of tea. Fancy single plates from thrift stores, to take cookies or cake to events, and leave behind.
posted by Oyéah at 6:50 PM on February 18, 2023 [5 favorites]

I got the plainest, cheapest soap dispenser bottles available at my neighborhood store, then trawled Etsy looking for good stickers to decorate them. They’re perfectly functional, hold a surprisingly large volume, and my sticker choices make me so happy.
posted by ActionPopulated at 9:33 PM on February 18, 2023 [8 favorites]

I want to do a serious purge of my possessions and get rid of all the duplicates, all the things I never use, all the inferior-quality stuff, etc.

I've been pondering a whitelist of specific objects I'd like to own, for example, only the exact chargers and cables I need, one Zippo lighter, one blender, jeans I like, only shirts that fit me in the shoulders, and only one (good one) of the things I choose. More than one of the clothes probably.

Once I have the whitelist, I want to shove everything not on it out the door and onto the sidewalk for people to take and then call a hauling service to pick up everything that's left behind.

This is my dream.
posted by bendy at 10:12 PM on February 18, 2023 [7 favorites]

The cheap beer of choice at my house is National Bohemian.

I personally don't drink. But if it's a porch hang day with friends, I'll roll a cooler of Natty Boh right next to the rocking chairs and it always gets a happy response. It's perfect for, "I just want to sip something light while I watch the world go by."

I use those Andrea Eye-Q makeup remover pads from the drugstore to take off my mascara. They work well and moisturize better than anything fancy.
posted by champers at 3:23 AM on February 19, 2023

I splurged on a set of reusable cotton makeup remover pads from Etsy (Lancraft, I think) in a bunch of bright colors and a simple glass jar to store them in. It feels like a little bit of luxury when I wash my face.

Tongs with silicone grabbers was a great find, although they are hitting the replacement stage.

bendy, I share the same dream. I’ve been purging slowly over the past couple of years, but my progress is slowed by a spouse who inherited his parents’ (yes, that plural possessive is an intentional choice) tendencies to hold on to at least three of everything and likes to argue with me when I try to purge my stuff. Also, the past couple of years he has gotten joy from buying me knock off t-shirts form aliexpress and I now have a drawer of shirts that I don’t really want, can’t really wear well in public but can’t get rid of yet.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:58 AM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

There's a time for $7 craft beers but sometimes a 50¢ can is the best.

Similar: in the non-alcoholic beer scene, there are some great fancier styles becoming available (shout out to Athletic Brewing for making staying dry so much easier), but even the best N/A IPA or stout still has a hint of that sweet coppery taste that only N/A beers seem to have. Bud Zero, on the other hand, somehow tastes EXACTLY like a Bud. And the respective price points are comparable to craft brew vs a normal Bud.

(Of course, it tastes the same for the same reason that it's much easier to find a convincing vegan hot dog than a vegan filet mignon, but still.)

For various personal hygeine products, the Everyone brand is cheap, effective, vegan/cruelty-free, and packaged with recycled materials, and they have unscented/undyed versions of their soaps and lotions that are great for babies.
posted by solotoro at 5:01 AM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Last week I found a gently used Squier Mini P Bass

The Squiers really are the best starter guitars and basses. People gig with them and they’re fine.

A rung up from that is the Mexican-made Fenders, that aren’t finished as naively and the American-made ( just details, like how much they sand the edges of the cutaways on the body & the heel of the neck & headstock) but are totally useful. I have a Mexi-Jazz and Precision that were my daily players for the better part of 20 years. I payed 300 & 350 bucks for them, spent another 100 on good pickups, and for less than half the price of the American-made, I have great-sounding instruments. Great, playable necks and no one has ever thought they could sound better. I get compliments on my tone all the time.
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:52 AM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Naively? I think I meant to type “nicely” and missed the edit window.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:15 AM on February 19, 2023

this IKEA pepper grinder is better than any more expensive fancy one I've ever used.
posted by supermedusa at 9:42 AM on February 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Re: bendy's dream.

I come from a family with a genetic bent towards hoarding, which I've tried to address, more in the past then now (essentially giving up this struggle after buying a house). I'm the leanest, in comparison with my brothers, who've all filled up their houses with mostly books (where mine are all relegated to one room). But it wasn't always so -‌- in our early 20s, both my older brother and I traveled light, and said brother's more radical goal was reducing his stuff to what would only fit in his back-pack (while I was most comfortable when moving day involved the transfer of a single carload). The point of my story is, feelings change over time, and my older brother now has the most cluttered house. Don't get rid of everything, you may regret it later.
posted by Rash at 10:06 AM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Oh -‌- my cheap, long-lasting object? That would be the $3 cast-iron griddle I bought new in 1969, which has a smooth cooking surface, which for whatever reason they don't do with cast iron anymore.
posted by Rash at 10:11 AM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

If the following audio visual items are a sensitive point, just say I have shitty deaf ears. For the money I'm willing to pay:
* 240v/13a mains cable for speaker wire
* Small Class-D amplifiers attached to RaspberryPi or other small-board computer to play PCM and lossless-compressed audio across my home network
posted by k3ninho at 10:16 AM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

That's a good point, Rash. My parents' Wagner Ware and Griswold pots and pans were smooth as glass and nothing ever stuck to them. I saw a picture of the elaborate-looking machine which produced those surfaces, and the accompanying article declared that step was eliminated purely as a cost cutting measure, and that everyone agreed the grainier surfaces were worse to cook on and harder to clean, but oh well.

For a while I had a set of cast iron pans put out by one of the big names, Wagner Ware I think, which were partially chrome plated — handles, outside sides and I think partway down the inner sides. They looked kind of bizarre sitting on the stove, but the Dutch oven was particularly striking. I’ve never liked cooking with cast iron, and I gave them to a friend who had admired them.
posted by jamjam at 2:51 PM on February 19, 2023

That reminds me, I have some inexpensive Lodge cast iron pans that even after years of cooking still weren't near the "nonstick" stage of seasoning. A few years back I took some sandpaper to the smallest (8") and ground/polished it smooth, then re-seasoned, and it was everything I ever hoped it would be - it became my favorite nonstick egg-cooking pan. My only mistake was using flax seed oil to season it, which (besides being very stinky during the seasoning process) ended up flaking off before long. I stripped and re-seasoned it using peanut oil and it's been great ever since. I always meant to go back and do the same thing to the others, but manually sanding the little one was such a chore that I didn't have the energy to tackle them, then I sort of forgot about it. As a result I haven't been using them as much as I'd like.

So now that I'm reminded I'm going to get a cheap orbital sander and some coarse-grit sanding wheels, and make grinding and polishing the other two my next project! It'll be the perfect time to season them since running the oven for 3 or 4 seasoning cycles will help keep the house warm during the cool weather.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:02 PM on February 19, 2023 [9 favorites]

The point of my story is, feelings change over time,

Absolutely - that’s why I’m here now. I was fine through my 20s and 30s and 40s acquiring - and holding onto - stuff, especially at times when I owned a home. Now in my early 50s, I want to buy a home again but with housing prices where they are I’m not going to be able to afford anything larger than ~500 sqft anywhere I want to live. I’m at the point where my stuff is preventing me from home ownership, my priorities have shifted, and it’s becoming a problem.
posted by bendy at 7:51 PM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

When my grandmother passed, our family made the trip to the funeral. The division of property commenced immediately after, which may have been the best three-way fight i ever saw. Sister verses sister verses brother, with changing alliances every minute. Us grandkids just sat back and watched, knowing there was no way we wanted to be involved in this battle. It lasted all day and onto the night, but finally wound down, mostly due to fatigue. When they were done, there were a couple of boxes of stuff nobody wanted and were to be left on the curb. I looked through them and grabbed two things: a Wagnerware ten inch griddle, and a Griswald ten inch frying pan.

I'm sure I won the battle, in 40 years I've used these pans at least once a week.
posted by Marky at 9:26 PM on February 19, 2023 [10 favorites]

I've been using these cheap little "pumice" stones on my calloused feet for years. The trick is to use them dry on dry feet. I usually sit outside because it makes a mess. It basically just acts like sand paper.
Recently I've also discovered they are awesome for removing the burned on grunge on the grates from my gas stove. For this you use them wet & all that crusty stuff comes right off. They get worn down fairly quickly but they're like $2 so no big deal.
posted by BoscosMom at 1:32 AM on February 20, 2023 [4 favorites]

I recently bought a vintage Wagner Ware 6.5 frying pan, so well seasoned, it flips fried eggs. My cast iron works well with olive oil, that's all I use for cooking, nothi g sticks, unless I make some serious oversight. Oh and I no longer preheat my oven, it saves on gas. I'll turn it on maybe 2 minutes from ready to bake.
posted by Oyéah at 10:13 AM on February 20, 2023

I love my Kiwi knives! Incredibly sharp, incredibly affordable, beloved of Thai grandmas, they have taken a lot of my dread out of chopping things. (I love cooking but despise chopping, especially onions.) Are they professional chef’s knives? Will they hold an edge like a fancy carbon-steel blade? No, and also, I don’t care. They’re amazing for what I need them to do.
posted by corey flood at 10:56 AM on February 20, 2023

I was reading some commentary recently on a cast iron brand's social media (I think it was Lodge but can't remember) and they basically said there are lots of other brands that are doing smooth finish cast iron these days. It sounds like maybe something that started as cost cutting has become a stylistic Thing.

I only recently got a pair of Joyce Chen scissors but I received them because my mother in law has sworn by them for decades. They've been lovely so far.
posted by brilliantine at 12:33 PM on February 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

My hoodies are both free from previous jobs and this lab swag one is the item in my wardrobe that gets the most compliments.

I KonMarie-d about seven years ago, and I'm still living the only-stuff-I-like dream, definitely recommend. Moving into a house with a bunch of stuff left behind put a crimp in it for a couple years, but I've figured out what's keepers and what's for the Habitat ReStore.
posted by momus_window at 12:52 PM on February 20, 2023 [4 favorites]

No, it's still a cost-cutting thing. Most Lodge pans go for less than $50, while the work required to give a smooth finish to other brands' pans causes them to cost at lease 3 times as much.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:01 PM on February 20, 2023

I recently put up some shelves using the cheapest black metal brackets I could find at the hardware store. The shelves themselves are made out of offcuts of leftover plywood and some other wood bits that someone abandoned in the alley, which I sanded down slightly and stained with some wood stain the previous tenants left in the garage so that they're all roughly the same color even if they aren't the same height, width, or depth. As soon as I stuck some plants on them it was obvious that these are so much better than any shelf I could've bought. They look just right for the space! Custom scrap wood shelving forever!
posted by deludingmyself at 1:03 PM on February 20, 2023 [4 favorites]

Face Moisturizer: Cetaphil Deep Hydration Daily Cream

Red Lipstick: Loreal Infallible
posted by thivaia at 1:48 PM on February 20, 2023

Forty years ago I bought a carbon steel wok in a Chinese store. It was £2. It took at least a couple of years of use until it was properly seasoned to make it non-stick (not helped by a roommate who thought she was being helpful by Brillo-ing it back to its original state), but it's still going strong and is as slick and smooth as if it's Teflon-coated.

Another cheap favourite is this peeler. I saw it demonstrated at Sur La Table in Easton, Columbus where the saleslady was peeling wafer-thin strips from ripe tomatoes and peaches, and making light work of a butternut squash. I just had to have one, smuggling it back in my suitcase (this was not too long after 9/11, when anything remotely resembling a blade was strictly forbidden). It's still as sharp as the day I bought it.
posted by essexjan at 2:33 PM on February 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

I recently bought a vintage Wagner Ware 6.5 frying pan, so well seasoned, it flips fried eggs.

And if you ever visit Australia, you can take it along for use as a crocodile repellent. Likewise, to Florida for Alligator control.
posted by y2karl at 4:51 PM on February 20, 2023

This serum, plus a retinol cream from, of all places, the dollar store, have made a huge difference in the skin of my face. As I've gotten older, I've noticed mottled skin on my cheeks. I started using the retinol from the dollar store and was impressed that the dark patches were getting lighter. I then added the serum (serum in the morning, retinol at night) and wow, what a difference. My skin looks better than it has in years. Old pimple scars (I was a picker) have also faded/erased. I'm 56 and someone asked me once if me and my 26 year old son were a couple!
posted by annieb at 5:46 PM on February 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

I've recommended this before but... Not only does the broth you get from the $5-6 jars of concentrate from Better Than Bouillon taste better than either broth made from $2-3 powdered bouillon or the $2-4 stuff that comes in cartons, but it's also a better deal because you can keep the jar in your fridge for six months and it won't go bad. It's cheaper per serving, lasts longer, tastes better, takes up less space, and you don't have to buy it as often. Win all around.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:07 PM on February 21, 2023 [5 favorites]

A genuine, U.S. military poncho liner. Somehow provides the perfect amount of warmth. Lightweight, packs small, available in a variety of tactical colors/patterns if that matters.
posted by coppertop at 5:06 PM on February 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

But from a dollars-per-utility standpoint, its hard to beat a red trailer.

I nominate the bikes at work trailers.
posted by aniola at 10:17 PM on February 25, 2023

this thread is still open: This is the best ____ I know of...

Thanks, dobbs, for pointing to that thread. Two of the recommendations there have made immediate improvements to our lives here. We happened to need new sheets and these sheets recd by gt2 are fantastic for their price. Even better though, Working Hands balm recd by alex1965 (and seconded by others) have quickly helped my SO's hands. They've been dry and rough for years, impervious to all the lotions we've tried, and they have been a minor sadness -- but they're already much much better. Sadness source removed! Thank you all!
posted by fleacircus at 3:35 AM on February 27, 2023 [1 favorite]