What's the best purchase under 50 dollars you've ever made?

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Extra long charging cable. I have 3 glorious metres, I can charge it when in bed, on the sofa, wherever!
- Does it feel like charging is slower with that cable?
  With that length, depending on the copper wire diameter, you will get significantly less power to your devices.
  At 5m or more most 5V decices would probably completely stop charging because the voltage at the end drops below 4V.
  
  If you're charging in bed or on the sofa, you're likely to be there for a while anyway. Doesn't matter if it charges slower. Plus, slow charging is better for the battery.
  
  How fast are your phone chargers? Mine is like 15W and it's always been enough, the whole trend of crazy high wattage charging all the time is weird to me, seems like an emergency feature.
  edit: forgot to actually answer lol, it's not noticable, and the phone recognizes fast charging (eg all 15 watts) with a 3m cable
  
  I honestly haven't noticed it doing that but I've never tried timing it or anything
  
  Mine did which is why I don’t buy those OMG SIX FOOT LONG BUY THIS FUCKING CABLE BITCH ITS SIX FEEEEET - um, those super long cables. I noticed when I used a normal charger it felt like my phone charged in like 2 minutes. So I buy a new regular length charger and it’s lasted over a year now.
  Another thing about those long ass chargers is they stop working after like a week from what I experienced. It’s like they put all the effort into telling you HOW FUCKING LONG THEY ARE?! BRO SIX. FUCKING. FEET. FUCK YOU that they put no effort into what’s in them six feet

Decathlon Forclaz 50L rucksack, been traveling with it over a decade and it still looks new, all the clips work, it's crazy and i see the exact same model in airports when i travel today and only this model and color despite there having been other colors sold at the time so it must be the indestructible model.
grey with blue highlights.
35 bucks on sale.
- I invested in a good rucksack once and never did again. Because I didn't need to because it has lasted
- bro i paid 100 bucks for my osprey and it's held up worse 😭

A night with OPs mom
Heyoooh!
- What about the other 30$?
  
  a night with OP's dad
  
  Oh snap!

My trash panda doggo. She's the sweetest.

I once got a full 8 ball of coke for $40!
- Pics or it didn’t happen.
  
  Believe me, if I could go back to 2009, I would.

Bag of quality dog food and treats for the local shelter dogs. No matter how bad of a day I was having at work, I could think of the shelter puppies having a bit of comfort food in their lives.

This “Haul Master” for unloading a pickup truck bed. Spent a summer cutting and removing sod and this saved me from a lot of work and pain. Still using it whenever I dump yard waste and construction/demolition debris. Stores nicely in the garage when not using it. I literally say it’s the best forty bucks I ever spent every time I use it.
- Anything that saves wear and tear on your body is 100% worth it. You only get one.
- The customer videos are super satisfying. Love these amazing Harbor Freight finds!

Collapsible metal chopsticks in a little carrying case. I use them all the time and I paid less than $10 for them.

I bought some solar security lights for my driveway several years ago. They were cheap, so I didn't really care if they didn't last long, but they're still lighting up. Probably at least 5 years old.

Water flosser (on sale for $49) - I hate flossing so this does a great job of making me feel fresh after a night of binge eating popcorn or the odd stick of celery.

Bidet

Antique cast iron pan from Goodwill for $20. It's a BSR Red Mountain, late 30s early 40s. I use it all the time.
- God they don't make them like that anymore
  
  Eh, if you're talking about functionality, whatever piece of cast iron you get is going to be fine. Modern cast iron, they don't mill the cooking surface flat like they used to, but that doesn't affect anything really. I personally prefer the milled surface because I get a better feel with the stainless spatula, but it's totally a personal preference thing.
  Main thing you want is something that has enough mass to be able to stand up to high heat without warping. There were a couple of companies in the 20s and 30s making stamped steel pans that look like vintage cast iron the the uninitiated, and they are all warped basically beyond use, rusty, and not restorable like cast is. Good for decoration and nothing else.

Bidet.⛲
- First thing I thought of.
- Below 50$ ??
  
  $35 on Amazon.

My watch cost about $25 and definitely wins for best purchase. It's amazing just how nice it is to be able to tell the time and date with a glance instead of looking around for a clock or pulling out my phone. It also has alarm functionality, which is nice when I need a quiet alarm that will only wake me up.
- Good buy! Have you tried a sunrise alarm app? It gradually wakes you up with noise
  
  No, my alarm wakes me up just fine and I feel like I don't need yet another app.

I bought a nice big lamp for the living room from a second hand shop for 15€. It produces such a nice ambient light. Before that I was always fidgeting with the lights so that I don’t have a bright one in the evening hours. And it is also beautiful.

Vertical mouse. Been using it for 10+ years now and (I hope) it's saved me from wrist injuries.
- Good one. Mine also has a track ball on the thumb which I've really gotten to like. I've had to replace a few internal electronic pieces, mostly the click switches (I forget what they're called) but it's been going for a while now.

$30 ecorack for my bike

I bought a really cheap 11 dollar wireless charger for my car and it has lasted a crazy amount of time. It opens and closes with a sensor or a nub on the back that I run my finger across.
I did not expect it to last 6 years, but it's still going strong. It even survived me flipping my car.
- God that's a good buy! I love it when things like that happen

Handheld bidet sprayer.
Worth way more than the actual price
- I agree. Once you have one, you don’t wanna go back to only paper. I take mine with me in vacations.

I can get some amazing sushi delivered for that price.
- And for an extra 35 you can have an amazing time getting rid of that amazing sushi

Long ago, a $40 Malvern Star road bike. Ran a business from it for a few years in the outback.
More recently an old Convair evaporative air con second hand so my dog can keep cool on the back seat while I'm working nearby. (Had to buy a power pack thinggie for a lot more money to run it though.)

Victorinox MiniChamp swiss army knife, I've had it for... 13-14 years now, and it comes in useful so often. About £30/$40.

Wall can opener. My folks have issues with their hands so they can just go to it and twist it to the side and done.

Blender. emacs. FreeBSD. Mosaic. Godot.
- Gimp

54 comments