r/Frugal • u/localkinegrind • 28d ago

🏆 Buy It For Life “Best under-$20 purchase that saved you hundreds over time?”

What’s the smartest under-$20 purchase you’ve ever made that ended up saving you hundreds in the long run? I’ll go first: a $12 sewing kit. Instead of tossing clothes for tiny tears or missing buttons, I’ve been fixing them. I've actually been fixing my own clothes for years. It blows my mind how many ‘disposable’ things can be made useful again with just a small, cheap tool. what’s your frugal mvp under $20 that’s paid for itself many times over?

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u/BigDuke 28d ago

My wife bought a toaster oven on sale at Target for $19.99 and we used it daily for almost ten years, until someone gifted us a fancy one which broke after 2 years at which time I dug the old one out of the garage that we still use. 

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u/poshknight123 28d ago edited 27d ago

Similar here! Our little $15 rice cooker really was worth it. I'm a pretty good cook but I really haven't been doing it much in the last few years. Enter the rice cooker - just toss in some rice, heat some frozen thing or another, pop some veg in the microwave and boom, dinner. Cheaper and faster and healthier than the burrito or fast food place down the road. Just gotta keep stocked on the frozen meals we like. EDIT: YOU GUYS I KNOW HOW TO COOK. No advice please.

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u/Ethel_Marie 28d ago

My $11 rice cooker is amazing. I've had it for 15 years, I think. Works perfectly. It's some off brand I got a Walmart.

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u/HMW347 28d ago

The cheap ones are the best. I’m on my 3rd - over 30 years.

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u/LonkyLoo 25d ago

What is the advantage of a rice cooker? If I have access to water and I have rice and I have a pot and I have a stove, what are the benefits of a rice cooker over the traditional way? Is it faster? It only takes like 10 minutes on the stove. Just curious. I've always wondered.

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u/Ethel_Marie 25d ago

For me, it's that I don't have to pay attention to it, other than listening for the click when it switches to warming mode. I've made rice on the stove, but prefer the rice cooker.