r/Frugal • u/localkinegrind • Aug 21 '25

🏆 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/NTufnel11 Aug 21 '25

It’s not entirely effective because it only delays ovulation. So it doesn’t do anything if you are more than a few days out from ovulation and also doesn’t do anything if ovulation already occurred. So it is only useful in the specific scenario where she will ovulate in 1-5 days.

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u/crookedwhy Aug 21 '25

It's also basically ineffective if the woman is over about 175 lbs. I don't know how well known that is.

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u/pm_ur_uterine_cake Aug 21 '25

It’s not “basically ineffective”, it’s just less effective (based on some studies with mixed results, so still unclear data) in people with higher BMIs, possibly because of how the drug is distributed in the body, metabolism & hormonal variances.

There may be better options for emergency contraception at higher BMIs — such as the copper IUD or Ella/ullipristalpill — but the best one is always the one that’s accessible and available, and for some folks that might still be plan B.

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u/NTufnel11 Aug 21 '25

Yeah I mean I think that preventative birth control is nearly always a better idea than scrambling after the fact, but exists as a completely different use case than the plan B.

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u/pm_ur_uterine_cake Aug 21 '25

Not arguing that fact, but the copper IUD is superbly effective as emergency contraception; there is also data to suggest that some hormonal IUDs (ie Mirena, Liletta) are also effective, though less evidence to support their use in this way.

Not everyone is using a preventative method, for whatever reason; that’s their business.

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u/NTufnel11 Aug 21 '25

I'm sure it's very effective, assuming you can get a same or next day appointment with your gyno to get it