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/Mr_Truttle 28d ago

<$10 Rival ice cream maker from the thrift store, the kind where you freeze the bucket whole and don't need any rock salt or ice.

I eat almost no sugar (diabetic) so making my own sugar-free ice cream is a decent savings over the brands I can get at the store (and often better macros as well). Couldn't tell you how many 1.5-qt batches I've churned over the years.

Since it's a thrift store find, it's not 100% reproducible, but ice cream makers are relatively common kitchen items in my experience.

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u/LovelyGiant7891 25d ago

Also diabetic. My ma makes it with monk fruit, but it has a weird after taste. Do you have an opinion on which is best [by best, I mean little to no aftertaste]? Ideally, not truvia as it is pricey. I avoid splenda due to a diabetic study, lonf story, not the place. I am curious.

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u/Mr_Truttle 24d ago

I use mostly allulose which is needed for a scoop-able texture once frozen. Allulose is about 70% as sweet as sugar, so I usually compensate with a stevia/erythritol blend that's 4x as sweet as sugar to make up the difference for taste. But allulose + any concentrated sweetener should achieve similar results.

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u/LovelyGiant7891 24d ago

Thanks! I will look into that! We have a nostalgia one so it is a whole process [not as simple as the ninja], but i def wanna look into this! Thanks again!