What is/was your most functional/useful purchase?

[missy]

So I usually go by PPW...meaning cost per use/wear when deciding if a purchase is worthwhile
By far my most helpful and useful purchases have been exercise stuff.
Free weights (kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells), functional trainer, treadmill, elliptical

I love working out and do it because one, it helps me destress and two, sweating and getting my heart pumping hard feels good (especially when I am finished lol) and three, it is good for my health



Some were pricey purchases but I never regretted them and price per use has made them more than worthwhile to me
I am not a gym person so that really is not an option for me so a home gym is my best choice and I definitely get my money's worth






A better photo of the functional trainer at the store



My set up at the beach but I couldn't fit in the free weights in the photo and excuse the editing with the blue boxes lol. Just a few unmentionables air drying








How about you? What was/is your best/most worthwhile purchase to date regarding function?

 

[missy]

Oops almost forgot. My Pilates Reformer. I love it.
I have one in NY (photo below) and one here at the beach house.
I have duplicated almost all my exercise equipment so I can workout wherever we are

 

[winetime12]

My vehicle, I use it almost every day and I couldn't function without one. The bus system in my town is terrible especially in the outskirts, I just couldn't make it work.

 

[stracci2000]

The dishwasher!
When we moved into this house 20 years ago, the original dishwasher was not functional. I washed dishes by hand for a long time.
We finally got a new one a few years ago.
Best purchase ever.

 

[missy]

The dishwasher!
When we moved into this house 20 years ago, the original dishwasher was not functional. I washed dishes by hand for a long time.
We finally got a new one a few years ago.
Best purchase ever.

OMG yes. I could not live without a dishwasher for too long. Especially with my chilblains. It would wreak havoc even through gloves. That and electiricy and AC are the best inventions ever. And a home generator. I better stop because I am realizing I would not have done well if I lived hundreds of years ago lol. My DH always says I also would not do well in an apocalyptic world

 

[missy]

My vehicle, I use it almost every day and I couldn't function without one. The bus system in my town is terrible especially in the outskirts, I just couldn't make it work.

Ha good point. I am a city girl so didn't even learn to drive til my 20s and I am not a big fan of driving just because I have a terrible sense of direction. But now we are in the suburbs and there is no way we could live here without a car. Though we probably use our one car a lot less than other people do

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Apart from our car which is essential for getting four people where they need to go….I would have to say our enamel table.

Prior to getting this table we had a wooden table, but having little kids, the finish quickly became worn. So I decided to sell that table and found an old enamel top table and matching chairs (6). I think we paid $120 for the set. we have used this table for every dinner, holiday, we have done crafts, carved pumpkins and it still looks as good as the day we bought it.

Here is a picture of one similar. Our chairs are all the natural wood finish:

 

[dk168]

I would say my grenadilla wooden professional YCL650 Yamaha clarinet that replaced the cheapo resin student clarinet I had was one of my best buy.

I bought it in February 2020 shortly before the pandemic started, and donated the student instrument to my clarinet teacher.

It makes learning and playing so much more enjoyable, definitely worth the expense!

DK

 

[lala646]

My new Kindle! I had an old Nook that worked perfectly well, so I held onto it for a very long time. But I was noticing more and more that I wasn't enjoying reading, and it was making my eyes so tired. So I finally splurged on a new Kindle paperwhite (not a huge splurge, admittedly), but good lord that subtle backlight has made all the difference! I'm back to devouring books, and my eyes are happy once again.

 

[Lookinagain]

My counter top mini oven. Not expensive, but very convenient. And it does multiple things, like bake, air fry, toast, dehydrate, etc. I rarely use my regular oven anymore.

 

[diamondringlover]

ha my air fryer...we use those things till they fall apart lol

 

[pearlsngems]

I'm all about function, so this question stymies me. As I think of what I own, I realize the vast majority of it is highly functional and useful.
I would have an easier time saying what is least functional and useful. (But I happen to like those things, which is one reason why my attempts to reduce the contents of this small house are so challenging.)

But out of all these things, I will just pick one-- my top-loading Speed Queen washer, which I got in 2015 after having had a bad experience with 2 different HE washes before that. The Speed Queen is built like a tank, has electromechanical controls and never gives me an ounce of trouble. (I wish the same were true for the dryer, but that is another story.)

 

[seaurchin]

Most recently, my CPAP machine. I didn't realize how much I needed it until I started using it.

 

[kenny]

House

 

[molecule]

My counter top mini oven. Not expensive, but very convenient. And it does multiple things, like bake, air fry, toast, dehydrate, etc. I rarely use my regular oven anymore.

These are great for the summer as well.

 

[Kim N]

My new Kindle! I had an old Nook that worked perfectly well, so I held onto it for a very long time. But I was noticing more and more that I wasn't enjoying reading, and it was making my eyes so tired. So I finally splurged on a new Kindle paperwhite (not a huge splurge, admittedly), but good lord that subtle backlight has made all the difference! I'm back to devouring books, and my eyes are happy once again.

I love the Kindle Paperwhite too! Definitely one of my more useful purchases.

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

I bought an Iphone immediately when they came out because I thought it would be really convenient not to have to carry a phone and an iPod separately.

 

[Mreader]

Here I am bringing up my espresso machine again, but my espresso machine lol. I bought a good one eight years ago and LOVE IT. I had been brewing with one of those Mr Coffee machines and steaming milk with the same dinky machine. But I had previously worked as a barista in college and always loved good espresso drinks.

I will say that it’s a myth that you save $ from not buying coffee in a café. We spend a lot on specialty beans.

My latte art:

 

[qubitasaurus]

I think the bed, we upgraded to get a king recently as our kids also insist on sleeping there.

We often notice the quality of the bed is non negotiable when we travel.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Instant Pot. It has been so useful to make broth supplements for the dog. I use it to make bone broth and chicken feet broth so she gets the nutrients and collagen for her old bones and joints.

 

[LilAlex]

Honestly: engagement ring

 

[LightBright]

I'm all about function, so this question stymies me. As I think of what I own, I realize the vast majority of it is highly functional and useful.
I would have an easier time saying what is least functional and useful. (But I happen to like those things, which is one reason why my attempts to reduce the contents of this small house are so challenging.)

But out of all these things, I will just pick one-- my top-loading Speed Queen washer, which I got in 2015 after having had a bad experience with 2 different HE washes before that. The Speed Queen is built like a tank, has electromechanical controls and never gives me an ounce of trouble. (I wish the same were true for the dryer, but that is another story.)

Thanks I needed this info today!

 

[Dreamer_D]

My bidet Love that thing.

 

[yssie]

My kitchen knives.

Wusthof Classics. Specifically - my 6” chef’s knife, my 3” paring knife, and my bread knife. I barely use the others but I’ve doubled up on those three. Daily use for over a decade with minimal care... Using dull, poorly weighted, or unbalanced knives drives me bonkers now - and Wusthof isn’t even high-end, it’s kinda the upper middle class of knife brands?

And my baby end grain cutting boards. End grain to save the knives, smaller sizes to save my sanity during cleanup! The one time my husband used the 25lb behemoth board for dinner prep and I lost my gourd…

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

My two air fryers. Love love love love love! I use both everyday! I have a tween who eats ridiculous amounts so I’m always heating things up or he’s always baking himself snacks.

My thermal pot! It was popular in Hong Kong in the 90s and it’s a big hit with me. I’m very sensitive about my energy consumption so this pot saves so much energy when I’m making all my Viet soup noodles, pulled pork, mashed potatoes, steamed dumplings etc

 

[lavenderdragonfly23]

Tinco

No more moping the floors on my hands and knees…ok, maybe twice a year. But this thing has saved my back. Vacuum and mop at the same time, separate containers for clean and dirty water….. soooo satisfying.

 

[Begonia]

Heating pad for cold feet that helps me fall/fall back asleep.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

sunbeam thermo oven
these things are brilliant for a small household
we are on our third one (over about 25 years)
unfortunatly i broke the therostate on the middle one but the latest one i got for $30 at the hospise shop, looked like it was used about once, many people have these because they sold them on the infomrecials but so many people never use them, ours sits on the kitchen bench so we use it most days, does the best ever roast potaos and chicken tastes like rottiseri
i just used it to cook bacon for sandwhiches for breakfast

 

[Austina]

I have 2 huge ovens, which frankly take ages to heat up and retain heat long after I’ve finished. I looked in to air fryer ovens, and then hey presto, went to Costco and they had the perfect one.

We bought the Gourmia XL air fryer oven with french doors, and we’ve had it several months now, and I haven’t used my wall ovens at all since buying it. Definitely worth the money, the only issue is that I can‘t boil the kettle at the same time as the fuse pops if I do!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

me again
sorry im procrastinating and its too hot to move
the one personally i find most surprising and dissapointing is the soda stream,
another present from work
when i was a kid we had two, (dad had always had one of those classic soda machines from way back when to make soda water in his 1960's home bar)
one in each house, they used 300mm bottles -maybe even 200ml but it was the size of mum's glass tumblers

we were allowed one for lunch and one after school and we could make them for our friends, so we only made like 1 glass at a time, we lived not far from a popular loacl fizzy drink maker and on a saturday dad would take us most weeks to buy a new weird and wonderful flavor, and it was easy to exchange the fizzy bomb thing, i think we called it a bulb, but it was our thing to do with dad on a saturday morning !
and yes we had good teeth !
also in those days mum didnt buy fizzy drink very often if ever and we ran around a lot outside and didnt eat a lot of processed food and takeaways were a big treat as were chips and chocolate, although the tins were always full of home baking

so we got this thing for xmas and it sat on the bench so long the bulb went flat, we could only find propper soda stream in very limited flavours in the shops and they went off - like we actually got sick drinking one that had been made from expired syrup, the old flavours never expired so we didnt even think of that
also mum had a milk shake machine and my favourite was made with raspberry soda syrup
nowdays the container (instead of the small single serve glass bottle) is too large on the new one, its just a waste of space in all respects, we cant even give it away

and saddest of all i googled that old fizzy drink factory, its still going but only makes about 6 flavors these days