Asklemmy

Victorinox Swiss Army Knife. It's still kicking. The amount of times I've used it, it saves so much time than looking for the proper dedicated tool.

A metal wallet. Definitely worth it if you don't carry a lot. Mine is maybe 10 years old now or more.

3+ year old used Lenovo Thinkpads, these things are great if you need a budget laptop that's not for gaming. A lot of companies lease them. When the lease expires you can get them very cheap because they flood the market.

General Military Surplus. We have a shop a few kilometers a way that sells surplus. They get in brand new stuff all the time. Still in packaging. It's built well. Keep in mind military surplus isn't just in the field stuff. Laptop bags, shirts, blankets, hats.

A pet. Worth every penny. Got my cat from a shelter, he's been there for me through thick and thin. Gives great hugs.

My steam deck. Mine is still less than a year old, but holy shit I've been using the fuck out of mine. Worth every penny.

Safety razor: When you need to shave with a razor, these things work better than disposables and are cheap as hell to replace the blades for. Still on my original pack of blades from 10 years ago (got a gross of blades for maybe $20) and am not even halfway through - I might not ever have to buy blades again.

The last apartment I had, the AC was old and would always go out a few times each summer. By the 3rd time, I went to the hardware store looking for a box fan, but they were out and only had an industrial fan that was more expensive, like $40. I bought it out of desperation. But looking back it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. Any time the AC went out, id whip out that metal beast and only ever put it on the first setting because the other 2 settings were way too powerful for an apartment. It's never given me any trouble over the years and has saved us from some very hot weather. If I had known then how good this fan was, I would have gladly paid more for it. It's currently being used in our house while we do renovations this summer and it's working like a charm!

Minecraft

Condom

My old roommate got a window air conditioner for $20. I got about 15 years of use out of it until I had the windows replaced on the house and it didnt fit anymore. I sold it for $50.

Collapsible metal travel chopsticks. Always have a useful set of utensils on me. Cost me less than $10.

I'm still loving my iPod Classic. I got it a little Bluetooth dongle so I can listen via my hearing aids. I find iTunes beyond irritating though and am always looking for an alternative for adding music.

I bought a really cheap pair of winter boots in 2002. No-name brand, cost about the equivalent of €15 in a grocery store. I just needed something.

I was disappointed as first because the lace loops were poorly attached and fell off after a week, but I decided to fix them with a tiny bolt that I found in my tool box. It's a little difficult to explain..

Anyway, they've been holding up since then. I only need them on days with snow, so the soles don't really wear out, the leather is still waterproof and the glue still holds up.

It was a complete fluke purchase. I wish I could recommend this or that brand, but I suppose that neither the brand or model has been available since I bought them 22 years ago on sale.

A shoehorn. It makes putting shoes on so much easier, and for just a couple of dollars. I'm perfectly capable of putting my shoes on without it, but I enjoy not having to.

My nintendo DS lite. Played countless hours in it and it‘s still very good. Battery life is also still a couple of hours which is very impressive considering it‘s 15 years old.

My first Chromecast i bought years ago for 20$. It's still faster than the Google TV with a remote and I quite like to use my phone as a remote.

LTT screwdriver - although quite expensive has been a great tool when moving a few times, and for everything really.

An old receiver I got used, for 30$ has been with me for 5 years now, and it's sadly starting to misbehave, but I can't afford a new one ATM so I'll suffer through it as it powers everything I throw at it with ease.

My Zune will never die.

I grew up in a third world country and one of the first gift my immigrant relatives got for my parents was a microwave oven. That was way back in the early 90s when almost nobody in my country knew what a microwave oven was. The same microwave had been going strong for more than 30 years before the buttons finally broke last year. All for around $200 back in the day.

steamdeck is proving worthwhile and I don't usually splurge for things like that.

Leatherman with matching bitset. Bought it on a whim 10 years ago and I use it constantly for lots of things. It wasn't my cheapest purchase, but damn has it gotten me out of a lot of difficult project situations where no proper toolbox was available. I've literally filled and repaired entire server racks with this thing.

Skyrim for $3 on PS3. Best money I ever spent on a video game.

portable clothes washer and dryer: they're both 20 years old now and i bought them used on craigslist five years ago and they've already paid for themselves multiple times over. regular home sized portable washers and driers are normally 2x the price of traditional washers and driers, but they're 1/2 the price used; i got lucky and mine were 1/4 the price.

mobile clothes washers and driers are great because they don't require any special electrical, water or drain hookups that traditional washers and dryers require so you can use them anywhere where there's electricity and running water. i hook mine up to the kitchen sink for the washer and use an exhaust hose w a window for the dryer whenever i need to do laundry; then i use their built in wheels to put them in the closet when i'm done.

their regular sized capacity means that i can wash the same things that that a traditional home washer and dryer can do, but since they use regular 120 volt electric plugs instead of the special 240 volt washer/dryer plugs, they take longer to finish; but still worth it, especially in a rental situation where you can't install traditional washer & dryer electrical and plumbing hookups.

Hair clippers. I bought a set at Target for about $30 about 16-17 years ago after several bad haircuts in a row from the various chain barbers. I just have a simple men's cut and figured I probably wouldn't do worse than them and could always shave it off and call it a learning experience if I messed things up too badly.

It definitely took time to get decent at trimming the back and I had to have my wife help me sometimes while I got the hang of it, but at $20+ per haircut every 4-5 weeks, I figure I've saved almost $4k so far and it still works. I saved even more if my alternative was to pay up for a better salon to do the work.

Simple reusable tie wraps. I haven't bought any in years because I can just undo and reuse.

This smartphone I bought used for $20 almost a decade ago had been a pretty good deal... Other than that, a tea ball for loose leaf tea (couple dollars)... Maybe Minecraft back in day ($13)...

Also always glad to have a plunger (just regular one) whenever I need it. Hmm

Oh I know! A legit big flashlight that I keep by the door. Everyone has a light on their smartphone, but there's nothing like busting out the flashlight when you just want to see.

Pro tip: always leave it in the same exact easy to reach spot, so you can find it in the dark

Rei tent I got for 50$ at their parking lot sale. I've used it 4 or 5 times a year for 7 or 8 years now and still in great shape.

Walked into the store on boxing week and saw a roku stick on clearance for $10. Used it for years until the remote died. Used the phone app with it for a while until i found another roku kit on sale for less than a replacement remote.

My father got a toaster at a garage sale back in the 1970's. That was the toaster I grew up with. When I was moving out, my parents happen to be replacing it, so I asked for it. I did some research and it is a GE toaster from the mid 1950's. I have used it for the past ten years and it's still going strong. It's maybe a bit small for some slices, but it's hard to argue with 70 years of near continuous service.

Got a set with a box cutter and a foldable knife a few years back for $7, haven't really used the knife much but the box cutter has been used a ton. It's really nice to just be able to replace the blade when it starts getting dull, and it has allowed me to use it for a lot of precision cutting for a lot of different projects, plus it's really easy to fold or unfold so I don't have to worry too much about cutting myself.

Our 10 to 15 year old 50" smasung LCD. Was top of the line back in the day, now its not 4k so that's it.

Found it 3 years ago standing at our buildings garbage dump. Bought a google TV for it, and with my jellyfin setup it has been a blast as a bedroom TV

Edit; just to clarify, this only works with older Samsung TV's and devices, anything new from Samsung will be crap

Stackable prep bowls for the kitchen. They're about $6 a piece and I have eight of them. I got sick of constantly running out of bowls when I was doing things like chopping lots of veggies for a soup or marinating tofu. I expect to reach the end of my "usefulness" before they do.

Similarly, I have a set of 12 rounded stacking mixing bowls. I use them a lot for tossed salads, but they are also useful for dough.

Handheld car battery jump starter. $20 off Amazon, worked through two winters.

• couch cup holder
• crockpot
• rice-cooker

My Nintendo and controllers from 1987 still work.

Do free things count?

Your question is a little too narrow for my tastes. Some of the best cheap purchases that I've made are things that I still have now. They haven't worn out or broken or become useless.

In 2001 I bought a new cast iron fry pan for $20 that I use on regular basis and it's marvelous. Around the same time, I bought some used silverware from a thrift store and I still use that everyday.

Two other purchases that go back more than 20 years are my pocket knife and my 1/4 inch hex driver, both of which I bought new but were not particularly expensive and they are working wonderfully to this very day.