Low risk products that people swear by.
A tree donation.
Instead grow a tree and get rid of shitty lawn
If you have a lawn to get rid of, sure. If you don’t have an area to grow a tree yourself, a tree donation still is a feasible alternative.
I don’t know if they still exist. But there were these machines in casinos that took dollar bills, and always seem to pay out really well. 1 of paper equals 4 of coin everytime.
Foam earplugs if you’re headed to a noisy area. I know too many people that have damaged their hearing by not protecting it at concerts and other venues with amplified sounds.
Arizona Iced Tea.
Condom
The last campfire on steam when its on sale.
A vpn subscription over 3 years or split the cost with a friend, it comes to about 1 something a month. Cheaper than those shitty subscription services.
A few things you could probably get for $1, but would be better if bought in bulk:
A permanent marker, a package of labels. Combined, you can reuse your Amazon boxes as storage boxes. Labels aren’t necessary, but black text on a white background is easier to read from a distance.
Box cutter knife/utility knife. Can be used to cut holes in Amazon boxes for pets to play in. Or, simply keep them but the front door so you can open packages right away.
Hook-and-loop (Velcro) ties for wires. Can be used to tidy up the wires behind your desk, or for charging cables when traveling.
Dish soap (without degreaser)/baby shampoo. Aside from their original purposes, these can both be used to clean glass before applying a permanent tint (or just to clean glass normally) or to wash your car (degreasers can wear away at your clear coat over time.) Both can be found at the dollar store.
Colgate regular toothpaste. (If you don’t have tooth sensitivity) You don’t need colgate total. You should still use an electric toothbrush. You should not use the cheap off-brand toothpaste. You should also floss.
Jellyfin/Subsonic/Plex Server If you have a digital library (movies, shows, music) and an old computer/laptop/raspberry pi, you can put one of these three programs on it and host your own, personal, Netflix/Spotify for free with no ads. You only need to pay for electricity. You need to learn a bit to set it all up, but once it’s done it’s very set-and-forget. You’ll also need to buy or find your new media online (or rip it from a disk), which can be a big change for some.
Something else that has a low barrier to entry: origami. Learn how to make a square from any sheet of paper, then learn how to make the traditional paper crane. All you need is any piece of paper and scissors (to cut it into a square). If you enjoy making the crane, there’s an endless amount of models to fold. The craft has exponentially taken off in the last few decades, just do a little searching.
The only things I can even think of that are still that cheap are like… A single fruit or vegetable, salt, and ramen. I guess bananas are cool? 🤷🏻♂️
It’s a buck 25 now, but you can get two Inc brand R2 pens at dollar tree. They’re the only thing I’ve written with for nearly a decade now. They’re a smooth ballpoint with a slight bleed in 0.7 making your penmanship look bold, smooth, and steady. Everything my handwriting lacks. They now make a 0.5 and is equally as clean but far better for smallest script. One pen lasts me about 6 months of regular writing.
smooth ballpoint
I bet they’re a “rollerball” pen rather than a ballpoint. Those move a lot more-readily than ballpoints, kinda glide.
kagis
Yeah.
https://www.amazon.com/R-2-0-7-Roller-Ball-Pens/dp/B004B7RLWS
They’re rollerball pens.
Lots of different pen manufacturers make those. Sometimes you’ll see gel rollerball pens sold as “gel pens”. If you want an even smoother movement and can live with thicker lines, you can get a broader tip – those have even less resistance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollerball_pen
Roller ball pens or roll pens are pens which use ball point writing mechanisms with water-based liquid or gelled ink, as opposed to the oil-based viscous inks found in ballpoint pens. These less viscous inks, which tend to saturate more deeply and more widely into paper than other types of ink, give roller ball pens their distinctive writing qualities. The writing point is a tiny ball, usually 0.5 or 0.7 mm in diameter, that transfers the ink from the reservoir onto the paper as the pen moves.
In comparison to ballpoint pens,
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Rollerball pens have a unique ink flow system for an even, high-performance writing experience.
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Less pressure needs to be applied to the pen to have it write cleanly. This permits holding the pen with less stress on the hand, saving energy and improving comfort. This can also translate to quicker writing speeds. This is especially true of liquid ink pens.
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Their inks usually have a greater range of colors due to the wider choice of suitable water-soluble dyes and/or to the use of pigments.
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They tend to write more clearly than ballpoint pens do.
There are a number of disadvantages inherent to roller ball pens:
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Roller ball pens with liquid-ink are more likely to “bleed” through the paper. Liquid ink is more readily absorbed into the paper due to its lower viscosity. This viscosity also causes problems when leaving the tip on the paper. The bleed-through effect is greatly increased as the ink is continually absorbed into the paper, creating a blotch. This does not affect gel-ink roller ball pens as much. This is one way through which the thickness of gel-ink gives it an advantage, in that it isn’t as prone to being absorbed. Though the bleed-through effect of a gel-ink roller ball is greater than that of a ballpoint, it is usually not too significant.
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Roller ball pens generally run out of ink more quickly than ballpoints because roller balls use a greater amount of ink while writing. This is especially true of liquid-ink roller balls, due to gel ink having a low absorption rate as a result of its thickness. Neither lasts as long as a ballpoint.
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Uncapped roller ball pens are more likely to leak ink when, for example, placed into a shirt pocket, but most pens include caps or other mechanisms to prevent this from happening.
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A roller ball tip is more likely to clog and jam when writing over correction fluid that has not yet completely dried. This often renders the ink cartridge useless.
The WP article doesn’t mention it, but rollerballs also don’t work well with carbon paper, as you don’t need to push hard enough to create an impression from the carbon paper the way you do with a ballpoint. But as long as that isn’t an issue for your application…shrug
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Cheap scissors for your car. You never know when you need to open something that would be difficult to do with your hands for whatever reason.
4 quarters
Dollar Tree movie candy
i had a suoer cheap keyring that kept getting out of shape and poking my leg and dropping keys that i tolerated for years. finally i splurged and bought a thicker one for $1 and it totally solved the problem.
Starting this out:
P51 Military Can Openers: I have several of these. I have one on a tiny magnet attached to my kitchen door should I ever need it. Works about as well as any other can opener. Easy to slip in a drawer, keychain, car, exct.
Mason Jar plastic reusable lids: great for storage as well as meal prep. I have a lot of mason jars and these are awesome.
The spicy potato soft taco from taco bell
Also the bean burrito
If I want a cheap, quick dinner I’ll get a few of those in some combination
