Something some people may not know about me is that I am a massive fan of thrift stores, as well as the dollar store. I have found some truly innovative items there for way less than you would find anywhere else. My husband found a pasta maker at Savers for only a few dollars, and now he uses it to make his own pasta. And it's gooooood.
Of course, you can find incredible, mind-blowing products anywhere for super cheap--you just need to know where to look. ToteMyRatchet asked:
What life changing item can you buy for under 100$?
You can really find some game-changers for cheap if you go to the right places.
Be warned- these can work a little too well.
“Blackout curtains! I've never slept so well, and could kick myself for not doing this years earlier.”
“Pair them with a blackout curtain rod, and it's next level. I'll never go back.”
Soooo worth it.
pillow GIF
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“A good pillow. Granted, bedding can be unreasonably overpriced, but $20 pillows at Target are not awesome. Invest in a good pillow. You spend 1/3 of your life on it.”
“I bought an 'expensive' pillow from €100 to €50 in a sale. It makes so much difference! Any hotel I stayed couldn't offer the same comfort.”
A must-have.
“An emergency roadside kit for your vehicle.”
“At Costco right now (in the US) you can get a CAT jump starter that's also a compressor to fill your tires as well as a power station with 120v, 12v, USB plug ins for $99.
Perfect for camping and if the power goes out as well.”
Good shoes are a necessity.
“A decent pair of shoes on clearance. Nice shoes, like Eccos, that are good for your feet. You might not think about it, but your feet and how you treat them are crucial for the health of you ankles, knees, hips and back. You're standing on those mfs all the time. They work hard for you, so get good shoes!
I'm not talking about designer bullsh*t or whatever is trendy.”
Think of all the amazing stuff you can get for less than $100. That’s cheaper than a night out!
Ooooh this is a good one.
Season 1 Episode 6 GIF by Living Single
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“Ladies... get a shower stool. I have a teak Japanese style one.. Shaving is infinitely easier without having to do shower yoga. Also, I no longer almost fall and die while switching legs. And it's easier to dissociate under the water.”
“I'm 1000% with you. I've had a chair in my shower for only a couple months and it makes everything easier. I also feel like I can sit in the shower and really REALLY tend to my feet without fear of slipping, falling, and dying lol”
Crazy Historical Events That Sound Fake But Are 100% True | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Life-changing af.
“A weighted blanket - my sleep life will never be the same.”
“Weighted blankets are great for people who like to cuddle or snuggle up to something when they sleep.”
Grateful gums.
“Electric toothbrush. Your teeth and gums will thank you forever!”
“Can confirm. Was gifted an electric toothbrush and have been teeth ever since. Gums still send me holiday cards.”
Of course, some things are much more crucial than others.
Much needed.
season 2 dancing GIF by NETFLIX
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“Condoms. Your life will change if you DON'T use them!”
“True. It won't be $100 anymore but your soul and your paycheck.”
A lot of useful info here.
“A good flashlight. The tl;dr here is that you need one more than you think, it's one of the most useful things you can own, and maglites and plastic crap are not even close in capability to what you can get these days.
Many of you have probably seen the feds recommending owning a dedicated flashlight- not the one in your phone. Which is absolutely good advice, because in the event you need a flashlight to see there's a good chance you're in a situation where you are not going to be able to charge your phone, and will have better uses for your phone battery.
And a lot of you are probably thinking "yeah no worries I have that plastic flashlight laying around here somewhere" or "oh yeah my dad's old maglite is in the garage." Guys, I love to break it to you, but the flashlight you have is probably terrible compared to proper modern flashlights.
And no, I don't mean the ones you get in the sporting goods section of WalMart- although some of those are reasonably okay, they're almost universally overpriced for what they are. And I sure don't mean this US MILITARY HIGH POWER EXTREME BEST FLASHLIGHT IN THE WORLD marketing traps you see on TV ads and kickstarters.
Nowadays you can get incredible flashlights that will light up your house better than your actual overhead lights, turn nighttime off in a 50 yard radius of you outside, or even fire a beam of light across a field or lake a mile away. For less than $100 bucks. Hell, in many cases, less than $50.
Now obviously I recommend heading over to r/flashlight if you want to do some research- although fair warning, you might catch the flashlight collecting bug and there's no coming back from that. But if you want my personal recommendation for some to check out-
The Sofirn SP36 is about the size of a soda can, and can put out about 100 times as much light as the flashlight on your phone in a big floody way that fills up rooms easily. Hovers around $60 on Amazon.
The Astrolux FT03: this is about as typical looking a flashlight as you can imagine, but the standard model can put out about 50 times as much light as your phone and will blast it out over 800 meters. About $35 if you're willing to sit around and wait for it to come from China in a couple weeks.
The Lumentop EDC18 is a pocket sized flashlight about the size of your thumb that can do over 50 times as much light as your phone. If you don't want a fancy user interface, go for the EDC18L. $50, or as little as $30 with a coupon on Amazon.
Anything from Olight, Sofirn, Convoy, Emisar, Noctigon, Nitecore, Wowtac, Thrunite, Surefire, Fenix, or Zebralight is going to blow your mind if you've not used a real modern flashlight before and will be probably be more than enough for a normal non flashlight fetishist. There are plenty of other companies I've forgotten to put in there I'm sure but I'll personally vouch for all of those.”
That sounds fantastic.
“Smart bulbs. Put one in a lamp in your bedroom and have it slowly brighten in the morning. It will change your life.”
“I have them all over my house and love them. I set them up with Alexa so they turn on and off on a schedule, I can tell them to dim or brighten, you can go party mode with different colors that flash or brighten along with the music, they're LED so they'll last forever, and it's great "security" when I'm out of town to make people think I'm home. All for like $10/each. Worth every penny, my lighting matches my moods now”
I hope all of you have added a few of these things to your shopping list. Put $100 aside from your next paycheck, and invest in a few of these truly life-changing item. You won’t regret it.
But we should also be prepared and ready to ask the right questions to have a leg up on the competition.
"What is THE best question to ask on a job interview?"
A company's history or information about a past employee were suggested subjects appropriate for questioning.
Prior Knowledge
"When you were interviewing here, what would you have liked to know before you joined?"
"This worked for me. I asked my interviewer a question about how she had personally dealt with a company policy she had just explained. She bragged about her stellar adherence to the policy. I nodded my approval. I got the job."
A Previous Employee
"One that has always gone over well for me:"
"What were some qualities that the previous employee in this role brought to the job that you would like to see carried forward?"
"Another good thing to do is research the company you are interviewing with and you can ask things about what they may be involved in or you could drop that while reading about the company, you wondered this."
Hypothetical questions were suggested as helpful examples of inquiry.
Indicators Of How Companies Treat Employees
"A question that landed me a job once was: 'If I asked your direct reports about your management style, what do you think they'd tell me?' Stumped a hiring manager and he emailed me personally to tell me about it, no one ever asked him that question but got the job.
"In my current interviews I'm asking 'what did your company do for its employees during [the virus] to improve their day to day, work life balance, etc.' and I ask 'Is there anything your company adopted during [the virus] that they plan to keep post [the virus]?"
"These questions give a lot of insight into whether a company treated their employees well."
Past Performance & Adjustments
"If we were currently sitting in my 1 year review, what would I have done in this year for you to say I excelled in my role?"
"If I could snap my finger right now and change anything about your job or the company, what would it be and why?"
The following questions about a prospective company may not be answered from initial digging on their website.
Measure Of Success & Career Trajectories
"How is success measured in this role?"
"What are some possible career trajectories within the company that could stem from this position?"
Being A Solution
"Ask them what is the biggest problem you can solve for them in your first six months with the company. Similar to 'don't think of a purple hippo,' this forces them to imagine you succeeding in the position."
Simply The Best
"Who is your best employee and why is he/she the best?"
"You will then face 2 situations mostly:"
"panicking CEO who can't answer you 'Bob who works 17 hours a day for a slice of bread' so the fear in their faces must be a big nono for you"
"entusiast CEO who actually follow their business and can tell you who is an added value for the company and why."
– ThePiz91
My experiences with job interviews are different than others seeking work in office environments.
Having had a years-long career as a dancer, my "interview" was the dance audition, where hopefuls dance in small groups of people at a time after learning a routine and then awaiting their fate after the panel evaluates their performances.
The question I may or may not have asked in such a scenario earlier in my career was: "Did I make the cut?"
I did not make the cut. And I learned never to ask that again.
I remember the worst date I ever had. My biggest regret is that I stayed for the entire thing. I should've left as soon as I realized this was not going well, which was basically at hello. But he was paying so I drank, a lot. I'll keep names and dates to myself to protect the innocent.
0/10
Big Brother Reaction GIF by Big Brother After DarkGiphy"Went to brewery, date said I had hairy arms and that meant I was horny, said "you look really awful in this light" and then tried to dig out of that hole by saying in his native language that was a term of endearment long term couples said to each other. 0/10 did not date again."
Lucky 13?
"My wife wanted to plan our 13th wedding anniversary. I was excited because usually, I plan it. She bought us some new disc golf discs and after a quick supper, we went to play. We hadn't played in forever. We were laughing and I had a great time. She served me with divorce papers and told me that the date was a test to see if she still had feelings for me. I also learned that she was having an affair that started well before our anniversary."
- rmorlock
Two Hours from Home
"Not necessarily a date but a person I was dating invited me to his parent's house for the afternoon. He wanted to introduce me to them and show me the house he grew up in. I thought it was super sweet and had no problems going. He was also in the middle of moving and needed to pick up a few things, so it really didn't seem that unusual."
"Yeah, we got there and it was awful. His entire family was there. They traveled from hours away too. This was not just meeting the parents, it was meeting the ENTIRE family. Even worse? At some point, this idiot told his parents that he had proposed. We had been dating TWO months. I spent the entire afternoon dumbfounded and just playing along."
"We were two hours from home and I had no cell service, no way to leave at all. We ended up spending the afternoon brainstorming wedding ideas and planning an Alaskan honeymoon that his parents planned to gift us. His brother even called to say congratulations! We drove back to his apartment in silence. When we got there, I got in my car and left, didn't even bother grabbing my stuff. Weirdest experience ever. I have no idea how he broke it to his parents that we weren't getting married."
You're Cut Off!
"Got set up on a blind date once between mutual friends. She shows up to the restaurant already a little tipsy, orders multiple appetizers and only takes like one or two bites from each one. Then she proceeds to order 3 or 4 more drinks and is visibly drunk at this point. She gets up and says she's going to the bathroom and staggers off. About 15-20 minutes go by so I try to call her several times but no answer."
"Finally I decide to pay the check and just leave. About 2 hours later I'm sitting at home and I get a call from an unknown number. It's the police department. She was picked up on a DUI on her way home after she ditched me and gave the cops my number to see if I could go bail her out!"
- mox44ah
Sorry?
Bbc Three Idk GIF by BBCGiphy"Well, I gave this answer on a different topic, but it ties in with this. We were out on a date, we had been seeing each other for a while, close to a year maybe. She gets a phone call. Suddenly she looks destroyed. Her fiancé had just died in a motorcycle accident."
What in the world? I mean how can we ever expect to pair off with the dating pool being inundated with liars and nut jobs? I'm going to delete my apps.
Girl, Bye.
Sassy Beyonce GIFGiphy"Had a girl openly flirt with the bartender in front of me. She says she wasn't. But handing him her own phone and asking for his contact info in front of her date seems like it to me."
Crazy!
"Came out from a movie, late at night, and date's Camaro was stolen. Apparently, he called his WIFE (that I did not know he had) and let her know where he was and what happened. She showed up and realized he was on a date! She started chasing ME around the parking lot telling me she was going to kill me. Saved by the cops who showed up just in time to take the auto theft report."
Hey Mom
"Met a girl at a country bar one night in my 20s. We were both pretty drunk but hit it off pretty good. Ended up getting her number and we agreed we'd go on a real date. Fast forward to the date, she gets in my vehicle and... she looks almost identical to my mom. I was mortified. I was polite and we went for lunch where I found out she also had a boyfriend she "wasn't sure if she was into". Never talked to her again."
- SgtGo
Liars...
"When I was in college many years ago, before the advancement of cell phones and social media, I was chatting with a girl I met on a BBS who lived on Long Island, NY. I was 18 at the time, but lied and said I was 22 because she said she was 25. We spent a few weeks emailing each other, as well as calling each other."
"We even exchanged pics. When we finally met up, things blew up. Turns out we both lied about our ages: She was really 33, and lied because she thought she looked younger. She admitted she sent a college photo to me. We still had dinner together, but it was awkward as hell. We never spoke again."
Doubles
Kill Me Now Season 1 GIF by FriendsGiphy"It was a double date. She was more interested talking to the other girl throughout the whole thing. Found out later from the other guy that his girl cheated on him with my date."
Ummm... I think I'm just going to stay single. That is a handful of crazy. Why can't people just be honest? I swear the search for love warps people's brains. Be careful out there people.
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