Extra long shoe horn. I eventually upgraded to a solid metal one when the cheap one broke.

Wireless phone charger. I'll be stuck somewhere looking at my low battery life, and suddenly remember it's in my purse. It isn't the fastest charge but it is useful.

Really good nailclippers:

https://www.victorinox.com/en-US/Products/Swiss-Army-Knives/Personal-Care/Nail-Clipper/p/8.2050.B1

If you're willing to go over the $20 barrier, you get more functionality:

https://www.victorinox.com/en-US/Products/Swiss-Army-Knives/Small-Pocket-Knives/Nail-Clip-580/p/0.6463

I liked it enough, I bought two more.

Smallest MagLite:

https://maglite.com/products/solitaire-led-key-chain-flashlight-with-gift-card-gift-box

Waterproof mattress protector. Pays for itself after one accident or spill.

I bought a Rada Quick Edge at a thrift store for $2.

Was always taught my my metal-smith grandfather how to properly care for and sharpen knives, but when I tried it out on a knife I cared little for, I found it was such a shocking difference in efficiency I couldn't help but notice.

It completely changed my relationship with knives and knife care, which was so helpful for me because I cook everything from scratch and whole ingredients. Everything, so having good knives is not kids-play for me.

It made me discover that for me, using a quick sharpening wheel and a hone gets my knives beard-shaving sharp in less than 30 seconds. I could never go back to the "right way" and I firmly joined the "dark side" of knife ownership.

Yes they destroy knives with some aggression, far more than traditional methods, but in the forensic audit it has saved me hundreds in a literal way, and hundreds of hours laboring over sharpening stones.

I no longer need to pamper knives, I buy cheap German steel chef knives on sale for $5-$20 and I throw them out in 3 or 4 years. I'll never go back. All the hysterics from knife "gurus" on YT be damned - in my personal cooking world where I have 10,000 Km on my knives and cutting board, I could give two shits what they think. Nobody better ever give me a $300 knife for a present because it's going back in the box.

Dual-wheel sharpener and 14" hone is all I'll ever use from now on.

Small drafting table I got at Goodwill for $4. I've used it for actual drawing, and it has an adjustable tilt so it can be flat to use as a plain table.

Unexpectedly? I’m not sure. But for under $6 I got a secondhand Faberware medium and large pot. We have a glass cooktop and our current pots tend to “bow” on the bottom when heated so they don’t sit flat. Was fine when we had a gas cooktop, but now the bow makes a hotspot in the center on the flat glass. The old Faberware pots sit perfectly flat. Awesome.

A basket/bowl thing for keys, wallet, and whatever one carries around. No more hunting for them when walking out the door.

10 foot long phone charger

A back scratcher. Got a pack of 4 for a few bucks after one I was gifted broke. I'm old and have one quite arthritic shoulder, so half of my own back is unreachable. It's especially shitful getting an itchy back at night, but now I don't need to get up to relieve it. I use it every day, and every day I bless the person who first gifted me one.

Not a comercial; But I bought on a whim a very cheap, usb midi pedal from temu, that I use for triggering hotkeys on many apps by using a midi to hotkey converter. It's awesome for streaming, it is sturdy as hell and the midi protocol allows me to do a lot of trickery under the hood. Like toggle buttons or different keys for press and release states. It makes me want to try out more midi equipment from that site.

Also for about 3 dollars I bought a used ceramic crockpot back when I was in college and I am still using it to this day. It instantly became a staple of my home cooking it's stupid easy to use and the thing will probably keep working for decades.

[edit: I'm rambling about a lanyard!]

I don't know what it's called, but I chord you put around your neck, goes down to the belly with a metal hook at the end? Used to keep backstage/security passes visible, but I keep my keys on there instead.

Keys always end up at the bottom of my bag, and it can be frustrating and even painful to dig them out. I don't always have pockets suitable for keys. I have a place for them at home, but still misplace them constantly.

With this chord I can keep my keys around my neck when in use, like at work or going to the store, and even if I put them in my bag I can loop the keys around a handle and down through their own chord and they'll hang there to be pulled out when I need them.

The chord is long and colourful and way easier to find than just the keys, and often hang visible out of a bag when I haven't put the keys in their place.

It's great. I have different colours for different sets of keys, one colour is home+bicycle, other is work. Other keys I add only when I need them. It gets annoying having too many keys on at once.

A bottle opener shaped like a key so it fits neatly between my other keys on my keychain. I thought I lost my keys once and I was way more upset about that than my actual keys, despite it probably being pretty easy to find on Amazon.

Pair of hook earbuds. Cheap no-name presumably Chinese brand, but they sound great and don't fall out of my earholes.

Electronic hearing protection. It's earmuff style with a speaker on one ear that you can turn on with volume control. It automatically cuts out if volume exceeds a certain decibel level.

A key holder/shelf combo. It hangs by the door and I put my keys on a hook and my wallet and spare handkerchiefs in the little shelf part. I tend to unload my pockets right at the door and grab my keys and everything as I leave.

Got a second-hand Walmart folding table + chair set at the beginning of my PhD, I think the entire set was like $15 or $20; it was the only furniture I had that lasted my entire grad school

A pry bar. I use it to open cat food tins because my fingernails are not up to the task.

https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B0BRBTHK8Z

I have a little fold-out rack with (I think) 24 individual clips on that hold socks and other small items. It can then be attached to the washing line, taking up a lot less space than hanging things along the length of it.

It was £3.99 and it makes putting the washing out so much easier. I much prefer to line dry things outside than using the dryer when I can.