Low risk products that people swear by.

  • @[email protected]
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    101 year ago

    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.

    • @[email protected]
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      41 year ago

      I was going to say Mulvad VPN - 5 eur a month, so just over a dollar per week if I can flirt with OPs rule a bit. Totally worth it.

  • randombullet
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    81 year ago

    Bitwarden Premium is $10 a year. Less than $1 a month.

    Bitwarden also has a free tier.

    • @[email protected]
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      141 year ago

      Boy do I wish flossers would just go away. So much pointless plastic waste. And people keep chucking them out their car windows. They’re fucking everywhere. They haunt my dreams.

      • NoIWontPickAName
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        41 year ago

        We have compostable straws, surely we can make a flosser the same way, just paper and wax string

      • @[email protected]
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        31 year ago

        I haven’t seen that.

        SMARTLIFECO Biodegradable Dental Floss Picks - Natural Plastic Free Handle, Thin Thread Tooth Flossers for Adults & Kids, Eco Friendly Toothpick Soft on Gum & Teeth, Zero Waste Vegan Organic, 200 mint https://a.co/d/4KRNLIb

        • @[email protected]
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          51 year ago

          That’s cool, I guess. Definitely not what I’ve been finding in the streets. And I’ve never seen those in the local stores.

    • themeatbridge
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      571 year ago

      In 1857, Congress eliminated the half penny because it was worthless.

      At the time the buying power of the half penny was more than a penny, a nickel, a dime, and two more pennies. 18 cents was the value when Congress said it was not worth making the coin anymore.

      We could eliminate three of our coins without affecting the economy, but doing so would draw attention to inflation.

      • @[email protected]
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        91 year ago

        The dollar is metric, so we already have such a system. People often use kilodollars already, e.g. writing $2k instead of $2,000, but we could start using decadollars ($10) hectodollars ($100), too.

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          Good point.

          I guess I would be a decanaire then!

          … I’m so broke. Send me your leftovers.

  • Boomkop3
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    411 year ago

    Not sure if this is international, but sewing machine oil is cheap and it lasts years for all sorts of things that need lubrication (not for organisms)

    • rem26_art
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      41 year ago

      I like the plastic lids for fermenting food in mason jars, like sauerkraut. I find the metal ones tend to become really hard to open or corrode once the ferment has been going on for a while.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        I used to have trouble opening jars.

        I went looking for one of those “jar openers” and someone in the Amazon reviews suggested a strap wrench. They were right. They are much better. Maybe a bit overkill for jar-opening, but better to be overkill than not enough.

        These gizmos are for putting a lot of torque on something large and round, like pipes. Hardware stores have 'em. There are several types: some have a metal strap, others a nylon strap, and others a rubber strap. For jars, you want a rubber strap.

        You can even get two, use one on the lid and the other on the jar.

        One random example (not the one I have):

        https://www.amazon.com/ACOSEA-Wrench-Diameter-Adjustable-Plumbing/dp/B0C9YF82ZL

        Note that (since this is a $1 discussion) these things are more than $1.

        • TXL
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          11 year ago

          Overkill is really the best kind of kill.

    • @[email protected]
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      1 year ago

      Can confirm. Just discovered them about a week ago and I’ll never go back to metal ones.

      Edit: will NEVER go back.

  • @[email protected]
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    81 year ago

    There’s these pineapple ginger candies in the European section of the grocery store that are 1.39 a bag and saved me during my recent bout of laryngitis.

    Also their tea section is much better and quite inexpensive.

    • YⓄ乙
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      41 year ago

      I recently bought masala ginger chai from the Indian section, and oh my goodness, I will never drink regular tea again!

      • @[email protected]
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        21 year ago

        Right? You don’t realize what white people tea you’ve been drinking until you venture out.

        I’m super into this Ukrainian tea, the flavor is called Alpine Herbs, and another one is Ice Moss, which is actually some kind of algae and makes the palest tea I’ve ever had.

    • @[email protected]
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      61 year ago

      You’re from America? It’s funny if you have an European section in the supermarket since there are American shelves in supermarkets in many European countries. They typically stock mac n cheese, pop-tarts, jello and that kind of stuff.

      • @[email protected]
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        61 year ago

        No, Canada. My city has a large Eastern European population, and I mostly go to a Polish grocery store anyway, so it’s.always fun to guess what the mystery pickled vegetables are!

      • @[email protected]
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        41 year ago

        The stores around me in the US have a few different sections categorized like that. There’s usually an “Asian” and “Latin” section, but I see the European one often as well

      • @[email protected]
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        41 year ago

        My wife wanted to try the famous pop-tarts for fun. We found them in a supermarket in France. We each took a bite, looked at each other wondering if it was real food, and threw everything in the trash. It should be forbidden.

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          Did you…toast them before eating them?

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop-Tarts

          Pop-Tarts (stylized as pop•tarts) is a brand of toaster pastries produced and distributed by Kellanova (formerly Kellogg’s) since 1964, consisting of a sweet filling sealed inside two layers of thin, rectangular pastry crust. Most varieties are also frosted. Although sold precooked, they are designed to be warmed inside a toaster or microwave oven.

  • riquisimo
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    111 year ago

    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.

  • @[email protected]
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    741 year ago

    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.

    • @[email protected]
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      221 year ago

      While having them as a backup is good. If you enjoy concerts I’d highly suggest spending the money on good earplugs that don’t distort the sound as much. They make the specifically for concert goers and they’re amazing. Putting in Regular earplugs is like listening to a 32kbps mp3.

      • @[email protected]
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        71 year ago

        If anyone’s looking for brand names… Loops have spent a lot on marketing the last few years. I’ve worn them a few times and they’re good, but I think Flare Earshades are just one level above. I can’t believe how good they sound.

      • @[email protected]
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        61 year ago

        Agreed. I have some that just turn the volume down and I keep them on my keychain. It also helps me a lot when there’s background noise to pick out conversation. After the first part of the pandemic, it seemed like everybody had been yelling on their zoom calls and it helped with that as well until either they adjusted back to IRL volume or I readjusted to it.

      • Bob
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        21 year ago

        I went to see King Gizzard recently, earplugs in pocket, and I suppose I never found a moment to stick them in, but I was stood near the front the whole time and I came away with absolutely none of the usual hearing damage. I don’t know how they did it, but what a great bunch of lads.

        • @[email protected]
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          21 year ago

          Sometimes if you get ALL the way in front, you are in front of the speakers so they are pointed away from you, and it’s not nearly as loud.

          • Bob
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            11 year ago

            Well I take solace in the fact that I first assumed it was someone else’s doing.

    • @[email protected]
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      61 year ago

      I once forgot my ear protection while going to the club and had tinnitus for 2 days straight. Devinetively not worth it.

    • YⓄ乙
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      21 year ago

      I don’t see the benefit as i tried it once but could still hear others

      • Rob T Firefly
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        111 year ago

        The same way you can wear warm clothes in freezing weather and still feel the cold, but at a level which won’t physically damage you.

    • @[email protected]
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      121 year ago

      Hearing damage is part of the concert experience though. If you don’t leave with mild tinnitus did you really even go?

      • @[email protected]
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        31 year ago

        A friend of mine told me he went to a concert that was “so loud it physically hurt his ears.” He thought I was looking at him like he had two heads because that was such a strange experience until I told him that voices at normal conversational volume often “physically hurts my ears.”

        He never knew why I was always asking him to lower his voice, he thought it was just a weird thing I did.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        Yes.

        This is a dumb mindset that needs to be changed.

        After 20 years of concerts wearing my studio plugs I can still hear.

        My friends who thought it was dumb are now deaf as fuck and frankly their hearing loss is an annoying self inflicted wound.

        Wear hearing protection ya dingus, every time.

        • @[email protected]
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          101 year ago

          Actually I’m also the weird friend that uses hearing protection lol all my friends tell me that. I still have tinnitus and plenty of hearing damage from not doing that when I was younger though

      • @[email protected]
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        71 year ago

        I get that people think that but it’s a stupid take really. Hearing loss is a big contributor to senility.

    • @[email protected]
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      101 year ago

      I pocket these whenever they’re available for free in places where I work. Recently downloaded a free app that measures decibels and was amazed.

      Hearing loss is different from other things they warn you about. Get something in my eye? Guess I’ll start wearing eye protection. Back hurts? Guess I’ll start lifting with my knees. Hearing loss is different. You won’t lose your hearing, you’ll lose the ability to understand what people are saying in a noisy environment, it hurts you socially. Having to say “huh?” repeatedly is embarrassing, it makes you withdraw.