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Perhaps you, too, have fallen into a YouTube rabbit hole of frugal bloggers, and have heard the phrase “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” BUT the hardest part of that can easily be the "make it do" when something is broken and you're unsure of how the heck to repair it.
You're not alone! Sometimes googling how to repair that thing you're trying to mend reveals that you need to buy another thing to do the task. Or buying a cheap thing you can use to fix it (and then fix many other things after!) can make your repair much less daunting. I get it and have even used a ton of these things below to do all kinds of repairs! I want you to fix the stuff that you love and save some cash in the meantime. (I'm forever telling my friends to do this.) So without further ado....
Here are the things that'll help you fix stuff you already own:
1. A portable fabric shaver with three speeds to help defuzz your sweaters, sweatpants, coats, couches — all kinds of things! Before you consider upgrading from a beloved coat or sweater, give this gadget a spin.
This was an impromptu purchase once I realized just how bad my circa-2018 Asos midi coat was looking. It was SERIOUSLY fuzzy, and I'd been walking around in it, not even realizing it. How embarrassing for me! So I've been taking this fabric shaver to it while I finally watch Lost. It's a little loud but it is doing some WORK. I'm sharing a pic of a sleeve where you can see the difference it's making and also a glamour shot of the gobs of lint and fuzz it's removed from the coat. And unlike with other fabric shavers, there's no guessing how much charge the battery has left. This gadget has a little % countdown that's clear to read. My beloved coat is looking brand new!
Get it from Amazon for $9.99+ (available in five colors).
2. A jar of the The Pink Stuff — a TikTok-famous cleaning paste made to handle all kinds of sticky, stuck-on situations like this nasty-looking kitchen faucet.
Promising review: "I need this in bulk!! I have tried so many cleaning solutions to get out hard cooking stains on my stovetop, and nothing worked! This stuff took it right out without a problem!!" —Micaela Gunderson
Get it from Amazon for $9.99.
3. Wood polish and conditioner that'll revive all sorts of wood surfaces and furniture in your home. Reviewers have used them to zhuzh up front doors, kitchen cabinets, wood floors, wood furniture, and just about any other wood surface. FYI, replacing kitchen cabinets can get up to the TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars. So this potion is def worth a go.
4. Some dishwasher cleaning tablets to help make that $$$ appliance work so much better than as of late.
5. A genius humidifier tank cleaner to help look after that lil' machine that's saving your skin this season. This cartridge "swims" around the water tank, helping inhibit the growth of buildup for up to 30 days.
6. A set of K-Cup cleaning pods in case your Keurig is starting to have problems. Give these for a go for $11 before shelling out cash for a new machine! The glass on the left shows the progress with a few cycles.
7. Needle-nose pliers that, if you don't already have a pair, you absolutely need. A pair like this is my most-used hand tool, thanks to their nimble ability to bend things gently, like warped earring hooks, Christmas tree ornaments, and just about anything else that needs some detailed handiwork.
8. Bar Keepers Friend powdered cleanser to spiff up just about anything you have around your house like car head lights, pots and pans, porcelain sinks, stove tops.... Really, the limit does not exist.
9. Goo Gone for making all sorts of sticky messes you've resigned to living with disappear — including that old magnet that fused with your rental apartment's fridge (me) or stickers fused with garage door windows (my friend who just bought a house). Seriously though, this stuff is MAGIC for anything you've considered tossing thanks to a sticky mess.
10. A rust-removing spray to work like a magic trick in neglected showers, minus the elbow grease. Spray it on a rusted surround, leave the room, and come back to diminished stains you can easily wipe away.
11. A brown sugar saver disguised as an adorable terra cotta bear that'll keep your brown sugar from going rock solid. OK, so you're not *repairing* your baking ingredient per se, but it'll sure keep you from replacing that formerly rock-hard block of sweet.
12. Indoor plant food spikes to turn that plant bb's frown upside down... and yours too! You spent way too much on it at the farmer's market anyway and are determined to help this one thrive. RIP to all the plants before it.
For best results, replace spikes every 30 days in spring and summer; replace every 60 days in winter and fall.
Promising review: "I swear by these plant food spikes!!! The package says they are for indoor plants, but I actually use them for all of my outdoor plants, especially my herbs. I first tried these after planting some basil and other herbs that seemed to be taking an eternity to grow. I figured I'd give them a try since they were so inexpensive and wow!!!!! Within just a few days, my plants had grown more than double what they had grown in the previous several weeks!! One of my friends (who also enjoys gardening) came over to my house and was in awe of how big and healthy all of my herbs were. When I told her about these spikes, she went straight from my house to purchase some and had the exact same growth results." —GatorDO17
Get a 24-pack from Amazon for $2.79.
Read our full review of the Miracle Grow plant food spikes here.
13. A makeup brush cleanser because you and I both know you're not washing your beauty tools as frequently as you should. (Same.) Turns out, they aren't prime for a replacement, they just need a thorough wash.
14. A silver polish that'll bring those family heirlooms back to life and prevent future tarnishing.
15. A special brush to keep your dryer's lint trap clear of debris and make drying cycles/the appliance more effective for longer. If your stuff is coming out wet, you may need one of these. It's so much cheaper than a pro repair!!
16. A fabric dye for synthetic fabric and fabric blends to give a variety of stuff a new spin, from kid's clothes to tablecloths to curtains. Switching the hue of an item can make it feel completely brand new!
17. And a powder fabric dye to help update anything in your closet you're feeling a bit meh about, has faded more than you'd like, or would serve you better in a different hue.
18. A jean button replacement kit in case the problem with your go-to pair is actually the hardware. Yes, $9 for a one-time fix can feel steep. But y'know what's steeper? Finding another pair and then paying for 'em. Oh, and there are MULTIPLE replacement buttons in this kit.
19. Magic Erasers that'll just, (UGH they're so good), revive most anything around your home. Use it on a grungy tub, marks on walls, sneaker soles, wooden outdoor furniture you thought was trash, so. Many. Things.
20. A millipede-like hair remover with more than 4k hooks and loops to ensnare all that hair down there and save ya' a drain replacement or costly visit from the plumber.
21. A red wine stain remover to keep on hand because, well, accidents happen! But you can be prepared for (at least some of) them!
22. Grandma's Secret, an under-the-radar solution with serious stain-removing prowess — like, cleaning pen from a white leather couch.
23. A set of stainless steel underwires for resurrecting that bra that you thought met its demise in the wash back to working order. OK you're supposed to hand-wash bras, but just this one time you threw it in the wash and :(.
24. Plus some bra bands that can easily add some extra space to your trusty underthing you aren't quite ready to part with. Bras are incredibly expensive, and these aren't!
25. A flexible cable saver that'll help you hold your charging cables together, lest you foot the bill for a new one AGAIN.
26. A nail polish thinner to help you make the most out of those tiny bottles of lacquer that seem to dry up in the most inconvenient times.
27. A shoe repair kit for anyone who wears down their heels like it's their job. With some online instruction, you can do the task yourself instead of taking it to the repair shop.
28. An eyeglasses repair kit with tons of screws, nose pads, specialty tweezers, and just about everything else to fix that pair that's been just about everywhere with you but you don't want to replace just yet.
29. A similar earring repair kit that'll let you keep wearing your faves instead of replacing them, even if they were only a few bucks. (Cue to me clicking Add to Cart bc I have a pair of Alexis Bittar earrings that need a new earring hook.)
30. All-purpose super glue you can keep on hand for shoe emergencies, like when my metal toe cap fell off a pair of flats during a lunch break stroll.
31. A sewing repair instructional book and a simple sewing kit so that pile of clothes in your laundry room you need to take to the tailor disappears.
Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.