22 Smart Purchases That'll Pay Off In The Long Run​

Future self: "Thanks past self."

1. A fabric defuzzer to make all of your run-down sweaters, throw pillows, and furniture look like they just came from the store all without having to spend tons of $$$ on repairs.

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Promising review: "Hi, I’m obsessed. I can’t stop. I should send this back. I’ve started asking if my neighbors need anything de-pilled. I’m going to buy one of these for everyone in my life. Everyone needs to own this. Take it away from me." —Sydney

Get it from Amazon for $11.

Check out our deep dive into this Conair fabric defuzzer for more on why you'll love it.

2. A hand-held pressure washer because some things turn out great ~under pressure~. You can even fill it with detergent to wash your car! Raise your hand if you ~almost~ spent a fortune on re-modeling or replacing but now you're like, "no need!"

amazon.com, Amazon

You can use this pressure washer on outdoor cushions, wood decks, house siding, and so many other places. It has 1500 PSI at 1.2 GPM so dirt and grime don't stand a chance. Order includes a 25° and 40° quick connect tip and a 20-foot hose for greater reach. It also comes with a soap applicator and a 35-foot power cord for when you use it outside.

Promising review: "This is my favorite new toy! I already owned the regular Greenworks power washer, but being a 63-year-old, there were times I just didn't want to drag the big one up and down steps, so my son suggested I look at a hand held pressure washer. I didn't even know they existed, but found this one on Amazon and since I was already happy with the large Greenworks, decided to try it. The first thing I used it for was to power-wash my shower grout and it worked great! The electric and water lines were long enough to reach into my shower and it did a spectacular job. No more hand scrubbing for me!" —Linda

Get it from Amazon for $99.99+ (available in two variety packs).

3. A three-piece set of produce saving storage containers that'll save you money by saving your food. Keep your produce in these containers for longer lasting goodness.

Amazon, Natalie Brown / BuzzFeed

Promising review: "I've kept cut lettuce, cut cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers, zucchini, sliced bell peppers, strawberries, blackberries, cut jicama, and carrots in these containers. I've had fantastic results with all of them. I loved these so much, I ordered this second set on Amazon. If I had more room in my fridge, I'd get more!" —laura

Get it from Amazon for $26.99.

Learn more on how you can save $$ in the long run in our full review of the Rubbermaid FreshWorks Produce Savers.

4. A foldable drying rack so you can gently dry your clothes to preserve their shape instead of running them through the damaging dryer.

Amazon

Promising review: "Just received today and even better than I expected. This was purchased to use for drying cloth diapers and other baby items. It holds at least 28 cloth diapers and 23 inserts with room to spare. This came assembled and all I had to do was take it out of the box and plastic, unfold, and voilà! The best part is that it's compact enough to fit in our laundry room/pantry at our apartment or can be folded and put away or taken with us."—kcotton

Get it from Amazon for $25.

5. A wine vacuum sealer for anyone who likes to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner and doesn't want to spoil the whole bottle. Drink more, save more!

Amazon

Promising review: "My wife loves red wine. I don't. We're also poor. This means that when we open a bottle, she's had to do one of two things. 1) Drink it all at once or 2) Leave it open. The cheap stuff we buy goes bad pretty darn fast. This was a nice cheap vacuum that worked well and held a seal on a variety of sized bottles. My wife can enjoy a glass a day all week and not feel guilty about it going bad. I won't say that it's saved my marriage or anything like that, but it's nice little addition to our kitchen." —john

Get it from Amazon for $11.89 (available in three colors).

6. A pack of moldable glue to mend broken things around your house. From the spokes in your dishwasher to the band of your watch, this glue is a versatile way to make hard fixes, quick fixes.

amazon.com, amazon.com

Fun facts: It's waterproof, heat- and cold-resistant, durable, flexible, shock-resistant, and electrically insulating (up to 24 volts). It sets strong and in place by turning into a durable, tactile silicone rubber overnight!

Promising review: "This thing has so many uses! I keep buying this over and over. I've used this moldable glue to mount things, organize wiring in stereo cabinets, stop rattles (my license plate rattled when closing the trunk and two little balls of Sugru to the back of plate did the trick), and I've even made tool hangers in the garage with it." —fastrnu

Get a pack of eight from Amazon for $19.99+ (available in five colors).

7. A bottle cap stand for anyone who is tired of throwing away perfectly good lotions, shampoos, and condiments just because the contents are stuck on all the sides.

Amazon

Promising review: "I absolutely love these. I haven't found anything yet that they don't work with. Right now I have them on my lotion, shampoo, and conditioner bottles. I have always tipped my bottles over but they fall over and these help with that. I highly recommend these if you like to get the last drop out of your bottles." —Amazon Customer

Get a six-pack from Amazon for $24.68.

8. A pack of organic and recyclable ethylene-absorbing apples that'll absorb Ethylene gas so your produce will last longer in the fridge. Raise your hand if you bought veggies on Monday and had to throw them away by Thursday?! This madness ends today.

Amazon

Promising review: "It works. Simple as that. I have even ordered more because it works wonders in my vegetable drawer and also in my fruit basket. Before it seemed things would go bad so fast (three to four days). Now I can see veggies last two weeks, some fruits a week longer than expected." —MFC

Get it from Amazon for $17.99.

9. A compact knife sharpener so your cutlery can operate like new and you don't have to keep replacing perfectly good knives because you think they're old and worn!

amazon.com

Promising review: "The Portable mini knife sharpener that works! This little tiny knife sharpener, sharpens like a pro. I was skeptical because of size and cost but I am impressed on how well it sharpens my stainless steel and ceramic knives. It fits in the palm of your hand!" —Gray

Get it from Amazon for $5.99.

Check out our full review of this KitchenIQ knife sharpener for a more in-depth look at why we love it.

10. A compact jewelry cleaner that'll uncover the sparkle you didn't realize was still there! No need to buy a new watch or necklace; just run it through this machine and it'll look brand new.

amazon.com, Amazon

Promising review: "My center stone is a white sapphire that gets dirty extremely quickly. I've tried taking it to different cleaners and even to mall jewelers, but they could never get it as clean as the jeweler we bought it from (who is over an hour and a half away). Because of this, my ring would get so dirty to the point that I wouldn't even want to show it off. This little machine with some Blitz Gem and Jewelry Cleaner made a HUGE difference — I ran it a handful of times because of how dirty it was and can't believe how shiny it is now." —AmazonCustomer

Get it from Amazon for $34.99.

11. A pack of four re-usable Keurig cups, because what's nicer than saving money? Saving the planet! These re-usable cups will help keep money in your pocket and plastic out of the ocean. Win-win!

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Promising review: "I love this product. I was not a coffee drinker but was given the Keurig machine a few years ago and have slowly turned into a coffee drinker (two kids later) and I started going through K-cups quickly. I started to feel bad about how many K-cups I was putting into the landfill every day. This is great because it reduces my impact on the environment and of course saves money on having to buy K-cups all the time." —LF

Get a pack of four from Amazon for $13.95.

12. A cold brew maker to relieve your wallet from your serious iced coffee obsession.

Amazon

Simply add your favorite ground beans into the center filter (it's BPA-free and dishwasher-safe), add hot water, and place in the fridge for the next time you're craving a (not $5) cup of delicious cold brew.

Promising review: "I have been drinking Dunkin' Donuts coffee every day for over 10 years. At $2.75 a coffee, that adds up. Trying to save some money and make my iced coffee at home, and this thing is worth it! I brew it overnight and have coffee for two days." —Heather Sullivan

Get it from Amazon for $16.99.

Check out our closer look at this Takeya cold brew maker for more helpful information!

13. An Instant Pot for the chef who doesn't actually want to do a whole lot of cooking. This will save you tons of money on ordering out, because it'll be so easy to cook right at home! Did I mention it has over 22,000 five-star reviews?!

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Promising review: "It has revolutionized my home cooking. So far I've used it to cook a whole chicken (twice), pork roast, four kinds of dry beans, and brown/white rice. Everything has turned out wonderfully. The Instant Pot is extremely easy to use and the insert is very easy to clean. Suddenly I've lost my urge to eat out — why leave the house to eat when I can make a delicious, FAST, and inexpensive meal at home? My Cajun red beans and rice with andouille sausage used to take four hours to make — now it takes under an hour and turns out just as perfectly. This is the best kitchen-related purchase I've made in years." —LOsborne

Take a look at our full review of the Instant Pot for more on why we love it!

Get the six-quart from Amazon for $74.96 (available in five colors).

14. A cast-iron skillet that'll outlast your entire collection of pots and pans — and probably you, too. This is one of those kitchen staples you'll never regret buying.

Amazon

Promising review: "On durability, my 83-year-old grandma left her antique 10" Lodge skillet to my dad, who passed away at 77 and left it for my 41-year-old brother. One of his kids will likely get it afterwards. If cared for, meaning not left to rust, Lodge pans do not wear out and just get smoother and better at cooking with time. Do yourself a favor and get this pan. I plan on leaving all mine to my 10-year-old pancake maker." —slipflash

Get it from Amazon for $13.25.

Check out BuzzFeed Review's choice of the best cast iron skillets at three different price points.

15. A KitchenAid stand mixer you can hand down to your children, because it's just that well-built! Save money and invest in those products that will last a lifetime (or two).

Amazon

Promising review: "Love love love. I have arthritis and needed something lighter weight. So excited! Fit perfect in my pantry shelf. Love that I can put it away when I want or leave it out. The size is fabulous. I did have to adjust the beater depth. I'm not a huge baker but I'll admit I have used it 3-4 times a week. Way more than I thought I would!" —J.B

Get it from Amazon for $317 (available in 10 colors).

16. A pack of silicone food huggers so you stop wasting half-eaten veggies and fruits and have makeshift caps for any sort of bottle or container.

Amazon

Promising review: "They work great! Veggies last much longer and no plastic wrap in the landfills." —L. Saldana

Get a four-pack from Amazon for $7.26.

17. A Kindle Paperwhite E-reader that'll save you space and money. E-books are much cheaper than physical ones and this one is waterproof?!

Amazon

Promising review: "The bottom line here is that this is by far the best Kindle device for the money. It’s worth the extra price compared to the base Kindle just because it gets you the lighting (which to me is a requirement for reading in bed or reading on the plane) and now it gets you waterproofing. The jump up to the Oasis really is even less justified now as the Oasis just gets you a metal case, a marginally better screen size/aspect ratio, and MAYBE better lighting… for almost twice the price." —Josh

Get it from Amazon for $129.99 (available in 8GB or 32GB storage capacity).

18. A pack of reusable lunch bags so you can replace those plastic baggies that are bad for the environment (and your wallet).

Amazon

Promising review: "Perfect sizes for my various lunch items and easy to throw into my bag without worry. They're also dishwasher-safe! Talk about easy cleanup. Highly recommend these for anyone looking to reduce their plastic bag use." —Winnie Carter

Get a four-pack from Amazon for $17.65 (available in 11 colors).

19. A water-efficient shower-head that'll give you real, unadulterated pressure in exchange for a way less expensive water bill. Shower your future self in savings.

Amazon

Promising review: "We love a good, strong shower but we also feel strongly about not wasting water, energy, or money, so this shower head fits the bill. It has two flow settings and we leave it on the lesser of the two, but never feel that we are skimping. The designers really solved the problem of making a water-conserving fixture feel like an old-fashioned full-flow product. It was a cinch to install. After about a year of daily use, it continues to work like new. We observed a nice drop in our water bill when we replaced our old shower heads with these." —Thomas C. Jensen

Get it from Amazon for $19.99.

20. A DivaCup so your time of the month doesn't have to bleed through your wallet! The Diva Cup is an environmentally friendly alternative to all the pads and tampons you buy on the regular.

@thedivacup / Via instagram.com

Just remember to wash the DivaCup before you insert and after you remove it with DivaWash or warm water and a mild, unscented, and water-based (oil-free) soap. And empty and wash at least twice a day (a minimum of every 12 hours).

Promising review: "I loved sleeping comfortably, no diaper rash from a pad, no smell, no mountain of garbage in the bathroom...I was able to step out of the shower like a normal human instead of racing around frantically trying to shove something between my legs so I didn't bleed all over my legs, towels and the floor. I'll be able to go swimming on my period which I couldn't do before because of my tampon allergy... It's been blissful. All hail the DivaCup."—nadine

Get it from Amazon for $25.

21. A pack of wool "socks" for your chair and table legs so they don't totally scratch up your floors over time.

Amazon

Promising review: "No more marks on the floor from my black painted chairs! The chairs slide easier when pulled out and are almost silent. Very happy." —AmazonCustomer

Get a 24-pack from Amazon for $8.97.

22. A bag of re-usable wool dryer balls to save on dryer sheets without compromising the fluffiness your clothes deserve.

Amazon

Promising review: "Highly recommend these dryer balls! I have been slowly trying to replace all of the chemical-filled products from our home, as well as do it affordably. This takes time and research. Sadly, even so called 'free and clear' dryer sheets have bad chemicals in them. So I am so thankful I found this as an alternative. You can't get any more natural than sheep wool! These will last a long time, so the expense is minimal." —Boomoringa

Get a six-pack from Amazon for $11.99.

Welcome to the future and look how much money you've saved!

Disney / Via Giphy

Shopping for something specific? Check out BuzzFeed Reviews to find the best things for every budget!

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The reviews for this post have been edited for length and clarity.