A collage of someone using lotion and a close-up image of peanuts.
TheScroller/Tom Hermans/Nataliya Melnychuk/Unsplash

Look, there are certain things in this life that you absolutely should treat yourself to. It could be a meticulously woven sweater that you set your sights on before you got the raise you waited on for far too long. Or it could be the fancy car with the leather seats that are so nice you genuinely feel bad about sitting on them without having pristinely cleaned pants. However, there are some products that are priced completely reasonably that operate just as well as their egregiously priced counterparts. We’ll take a look at some of those right now. 

1. Evernote Vs. Obsidian

Person typing at their computer.
Christin Hume/unsplash

If you’re like numerous Evernote subscribers that have long since been using the amazing service, you likely endured the wild price hike when they began asking users to start paying $130 a year with an option to upgrade to a whopping $170 a year. On the other side though, you can always try Obsidian which is very similar and very free. 

2. Dollar Store Bleach Vs. Clorox

A bottle of Clorox on a table.
Kelly Sikkema/unsplash

As it turns out Dollar Store Bleach has a thing to say about the effectiveness of Clorox. The reason why is that much of the commercially-sold bleach is generally around 3-9% sodium hypochlorite, and 91-97% water. This also applies with vinegar which is 94% water and hydrogen peroxide which is 97% water. 

3. Magic Erasers AKA Melamine Sponges

A sponge on a tray.
Pille R. PPille R. Priske/unsplash

This one comes right from the good book of Reddit, but it turns out that there have been times where huge mattress size sheets would get cut smaller, and then packaged half into Mr. Clean packages and the other half into Dollar Store packages. 

4. Face Moisturizer

A person using lotion on their left hand.
Nataliya Melnychuk/unsplash

You’ll have to try it to see for yourself, but the word that’s been going around is that the bottles form Target/Walmart/CVS and Walgreens are just as effective, and far less expensive as the fancy department store alternative. The trial situation could be using an extra sensitive moisturizer with SPF 15

5. Premium Peanuts

A close-up image of peanuts.
Tom Hermans/unsplash

And to wrap it all up, we have “premium peanuts.” It seems that the quality control for certain major brands of peanuts would suggest that the difference between a “premium” and “regular” peanut is not a major concern. It boils down to more of a labeling matter. However, to each their own.

Meet the Writer

Matt has spent over the last 8 years as both a writer and editor, working in Seattle and Brooklyn, where he is now based. He loves escaping the tirelessly fast pace of the “Mad Apple” that is NYC by taking walks and runs through parks where he’s able to catch up on the latest tea about society from the city’s ever chatty, always hungry, occasionally maniacal, pigeons. They always have a lot to say. When he’s not taking his urban nature strolls, or dutifully combing the deepest rabbit holes of the internet to find the content that’s worth sinking your mind’s teeth into, he’s likely holed up at a dark-lit dive bar with a new book and/or some friends, or just as easily he could be on the hunt for the next addition to his steadily growing plant family.

These days Matt’s caught up in trying to provide folks as many vivid glimpses into the days long since passed as he can, through fun and engaging collections of hand-picked vintage photos.