17 amazing cheap products

The May issue of ShopSmart has a list of 27 amazing bargain products, 17 of which I’ve listed below. What are your favorite cheap products?

Laundry detergent – ERA 2x Ultra with Oxi Booster is $10, half the cost of top rated brand Tide and just as good.

Sunscreen – Find top rated sunscreen Up & Up Sport Sunscreen Continuous Spray SPF 30 at Target for $5.25. Love the spray!

Wine – Pick up Yosemite Road Chardonnay by the dozen at 7-Eleven, which sells it for $4 to $5. But hide the label from foodies and wino friends.

Lightbulbs – EcoSmart Soft White Bulbs at Home Depot are $6 for 4 and is the cheapest of ShopSmart’s top rated CFLs. Each one will save you $56 over the bulbs life compared to incandescents.

Ice cream – Archer Farm’s Belgian Chocolate ice cream beat Haagen-Dazs in taste tests, and costs just $4 for 1.5 quarts. Score!

Movies – Netflix streaming for $8 provides so many more movies and TV shows than you will ever watch. And for $2 more you can get DVDs, too.

Pizza – DiGiorno Rising Crust Four Cheese Pizza is a top rated pie but cheaper than other brands at $6.47.

Headphones – Panasonic Headphones RP-HJE120 are $8 and sound great.

Bra – This $11 bra from GIlligan & O’Malley at Target doesn’t pinch, poke, or wear out easily.

Coffee – The Black & Decker DLX1050B costs $20, is programmable, and makes coffee better than other machines costing $100 or more, ShopSmart testers found.

Jeans – The Signature by Levi Strauss & Co Totally Slimming jeans are $20 and better made than fancy schmancy jeans with a price tag of $240 from True Religion. What if you need jeans to boost your asssets?

Wrinkle remover – Neutrogena Ageless Intensives Deep Wrinkle Serum is a third of the cost of rivals that it outperformed. Pay $20 for 1 fluid ounce. Scent is not as nice, however.

Phones – the 3GS model that I shelled out $400 for a scant 18 months ago now costs $50 for 8GB. I’m jealous.

Vacuum – The Dirt Devil Featherlite is $50 and even picks up pet hair. “You simply cannot buy a cheaper, lighter vacuum,” ShopSmart writes.

Knives – Chicago Cutlery’s Metropolitan 8-piece set is $60 and is “a seriously good deal,” SS gushes. But stamped-steel blades are not quite as strong as forged-steel so they may bend over time.

e-Reader – The Amazon Kindle is $139 (a cheaper version has ads) and the best-designed and best-selling e-reader available. No 3G Internet, though.

Car – The Honda Fit Hatchback is “the best value of any car” ShopSmart and it’s parent company, Consumer Reports, has tested. It gets 30 mpg and costs $16,020.

My favorite cheap products are vinegar and Trader Joe’s quick drying wash cloths (they outlast sponges and can be washed)! I am also a big fan of TJ’s Next to Godliness Cleaner, which is $2.99 (previously I had the incorrect pirce of $6.98) for 32 ounces of biodegradable, nice smelling, very powerful cleaner!