17 Ordinary Household Items That are Actually Really Indispensable

5. Batteries

“Wetvac, good flashlights and ALWAYS keep extra 9v batteries in the house. Your smoke detectors battery WILL die at 2am. It will.” – typhoidmarry

6. Bucket

“A bucket. Might seem strange but it’s usually something you don’t have in an apartment. Pulling weeds in the yard? Bucket. Watering plants? Bucket. Moping the floor? Bucket. Washing the car? Bucket. Need a stool to sit or reach something? Mix a little cement? Put out fireworks? Washing the dog? Carrying a little dirt? Bucket!” – shuggins

7. Night light

“Nightlights. One in the bathroom and one in the kitchen. It makes getting up at night just a little less dangerous with all the boxes and packing shit. Plus, everything is new, and this lessens the inevitability of stubbing your toe on some bullshit corner.” – mostlikelytoepicfail

8. Plunger

“Plunger. Do NOT wait until you need one to buy .” – DeathStarJedione

10. Fire extinguisher

“The same with a fire extinguisher.” – remembersarah18

11. Measuring tape

“A measuring tape. You can’t imagine how much shit you’ll measure when you buy a house. I used it 10 times a day for the first few months.” – KillerBeeTX

12. Tapes

“Here’s a list:

• duct tape
• electrical tape
• small screwdriver set on each floor
• power drill
• ladder / step stool
• furniture pads for under the legs (so you dont scratch the wood floors)
• wood filler
• dustbuster
• shop vac
• pliers (best to have a small tool set. go to harbor freight tools and buy cheap shit until you break it. If you use it enough, spend the money for better tools)
• stud finder
• tape measure” – macgruder1

13. Shop vac

“A shop vac. You can get a decent one for like $65 on Amazon. You’ll use it way more than you think. Sink or toilet overflows? Shop vac. Spill something all over the floor? Shop vac. Vacuum your car? Shop vac. They are great. My wife has thanked me several times for getting one.” – NetJnkie

14. Stud finder

“A stud finder. Putting up curtain rods, shelves, TV mounts, et all into your new home will be so much easier with it.” – psychosus

15. Dehumidifier or humidifier

“Early on we spent quite a bit on a good quality dehumidifier and it’s completely changed our home. It pulls litres of water every day, we can dry clothes inside if we need to. There’s nothing like warm dry air (it’s very damp where I live).” – nOOberNZ

16. Big pack of rags

“A big Costco pack of terry cloth rags.

I have a 5 gallon bucket I throw the dirty ones in and wash them with bleach every couple weeks. They’re great for cleaning, napkins for really messy food, soaking up spills and drying the dogs after a bath. They’re so cheap that if they get really gross you can just toss them.” – 2muchtequila

17. Label maker

Before you move in, open your electrical panel and come up with a label scheme that represents the breakers well. Turn breakers off as you test outlets and switchplates, put labels on the faceplates that reflect the circuit breaker position. When an outlet or a light needs service you’ll know exactly which breaker to go turn off based on the label.

For anyone that thinks it may look bad, use clear 3/8″ labels and a good labelmaker with a high-resolution print. If you still don’t like the idea, put the label on the backside of the wallplate. You have to take the wallplate off to see what it says but that’s fairly safe even energized.

My house has tandem breakers for probably twenty slots, out of about 30 total breaker positions. So my labels are “22-A” or “24-B” or “27-A” depending on which of the two tandems on which breaker position.

I’ve also labeled the breakers for the three subpanels, the HVAC units, the water heaters, the kitchen appliances, etc. I want it to be easy and quick to figure out what has to be turned off if it’s needed. – Donkey__Xote

And finally…

Bonus: Kids

“A lot of work at first sure, but they make perfect little slaves later on if you do it right. I’m talking about dishes, laundry, mowing, floors, windows, they’re good for everything and can be paid using cheap stuff like peppermint candies! Get yourself one ASAP!” – Flagabougui