11 unexpected tools you should always have in your home

These simple and budget-friendly items can help you fix things when life goes sideways

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January 16, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EST
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6 min

Being awakened at 3 a.m. by a smoke detector chirping because of dying batteries, discovering that a tire is low when you’re late for an appointment or losing the pin in the hinge of your eyeglasses don’t rank as full-blown disasters. But these annoying inconveniences can upend your schedule and leave you scrambling for a fix. That can mean scheduling a costly after-hours service call, cooling your heels at a repair shop or going without something until a professional can help.

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I’ve learned, though, that when things go sideways, it’s helpful to have some relatively inexpensive items around that can allow you to fix small problems yourself, or at least buy you time until you can enlist a pro to remedy the situation. Here’s a list of things to keep handy, based on my experience and recommendations from friends, colleagues and professionals.

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