What “Hot” Item Did You Buy and No Longer Have?

Had a ... Ron Popeil (Ronco) electric rotisserie broiler ["Set it and forget it!"]. They do (or did) break down after a (longish) while. After our last one broke down, we couldn't buy one, so we turned to the oven. That said, I see that Amazon is selling the large ones.
 
Kind of embarrassing but about 20 year ago - when I had first started oversea's and was rotating 28 days on and 28 days off - and making more monies.

On my days off, we went to a fancy Kitchen Home Items store for something and while we were there - I just had to have a very fancy and expensive Coffee, Expresso, etc making machine. This thing was from Switzerland and it was way too complicated for me and ms gamboolgal to figure out.

Ended up shipping it to England to give as a gift to one of the men who worked for me oversea's.
 
Irwin said:
I'm not sure it was a "hot" item... not in the U.S., anyway, but in the '90s I bought one of those Sony minidisc players.
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I have a ton of music I recorded at music festivals and jams... excellent recording quality...Had one group sit and record several tracks that went on their CD they released... Unfortunately it bit the dust and that music is locked away....
I keep hunting for another player and transfer them to computer files for future enjoyment.
 
Way too many to list. I have purchased many of the things already listed by others, maybe I have had a few fishing things not already here. Like the line spooler I recently bought and doesn't seem to do me much good. And some camping/outdoor gear I bought more in hopes of using than actually based on need, I have things like unused tents, sleeping bags, and cots still in the garage. Now that I have a travel trailer they likely never will be used...

The Goodwill folks like people like me. Lots of donations of lightly or even unused things over the years, and more to come.
 
On my shelf of forgotten and unused small appliances, I boast a bread maker, food processors and slicers (some manual, others electric), a bread slicing guide, a toaster oven, and of course a George Foreman grill! My basement hosts an exercise bike in its second life as a clothing rack, and a rower, heavy and good for absolutely nothing! 🙀
 
Note that I have gotten way off topic once again and you don't have to read all of this stuff. :)

I have an Instant Pot - I bought it to replace the crockpot, the pressure cooker, and the rice cooker. I was not counting on my daughter replacing the rice cooker and buying a bunch of stuff for the kitchen. And guess how often we are going to use the juicer. Of course, my kitchen had everything under the sun in it, including a nifty 10" deep sink. The sink was perfect for hiding a few unwashed dishes -- I had to stand in front of it to see them.

I formerly owned a George Foreman grill, two waffle makers, and a lousy toaster oven, a convection oven that sat on the counter and was never used, not even once. The other items were used once. I still own a pressure canner and a microscope. I plan to give the canner to St. Vincent de Paul's thrift shop. I will never can again. I practically became a tomato farmer and spent a full week canning them. The end result was delicious, but I can't see doing that again. Canning is hard work.

I got rid of my Santa Claus collection once the kids outgrew their fascination with it. I probably had 30 Santas, including a cool life-sized one that played music. I have a friend who has over 600 Santas, and 5 artificial trees that she decorates and puts out every year. Kids who visit her love it. It makes me slightly anxious, thinking about having to haul out, set up, and re-pack all the clutter. It reminds me of the days when my kids were young, and I used to wrap the kitchen cabinet doors in wrapping paper with bows on it. Christmas was a lot more work back then, and you what, I miss that. Having kids who have outgrown toys in favor of tiny expensive things, is not as much fun.

I used to have a lot of knitting stuff. Of course, since I was learning to knit, that is a lot of stuff. Well, it lasted 5 hours of total frustration, so I gave it to St. Vincent de Paul. I think knitting isn't my thing because, along with seemingly having no fine motor skills (while at that task), I was disappointed to find out I couldn't both knit and do something else because I had to look at the knitting the whole time. So my daughter bought me a set of huge knitting needs and some yarn to practice with. Bless her heart, it's in the right place. She is an avid knitter.

The microscope, I am keeping, so I can use it as part of my plan to try new things to keep different areas of my brain active.There is nothing that inspires a person like my sister, who has a microscope so she can check if her cats have worms or anything else that could cause them to throw up all the time. It was so lovely to receive all those texts asking me if I thought this or that were worms, or just what were they! I think I'll leave the dog alone - not planning to get into the diagnose my pet kind of stuff. People who think I am weird should meet my sister! :cool:

I am also going to use the books and supplies I bought to teach myself how to draw and paint. I have zero talent in that area, but i figure I can learn the techniques. Four of my family members are good artists, so I figure I might just get lucky and discover I can do it to. I'd love to have my own work hanging on my walls. Maybe I'm one of those latent talent people. If it doesn't work out, I'll give them away.

And I am going to handwrite a diary. My son, who is an author, handwrites his books, and then types the revisions. This is because different parts of the brain are used for handwriting and typing, and it allegedly helps with creativity, too. I have a small collection of Moleskine notebooks that have never been written in.

I still have my sewing machine. I bought it 20 years ago and it has never been out of the case. Before my old sewing machine broke, I made clothes for my daughter, blankets out of Polar Fleece, and curtains. By the time I got the new machine, I no longer had time to sew. I gave away the tons of fabric I had. I think I stiff have a lightweight fleece I bought to make a fall/spring coat for my dog (who doesn't need it). I like making my curtains because I always know what I want when I see it (fabric), and can't find it in the stores. I still plan to sew - not going to let 20 years of inactivity discourage me. I actually had to argue with my kids (never teach kids critical thinking skills), to get to keep it when I moved. I couldn't carry it, so no way to sneak it into the house. And still, my daughter wanted to know if I would donate it.
 
WheatenLover said:
I still have my sewing machine. I bought it 20 years ago and it has never been out of the case. Before my old sewing machine broke, I made clothes for my daughter, blankets out of Polar Fleece, and curtains. By the time I got the new machine, I no longer had time to sew. I gave away the tons of fabric I had. I think I stiff have a lightweight fleece I bought to make a fall/spring coat for my dog (who doesn't need it). I like making my curtains because I always know what I want when I see it (fabric), and can't find it in the stores. I still plan to sew - not going to let 20 years of inactivity discourage me. I actually had to argue with my kids (never teach kids critical thinking skills), to get to keep it when I moved. I couldn't carry it, so no way to sneak it into the house. And still, my daughter wanted to know if I would donate it.
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I had a Singer Sewing Machine for over 50 years that saw a lot of action. It was just one of those things that I always thought I would enjoy using forever ....
I remember going to fabric shops and picking out patterns for clothes for myself and the family over the years... and I did a lot of repair jobs too. So much fun whenever I accomplished what I set out to do.
But the machine got old, and so did I .....😀 ... so, no more sewing for me... Gave it away to a shop that enjoys antique items for repair.
 
Jules said:
One of those gadgets that rips the hair out of your legs. In case you didn’t know, it’s a lie that it wasn’t painful after the first time.
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I love epilating my legs ...especially in a pain flare. The sting is like the burn of capsaicin cream ...a different pain sensation that temporarily diverts from the skin to bone ache of fibromyalgia.

OP answer ...various popular at the time exercise machines, cameras. Still have some of the stuff mentioned above that I should jettison.
 
Bonnie said:
I had a Singer Sewing Machine for over 50 years that saw a lot of action. It was just one of those things that I always thought I would enjoy using forever ....
I remember going to fabric shops and picking out patterns for clothes for myself and the family over the years... and I did a lot of repair jobs too. So much fun whenever I accomplished what I set out to do.
But the machine got old, and so did I .....😀 ... so, no more sewing for me... Gave it away to a shop that enjoys antique items for repair.
Click to expand...
Must have saved you a fortune in clothing and alterations over the years tho'...(y)
 
I've never been one much to buy the latest gadgets, but I do remember buying an expensive camera with zoom lenses, then the phones came out with cameras and the expensive camera retired to the closet shelf for years. I've received instant pots and different kitchen gadgets as gifts but now that I'm old and live alone, I have all the time in the world to cook, so its easier for me just to take out the trusty skillet.
 
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