These 10 weird (but brilliant) gadgets under $40 will make your life easier

If, like many of us, you promised yourself that you'd adopt healthier habits in 2024, these olive oil bottles belong in your kitchen. You get the convenience and lightness of cooking spray with the quality (and "good fat") of your favorite olive oil. These bottles have a broad spritz, so they coat your pans using less oil overall — and who couldn't use fewer calories in their morning omelet? Fill the second bottle with balsamic, if you like; that makes it a breeze to dress salads and keep the leaves light and bright.

You want to eat more greens, right? But they're a pain to prep — and the healthier they are, it seems, the more work they entail. Not anymore. This brilliant tool shears tough leaves (think kale, collards, mustard greens) off the rib with ease, helping you breeze through a whole head in just a couple of minutes. Smaller holes are for stripping herbs like rosemary, thyme and parsley, and the edge blade lets you cut up leaves. Forgive me, but I have to say it: With this tool, it's easy being green.

Anyone who's worked in retail knows that spacing hangers uniformly (one finger's width!) is what gives a rack dignity. At home, most of us have given up on this notion, and our overstuffed closets lead to smashed wrinkled clothes. No longer. These hanger spacers give your shirts, dresses and pants the breathing room they need to stay in good shape. The spacers make it easier to get dressed for work, put away laundry and feel like you're ahead of the game.

This wearable sprayer-scrubber attaches to a hose outside or a faucet in the tub, so that you can wash your pet more quickly — and without flinging water everywhere. The silicone scrubber has little massaging nodes, so maybe Fido will even want to take a bath (no guarantees for your cat, though). Switch it on or off by pressing the center — easy-peasy.

At just about half a pound, this top-seller is like an ultra-lightweight extension of your arm. The durable metal rod extends as far as 32 inches and features texturized rubber end grips equipped with magnets for lifting items small and large. To use it, just pull the trigger on the handle, which was designed to respond with little effort. Doing so makes the claw contract around whatever you're trying to reach, whether it's a can that's up on a high shelf or a dropped set of keys. It's also great for picking up leaves and trash in your yard, no painful bending or straining required.

Got a favorite baseball cap? If you sweat in it all summer, it could probably stand to be washed. And yet that precious headwear isn't exactly easy to clean. Hats off to whoever invented this clever gadget, a structured "cage" that lets you safely clean and deodorize caps in your washer or even your dishwasher.

Been meaning to spiralize some veggies but can't quite get motivated? This low-tech hand tool takes away the intimidation factor — and the potential mess — by catching and containing veggie ribbons as you twist. Make a whole spiralized salad, top it with a dollop of dressing, lentils or any leftover protein from last night’s dinner, and lunch is packed and ready to take to the office. This handy gadget comes with attachments for juicing, ribboning, grating, shredding and more. 

Like so many Oxo products, this is an ergonomic delight — much appreciated for the awkward task of bathroom cleaning. The head pivots to get into tight spots, moving nimbly even when the pole is fully extended. A sturdy anti-microbial head is abrasive enough to do the job and easy to rinse clean. What the manufacturer may not mention is that this is also awesome for killing bugs: Grab a used dryer sheet, lay it across the head (it sticks because of the scrubby texture) and squash your many-legged visitor.

Each year, more cities outlaw plastic bags. But if the back of your car looks like a tote-bag factory exploded, you'll appreciate this slim, storable carry-all. It folds completely flat, expands to a generously sized rectangular cube and weighs next to nothing. Bring it into the supermarket and fill it as you peruse the shelves. After the groceries are put away, collapse it and put it back in your vehicle.