I'll give you another, really bizarre, reason which probably places me in one of those obscure corners of being a "sad member of society" ...

Have you ever tried to buy a decent washing-up brush in UK? One with a bit of ooomph to it? For less that £3? That last more than 4 weeks? On every trip, we bring back a handful of these for every member of the family, who have all been enthusiastic about the product.

$1 [plus local sales tax] at your local Dollar Tree ... although the air fare does make them slightly more expensive than that.