Asda's 20p a pack instant noodles are actually pretty good! Used to be 11p a pack 2 years ago when I was spending all my money on rideouts instead of food. How can anyone afford to be an impoverished student these days?
Always bodge when possible. A few years ago, the extractor fan over the hob stopped working at home. Mum and Dad were going to replace the unit, but I convinced them to let me have a crack at fixing it. 20 minutes later, the diagnosis was obvious: the speed control was an incredibly simple potentiometer-like PCB. 20 years worth of grease had effectively insulated the system!
(Having found the problem, I made myself scarce as Dad spent the next 4 hours cleaning the fecker out with acetone! It lasted another 3 years to boot!
)
As they say necessity is the mother of invention.
When in Turkey, the windlass control stopped working. We could drop the anchor chain, but not raise it. I had to make a new windlass remote out of 2 buttons, some old wire and a glasses case. No necessity, but I'm a lazy bastard, and hauling up 30 metres of 10mm chain with a 27kg anchor on the end
by hand in 7m of water is a job I was only prepared to do once.