Pro tip: that $85 truing stand paid for itself the first week

Two summers back I was truing wheels on a bike frame with zip ties and a piece of wire, and I was losing my mind. A wheel that should take 20 minutes was eating up an hour because I kept guessing where the wobble was. I bit the bullet and dropped $85 on a no name truing stand from a shop closing down in Columbus. First wheel I put on it, a rear from a customer's commuter, I had dead straight in 25 minutes with the dish right the first time. I've done maybe 60 wheels since and I do not miss the zip tie days one bit. My only complaint is the stand is a little wobbly on my bench, so I bolted it to a scrap of plywood and that fixed it. What is the one cheap tool in your box that turned out way better than the price tag? And did anybody else start out with the zip tie method and feel dumb later like I did?