Have you ever lived in a one bedroom flat? I have; didn't mind the lack of space, but found the noise of people clumping up and down in the room upstairs, slamming the front door, or playing music at all hours rather tiresome.

Earplugs are never going to be a perfect solution, or super comfortable but these are pretty good, with a smooth coating. They can be used quite a few times but do start to lose their squidgyness after you clean them a couple of times, which you will want to do.

In terms of the actual blocking out of noise (obviously the key issue), I found these were very effective, which made the extra expense worth it. I had previously had basic ones from a high street pharmacy but they weren't as effective as these. Overall the mild discomfort was pretty much balanced out by the fact that I was able to get more sleep.