About seven years ago I bought a cheap TV, the old style, and it had a remote control with batteries included. Since I don't have TV reception here, I only turn it on and off once a day to watch a video, and I adjust the volume sometimes. About 2 years after I bought the TV the remote was dead, and I didn't have batteries on hand. My experience with car batteries taught me that sometimes the battery is fine, but the contacts are corroded and not making contact. The TV is an Apex 18" with "Daily Max" AAA carbon-zinc batteries that cost about a hundred bucks, total.
Since I didn't have replacement batteries, I just gave them a spin with my thumb in the tray they sit in. Hey, it worked! Some months later the remote didn't work, and I spun the batteries again, and they worked. That's been going on now for the full seven years I've had the thing, the last time just last night, and the batteries are still going strong, just needing a little help now and then.
I write this diary only as a suggestion for how to get out of a tight spot now and then, and in a very modest way to help save the environment and save a few bucks as you do.