For me it has to be:
- Helix mattress ($1,217). Sleep is great.
- Home gym power cage & weights (~$1,000). Look good, feel good, get strong.
- Netgear Nighthawk AXE7800 ($339). No more random, annoying internet disconnects/slowness.
- Books ($0 @ library)
- “Ultralearning” - Scott Young (how to learn efficiently)
- “Enlightenment Now” - Steven Pinker (the world overall is improving)
- “The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing” - Taylor Larimore (how to invest)
- PS5 ($500). So many great games like witcher 3, god of war, spiderman.
I’m searching for some more deep value purchases. Give me what you’ve got.
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Not to sound like one of those people, but a bidet. It hasn’t eliminated my use of toilet paper, but certainly has reduced it, while leaving a squeaky clean feeling. I miss using it while away from home nowadays.
Other things are eye masks (I have sleep quality issues) and ereaders (never moving with ten boxes of books again).
Electric toothbrush.
Invest in your teeth. Trust me.
Kitchen stuff:
- A good chef’s knife. It’ll run you around 200-300 bucks, but if you treat it with respect, it will last you forever
- A mortar and pestle. They’re big and heavy, but grinding your own spice mixes is something that will absolutely change the quality of your cooking. A mortar and pestle used to be super cheap, I bought a huge one for 20 bucks a few years back, but they’re kind of expensive these days.
- A decent cast iron or stainless steel pan. Learn how to use it and maintain it, and it will last you forever.
- Nice dishes. Spend a little more to get something decorative for hosting. People coming together to eat is one of the most ancient social traditions we have. Make it your own experience. I don’t even spend that much, I just raid places like Homesense when they’re changing their inventory and have bought all my bowls and dishes for around 50-70% off. Sure I only have two units of most of them, but I’d rather have a bunch of cool high quality dishware, than a bunch of boring looking, feels like it’ll break while I’m washing it garbage from Ikea.
- Get some glass tupperware. I have something like 10 pieces that I’ve picked up over the years and now I barely use plastic wrap. They’re great for prepping, they’re great leftovers, they can be used in the oven (not all of them, double check what you’re buying) and they’re freezer safe.
Clothing stuff:
- One nice black suit. You can go to a shop like Banana Republic and get one of theirs and take it to a tailor to get it adjusted. A custom made suit is prohibitively expensive for a lot of people, and the ones that aren’t are usually made from polyester bullshit. Make sure it’s a classic fit, don’t go for skinny or wide anything as those go in and out of a fashion, but a proper fitted suit will always look good. Make sure it’s made from wool, a wool/cotton blend, or linen if you live in a warm climate.
- A couple of nice fitted dress shirts. 2 white ones, and then the other three can be your choice of color. Before you start going crazy on patterned shirts at Dan Flashes, make sure you have your bases covered. I say this as someone who wears a lot of patterned shirts.
- 2 pairs of quality jeans. One black, one dark blue. Don’t skimp out here, check the stitching, check the quality of the material. Cotton only, unless it has like maybe 5% spandex for extra stretch. Just like the suit, get it with a regular fit, no weird carrot shape, wide leg, bell bottom or anything else.
- If you live in a cold or rainy area, get wool underlayers. It stays warm when it’s cold, stays cool when it’s warm, dries out on its own, and is naturally antibacterial.
- Never buy anything made from synthetics except for a windbreaker or a raincoat. They feel like shit, they make too much noise, they look like shit, they have garbage insulation properties, they straight up melt from heat (I watched someone’s $1000 Arcteryx coat melt to a chair that was too close to a space heater; the nearby wool coat was completely unaffected), they pollute the environment through microplastics and by taking forever to biodegrade, they trap your sweat (the wicking away moisture thing is complete 100% marketing bullshit), and if you have sensitive skin they are prone to causing outbreaks and other dermal irritation. Stop giving your fucking money to those planet destroying criminals at DuPont and say no to synthetic fibers.
Great advice, but I up voted because fuck polyester.
The patterns are WILD.
They have a shirt there that costs $2,000 'cause it’s so complicated
I bet you love your mother in law
If you can’t afford the space or money for a mortar and pestle, I maintain that a cheap coffee grinder gets you 80% of the way for 80% less effort. Can’t make pesto with it though :-(
Only issue with the coffee grinder is it pulverizes your spices into dust. This can be a good thing, but I think it’s way too much for herbs.
Other issue is cleaning. If it isn’t a modular one where you can remove the blade area from the motor and stick it in water (or at least run it under water), you’ll get dust from previous uses building up. Usually it’s difficult to get under the blade to scrub.
Though on that note, I’m going to try avoiding buying any kitchen appliances that won’t allow you to soak or rinse the parts that come in contact with food. This includes blenders/grinders as well as appliances like the Foreman grill. My current one gets a lot of use but cleaning it is a pain. It will soon be replaced by a modular one where the plates can be removed entirely, which will also mean that the new one will take over for my waffle maker, which is the single worst appliance for cleaning.
Definitely. I have three requirements for a blender:
- Glass jug
- 700W of power or more
- Full disassembly of the main components for cleaning
Even with my blender that completely comes apart, it’s still hard to clean in the little nooks and crannies
Great list, especially about the clothing. I’m in the process of replacing all of my synthetic clothing, I absolutely hate that crap. The only thing I can see myself wearing tech material again is when run. If i can wear Merino wool to run in the summer then I will, synthetic clothes just radiate odors like crazy
I didn’t really learn the difference until I had to be out in the field for 15+ hours a day, at which point I discovered the limitations of synthetic fibers. The marketing is insanely effective on the masses.
Yeah for real. I guess it’s way cheaper to make that crap than natural fibers. Under Armor has done a fantastic job of making us believe this is some magic material
If we’re talking about shitty materials and effective marketing, I think Lululemon takes the absolute cake. I’m shocked that the company hails from hippy dippy Vancouver, which is supposedly full of eco-warriors (it is, I’ve been to Vancouver, and those people are awesome, but Lululemon is just full of shit).
My brother swears by their ABC pants, but I have some similar ones from Costco that cost $15 and are just as good. My wife loves their yoga pants too, but they’re so overpriced it’s ridiculous.
I inherited my parents giant Coors mortar and pestle. It’s one of my prized possessions. 👍
You can get good chef knifes for less than 200. I have Tojiro DP3 Gyuto which costed me about 110€. Not the absolute best steel (VG10) but still very very well done, and with a good bit of care it can do wonders.
If you like western style, brands like Wusthoff have a lot of goodies for a good price. Victorinox as well, if you avoid the large amount of crap, they have some for absolute amazing value.
Honestly if you don’t want to bother with mixing your own spices, Trader Joe’s mixes are goated. They’re consistently good. Just give them a sniff before you add them to a dish and ask “would this aromatically make sense” (e.g. don’t use bbq rub for salmon)
Generally you can’t go wrong with them. I love the “everything but the leftovers” one
I’m not familiar with Trader Joes as it doesn’t exist where I live, but the majority of spice mixes are unnecessarily heavy on salt
My rice cooker. Doesn’t really matter which one. If you like rice, this will make your life better
E-Reader, I’ve put hours and hours into that thing and it’s still going strong. Maybe I’ll upgrade it at some point, but it’s showing no signs of ageing yet. I love reading, but I don’t have space for a huge library of books (believe me I wish I did).
A couple of years ago I bought a 3d printer for 400 dollars and it is now my primary hobby. Turns out that having a hobby that you enjoy is super important to your mental health.
Turns out that having a hobby that you enjoy is super important to your mental health.
BIG YES. I’m happy for you. :)
I’ve been meaning to get into 3d print stuff but just couldn’t find time apart work. Shitty work life balance
This is so underrated!
A $100 brother laser printer (2280dw but it has been discontinued). It’s like a printer from an alternative universe where printers aren’t evil.
Had it for about 6 years now. Printed thousands of pages and only needed to replace the ink cartridge a few times. Had no issues with 3-rd party cartridges. Surprisingly never required any maintenance.
Other laser printer brands that can probably perform similarly, but I can only vouch for this one.
Electric kettle. Saves so much time and energy boiling water with electricity in a couple minutes vs 10min of burning natural gas. Hoping to get a new one during prime days this week since my wife put it on the gas range this weekend due to motor muscle memory taking over during multitasking. Luckily she didn’t burn the place down.
Rescue dog $60-$200. Older is even better. Best investment in your mental health.
Probably a bidet, I hate going to the bathroom at other people’s homes now.
An e-Book reader! IDK which model would be best for you since mine is an old Kindle, but being able to take SO MANY books wherever I go is a godsend. Way better than reading on my phone or laptop.
Yeah, same with me. I always thought reading digitally was the worst. “I will always read on paper!” Then I started commuting by train (stopped this a long time ago). But once you got used to the comfort of an ebook-reader with those great e-ink displays… There is just no going back.
I started with a Sony (sadly discontinued), but there are many great options, not just the kindle (kindle is good though and once you learn how to get rid of drms it’s ok, not suggesting pirating here, I buy all my books, I just don’t like to be restricted). But also have a look at Pocketbook, Onyx, Kobo or, if in Germany, Tolino). They all have good models nowadays.
The main issue is contrast - I have a cheap IKEA USB LED light, so I take that with a powerbank when it’s too dark as I’m not keen on the backlight - backlight is good for keeping the background paper ‘white’ though.
Paperwhite 3 is great, bought 5 years ago and has 300ppi and BETTER contrast than the newer models ;) When it gets old, I’ll just pick up a replacement battery via AliExpress.
Can’t be beaten on price, especially if you don’t rely on Amazon (I just download books to Calibre, grab epubs via Annie’s Archive, then transfer a conversion to AZW3 via USB).
Very much agreed. I went with a Kobo since I enjoy futzing around with files and already had a Calibre (ebook management software) library going anyway. I highly recommend e-readers of any kind to anyone on the fence!
It was the Wheel Of Time series that got me to get an e-reader, those books where massive tomes and a PITA to carry around. I’ve stuck with an e-reader since, easy on size, weight, and the eyes. I got a Kindle Paperwhite for the back lightning like a decade ago or when ever it came out and use Calibre to manage the books on it.
I’ve been eyeing on Android ones. Have you looked into that?
No, but that sounds interesting, so I will look into it!! Thank you~
My Kindle is working just fine though, so I don’t think I’ll upgrade any time soon.
I think my trusty Pinecil soldering iron has got to be one of my best value purchases ever.
$25 for a tool that can compete with or surpass many other soldering irons that cost many times as much.
And the convenience of USB-C means you can use a portable battery without sacrificing any wattage. The heating element is also extremely efficient and can easily handle large pads that many others would struggle to heat effectively.
It’s also got some fancy features like an accelerometer (used for display orientation and sleep timer) and a fully open-source OS.
Truly a steal for $25
TSA Pre-check.
Yes, it’s fucking obnoxious that it exists at all, given the “security theater” of it all, but man… being able to breeze past the super long lines at the airport is such a better experience.
Air fryer
Although it’s slower than deep frying, you don’t need to babysit the food and can use the time to do something else. It also much easier to cleanup
sync for reddit was
€1.5 for 10 years of joy
