There’s 3 things that really stand out for me that I would say made a massive difference to my life:
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Cordless screw driver. Bought the day after building a flat pack bed with a crappy screw.driver that just shredded my hand. Thought it was frivolous at the time, but I’ve used it so much since. It’s light, small enough to fit in my pocket and good for 90% of DIY tasks.
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Tassimo coffee machine. Bought it 9 years ago, use it every day. Nice quick easy coffee. What’s not to like.
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My first DSLR camera. It was a Nikon D50 back in 2005/6 and it sparked my interest in photography to this day. It gave me a hobby I can take lots of places and do it alone or with others. I never loved the D50 camera itself, but I did get some really nice shots with it
DeLonghi Magnifica espresso machine about 12 years ago. The counter on my first one is at 30k+ shots. I bought another used one several years ago for the cabin, it has over 20k shots on it.
Pretty BIFL for a little fully automatic coffee robot. I’ll be sad when they both pack it in.
- SHIB crypto
- PEPE crypto
- BRYSE crypto
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Steam Deck - since having kids I was really struggling to play games at all. I had gotten to where I was only playing phone games and switch games, but the Steam Deck has really enabled me to start enjoying my steam library again. If it broke I would buy another one instantly.
Bone-conductive headphones - I wear these all day. I listen to audiobooks, take calls, have them read out notifications, etc. It’s also great to know that if I open a random meme video on my phone, I don’t have to worry about the sounds of the video being inappropriate for my surroundings. They’re so much more comfortable than traditional headphones.
My house - I got an insanely good deal on my house, less than what many people pay for cars. It’s not the fanciest house, and it needed some fixing up when we bought it, but it’s enabled me and my family to live with extremely low bills which has made my life very low stress. Houses are generally cheap where I live, but I lucked out and got the best house deal I’ve seen, and it’s made everything so much easier.
I’ve been looking into bone conduction headphones, but I’ve has trouble choosing a model. Which ones do you have?
- vasectomy
- divorce
- campervan
Tells a story.
He bought a campervan, so his wife divorced him, and after getting plastered at a bar, he woke up in the hospital with a small scar on his balls.
Oh my god, those monsters. Somebody get this man a new vas deference!
deference
deferens
Although I can’t say these are the best purchases in my life, I have also purchased all three, and can attest they were money very well spent. Very. Very. Well. Spent.
91 CRX Si. Some of the most fun I’ve had driving.
Aeropress Americano maker. Absolutely delicious for dirt cheap.
10” Pioneer sub and amp/upgraded car speakers.
Honorable mentions: 65” LG CX OLED TV. Absolutely gorgeous. Apple TV (various gens). No ads and works wonderfully on all of our TVs.
My first camera was the D60! I loved that thing!
They were great. In the end I got frustrated with how slow it was. Bought a second hand Nikon D2H. That thing was a dream to handle and so fast, but the image quality was not as good as the D50.
I borrowed my cousin’s D90 and I got very jealous of all those autofocus zones
A computer — no other item I own has changed the course of my life as much as owning my own computer has.
In no particular order…
My Panasonic Lumix GX80, it is the camera that made me take a deeper interest and develop my skills in photography. I had a Canon EOS 400D as my first decent camera but due to work my interest fizzled out for a few years. Then at another job I got my GX80, and started learning for real, last spring I upgraded to a Lumix S5, and I am considering complementing my camera setup with a Sony A7 IV for it’s excellent AF.
My Philips Hue system has been absofuckinglutely amazing, I live alone and being able to turn my lights on before I open my apartment door during winter after work really makes a huge impact on my mwntal health, getting to open my front door into a cozy apartment instead of a black hole is fantastic
I love my Sony Alpha IV, FWIW. Money very well spent.
I said this too—the Hue system is game changing as a mood setter. Helps me relax at night by dimming, etc.
- Noise cancelling headphones and earbuds. By far the best quality of life improvement I have ever gotten from a single product.
- Whet stones for sharpening knives. It’s a fun process and my knives are in perfect condition.
- Mobile phones.
Like OP, my camera, phones don’t cut it and the pictures I’ve been able to get of my kid with it have made it invaluable. I got the Canon Powershot MKIII and it’s gotten some professional quality shots of him and captured a lot of precious moments.
My electric kettle, I drink a lot of tea and it’s so damn useful. I got one with an all metal interior and no visible heating element, it has a bad pour but I still would have a noticeable dip in my daily quality of life without it.
This one is random but a three foot tall solid wood Balinese dragon statue. I got it at an import shop that was closing, it had some damage and so had been marked down and marked down again. I paid less than 10% of the original price of an intact one. We didn’t have a car so my boyfriend at the time and I had to take it with us on the subway. It’s like 75lbs. On our ~mile walk back to our apartment someone asked directions to a local Asian art exhibition and we had to tell them we didn’t know where it was while holding this thing between us. It’s beautiful despite the damage and it makes me happy every time I see it. Plus, whenever someone comments on it I have a fun story to share.
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Full Ton pickup - I had an old half ton and was abusing it.
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Dump trailer - I can move so much more material, and dump so much faster.
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House
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Dyson vacuum cleaner
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Motorcycles
Although I do love my cordless drill as well. And my first cheap community college 2-year diploma which got my career goin, the jury is still out on whether the masters degree was worth it.
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My girlfriend and best friend tell me it’s the couch that I bought a couple years ago. I had a ratty old futon before that and they were not fans. I think it was from Room&Board, and wasn’t anything special. Couches are expensive, though.
Herman Miller chair House My newest monitor. It’s got KVM support so no more swapping cords between my computers.
- A good coffee maker (moccamaster)
- Steam Deck OLED
- Battery powered lawn mower (eGo)
OLED in general is a game changer. Next time anyone is upgrading their monitor or TV, it’s worth the investment
Even the original LCD deck was easily eligible for this little list but the OLED went above and beyond in every way. I have a beefy PC for desktop gaming but I still prefer to play on the deck OLED because it’s just an amazing experience.
