HN Explorer

Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)

288 points by systemkwiat ↗ HN
Hey folks,

I’m curious – is there anything you've bought in the past few years (since 2020) that really changed something in your life? Could be anything, like a gadget, a course, a subscription, even a massage or some random item you didn't think much of at first.

Let’s split it up into two categories:

- Under $100 - Under $1000

What did you get? And what was the impact? I’d love to hear the stories – big or small changes, whatever made a difference for you.

Thanks in advance for sharing!

616 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 336 ms ] thread
madamelic
Under $100:

- Ember mug

  - Why: lets me drink tea because I hate cold tea. Bleck.
Under $1000:

- 49" ultra-wide monitor to replace my dual monitor

  - Why: I use i3-wm. It works fantastically on it.
- 5.1 Soundbar for computer

  - Why: I don't have to wear headphones constantly and also sound quality is so much better
- Mount 50" TV above my desk

  - Why: Allows others to hang out in my office with me while I work / play games. Additionally, it allows me to turn something on without interrupting my monitor space.
---

Breaking the rules:

Over $1000:

- EightSleep

  - Why: Huge huge huge change in sleep quality plus it's really nice to be able to choose whether to get into a crisp, cold bed or a warm, toasty bed. The Autopilot stuff is interesting and does seem to work to keep you asleep but sometimes it can cause you to wake up especially in the transitional periods of the year (spring and fall).
damidekronik
Which 49" do you have? I am looking to improve my setup and wouldn't mind some suggestions.
ashconnor
I used to use a soundbar for my computer but the only way to control volume was 1. With the Bose remote that came with it 2. Bluetooth.
mikestew
I see that the cheapest Ember is now $130. My first-gen is about six years old, and the battery is about shot. I hesitate to drop another $150-ish on a new mug, but OTOH, is consistently hot coffee worth $25/year? Yeah, it probably is to me, so I'm going to have to suck it up soon.
madamelic
Oh, I wasn't even aware they were that much. I could've sworn they were like $70 - $90 last I saw.

That sucks.

jareds
I'm pretty sure the one I got was $99 but that was a black Friday deal on amazon.
mikestew
Im pretty sure they used to be less money, as I don’t think I’d pay $130 sight-unseen. But now that I have one…
azundo
They're often much cheaper at Costco if that's an option and you don't care about a specific color. They are a complete game changer though, especially if you're a new parent.
mikestew
Thanks for the tip, I’m seeing them for $99 right now. Any color you want, assuming you want stainless steel.
dotmanish
different sizes. The black-10oz is still $91 at Amazon right now. Price goes upwards for other colors and other size (14oz).
pammf
You can buy only a replacement mug (without coaster/charger). Also, get in contact with customer support mentioning the battery, they usually offer a discount code.
mikestew
Thanks, I’ll try customer support and see how it goes.
Octplane
I had to deal twice with them: coaster stopped working 2 years ago and more recently paint inside the cup came out. Both time, they replaced the broken part at no cost. Probably the first time in my life I'm using and happily recommending customer support of any kind.
chrisweekly
(also breaking rules to concur)

EightSleep mattress cover is a GAME-CHANGER. Precise control over preferred temp, and detailed/accurate logging of sleep metrics == way better sleep, and knowledge of its relative quality (metrics for which let me measure the impact of different variables).

SentientOctopus
Never heard of them, temperature control sounds amazing. How is this product from a privacy perspective? Is the data kept local or is it some cloud service that tracks all metrics?
Dansvidania
Not sure about the privacy but afaik you can’t use the thing without the app and being connected to the internet. That was a dealbreaker for me
askvictor
Is it _that_ much better than a wifi-controlled two-zone electric blanket?
chrisweekly
I've never tried a cooling electric blanket. My wife has struggled w insomnia for a long time, and the eightsleep tracking was almost as much a draw as the cooling.
askvictor
This does cooling too? OK, I didn't realise that. I can see how that might be useful
idontwantthis
How do they work thermodynamically? It should make the room hotter, but I guess you don’t notice because the surface you are touching gets colder? Is it a closed loop heat exchanger or is it evaporative?
foresto
> 5.1 Soundbar

5.1 typically means surround sound, but a sound bar (as I know it) sits in front of the listener. How does yours do both?

idontwantthis
They use feedback microphones to tune the output to bounce off of the walls. Or at least that’s what they claim.
o11c
I imagine most soundbars cheat since consumer protection is dead, but they're still better (and more convenient) than two simple speakers.
DarmokJalad1701
> - EightSleep

I would agree. Except that now they seem to make it so that it is pretty pointless without a subscription. Kind of sucks that you have to pay $15/month to actually use the product after paying close to $2000 for the product.

I still use mine only because I was grandfathered in to be able to set temperature set-points without a subscription.

If I were to need another one, I would look for an option without a subscription.

madamelic
Yeah, am getting a little worried about that.

I am kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop because the company has been nothing but amazing when it comes to their support. It has sprung a leak three times, about once every 18 months, and they've always replaced it with no additional payment.

I have a feeling next time it's going to involve a lot of cash being exchanged and I'll be faced with a choice.

---

The subscription thing is very much a bummer. I hadn't figured out why they weren't shaking me down for it until I also put together the grandfathered in thing. It is extremely distasteful to have a required (?) subscription on a product that is this expensive.

I don't entirely get how spending $2k - $5k on a bed system (not a mattress!) isn't enough. Just pure fuckin' greed if I am being honest.

I get they need to make money and their product isn't a monthly or yearly re-purchase but it's just short-sighted.

Like let's be real honest here: their product almost certainly doesn't cost anywhere near $5k in materials. The margins on their product are likely already completely stupid. My guess-timate would be maybe $500 in parts. It's literally just a pump that heats or cools water that is app-controlled... not exactly anything crazy. If you look at something like Withings sleep tracker, it's $130 so even the fancy pants sleep tracking stuff isn't some crazy tech even if we take Withings' margins as the actual price.

k4rli
That's just insane. And it's not a subscription you can ever stop paying unless you get rid of the 5000EUR bed itself. Absolutely a dealbreaker.

What if they increase the fee to 30EUR a month? Or 50EUR a month? That's guaranteed to happen once main product sales start slowing down and investors still want their quarterly gains.

freefaler
For hot drinks (teas, coffee & etc) I prefer a simple 0.7l thermos and small chinese teacup. Put the hot stuff in the thermos it will stay hot for at least 6 hours, put a bit of the hot stuff in the cup, since it's small it will get to a comfortable level of hotness in 30 seconds. Drink it slowly and refill. |

Works in the park/library too and you only heat the water once and don't need electricity to keep it hot!

skizm
Is there anything similar to 8sleep that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles and doesn’t require an app? I don’t care about any of the tracking or alarms or whatever else besides the temp control.
covercash
Yes, sleep.me. I had their Ooler and recently upgraded to the Dock Pro.
covercash
A cheaper alternative to EightSleep is Sleep.Me… same concept with a heated/cooled water circulator + mattress pad, and they have an “autopilot” add on. I just manually set my temp schedules based on the season since I don’t like subscriptions for stuff like that, and I don’t want my sleep data on their servers.
fellowniusmonk
I've purchased two ember mugs over the years and end up not using them, a thin double walled glass mug paired with an always on water boiler has been amazing. A kettle is great in Europe because they boil so fast but in the US a boiler is the way to go.
jzig
A bi-weekly house cleaner. Saved my marriage!
haolez
Did that a decade ago and it saved my marriage as well :D

I'd lived alone before marrying and I did all my chores, but my tolerance for messy stuff until I got to action was way more than my wife's.

asyx
I don’t think people talk about this enough. You can be the poster boy for modern men doing all the chores and taking care of your household all on your own without wife or mother around and a 1950s nuclear family house wife would be proud af.

You are still going to get into arguments if your idea of what „clean and tidy“ means is different from the definition of your partner.

littlestymaar
And when you have a house cleaner you always have a third party that's responsible for every issue: “that's the house cleaner's fault” (my in-laws have one and I'm pretty sure she's not responsible for a quarter of what gets attributed to her, otherwise she'd have gotten fired long ago)
dvfjsdhgfv
Fully agree. This crucial bit of information should be spelled out to young people as not everybody realizes that (soon enough).
ranger_danger
The biggest thing that changed my life wasn't a purchase, but randomly going down a philosophy rabbit hole on wikipedia one day after looking up different "razors" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_razor).

One of the first things I learned was that most arguments in life seem to be mainly due to differences in people's definition of subjective terms, and not understanding how to communicate well enough to figure that out and then do something useful about it.

high_byte
these are all great I love that I can now just refer to the razors by name
Loic
This! My tolerance was also just above my wife's. We will never go back to not having someone helping us.
mywacaday
Same here, we got weekly and its done on a Friday. forces you to tidy so cleaning can be done properly and then your house is clean and tidy for the weekend.
geek_at
Haha same. Well worth the 80€/clean
alumic
Finally bought a rice cooker 6 months ago. No idea why I hadn’t done it sooner. Perfect rice every single time. I believe that qualifies.

Edit: I also bought an emergency jumpstart battery for my car. Saved me twice when my battery suddenly started having issues. Went from feeling “stuck” to back on the road in under 2 minutes.

Cyph0n
+1 to both. If you want more consistent rice, invest in a fuzzy logic rice cooker ($150-$300).
etrautmann
+1 to the Zojirushi neuro fuzzy. It's an unbelievably good product - I've sold four friends on it and nobody has been disappointed. They go on sale for 180 routinely
_boffin_
I find this comment funny. Go to your local grocery store and pick a rice cooker up for $15 and just add the rice and eyeball the water.

…that much for a rice cooker—that’s nuts!

Cyph0n
If you’re just starting out, then sure.

But if you cook a lot of rice, it’s a noticeable step up in both quality and consistency. They are extremely common in Japan afaik.

lemme_tell_ya
We've used our Zojirushi almost every single day for almost 5 years now. It cooks perfect rice and keeps it warm and fresh for 12 hours. 100% worth the investment.
rjh29
Almost every family in Japan has an expensive rice cooker. They eat rice 2-3 times a day so I trust them. The end result is a lot better, and water is too important to be eyeballed.
tdeck
The thing they don't tell you about the expensive rice cookers is that they take 40 minutes to make rice, while the cheap ones make it in 20. To me it's not worth planning my day around having "perfect" rice, so I still use a cheap one every day :/.
kadoban
What rice meals are you cooking that take less than 40 minutes anyway? Just start the rice first, before prep, and you should be fine.

I just have a cheap rice cooker though. I couldn't find a fancy one that avoids teflon (or other similar) coating that I liked.

al_borland
I got a small and cheap one, thinking it would be good for 1 or 2 servings and better than getting the microwave rice. It took an hour, made a mess, and the rice was horrible. I should probably experiment more with it and try different types of rice, but it was such a bad experience I don’t want to use it again. I had a rice cooker a long time ago and it was fine, but it was really too big for my needs.

A few months ago I was looking at some of the more expensive ones people see to swear by to see if they could handle small portions and be more clean and reliable. If they are, I think it would be worth the cost.

riku_iki
is instant pot much more versatile device?
pajamasam
I haven't been able to figure out how not to burn my rice in an Instant Pot.
ElSucioDan
Took me a while but finally found a consistent way to get it perfect. I use long grain enriched white rice from Costco, wash the excess starch and dump the same amount of rice and water in the pot and let it cook on high for 4 minutes then 10 in low
slake
I'm wondering, If I bought an emergency jumpstart battery for my car. Can I run on a failing battery for a lot longer if I just jumpstart it every time I start the car? Usually the highest current draw is for the starting right. Post that it runs just on engine generated power?
sharatsc
TSA pre-check. Best $85 spent to date.
bkandel
Yes! Especially if you have kids -- minors go through TSA pre-check lines with parents with pre-check, even if the kids don't have pre-check on their own.
gabrielrdz
they just made Global Entry free for kids under a certain age, I think, as long as their parent(s) have GE.
ashconnor
Ditto Nexus. Best $50 and has paid for itself many times over crossing the Mexico-US border.
wrs
Note that Nexus includes Global Entry and TSA Precheck. If you live near the border, it's the cheapest way to get all of them.

Also, your Nexus card is a REAL ID, so no need to pay extra for an enhanced drivers license.

thoughtpalette
Echoing this! It has made traveling sooooo much more enjoyable and reduces stress.
mjevans
Global Entry counts too (for most airports) and includes TSA Precheck for domestic (at most airports).
y-curious
As a followup: 1. Global Entry (international travel precheck for American permanent residents and citizens) is $120 and includes TSA precheck. 2. The high-tier credit cards (Amex Plat, Chase Sapphire Reserve) give you credits for Global Entry and/or TSA Precheck. They cost in ~$600, but my Amex Plat pays for itself with:

  - Global Entry for wife, parents (as authorized users)
  - Uber credit $15/month
  - Clear at the airport- I stacked a coupon and got my wife and I Clear for the price of one
  - Streaming app reimbursement
I am not a paid shill, I just like saving people money (Getting a fancy credit card is more of a break-even venture honestly)
evilduck
A fancy credit card is pretty worth it if you travel more than once or twice a year. Airport lounge access, travel insurance for sufficient delays or overnights, longer purchase warranties, cell phone insurance, rental car perks and so on. It’s not really about the money so much as the quality of life and peace of mind perks it offers. And seconding precheck or GE, it’s the best extortion money I’ve ever paid.
jcalx
For people unwilling to invest in Global Entry, Mobile Passport Control [0] is a free program almost as fast as GE at the airports that support it. At the moment it's still sort of a lesser-known "travel hack" but it's becoming increasingly popular.

In my opinion though GE + TSA Pre is still worth it — the only thing better than the shorter preflight security screening is the even shorter GE kiosk line re-entering the US.

[0] https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-contr...

websap
I got a sound system for TV watching that supports Dolby Atmos to watch movies and TV shows at home. It's been great. I rarely go to the movies any more and this makes watching movies great.

It also made me realize how bad certain streaming services are - Youtube, which don't support Atmos and multi-channel audio.

gnu8
I’d like to be contrarian here and suggest that if you happen to be possessed of a sudden impulse to buy something, but you can’t identify any particular thing that you need, consider putting that amount of money into an investment or retirement account instead of searching for a trinket to buy. That way you are scratching the itch and you’ll be better off later on.

In other words, you can have your cake and eat it too.

vosper
Or at least sit on the idea for a week or two before pulling the trigger. Lots of stuff I think I want in the moment turns out to be not so important.
hobotime
I've done this for vacations: Put in 50K into a mutual fund, and every year we use 5% of it for a guilt-free vacation.
erikerikson
Sounds like you are advocating the purchase of peace of mind and future stability. Strongly recommended!
nnf
I got an Ember mug and use it every day and love it. It keeps my coffee at a set temperature (controllable via my phone over Bluetooth) so it doesn't get cold right away, and I can take my time drinking it. I've bought a couple more as gifts since, and the people I gave them to say they like them a lot. The impact on my life isn't anything to get excited about, but it's been positive nonetheless. I don't feel rushed when I drink my coffee anymore, and I'm able to concentrate on my work without that nagging "my coffee is getting cold" feeling.
throwaway4220
That sounds up my alley! What kind of material is the cup if that's the one you're using? I couldn't clearly tell from the website.
madamelic
The mug part is metal, the electronics bit at the bottom is plastic-y rubber.
rdoherty
Under $100 - Ember mug. No more reheating coffee a few times/day or trying to drink cold coffee. I was surprised at how much I enjoy it. A nice napkin holder that is easy to pull napkins from. Vertical magazine/tablet organizer. Whiteboard next to my desk. Anything simple that makes a frequent chore or task 50% easier.

Under $1000 - Twice/week 'house helper' who does dishes and laundry. My wife travels a few weeks/month and we have 2 kids. Having someone do all the dishes and laundry saves me at least 5hrs/week.

mywittyname
Okay, this is the fourth Ember recommendation I've seen, so I'll bite. Why is it better than an insulated carafe and an insulated mug?
madamelic
It keeps the drink at a specific temperature indefinitely.

With an insulated mug, you aren't putting more heat into the drink but just trying to keep it for longer. In my opinion, insulation works great for cold drinks (I use a giant insulated cup for my cold drinks) but not so much for warm drinks.

LVB
The old (maybe incorrect) advice I was always told was that continuing to heat the coffee fouled the taste, hence the recommendation to use an insulated mug/thermos as opposed to a Mr. Coffee style warmed carafe. What makes this gadget different/better?
hildolfr
It would foul the taste because in an open carafe it distills the brew via evaporation.

If you don't let the water escape the taste stays fairly stable.

hildolfr
I meant concentrate, my mind is broken due to a cold and for some reason I'm not seeing an edit pathway on the mobile app I'm trying. Apologies.
LVB
That makes sense. The mug version of Ember (https://ember.com/products/ember-mug-2) is open on top, which seems like a fancy Bluetooth version of an old-school mug heater.

I could see the sealed one (the "Cup") as working better though.

sincarne
Much of coffee's flavour comes from a balance of acids and oils. These, particularly the oils, are sensitive to temperature. But unless you're drinking your coffee all day, you're unlikely to notice it. Real spoiling sets in after several hours at the kinds of heat you're probably running your Ember mug at. Most drip brewers with heating elements for the pot keep the temperature too high (often just below boiling). A steady heat is much better for the flavour than reheating. (This is what I remember from working at a coffee shop way, WAY back when I was at university.)
jauntywundrkind
Yeah. I make tea in a 68 oz Zojirushi thermos. I don't do this a lot, but if I make it at night it's still reasonably warm in the morning.

The thermos has a sipping cup on top that I can pour a couple oz of tea into.

rdoherty
It will hold my coffee at the perfect temperature all day. Also if the battery runs out I can put it on its charger and after ~5 mins it will start heating my now cold coffee back up to temperature. I thought it was kinda gimmicky too before I bought it but I am surprised at how great it is to have perfect temp coffee all the time.
idontwantthis
Why do you take all day to drink a coffee? Mine is definitely gone by the time it gets cold in an insulated mug.
rdoherty
Sometimes I forget, sometimes I need to run an errand or take the kids to school or any number of things happen.
oezi
Who does the dishes? Do you mean cooking?

Dishwasher should take care of all dishes.

rdoherty
I mean washing pots & pans and things that can't go into the dishwasher and loading and unloading the dishwasher.
mmh0000
Everything can go in the dishwasher at least once. ;)

But, on a more serious note. Over the years I've replaced everything in my kitchen that isn't dishwasher friendly with something that is. I do not want to waste the small amount of free time I have doing any dishes.

morkalork
I used to be utilitarian and had the minimal amount of everything around the house but I caved in and started buying duplicates. 1/2 cup measuring cup for pet food? I no longer use the same one as baking, I just bought another and now it lives in the container/bag of food. Measuring spoon for supplement powder? Same thing, it lives in the jar now. For under $100 you could buy every duplicate you'll need around your house. Never look for that "thingy" again, never think about what you last used it for or if it's dirty or in the wash again. It's small but it's worth it.

Along the same lines, Spotify. Could I torrent all the music I want, manage a library and set up streaming around the house, sync the files with my phone, etc? Yes. I used to do it too but now I just don't want to even think about it. $15/mo and it's solved. Forever.

vineyardmike
This is also helpful if you travel a lot.

I keep a bag of chargers/socks/toiletries/etc packed and ready. Don’t worry about losing a charger or unplugging the one you use daily. For $30, just get a second dedicated to traveling.

If it’s something you struggle with packing or being ready, buy two. I know people who do this with clothes/suits, but that personally doesn’t fit my travel style.

threeio
This was a huge win for my family, we all have travel chargers that cover our needs and run off of common USBC.

I grabbed a Anker charging station/extention cable (https://www.anker.com/products/a9129-charging-station-67w) and can plug in one device and charge most of my families needs, including laptops in a pinch.

Also, 3 prong splitters for travel -- great for airports, bad ac plugs on planes, hotels with one AC plug, etc. (https://www.amazon.com/GE-Polarized-Three-Outlet-Power-Ivory...)

theshrike79
I have the same policy for most cheapo stuff. Like measuring tapes.

My good one is always Somewhere(tm), so I just bought a dozen cheap ones from Ikea. They're good enough for random "does this fit there" -measurements and there's enough of them so that it's impossible to lose them ALL at the same time :D

I also have so many screw drivers, torx bits and 10mm sockets that it's impossible to lose them all. Are they the best quality? No. But it's more important to find one when I need one.

qup
> I also have so many...10mm sockets

Give me three minutes in your garage.

colecut
I won't argue that Spotify isn't a fantastic value, but the price has gone up and will continue to do so (especially if artists are ever going to make anything meaningful from streams), and nothing lasts forever..

I find that online services in general degrade and become worse values and experiences for users over time, nearly inevitably. In many cases because initial funding can help to support the early unsustainable pricing.

I guess I'm saying it's good to have a downloaded backup of the all-time favs while using spotify for convenient listening.

dvfjsdhgfv
Strongly disagree about Spotify. Quality aside, many albums simply aren't there! I have my own routine of discovering new pearls (YouTube used to help me with that years ago, nowadays it just suggests what I already viewed or some random stuff) and I set aside some time for that. After that, I choose the albums I really like, in the best quality.

The problem that Spotify actually tries to solve is that no matter how much we love that particular piece or album, we will get bored with it at some point, even if you dose your pleasure. So in theory Spotify could ease the process of finding interesting music. But in practice, I wound nothing can bet the tedious process of manual research and selection.

shiroiushi
Also, what's to keep them from removing stuff later? The streaming video services do this all the time. It's a very common story to hear of someone watching some TV series, and then halfway through, it's removed from their streaming service and either disappears altogether, or moves to some other service that they're now expected to sign up for. It's much easier to just set sail on the high seas than to put up with this nonsense.
ekkeke
Under $100: Electric toothbrush: Always hated having to brush my teeth and this makes it so much less tedious, also supposedly better for your teeth, from 1-2 times per day to 3 times every day.

Under $1000: Nespresso machine, was using a mocha pot before but the coffee is much easier to make, no cleanup, and tastes better.

asyx
It’s hard beating nespresso. You honestly either need to get real lucky with a bean to cup machine or get an espresso machine which is a lot more work.
zoover2020
Did you try a proper brewing technique? Nespresso tastes bad in comparison afterwards. Under a 1000$ you can get decent espresso makers, too.
asalahli
Not the OP but I did try a lot. Couldn't get anywhere near a consistent brew. Switched to Aeropress and haven't looked back, since.
criddell
I have a drip brewer (Moccamaster), mocha pot, Senseo, french press, Keurig machine, aeropress, pour over setup, e61-based espresso machine (a heat exchanger), and am upgrading to a dual boiler espresso machine. I also have a Nespresso machine.

Each can make very good coffee and none of them taste bad in comparison to any others.

But if your budget is $1000, I would avoid the espresso category because you also need a grinder and a great grinder is probably more than a budget espresso machine and more important for consistent and good shots.

theshrike79
I've never not used an electric toothbrush (our family has had one since the early to mid 90s I think), to me it sounds crazy that there are people discovering them in the 2020s.

Just get a proper one, the cheap ones are worse than doing it manually. And the most expensive ones with all the bluetooth crap are a ripoff. The only thing that really matters is the rpm or the amount of back and forth motions it does per second, the rest is fluff you may or may not need.

ekkeke
Honestly it was such a revelation once I bought it. didn't buy it sooner because spending £70 on a toothbrush (+ heads) would have been an unaffordable luxury, and anyway I didn't realise how much better it would be :)
BrandoElFollito
At least in France you can get a Nespresso machine "for free" of you buy enough coffee for a year (a very reasonable amount).

Otherwise you get promotions at 20 or 30€

silcoon
Nespresso machines hide the coffee inside plastic capsules. Why?

1. You don’t know what coffee you get, you cannot really vary the coffee anymore and maybe try a different local one (where I live we have local coffee). Then you don’t even know if it’s just 100% coffee or they add something else

2. Why consuming plastic for a simple thing like a coffee? Plastic is NOT recycled in most of the countries and its bad for environment if not properly managed. Burning plastic increase pollution, but leaving it in the nature can take 500 years to dissolve. Why a simple thing like coffe powder, kept in a glass jar, used in a metal coffee mocha, now has to become the new trend to involve plastic? It’s literally the same thing, just worst for the environment.

fiatpandas
They are aluminum and are recyclable. They even have a recycling program. Assuming you aren’t brewing a flavored one, it’s only roasted coffee inside.

I was a bit of a coffee geek and went all out on grinding and brew methods, but then got real busy… nespresso makes good coffee and is super fast.

The downside as you mention is you are stuck with their varieties and can’t geek out on trying different roasts / regions outside of what they offer. But for some people like me that is lower on my priorities now.

syabro
> The downside as you mention is you are stuck with their varieties and can’t geek out on trying different roasts / regions outside of what they offer.

Not exactly. In Thailand there are a lot of local roasters thad produce a compatible pods with fresh coffee from different origins. Also there are washable pods you can fill by yourself with new stuff, use, wash repeat

fiatpandas
The stainless steel reusable pods seem nice. I’ll have to get them a shot.
jbjbjbjb
Under £10 it’s not espresso but a Hario V60 and the James Hoffman recipe and good coffee beans beats any Nespresso for taste imo. I do drink Nespresso as well.
anotherevan
An Aeropress and a decent grinder will make a very good coffee with minimal cleanup. Been doing it that way for years.
toyg
I've used Nespresso for ages (still do at my partner's house), and it beats a Bialetti any day, but it's not cheap.

I found a good sweet spot (for me) in a Kamira: it's not as good as a proper espresso and maybe even Nespresso, but it's so much cheaper and still better than a Bialetti. Once you have the procedure down, it's a breeze; and because there are no electronics or pumps, it's unlikely to ever break (I honestly forgot when I got it, must have been at least 4-5 years ago).

binalpatel
Under $100:

The heat gun mosquito things that some tech folks were mentioning on Twitter. Always get quarter sized terribly itchy bumps for each mosquito bites and using it makes them essentially itch-free immediately.

Under $1000:

Weekly house cleaning. Such reduced cognitive load/increased free time to not have to clean all the time, think about cleaning, etc especially with a toddler.

joezydeco
If you mean Bite-Away, then yes. I bought mine with leftover FSA funds and as far as I can tell it works, placebo effect or not.

https://www.bite-away.com/en/

jauntywundrkind
I got the much smaller usb-c keyring Heat-It, and works so great . Previous submission, https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/12/usb-c-cures-mosquito-bites/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41548336

There was a study recently on it, which feels fairly encouraging. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3257884/

The real winner this year was the $30 (rainbow, because it's cool) mosquito net. It's been shockingly hard setting it up really well, some still get through, but I can sit outside all day & break out the electric swatter two or three times & be fine. And I keep tuning the net a little... (I used to lug a bunch of fans in and out of the house, to keep them off me, but that was only semi-successful & made it a project each time.)

BrandoElFollito
I have a basic mosquito net above my bed and it is miraculous (I got the first one this year). What is particularly interesting is that I am not bothered by mosquito buzzing even when they fly close because somehow my brain knows that they cannot bite me
Vaslo
I used to just run a spoon under very hot water and then hold it against the bite at the hottest I could tolerate and works pretty well, albeit not very temperature accurate.
lippihom
Clever - going to steal this.
ac29
A suitably hot shower works well too.
blargey
Another cheap mosquito bite remedy: NOW Foods Tea Tree Roll-On ($5)

Had some big, angry welts this summer but they just stopped itching and disappeared overnight after applying that stuff, no other topical drug/ointment I tried came close.

more_corn
I bought led panel lights for my shop. 2ft x 2 ft. Bright, cheap, easy to wire.

Proper lighting changes everything. I think the last set I bought were $180 for 6

henning
Gym membership. Without changing my diet, I lost 30 lbs and became much stronger. With further diet changes and a little bit of walking, I am closing in on 50 lbs lost while continuing to gain strength in every major movement pattern. I.e., I am probably losing little or no muscle.

Waterpik. Flossing for people who don't like to floss.

5k retina monitor. It made me fall in love with using a computer all over again.

pyrophane
What has been your workout routine?
henning
I started doing full body three times a week. Then I went to a 4 day upper-lower split. Currently doing 6-day push/pull/legs. I might go to a 6-day upper-lower split in the future.
seanmcdirmid
Under $1000:

- Schlage Encode Plus: not the nicest looking smart lock, but the best battery life and most reliable (works with Apple Home Key so you can open your door with your watch). You can also program it to auto lock, so it solves multiple problems.

- Meta/Oculus 1/2(/3?): BeatSaber + other apps is a great way to get video game and exercise time in at the same time.

- I recently bought a $200 non-stick wok (the scanpan TechnIq) and it is way better than the ones we previously bought from the local Target/IKEA. Yes, no high heat, but it works for us and has changed the quality of our cooking.

BrandoElFollito
I bought a Nuki 3 Pro smart lock (now there's a v4) and I like it very much. It allows for continuous usb-c charging, which is nice.
dzhiurgis
I second on the smart lock, albeit ours is garage door opener. So nice being able to carry only smartphone with you.
VWWHFSfQ
High end noise cancelling headphones (we have the Bose). Literal game changer if you have a snoring partner and sleeping is difficult.
miloignis
Under $100:

1) A bidet! Got one in the pandemic when toilet paper was scarce and I wanted to be more efficient, but now I'll never go back. The Tushy ones are good.

2) A safety razor & accessories. I get a cheaper, closer, less irritating shave, and I get to customize every part of it. This can certainly be a rabbithole you spend a lot of money on, but you can get a solid customized starter kit for under $100 that will be totally solid, and from then on you're saving money over cartridges and gel unless you really want to splurge.

I'll second the electric toothbrush suggestion too, its great having my teeth fel clean and smooth.

declan_roberts
Second a bidet. Used one in Asia and bought one immediately on returning to the USA.
K0balt
I’ll Third a bidet. Once you experience the exhilarating bliss of cleaning your nether regions with fresh, clean water, you’ll never willingly go back to smearing excrement around your fiddly bits with the dry paper.
foobarian
Sorry if this is getting into TMI territory but how does the bidet avoid dissolving the unwanted material and spraying it all over everywhere? And how does one dry this without toilet paper?
Cyph0n
By controlling the water pressure.
BurdensomeCount
It works under the same principle as pressure washing, as long as the water pressure is high enough the final result is completely clean. Too high pressure can lead to material flying around everywhere but there's a very large range where the pressure is high enough to clean you but not enough to spray things around.

Drying is a personal preference and isn't as important anymore as you're clean down there now. Toilet paper is one option but you don't have to do it (I don't dry for reference) as it'll dry out by itself in a few minutes once you put your underwear on to absorb the water (which is fine because you're completely clean down there so it really is just clean water left).

wingerlang
> And how does one dry this without toilet paper?

Normally you still use some small amount of toilet paper to dry away most of the water.

cameronh90
For anyone in the UK interested in getting a bidet: most normal bidets are illegal due to our water safety backflow prevention regulations. As a minimum you need a break tank - a double check valve isn’t sufficient.
oliwarner
I know this applies for bumguns —various water boards have published guidance— but a lot of the under-seat bidets retract [without positive water pressure].

There's no risk of the spout sitting in and siphoning dirty toilet water it back into your supply. I'm neither a lawyer or a plumber but these seem like they might be okay.

Const-me
> There's no risk of the spout sitting in and siphoning dirty toilet water it back into your supply

In many places in Europe tap water is safe to drink. However, hot tap water is not.

The regulations mentioned by GP might protect safety of the cold tap water from intake of hot tap water. Which is easy to do unintentionally when mixing hot and cold water.

benterix
Oh so that's why the Brits all have this crazy setup with separate cold and hot taps! I was always wondering why - I'm from a country where you can mix water easily.
mattmanser
Nah, in the UK it's now fairly uncommon to still have a hot water tank. Most houses have mixer taps, and new fittings for bathrooms or kitchens will have mixer taps unless the home owner is masochist.

The separate taps thing is more because it costs to replace a sink. So even if you put a new boiler in an old houses lots of people aren't going to replace the fittings in the kitchens and bathrooms at the same time.

bigyikes
I can’t live without a bidet but the Tushy ones are no good - tight knobs and awkward spray angle.
dmckeon
Luxe Neo bidet attachment - easy to tee into supply, fits under toilet seat, options for rear/male only, or both rear/front male/female separate spray nozzles.
stavros
Yesss bidet post upvote!

Seriously, whenever I stay somewhere without a bidet I feel like a caveman. It's just such a quality of life improvement, it's crazy.

Under $1000: My 3D printer. I just super love 3D printers.

jorisboris
What do you use the 3D printer for?
stavros
I get this question a lot, and I never have a good answer. The best way to describe it is that it's a tool, so it unlocks a whole solution space that wasn't there before.

Before, I used to live with random little annoyances so much that I couldn't even see them as annoyances. After you get something that can solve all of them, your mind just unlocks.

Toilet seat won't stay up? Print a hook. Taking my glasses out of the glove compartment takes too long? Make a custom glasses holder. The cat eats too much? Print a cat feeder. My USB hub slides around too much? Print a bracket to hold it down. Too many devices on my desk? Print under-desk mounts for them.

The list just goes on and on and on, I've printed probably thousands of useful things, especially for my hobbies.

Corrado
Same for me. The bidet is absolutely a life changer.

And the BambuLab's A1 3D printer (and mini-AMS) was by far my favorite under $1000 purchase. I've already printed some fidget "tools", toys for the grandchildren, toys for the children, and even a couple of useful tools for me. As a bonus I get some more experience in CAD and other 3D design tools. It's turning into quite a hobby for me.

stavros
Hell, the A1 mini is something like $199, it's such a steal I'm thinking of buying some to gift to friends.
benterix
For me P1S hits the soft spot: it's not terribly expensive, and it just works out of the box, is closed so the temperature is well-controlled (plus a carbon filter to keep the fumes down), you can add AMS easily. With 0.2 nozzle you can basically print figurines with almost resin quality.
stavros
I love my P1S. Maybe not a great starter printer, if you don't know if you like printers or not, but definitely the best bang for buck if you know it's not going to be a "let's try 3D printing and see if I like it" purchase.

I do recommend a small length of foam tape for the left side of the door, though, the hinge is not lined and some fumes come out. Putting some foam there greatly improves that.

Kiro
All bidets I've looked at including Tushy seem really complicated to install (basically having to redo the plumbing) and I don't understand how so many people can just buy and install one like it's nothing. Am I imagining things?

Edit: Not in the US and the plumbing looks a bit like this, but without the nuts so you can't easily disconnect a part of it: https://static.byggahus.se/attachments/images/large/341/3416...

infecto
US based plumbing. You are imagining things. Most/all resi toilets in the US use a flex hose to connect the toilet to your water supply. Its usually a threaded connection. All these style of bidets simply have a T off of this connection.
[deleted]
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Kiro
Not in the US. The pipe just goes straight into the toilet. When googling around seeing articles about installing Tushy when you have rigid pipes they are still much more flexible than mine, with separate parts you can disconnect and replace.
syntheticnature
I was in the situation you describe when I got a bidet. It's possible to replace that pipe -- a little more work of course, but it's still turn off water, replace pipe with flexi-hose, connect bidet.
Kiro
I posted a picture in my original comment. Was it in the same ballpark? The difference with mine is that there are no nuts on the pipes next to the wall. It's one solid construction going from the sink through the toilet to the shower.
mikestew
To follow on to user infecto’s sibling comment, for most U. S. homes, it is probably fifteen minutes of work. Shut off water, connect t-line, bolt down new toilet seat, sorted. It shouldn’t be complicated for most installations.
tapoxi
I bought a Tushy during the pandemic, it took about 10 minutes and a flathead screwdriver.

I liked it so much that when I had a new bathroom installed a year later I put in a Toto Washlet.

7373737373
I feel like Toto is failing with their marketing, since people are not really aware of their products outside of Japan. No good and cheap alternatives either
dzhiurgis
Is Toto really that better than others? I have both (very old Toto vs Chinese no-name) and I see no difference.
fellowniusmonk
You can pry my toto drake 2 from my cold dead hands.
newdee
Duravit aren’t cheap, but are much cheaper than Toto (at least in the UK) whose pricing is kinda outrageous.
its_down_again
I’ve got a Duravit toilet here in the US, and I'm on the hunt for a compatible cold-water bidet seat under $300 on Amazon. I originally went for a Brondell, thinking it would match the shape and dimensions. But halfway through the install, I realized it wasn’t going to fit around the seat connectors. Duravit's own bidet seats are around $1,000-- I'm tempted, but they look like a lot of work to install. I’m starting to wonder if I should just upgrade the whole toilet to a model that comes with a bidet.
toyg
Toto is failing with their prices. I know they can print money in Japan, but it looks like they don't really want to be competitive elsewhere. Sooner or later someone will persuade the right influencer to start a bidet craze and they will get 10x bigger than Toto overnight.
7373737373
Yep, this is what I've been thinking!
raphaelb
It depends on what your toilet supply lines are like and if you use a cold water only or a cold/hot water bidet, but a cold water only one (not nearly as uncomfortable as imagined before trying it) is very easy to install as long as your supply line has a shutoff valve and is relatively flexible.

It takes 15-20 minutes and it basically consists of unscrewing a few things and screwing them back together again.

Digory
If you can handle putting the nozzle on your garden hose, you should be able to handle it.

In the US, the water pipe almost always connects to the toilet through a small shutoff valve. After the valve, it connects to the toilet through a "supply." The supply is basically a short garden hose, with screw-on connections at both ends.

Shut off the water at the wall. Flush to empty the toilet tank. Unscrew the hose at the toilet, and screw that end into what amounts to a y, or splitter that comes with the bidet. From the splitter, screw one side back into the toilet connection; the other goes to the bidet itself. Turn back on the water at the wall.

(This is for a simple cold-water bidet. If you need heated water or electricity, it can be more complex.)

taftster
I mean, but don't you need warm water and/or electricity? I can't see liking a bidet if it's basically just cold tap water shooting up my bum. Not sure that's going to do it for me.

I've always thought that both hot water and electricity would be a minimal barrier to entry for a bidet. And that neither of these exist in a typical toilet closet. Am I fundamentally wrong about this??

dvngnt_
it's really not that cold. i can't do cold showers at all and tap water bidet feels nothing like it.
jdyer9
Same, I don't even like washing my hands with cold tap water, but cold bidet water is no issue.
fiatpandas
The bidet heats up the water instantly, there is no requirement for a hot water supply. Just connect it to the existing water supply the toilet uses.

You do however need electricity. I had to run an extension cord for mine, which I tucked away in low profile conduit to keep things tidy looking.

Digory
Whether you need it probably depends on your climate and your house.

Water in pipes inside a house's "thermal envelope" is presumably around 72 deg. F. I wash my hands with "cold water" without wincing. Tap water strikes me as tepid if I drink it without ice.

If your pipes run through an outside wall in Canada, it might be a different story.

If you do need warmer water, and the bidet heats it, you probably just need an electrician to fish a wire and add a receptacle. That's not outrageously complex, usually, but I tend toward calling a professional for anything behind the walls.

ac29
> Water in pipes inside a house's "thermal envelope" is presumably around 72 deg. F.

The pipes in my house are in the crawlspace underneath the house, which is definitely nothing like 72F this time of year. Any hot water more than 10 feet or so away from the water heater runs pretty cold for several gallons.

Digory
That sounds like a good weekend project, putting split foam insulation around your pipes. 8' runs are a couple of bucks at the big box stores.

It's not quite as efficient, but I put in a recirculation pump and a timer to keep the water warm throughout the pipe during the day. The clothes washer was never getting warm water, and we wasted a lot at the shower waiting for warm water to reach it.

dyeje
I ended up buying a travel bidet because I couldn’t install one at our house for various reasons. It’s basically just a squeeze bottle with an angled head. Works great!
roland35
Just don't get it mixed up with your water bottle!!
MisterTea
Those are compression fittings which we also use in the USA for sink and toilet connections. Standard size here is 3/8 inch which is the outer diameter of the tubing. They are easy to work with as you only need a tube cutter (or hacksaw with fine tooth pitch) and a wrench. You cut the tube, slide a compression nut over, slide the ferrule(s) on, insert the tube into the fitting, finger tighten the compression nut, make sure everything is aligned then tighten nut with wrench. No solder, no fancy crimp tools. You can disassemble and reassemble without leaks. The only issue is the ferrule winds up becoming swaged to the tube after wrench tightening so you have to cut the tube end off behind the ferrule if you want to replace the nut.

However, instead of using rigid metal or plastic tubing you commonly find a flexible hose assembly[1]. Only fancy installs use custom formed polished rigid tube for the look. We also tend to leave most of the plumbing in the walls and only the shut off valve protrudes from the wall. Maybe there are flexible hoses available in your region.

When I installed my bidet all I needed was a 3/8 compression tee[2] which they make specifically to tap shutoff valves. The bidet came with a 3/8 connection hose so that went to the tee and I was up and running. The big issue was electric - no outlets in the bathroom. So having seen how Japan loves extension cords I too used one, ran a 12 AWG cord out to the hall to a GFI adapter plugged into a socket. Jank but highly unlikely to cause a fire.

[1] https://www.homedepot.com/b/Plumbing-Plumbing-Parts-Supply-L...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Breezliy-Lead-Free-Compression-Outlet...

jtwaleson
My parents in law lived in the middle east for a long time, and we all got used to bidets over there. I've had a "mini shower head" version next to my toilet for the last 15 years or so. A bit afraid that it'll start leaking at some point, but so far it's holding up great. I would never go back to TP only.
al_borland
Without meaning to get too personal, what is the technique for using those? When I took a work trip to India the office had what I think you’re talking about. In the US, it’s like a sprayer on a kitchen sink. I didn’t dare try it out, as I couldn’t think of a scenario where I tried it for the first time and didn’t soak my clothes. I didn’t want that to be my reputation at the office.
jtwaleson
You hold it relatively close to the area that needs cleaning. Adjust the pressure as needed using the control on the handle. Then use TP (just to dry), in my experience this is optional in warmer climates.
HenryBemis
I have seen that 'mini shower head' in multiple homes and hotels in Finland and Russia (but not in Sweden or Denmark). It is amazing!!

A side-hack for that matter is to switch from plain-TP to wet-wipes. Some time ago I visited a friend who had younglings, and treated myself to a pamper-wet-wipe and it was amazing.

jtwaleson
The sewage system won't be happy with wet wipes. Caused huge problems in some areas as it doesn't break down.
iKlsR
I'd add a cheap hand massager to that list, just basic compression and some heat with vibration can do wonders for your hand after a day of coding, bonus if it kneads as well.
fnimick
Safety razors are amazing and life changing. Even if you have something basic it's better for your skin than a cartridge razor, plus it's better for the planet (way less plastic), plus it's way less expensive! I don't know how they are still a niche item.

For anyone who wants to get started, I recommend (no affiliation): - the henson razor for those who want something on automatic. It's less efficient (worse at cutting long hair) but it's basically impossible to cut yourself with it due to the small blade gap - the rockwell 6s for tinkerers. It has 6 different settings for blade gap so you can choose your favorite, switch it up if you skipped shaving for a day and have longer hair, etc

tomcam
I abandoned safety razors because the handles are minuscule. Never found one that didn’t cramp up my big farmer hands.
dangus
I would asterisk the bidet suggestion just to say that higher end bidet seats that cost starting around $400 are wildly better the cheap ones, especially the unseated ones.

I’ve bought the cheap kind, got tired of it and tossed it, then years later went with a more expensive Toto (around $400) and it’s like a completely different experience.

The Toto keeps itself and the toilet cleaner for longer, it has options for gentle spray and oscillating movement, it’s entirely controlled by electronic remote rather than a crude manual knob, the water and seat are heated, it detects when you are sitting down and operates accordingly, and it even has a warm air dryer.

scruple
I've had my safety razor (a Merkur) since 2008 or 2009 and I am still working through the original pack of 1,000 razorblades that I got with it. I keep a beard year-round so I don't really shave much. Incredible value purchase, with very minimal effort it has remained practically as good as new.
telcal
Yes for a bidet! My wife wanted one, I thought I'd hate it but it really is fantastic. We have a Toto Washlet C5. Heated seat, heated spray, warm air dryer. Had to cancel the Amazon toilet paper auto-delivery.
HellDunkel
A bidet for under 100$?
dole
Luxe Neo bidets are like $40-60, sturdy, easy to install and yes, rather life-changing.
gwbas1c
I bought some Tushies for my house and they were awful, they were so thick that they broke my toilet seats. I then bought new toilet seats and little stick-on bumpers, but they fell off.

I then visited a friend who had an older Tushy and it was thin enough that he had no problems.

It's like they switched to a cheaper version without testing it, and then marketed the hell out of it.

I ended up replacing all my Tushies with Amazon's toilet seat with a built in bidet. It's decent.

ingend88
Is there a travel bidet that falls into the same category in terms of the quality ? I have tried many but nothing works at the same level as tushy and thought i would make one myself! Would anyone from this community buy one if I made a very strong force bidet thats portable ?
bidet_user
You’re looking for a culo clean:

https://www.amazon.com/CuloClean-Portable-Compatible-Discree...

I have the high-end Totos installed at home, and occasionally still revert to this. It’s the best.

Have one in my travel bag, car, backup in luggage, briefcase. All you need is a cheap water bottle.

Test it at home so you know how to use it. Keep it in a tiny ziploc with extra tp (for drying in a public WC)

theFlamewithin
I am so glad you mentioned this. My son is intellectually challenged, and teaching him to wipe himself is . . . challenging. A bidet seems like an excellent game changer. Cheers!
mlsreality
$79.95 on Amazon: RinseWorks- All Brass Aquaus 360 Handheld Bidet Sprayer for Toilet - NSF Plumbing Code Certified Legal Installation Ergonomic Dual Thumb Pressure Controls- 3”-11” Spray I just spent 6 weeks in Japan, where EVERY toilet had some version of the Toto bidet toilet seat. And while I appreciated that it was everywhere, whereas in every other country bidets can barely ever be found; I was happy to return to my Bidet Sprayer, with a MUCH stronger adjustable spray, that cleans me out, and leaves no brown on the single swipe of toilet paper.
joshuakcockrell
I bought a used Apple Watch for sleep tracking for $230. It took a few days to get used to sleeping with a watch on but I have a 1.5 yr old daughter and it’s been a game changer to quantify how much I’m waking up for her and how my nightly routine impacts my productivity.

There are apps in the App Store that give you a sleep score.

PaulRobinson
Under $100 - almost every fiction book I've bought in the last few years. It's not hard to find books you'll like and enjoy, and they're inexpensive. Personal recommendations, reviews online, in papers or in specialist magazines, they'll all help. Some non-fiction is worth it, but rarely has the same impact as a fiction book, where you get to dive into another life, another World, another set of perspectives completely alien to your own.

Under $1000 - just - would either be a friend's Samsung G9 Odyssey monitor a push-button standing desk. My friend was emigrating so we did a deal and snagged both - and a walking treadmill still in the garage - for less than $1k. The monitor is superb because it's just a great setup, a real upgrade from 2x monitors. The desk gets me moving around a bit more and is great for my health. I'm sleeping a little better, losing a little weight from moving around more, just feeling a lot healthier.

gregw134
Sous vide machines are like $40. No more tough steaks.
sva_
Recently got some over-ear Bluetooth headphones with active noise cancelling for 150 euro.

I knew the audio quality would be worse than with my cabled studio headphones, but the ANC is just amazing in noisy environments - especially while on public transport. I used to hate taking the train for longer rides because it'd be hit or miss, but with the headphones I'm actually looking up to it. Also looking up to trying them on a flight.

Cilvic
Which ones did you get?
sva_
Bose Quietcomfort Headphones

They sadly only support the old SBC Bluetooth codec, but their wearing comfort is extremely high which was an important factor for me, and ANC is very good. They do seem to support SBC-XQ though.

badpun
Are they hot? I have the Sony wh-1000xm4 and they're amazing, but unfortunately, because how tightly the seal off my ears, they regularly get too warm and uncomfortable.
sva_
They don't feel hot while just wearing them, but I did notice I get sweaty if I'm using them on a hike/moderate exercise - which is probably to be expected though.

I'd say wearing comfort is great, I can wear them for hours and barely notice I have them on. I didn't use them in warmer (summer) temperatures yet though.

renewiltord
Under $100:

- Air fryer / Countertop Convection Oven: Good for lots of cooking, fast, crisps well

- Collapsible wagon: Easiest way to transport things places. Previously would drive to target etc. for lots of stuff, now just wheel it.

- Global Entry: Gives you TSA PreCheck. Returning from International Travel is like returning from Domestic Travel.

- Electric Toothbrush: Automated pause means I brush longer than before

- Lyft/Baywheels e-bike membership: No need to worry about parking or keeping bike. Faster than cars in SF often. 2x as fast as trains usually.

- Command Strips: Easiest way to stick things on walls. Cheap from Costco

- Costco Membership: Higher quality of customer. Makes everything better

- Cast Iron / Carbon Steel pans: These are great, and a lot less trouble than people make them out to be. I do wash them myself (no dishwasher) which is primary annoyance, but the oiling is easy and they do stay non-stick!

- Carbon Steel knives: I picked up a couple in Japan, wife had some from SF. They're great.

Over $1000:

- Cleaners: $200/mo

- Google Home/Nest speakers and smart lights: Nice to talk to things to turn them off when tired, shows photos of friends etc. Will have to give up the screens when child is born but till then it's nice.

- Amex Platinum: $650/yr (or something) Centurion Lounges are great. Upgrades at hotels are nice.

- Cordless Waterpik w/ storage reservoir: I still don't use as often as I should, but I do use it

Things that didn't quite work out as I was hoping:

- straight edge razor: used it for 2 years, not worth the effort

- car rooftop storage: used it rarely, it was worth it for then, but not usually

- cheaper credit cards: just spent money, not worthwhile

- Oculus: I bought every one that came out and I played with them for a while and then gave them up. Primarily Beat Saber using sideloaded tracks (which is where a lot of the fun is for me).

foolz
<$100: "Qudelix 5K Bluetooth DAC" Allows you to connect a pair of headphones to an audio source via Bluetooth using high quality (near lossless) codecs (also works as a USB DAC when needed). The killer feature is an onboard Parametric EQ with the ability to save profiles on the device. No more trying to manage EQ profiles on all my devices for my various headphones.

<$1000: I bought a digital piano to learn to play music. I feel that learning an instrument has had an enormous effect on my life. It's great for getting those synapses going, and find it very relaxing to play after a hard day.

aitchnyu
Ill pay the nearly 3x markup in India just for its db meter. I enter the headphone impedance and sensitivity (dB/mW) and it shows the real time (estimated) volume. Also I converted the frequency response to V-shape so my open back headphones sounds good at lower volumnes. I moved from "25 hours a week" volume levels to "168 hours a week".
camgunz
I would guess most people who listen to music while they work have the volume way too far up for that amount of exposure. Anyone on an iPhone should go into Sounds -> Headphone Safety and reduce loud audio to 75 dB. You'll probably be shocked by how quiet that is.
FireBeyond
I wonder how they determine that? Especially with Bluetooth, you have no idea how much sound energy is being put out, and can't infer it from power draw or anything similar.
Vaslo
Under $1000

A hoselink hose. Pricy but worth every penny when you need to reel it in or pull it out.

Under $100

The Konnected smart garage door opening

Far superior to the company that took much of their business behind a paywall

voisin
> the company that took much of their business behind a paywall

Chamberlain?

smeej
Under $1,000, but just barely over $100:

Semi-recumbent stationary bike that fits under my standing desk.

I've never been coordinated enough to get the hang of walking on the treadmill and typing, but pedaling slowly all day I can do! I've lost 45 lbs so far this year, and adding up the calorie estimate for each day (I've been tracking) and dividing by the 3500 calories people say are in a pound, about 20 of them have been from the bike! (The rest have been from hard work with a dietitian who helped me solve some longstanding issues, but that was more expensive.)

voisin
What bike did you get?

> The rest have been from hard work with a dietitian who helped me solve some longstanding issues

Deficiencies or simply realizing certain intake was higher calories than expected?

smeej
This one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0789F4Z2M

The $122 price is about what I paid for it. Dunno when they have ever actually sold it for $350

And what I solved with the dietitian that led to weight loss had more to do with blood sugar balance and what I do and don't react badly to. Cutting out stuff that keeps me inflamed made a big difference as far as actually getting the nutrients from my food and not being hungry all the time. So did a target set of 40g protein, 40g fat, 10g fiber every meal, which brings me in around 1900 calories per day. The nice thing was that at first, that was a 500 calorie deficit per day, but I don't have to recalculate ever, because it's also the maintenance calorie intake for my target weight. Weight comes off slower the closer I get, but I don't really care about speed, just trajectory!

My IBD (some dispute among my doctors whether it was UC or Chrohn's) is now confirmed in remission without medication, which is terrific!

echoangle
Interesting, do you have that thing at home? Or do you work at an office and have it there? I don’t really know how I would do that myself.
smeej
It's at home. I already had an adjustable-height desk behind my sofa (unusual setup, but it works great in my space), but like I said, not that coordinated.

I've only worked remotely since way before covid, so it works out for my situation.

mbrameld
> (The rest have been from hard work with a dietitian who helped me solve some longstanding issues, but that was more expensive.)

Just a heads up, if you're in the USA I believe all health insurance plans must fully cover dietitian visits if you have certain conditions, obesity being one of them. Hypertension and pre-diabetes are a couple other common ones.

smeej
Yeah, they have to cover at least some generic ones. They don't have to cover every weird little specialty.

Now that I'm in more of a maintenance mode, I'm working with one who's in-network and free. It just cost more than $1k to get to this point.

fiftyacorn
Ive got a yoyo bike desk - love it. Being able to pedal an hour or 2 while working

I just wish it had ant+ support - i keep thinking of adding a cadence meter then calibrate it to a .fit file. but then never have the time

coldpie
Under $1000 - my first guitar. Started as a pandemic experiment going into Minnesota Winter 2020, and has turned into my favorite hobby. I play almost every day for 4 years straight now, I've started attending local classical guitar concerts, and I do a little volunteering for them, too.