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).

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

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.

My rice cooker. Doesn’t really matter which one. If you like rice, this will make your life better

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.

Electric toothbrush.

Invest in your teeth. Trust me.

Kitchen stuff:

1. 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
2. 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.
3. A decent cast iron or stainless steel pan. Learn how to use it and maintain it, and it will last you forever.
4. 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.
5. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Can’t believe I haven’t seen “3D Printer” on here yet!

A serial hobbyist, with a lot of my interests waning in weeks to months after getting into them. But 3D Printing? I’ve been loving it for 10 years and there’s no signs of that slowing down.

Sure there’s goofy stuff you can make with it, but 95% of what I print are functional items. So often I need something for around the house and I can just print for cheaper and faster than ordering one online. Examples:

• vaccum hose adapter
• desk grommet
• custom clamp for a bike light
• small L-brackets for cupboard shelves

There’s thousands of things out there you can just download and print, or you can get into designing your own. It’s very rewarding to design a physical object and then upload it for others to use too!

Here’s some examples of some things I’ve designed or remixed from other designs: https://www.printables.com/@Foreverwinter_223629

The two printers I recommend are the Prusa Mk4 (~$1,000USD) or the Creality Ender-3 V2 ($225USD). The Ender print quality is very good, it just doesn’t come with several of the very nice features the Prusa has - if you can afford it get the Prusa! You won’t regret it.

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

1. An office chair not a gaming chair.
2. A reciprocating saw and having multiple blades is a lifesaver. You will always need a fresh blade in an emergency when the store is closed.
3. Cast iron pan
4. Bidet has been life changing

Edit: 5. A multifunctional pressure cooker like an instant pot or ninja 6. Air fryer

With the last two and a pan you can cook some good food for 1-2 people very easily and they are relatively cheap appliances you can use even in a college dorm or apartment.

Cast iron skillets ($10-$35 each). My kids joke that they don’t know whether I’d save them or the skillets in a fire.

Smartwool socks. I do not understand - all other wool is hot & itchy but these socks, I can be sweaty all over but my feet stay dry. I just bought my second round, looked at purchase history, my old ones were twelve years old before they started getting holes.

Linen clothing for hot weather, it provides shade and I am cooler wearing it, than not. (Moisture wicking fabric doesn’t work where I live.)

Metal roof (20 thousand dollars) on both the houses I have ‘bought’ (mortgage) over my life. Not quite 2x the cost of shingles but never have to think about it again. The first one was 30 years ago and still absolutely solid no maintenance yet.

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.

Probably a bidet, I hate going to the bathroom at other people’s homes now.

A passport.

most recent purchase was a resin 3d printer. Now i can make figurines for my bf and i have something to play with. win win