For me it was an Elgato stream deck.
Initially bought it on a whim (probably more as a gimmick) but now find myself using multiple times a day in the office (sales) environment.
It’s really a badly marketed product. Its real utility isn’t that it uses less oil, but that it cooks incredibly fast. Essentially an oven on steroids.
It’s made cooking so much easier. I usually toss some boneless chicken in with a light coating of soy sauce and cornflour. While the chicken cooks, I prep a basic Asian sauce on the stovetop.
The chicken and the sauce are both done within 10-15 minutes. Never have to check on the chicken (unlike a pan) or wait too long (unlike an oven). Mix them together and dinner is ready.
Now I can keep heat-generating stuff like my storage server and the cable modem (surprisingly heat-intensive) in the basement, have a WiFi AP in the attic for great coverage in the yard, and I can easily drop lines down into rooms on the 2nd floor from above by just drilling a small hole in the top of a wall and feeding the Cat6 down, or put one into a 1st floor room by going up from the basement. Cat6 anywhere I want it, basically.
It's something I've wanted for years and held off doing because I knew I was capable of DIYing it, and therefore I hesitated to hire it out. This was dumb.
It took him an hour or so using various specialized tools ("fish bits", "fish tape", tall ladders, drywall saws, etc.), when it would have probably taken me the better part of a weekend and I wouldn't have done as clean of a job. He also knew from experience where the easiest place would be to get all the way from the basement to the attic, given my house's construction style.
Definitely worth the two bills, and also now I have a "wiring guy" for future projects. I've already called him back to help run wiring for PoE outdoor cameras, another thing I've wanted for years but haven't bothered to execute on.
I bought some new plants for my home, which makes the place feel a lot nicer.
I bought some outdoor-trousers - things that go on top of your jeans - when it is cold they keep me warm, and I can now roll around in the snow without getting wet as a nice bonus. (-10°C here today). That said it was only a couple of weeks ago that I came out of a sauna and rolled around naked in 30cm of snow. Bracing!
Other household things that have made my life nicer have included some decent concrete-bolts screwed into my walls and ceiling. Now I can hang plants, have an indoor hammock, and a hammock-chair too.
Finally I've started buying random paintings whenever I go to visit charity/thrift stores. Each time I go I buy a single painting, it must be "amateur", and it must have an artist signature and date on it. At the moment I've got a wall with about eight of these paintings hung on it. All different styles, colours, and levels of "goodness", but together they all look good, rather than a garish mismash. Kinda fun.
Though probably not as good for rice specifically as an actual high-end rice cooker, it greatly increased the range of foods I eat.
Makes it easy to make nice one pot meals overnight for multiple days, you can make really good broth soups from chickens etc quickly, or slowly if you prefer.
If you like to try tougher cuts of meat, this is also a good reason to get it. The fact it doesn't occupy one burner is also helpful.
Because it changes how warm I feel while going downstairs, I also don't need downstairs to be as warm to get warmed up again. I'm already warm and can sit in a normal temperature room to work.
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Air purifier (40 bucks on offer I think). We got it for unrelated reasons, it didn't help for that. Unexpected uses:
1. Neighbours' smoke occasionally comes into our apartment somehow and now I can do something about it. Before, I would just suck it up and try to convince myself that the little residue coming through whatever wall isn't going to impact my health.
2. This winter, people seem to like to heat the house with whatever old painted glued rotting wood they can find (or maybe also dead bodies, it's hard to tell). I can wait a few hours, but if it doesn't clear up and I want some fresh air before sleeping then what I do is open the bedroom window wide for a few minutes to replace the air, doors closed, then close window and turn on purifier on high for 30+ minutes, and then go back in there to sleep.
I'm really glad something can finally, truly replace Google search and be just as good or better (neither Bing nor DuckDuckGo were good enough when I tried them).
If we're talking physical products, I'd probably go with the Apple Magsafe wallet. It's a little thing but I love not having a separate wallet to keep track of every day.
- clothes drying racks that hook onto radiators. Reduces drying time and clothes crumpling
- wired mechanical keyboard. Wired is simpler than wireless. Quality ones have n-key support
- bicycle fenders
- digital wrist watch so that I check my phone less.
I wasn't doing enough. Too much YouTube and reddit, so I stopped and decided to do things.
I used different colored markers for different aspects of my life-- health, work, fitness, recreational travel, home maintenance, etc) and decided I had to do something every week.
The different colors even accounted for down time. Too much color? Draw a nice relaxing blue line for a couple of days and do nothing.
I went from being a hermit to a EMT-qualified volunteer at my local volunteer fire department on his way to Firefighter I training, a spotlight operator at a local community theater, an enthusiastic yogi, and by having the year laid out I can look at weekends with holidays and plan my year's travel months in advance. I make notes on when to plant what and have a pretty front yard.
Digital calendars are nice, but they can't beat having a huge-assed poster right next to the front door with everything laid out in black and white and red and blue and green and yellow and........
If you feel like you're not getting the most out of life, get a huge-assed calendar, start googling local volunteer opportunities, write it down, and then do it.
$30, including markers.
They are basically bionic ears. Headphones, headset, earplugs, hearing protection, hearing aids, extendable ears, and more. Wish they could act as universal translators, but I suppose that's still yet to come.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fiskars-34-in-Aluminum-Handle-an...
Our dogs are frequently out in the yard, so other than spring pre-emergent I try to avoid herbicides. I bought it after a hand weeder broke pulling up crabgrass.
This thing has oddly been one of the most satisfying purchases I've made in years. You put it in the ground, step on it and the thing easily pulls out weeds and only in the spot you put it. Then you get to shoot them off the claw. I have a bucket I try and shoot them into. It's oddly therapeutic.
This is not the one I have since I have mostly wooden stuff in my crib, but this one looks nice and long and cheap:
https://www.amazon.com/CubiCubi-Computer-Writing-Storage-She...
Forget standing, get long instead.
Oh, and this. I don't know why it took so long for me to think of this, reusable K-cups:
https://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Universal-stainless-Refillab...
And finally, window privacy films:
https://www.amazon.com/Privacy-Frosted-Decorative-Covering-B...
It lets in natural light, no curtains to fiddle with (but you can have curtains too).
After sending her details about my problems and the kinds of styles I admired, the stylist experience was very old-school retail — a department store — but she was unexpectedly pragmatic, giving great advice about picking durable clothes and materials that specifically fit well on me, with lots of wink-and-nudge budget advice (like "This would look great on you for $50 less" followed by flashing me a Nordstrom Rack or Poshmark listing of it).
Also, finding out that the department store has a complimentary tailoring service for hemming and adjusting the waistline on pants you buy from there permanently changed my clothes shopping process.
I also replaced a rock, a brick, and a rubber wedge with magnetic door holders, each about $5. Now when we're bringing in the groceries, we can keep the door open without the rock, and it's easy to close when we're done.
* A plug adapter
* My big ol' laptop charger brick and cord
* A medium-sized USB-A charger for phone, headphones, power bank
* A USB-C charger for iPad, Kindle
* A small power strip because I had to plug several things in
Now I just bring the single Passport III adapter. Done. It has a single power outlet pass-through, but I haven't even needed it because the only thing I ever plug in is chargers.
Cost about 30€ instead of previously used 3€ cotton T-shirts.
Can wear one for about 3 weeks without washing, with no body odor. Much more pleasant to the skin, even for doing sports, driving, etc. Also, warm in winter, airy in summer. Plan to switch most clothing to merino wool.
High end ricecooker ended up getting more use than expected.
USB KVM style switch to change mouse/kyb over between work and personal device
In terms of best buy in 2022 was the Peak Design Capture Camera Clip. For a photographer it's amazing to not have the weight of the camera around your neck but securely attached to my backpack strap. The ease of attaching and removing the camera makes me actually use it more on hikes.
Why get gouged by apple on storage when you can just duct tape an SSD to your laptop?
Nothing's worse than trying to mix the perfect water temperature at 3 AM while the baby is screaming, waking up the rest of the family. (We use pre-boiled water for the baby's bottles, so it's not as easy as adjusting a tap.) We bought this after we had our second baby and it's made feeding the baby slightly less stressful.
It is as dumb as these things come. It has no navigation other than IR on the front to not bump into things. It doesn't connect to wifi. I'm not concerned about it sharing data because it has no way to do so.
I turn it on once or twice a week as I'm about to leave for work. When I come home my floors are in decent shape. It saves me about an hour a week on sweeping.
Minimum wage here is $12/hour so even if that's what I made, it would pay for itself in less than ten weeks.
- I got one of those Stagg kettles[0]. I make a lot of pour-overs, and a nice kettle neck gave me a lot more control than I expected. Coffee tastes the same, but making it is more fun.
- Not Boring's "Habits" app is fantastic[1]. I've been trying to nail down a meditation practice, and this finally did the trick for me. It helps me stay on task without making me feel guilty for it. I've been meditating consistently every day for a few months now.
- I got a copy of "Salt Fat Acid Heat" and read the whole thing[2]. It's made me a lot more competent at cooking than I was, and now other cookbooks make more sense and are less daunting.
[0]:https://fellowproducts.com/products/stagg-ekg-electric-pour-... [1]:https://www.andy.works/product/habits [2]:https://www.saltfatacidheat.com/
Also, a Hario V60 + Fellow Stagg EKG Kettle, really upped my coffee game. Though if you include the Timemore C2 grinder it probably comes to just over $200.
Reference: https://helpatmyhome.com/which-sodastream-and-soda-makers-ha...
There's a set of string lights in my apartment that were left installed when I moved in. They look pretty nice and they provide decent illumination in an area that's difficult to light, but I virtually never used them because I needed to plug them into an outlet in order to turn them on. I finally bought a device that goes between the plug and outlet with a cord to a pushbutton switch. I now use the lights daily and I have no idea why it took me 6 years to fix a problem that could be solved for around $10.
A bluetooth OBD2 monitor for my car. It can read engine codes and other diagnostics, and it can clear a lot of check engine warnings. It less than a single visit to a mechanic.
This one is way less general, but I finally bought a treadle feeder for our chickens. There were several bird flu scares over the past year and our old open-tube feeder would attract a ton of wild birds (plus the occasional rat). The treadle feeder requires the chickens to stand on a treadle which opens a cover over their feed, and they learned how to use it pretty quickly. I'm amazed at how effective it's been; we're going through significantly less chicken feed now because the wild birds were eating nearly as much as our chickens were.
An Oura ring. Some quantitative insight around sleep, heart rate, heart rate variation, temperature, etc. SUPER interesting to see how things change when sick, drink alcohol, etc. Also- I confess to not minding the tone/language the product uses for coaching purposes. It is not an asshole.
Relatedly, tracking food/calories/water consumption in the (free- no need to pay them) Noom app has been useful quantitative insight as well. Rare that the free version of a paid thing has any utility whatsoever.
A couple of things that I haven't yet seen mentioned:
A LifeStraw Home water filter. It removes the slightly metallic taste from my home tap water.
Cable management boxes (multiple brands). These allow me to hide away the unsightly power strips, power bricks, hubs, excess cords, etc, and make my desk/office much more organized.
Before buying that sign, here are places where I've found packages:
* My yard, helpfully hidden behind a flowerpot to fool thieves (and me)
* My neighbor's yard for some reason
* The sidewalk in front of my house
* Right in front of my outward-opening door, so that the package blocked the door from opening.
Ever since getting the sign (~6 months) all my packages have been dropped in exactly the right spot. I think the logos are important, because it draws the guy's attention.
- Safety razor. No longer do I have to buy $30+ cartridge refills but rather 100 packs of blades for ~$10
- A pickleball paddle. The game really is addicting and so far the community has been welcoming.
Tools and hardwood which makes it easier to be in the shop (my garage) and not in front of a computer. When I'm in there all my life's woes fade away and always come out in a better mood than when I went in.
- Phone mount for my car
- Silicone wall protector for where my fridge door hits the wall
- Misting spray bottle for brushing my child's hair
- Mold/mildew removal gel (lysosome-based)
- Silicone cable holders for the edge of desks, nightstands, etc for charging cables https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07WQN3134/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_...
A weighted blanket (11 kg), after i had the chance to test one at a friend's. I'll miss it in summer when it'll be hot to use.
A Rösle (German high end kitchenware brand) salad spinner. Pretty expensive for 80€, but every other is either too small or crappy (and we have salad for breakfast almost every day). Ended up being worth it.
- Capture One for ca 200 usd (same reason as above, but replace PS with Lightroom Classic)
- The Belkin iPhone grip for continuity camera (iPhone is so much better than the potato webcam on my MBA)
Like 50 bucks, keeps it's shape, keeps it's chills (regular pillows come stoves to me), keeps my head straight without folding a pillow in 4, keeps some support of my head why I tuck my arm under so I don't put much pressure on my shoulder.
Been travelling for 3 months and carrying it, makes every bed a good bed.
A retractable USB-C to C cable for my backpack.
Replacement keys for my butterfly keyboard MacBook. It’s a drop in replacement that delays a new laptop purchase.
Warm wool socks and sweaters
Paperlike screen protector and metal nib for my iPad mini and Apple Pencil
A 3 meter long USB-C to C cable
Logitech unifying wireless mouse and keyboard. Really seamless to use between two computers and my monitor’s built in KVM while only taking up a single USB port. I even alternate between mice for ergonomics.
Window cat bed that attaches to a glass door that gets naturally heated up in the morning by the sun. My cat loves it.
- G3 Ferrari pizza oven with this tutorial[1] for original neapolitan pizza
- INIU BI-B63 25000 mAh Powerbank with 65W to charge my notebook
- TS 100 / Pinecil [2] soldering iron with open firmware [3]
- Baseus quad port 100W USB-C power supply (CCGAN100US)
- $5 Sinilink USB switch with wifi and open firmware [4]
- GL.iNet GL-MT1300 (Beryl) Travel Router with OpenWRT firmware
- Bühnen HB250 hot glue gun
- 10m velcro cable tie
- VAFOTON magnetic usb-c cable (USB-C Magsafe with 100W PD)
- $100 WLToys 959-B 1/18 RC Car with 70km/h / 43mph (aliexress)
- ANBERNIC RG353M retro handheld console (aliexpress)
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-jPoROGHGE
[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eme_AUayLp8
On the $300 end though I got a walking treadmill for my standing desk. It is changing my life.
I'm about 2 weeks in and usually avg 5.5 miles a day. Words per minute is still 80 and accuracy hasn't suffered. Worked my way upto 2.6mph. I had to set the office temperature to 66 degrees F though. Worked up a sweat :)
Excellent build quality and grind for the money. A joy to use every morning and I expect it will last a long time. Their large range of models is confusing and takes some time to understand but with enough youtube reviews, you can decode it. Might be a bit over $200 in the US but I think I bought it at a discount to roughly be at $200 after currency conversion.
- Baratza Virtuoso (bought used). Our Encore was starting to be inconsistent after a few years, and the Virtuoso was a noticeable upgrade.
https://www.amazon.com/RumbleRoller-Texture-Massage-Self-Myo...
I've had lower back pain for 10 years now. Rolling on top of this for a minute once per day was painful at first but after 4-5 days it felt fine and I've had no back pain since. I believe it realigned my vertebrae. Now I roll once a week or so to keep things aligned.
I was already a believer in Talalay latex as a mattress material, which is what my current bed is made of.
I stuffed two queen-sized pillows to almost bursting with the LaNoodles. One I place in between my thighs, and the other is my normal head pillow. They are ridiculously thick but I no longer have knee pain or neck pain and sleep much better.
Looking forward to using it on fresh, green growth this spring since I had received mid-summer when the grass was already tall and dry.
(living in a small flat, few things improve my quality of life like really good storage solutions; the ikea "norden occasional table" (https://www.ikeaddict.com/ikeapedia/en/Product/40245741/us-e...) might well be one of the best returns on investment in my entire decade living in the place)
If anyone from Meater reads this: Please add a feature to add a photos of the food to the cooks log.
- programmable 6-key keyboard
- 10-pack of reading glasses
- mini tyre inflator
- rubber ice cleats
- low-alcohol beer
- sukang sawsawan
- boczekOn the more technical side of things, an Evoluent vertical mouse. Has made a massive improvement in my hand fatigue/pain.
I have a pair of QC20 wired earbuds that I have been using since forever. I have really bad hearing and ironically, I am very sensitive to loud noises (e.g., mowing, flying, road noise on road trips). I really like to have the best noise suppressing earbuds I can find.
Last year I tried many different wireless ones as my QC20 were wearing out. I tried Samsung, Sony, and Bose QC earbuds 1. The ANC (Ambient noise cancelling) in the samsung and sony were just not to the level of my wired QC20’s. The Bose earbuds1 were actually better at ANC than my QC20’s. I was shocked, BUT I had so many problems with 2 different pairs I had to return them. It was all software issues as far as I could tell, but they either stopped connecting to my devices, or the left bud stopped working.
Fast forward to the Bose QC earbuds2 coming out and I gave them a try. They are expensive, but the ANC is world class. The fit is also WAY better than anything else, including the earbuds 1. The nailed it. At $300 I would not hesitate to buy these again if I lost them.
I've been able to save a bunch of space and get rid of 99% of documents in my filing cabinet by making a digital copy and getting rid of the physical ones. Now when I get an important document I scan it save it to a few places and get rid of it.
I'm by no means a strong guy, but I've significantly increased the weight I can lift over the course of the last year. For me, it's really awesome. My biceps and triceps have also gotten way more defined and it's really cool when people notice. Feels good to see a more physically defined body in the mirror.
My Kobo Libra 2 reader has been great. Although sometimes I wish I'd bought a Kindle or waited for the Scribe, because Kobo books often cost more than Kindle books, and it seems like Kindle has better sideloading support now.
Wall mount hooks. Now that they have nicer looking ones with drywall anchors instead of the old eye hooks, I've found lots of uses for them.
I find the magnifier super handy to grab for reading tiny print on things like USB chargers. My reading glasses don't help in such cases even if I happen to be wearing them. I have 40x one too put it's more like jeweler's loupe with a very short focal length so less useful on a day to day basis.
I found that it ultimately ends up saving deskspace (since the device doesn't need space to move around). I found the device's size to be more comfortable for my hands than the small Logitech bluetooth mouse I was using.
As much as I dislike the inability to host the bulbs locally, it has done wonders for my sleep. I set them to slowly dim over a 45 minute period at night and slowly turn on over a 45 minute period in the morning. I have consistently gotten 8+ hours of amazing sleep and fall asleep + wake up so much easier now than I ever have before.
I work 100% remote so I also went for another Elgato product - a ring light - so my work video calls look a bit better. If all of your interaction at work is via video it seemed worth doing it well. My desk now looks more like a YouTuber's but it's all for coding.
Other than the pencil, maybe my Peak Design everyday backpack? I got the v1 used on eBay for ~$100 and I've used it for maybe two years now. It's still a decently student-specific purchase, though.
I found the HDMI input on mine didn't work but I figured out how to put Armbian on the TV box inside and so now I can turn it into a mini retro emulation console!
A $60 shaved ice maker attachment for my wife's KitchenAid mixer. Now she can make Snoballs any time of year. Seriously, if there's someone in your house who loves to cook, you need a KitchenAid mixer. It's a godsend, like Visual Studio Code for the kitchen.
DevonThink - My digital life has never been so well organised.
Omnifocus - My task management has never been so well organised.
BusyCal - My time management have never been so well organised.
Handheld Scientific BT-500 - Allows me to use my mechanical split keyboard wirelessly.
So far in 2023:
Nebo Notes - Allows me to write long form with Apple Pencil on iPad and convert it all to text afterwards far better than any other app on the App Store I've encountered.
Creative BT-W3 Bluetooth Transmitter - Was getting stuttering with Bluetooth headphones on my MacBook that was making them virtually unusable. Connected the headphones to this and I now have zero issues.
Judging by this speaker being sold out in many big box stores before Xmas it seems a lot of people has a use for this.
In my case I have a small computer (asus pn51) that runs my dumb TV. When everyone else is in bed but I still want to watch basketball I turn this speaker on and perch it easily on my shoulder. I can hear it just fine but it's inaudible from 3 or more feet away. Everyone is happy. Marital bliss for $35 is a good deal.
And carving is so fun!
So after an abrupt breakup of a long term relationship, I decided to evaluate a lot of my habits and methodology for doing things and decided I wanted a new routine. I've put on a bit of weight over the years, and as most adult males on the wrong side of 30, I'd grown facial hair as a way to hide the features of my face that I was uncomfortable with. But I want to look in the mirror and like what I see, so to facilitate that, I shaved all the hair off and invested in a skin care and shaving regimen. I want to be more accountable to myself and decided that looking at my chubby face every day was a way to get motivated.
So while I now have a 4 part facial care strategy for my skin (cleanser, differin, moisturizer, sunblock), I also have a new shaving routine. My razor is nothing fancy... I've tried Dollar Shave Club and been disappointed because it has TOO many blades and gets clogged too easy, but I also really wanted a shaving brush.
So I picked up a badger hair brush and a set of Proraso pre-shave cream, shaving soap, and balm. I'd never used the product before but saw ads in old barber shops I'd go to as a kid. Shaving used to always irritate my skin, and I expected it to be doubly so because I hadn't set razor to face in forever. To my surprise, I had no irritation at all. Completely smooth and not a single nick or red bump. I don't think I've ever been more happy with a set of products.
At the same time, I was looking to eat healthier. And I love ice cream. So why not make a healthier version of ice cream without spending a fortune?
High end restaurants usually have one or multiple pacojet systems in them. Pacojets are basically glorified ice shavers that shave ice down inside of a small container. Restaurants use them by freezing ingredients in containers to make ice creams and sauces.
Well, the Ninja people created their own cheaper version in their Creami system. I've made chocolate ice cream by throwing some sweetener into a bowl with cocoa powder, agar agar, and coconut milk. I've made a sorbet by tossing a can of fruit into the container with juice or syrup, by tossing banana chunks into strawberry or guava nectar, etc. Really, its only limitation is that you're limited to the containers you have on hand and the ingredients. I even saw a recipe for pumpkin pie ice cream and I've made bananas foster sans ice cream and just tossed in some heavy cream for a nice treat. It's vastly more convenient than having an actual ice cream machine.
My item is a 65W GaN (gallium nitride) USB C/A wall charger. It can charge pretty much everything I own and is tiny compared to the Apple 65W charger. It has 1 Type-C and 2 Type-A but if you use more than one then the wattage splits (not 50/50 more goes to the C or one of the A ports).
Fry eggs in butter, add a little heavy cream, add half a lemon squeeze and salt
Yum!
Perma image: https://imgur.com/a/qVNMcQs
One limitation to be aware of is that the material in the lenses responds to ultraviolet light. Which means that they really only work outdoors. So you're still going to need a separate pair of sunglasses for driving.
A 30w phone charger. iPhones charge rather slow. This charger helps get over that. A lot of my daily routine is done through my phone.
Seems to have quieted my snoring/sleep apnea to levels where people want to sleep next to me, and I can as well get a good night sleep. Sleep Apnea is no joke.
(I think this is a recommendation more for a category than a specific product.)
Tape mouth at night with a short strip before going to sleep. Snoring eliminated. For real. Wonderful sleep for everyone.
I'm still using the old one during the week as it only takes a few minutes to swap.
and a tushy bidet is one of the greatest sub-$100 purchases you can make. easy set-up and nice to be clean down there.
Thermapen (super fast spot temperature sensor)
Both have superior minimalist UX, very thoughtfully designed and really well executed. If you are into cooking, highly recommended.
I used to manage my parents' old-style security cameras, and now I realize what important features they lacked. It takes a lot for a system to catch people in the act, regardless of how high-quality your cameras are and how much disk space your DVR has, and convenience matters too.
As someone in a northern climate with a less-than-ideally insulated house its a life changer.
1. Point 20 - https://www.chestergrant.com/summary-breath-by-james-nestor
I work from home in a small open-floorplan house and being able to mask the sounds of everything else going on has been a welcome change :)
- water boiler: can get a basic one for less than 30 bucks, or go with a higher end one for 100+. either way, having hot water readily available will change your life
- kettlebell (20lb, 35lb): these go for like 30-40 bucks on amazon. there are a lot of compound movements you can do with kettlebells that will highlight various muscle imbalances you have. super easy to incorporate a few kb exercises into your workout routine
Privacy film so that I can leave more window blinds open on the windows facing the street.
Elastic laces for some of my shoes to make them slip on.
A silicone face scrubber for gentle exfoliation on a regular basis.
Honeycomb style seat cushion. Used for meditation, car, floor sitting, etc.
It's great for getting a breeze on nice days, without letting mosquitos in. There was one on the front door when we bought the house, wish I hadn't waited so long as it was super easy to install. Will probably get one for the door to the garage as well this year.
Making bread with a mixer is fun but takes a lot of time. With the bread machine there really is no reason to buy preservative and sugar laden bread from the store.
Coupled with a keyboard and mouse.
I don't have space for a discrete monitor so i have to rely on the laptop for it.
Using it makes it upright to eye level, making my neck pain go away
https://www.minidsp.com/products/acoustic-measurement/umik-1
I also got a FLIR infrared camera, which was a little bit more than $200 - but there are cheaper models that would have done the trick just as well realistically. My home was built 140 years ago, and some ability to inspect heat-creating things through walls has been useful.
Another really useful one in this price range was a Logitech MX ERGO trackball. I like how it requires less space and solid surface than any mouse. I also like the angle it puts my hand at. Multiple device support is good.
I bought a Fitbit Charge 4, originally to track my heart rate/steps since I've never owned one and always relied on my phone for time.
With my phone generally on silent and by not checking it so often, I've found my use of social media/apps has reduced drastically this year. To the point that I recently forgot my phone at home, something that I didn't imagine possible.
A wall calendar.
Felted house shoes (Kyrgies!!) that I didn't sweat in.
Wooden clothes hangers.
Humidifier.
Small storage containers
Expanded clay pellets for rooting plant cuttings.
Withings scale, connects to wifi, logs my weight with zero work.
Threw out all my socks and bought new.
Buddy had some surgery and would have been in a cone for 2 weeks (!!!), an utterly shit experience for both of us. This prevented that while making sure he didn't lick or bite at his stitches.
It wouldn't stop a persistent dog like a cone would, but I felt like it gave me enough time to observe the behavior had he bit or licked and stop it without opening the wound.
It's easily my best purchase of the last 5 years, except perhaps for my instant pot, which I use every day to make steel cut oats.
Also, to defray the higher cost, and for health reasons, my wife and I cut our afternoon coffee. Less is more.
(Update: After writing this I checked online and it turns out the Bambino costs $350, so not sub-$200, oops.)
I used to feel cold in the winter, no matter how high I set the thermostat. Now I feel cozy with the heat barely running. I even think they cured my winter gloom. Turns out I was just loosing a lot of energy through my feet. ヽ(´▽`)/
Saw some people go as far as using a portable coffee grinder but that's a heavier toy
- Ultrasonic cleanser - used for pretty much anything including my invisalign retainers
- Sodastream
- Massage gun
All these things have made my life a lot easier.
- tennis ball to massage my back by leaning with it on the wall
- laptop stand, external keyboard and external trackpad; for better posture during standing and sitting; trackpad is more comfortable for me than mouse)
- vitamin D supplements for the winter
- smartwatch or smart band to keep basic track of sleep and fitness; I went with Xiaomi Mi Band 6
- smart weight to keep track of my weight and set goals; I went with Mi Body Composition Scale
- Small Korin Konro. To go with the charcoal. Use this all the time for grilling small amounts of meat.
- Pasta noodle drying rack to use for hanging kitchen wash clothes and dish rags
While Seattle doesn't get that cold during the winter, the combination of 40 degree weather and moisture sure feels colder than it is. And our office is constantly swinging between warm and chilly for some odd reason.
Having an affordable base layer is a big win.
• Decent running shoes ($180). My entire wellbeing is better thanks to them.
It's been super practical for all kinds of hobby projects.
Contrary to (seemingly) everyone I liked the Touch Bar MacBooks. I barely ever used the function row, but the software that came by default wasn’t the best. But pock.app was perfect. It put alt-tab visually on my keyboard.
My daily driver is now a Mac mini, and Touch Bar MacBooks time has passed.
The stream deck replaces that functionality really well.
If you don’t have one, but think it could be helpful—it’s probably worth a shot. There’s nothing like a dedicated for a specific action.
One tiny remote does everything, and damn cheap.
An elegant little fidget/stress tool that is silent so perfect for use during meetings.
Origami pourover brewer. Beautiful, and it’s been a lot of fun trying to get better at brewing great coffee.
My previous keyboard was a Bloody B840 that I won at a contest at a PC gaming event (PDXLAN). The switches were designed to feel and sound like MX Blues (very clicky), but the frame of the keyboard would let out a terrible metallic ping with every keypress.
I replaced it with a Keychron V6 keyboard with TTC Silent Bluish White switches. Now the keys have a nice thokkish bump with each press. Much quieter, and I love the way it feels.
- Philips OneBlade (use it weekly and have not needed to charge in 6 months) $35
- Large desk pad $20
- Shooting hearing protection with white noise (drowns out pretty much all other noise while coding) $100
Also our dog hates walking in rain (he will refuse to move). Now he goes in the backpack, we put a scarf / other clothing over it and we can go on for a bit until we find shelter.
Also got a Craigslist road bike from the 80s for ~$250 cad (less than $200 USD). It's needed a few repairs but has absolutely been worth it and impactful to the year.
Also a good compact air sleeping pad for backpacking. Haven't used it as much as I'd have liked, but its made a few moments much more pleasant.
Someday the same product will be controlled by a Home API and your phone and BTLE and cost $99/year for the app, but for now it has escaped the relentless march of "progress".
Small handheld electric screwdriver from Lidl was reasonable purchase for cost. Not too much use, but was semi-useful during a move.
https://www.amazon.com/Cordless-Portable-Irrigator-Rechargea...
Basically I can waterfloss after eating and not have to pull out ortho picks and a toothbrush
1. Logitech MX Ergo Trackball mouse. I LOVE this thing. 2. Aftershokz Aeropex and OpenComm. I'm single sided deaf and these are the best I can get for listening to music or taking any calls. 3. Powered sunglasses, I can walk around sunny areas without squinting. 4. Books: the daily stoic.
Use to have cramps and pains in by hand, not nothing. Amazing purchase
Its over 200, but Sony XM4s are great. I use it without ambient mode and noise cancelling, i think its the perfect amount of noise cancellation at least when working from home, and still wanting to be aware of surroundings(family members, dog, etc)
Most people who own a dedicated DAC would probably be just fine using this IMO.
My automatic cat feeder will likely be the most useful of 2023.
I am clearly not the target market (I think?), but that marketing video on their home page “describing” what this is, has to be one of the worst marketing videos I have ever seen. I watched it and still have no idea what it does. I am guessing it allows you to switch the app that you are streaming? I give up…
https://www.elgato.com/en/stream-deck-mk2
EDIT: I am getting downvoted but I am going to leave this up. I am really not trying to be overly negative, but I feel like this is a missed opportunity for a company that has clearly created something creative that appeals to a certain market niche.
I know that sometimes it is hard for someone that is passionate about their product and wants to create good marketing material, but has a hard time describing things to those “outside” their circle. Hopefully they see this feedback and can use it to further expand their product’s reach.
Becoming comfortable sleeping with a sleeping mask + ear plugs makes it possible to sleep anywhere.
Upgraded to Mojave.
Works so much better than I expected. Feels much better than the touchbar macbook I used at work for 3 years.
Now looking for a good battery to keep it in shape.
(Posted from this very laptop)
I don't buy anything, but these basics helped. Things over that amount that I think would be meaningful - good vacuum, good screen, good chair. Renting dumpster to throw away junk.
It goes well with a High Density Foam Mattress. I never wake up with low back aches since I started using a mattress of this material.
There's ton of options out there but I bought all my bedding stuff from Italic.
2) Merino wool underwear by Smartwool (or Icebreaker). Trust me on this one.
https://theperfectbit.com/product/1-perfect-bit/
did wonders!
Bose noise canceling headphones.
- Kindle
Never enjoyed a super quiet work desk so much.
I did get a stand for it that pushed it over $200, but not strictly needed.
M5stack's line of ESP32 ucontrollers/peripherals
Stupid cheap mass storage