• A bidet attachment.
• For me, an under-the-sink trash can that hands on the cabinet door has been a huge QoL improvement.
• A back scratcher.
• Much more situational, but our back gate has a padlock that was originally different from our house keys. Kwikset actually sells "programmable" padlocks so now it is the same key as our front door, which makes life a tad easier.
• A computer mouse that fits my hands.
• Enough phone and laptop chargers to not have to constantly go to another room to grab one.

Rechargeable batteries. They have paid for themselves many times over by now. Less guilt about throwing away dead ones, too.

Nose cancelling headphones

Here's an unusual one - an M.2 SSD to USB adapter.

Most, if not all, laptops come with SSD's nowadays, and they're usually pretty easy to take out from a laptop. Gather some old, broken laptops, and take out their SSD's. They're so much faster than USB flash drives, I prefer to use SSD's where possible. Plus, it helps with e-waste

This is stupid. But socks and underwear. All new socks and underwear.

I love throwing out all my old ragged socks and having a bunch of brand new pairs in the drawer.

Adding mine:

• hot water bottle
• weighted blanket
• rice cooker/steamer
• mini electric kettle for work
• ceramic mug with tea strainer insert and heavy lid shaped like a big fat cat: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ceramic-Infuser-Steeping-Holiday-Birthday/dp/B0B6DTKPFT/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3QRXCXJ0WZL7C
• mini desk wrench set
• pink sea salt
• my beloved PINETIME!!!! (how could I forget) It's an under $30 FOSS smartwatch. I haven't even customized it lol. https://www.pine64.org/pinetime/

Electric teakettle if you use an older style stovetop one. The lowest end ones I've seen are only like $15, and work pretty much as well as some nicer ones, just don't look as pretty, but they'll boil water faster than the stove will. Even if you don't make tea or similar, if you ever eat things like pasta that are cooked in boiling water, you can heat the water in the kettle first and then transfer to the pot to make things slightly faster, and use less gas if you happen to have a gas stove.

• Aeropress for the coffee people who want something easy to store and clean.

• Portable Bluetooth speaker. I have the Anker Soundcore 2, and use it all the time in my studio apartment.

• Deli containers for food storage.

• Electric mixer. It will save you a lot of strain if you often mix by hand.

• Water filtration system of your choice. I use ZeroWater.

• Humidifier for those dry months.

• PC gamer? Use emulators for older console games? Get an Xbox controller for those non mouse and keyboard games (Journey et. al were on sale recently).

• Canister vacuum cleaner. I use Bissell Zing (about $75), but they're better than bagless vacuums.

• Plants for literal quality of life. https://www.thespruce.com/easy-houseplants-hard-to-kill-4141665

Instant Pot (on sale): There is legitimately so many things you can make in these. Many of them do sous vide too, which is one of the best ways to cook meat.

Powered ratchet: For anyone who works on their own vehicles, a cheap powered ratchet is a godsend. I bought one for oil changes and car repairs and it's my most used tool in my bag. I'm mad I spent so much time without one. Walmart's Hyper Tough brand powered ratchet is $40 and holds up very well. Extended reach one is often on sale for $50-55.

E-Ink reader: Another often on sale item. If you have someone who loves books, having an entire library in your pocket with a built-in backlight for night reading that's also easy on the eyes is a great thing. Coupled with Calibre and some....sourced epub files.....and you can read a lot for free.

Vacuum sealer: Never have freezer burned stuff again. And keeps things fresh in the fridge longer. Also works great for sous vide for the above-mentioned Instant Pot.

Kitchen scale. Baking is much better with weight measurements instead of volume. Also useful for calculating calories.

Headlamp. Having light where you don't need to hold a phone or a flashlight is great.

Digital meat thermometer. No more guessing.

USB charging hub. Charge many devices at once.

Pocket knife.

So many things in your house that are probably pissing you off:

• it's very easy to replace an outlet that doesn't hold a plug or is a little off for whatever reason.
• ditto light switches
• door handles and shit. We hated the jank handle on our patio door that barely worked and required specialized training to get to lock. $12 for a new one, that was much more aesthetically from this decade. (that said, some lock lube, which is a thing, goes a long way)
• ditto for the various shitty faucets in this house (or any slightly older house.) You can get a ton of bathroom fixtures for under $30.
• hinges. Unless you're trying to re-hang a safe door, you're going to be under $20.
• faucet diffuser. They just screw on. Have you lived in your place for more than a few years and haven't replace them? Just do it, it's like $4 a faucet.
• doorbell. Smart doorbells can easily be had for under $50. A little easier often than replacing the traditional bell because you usually have a plug in chime rather than something wired.
• a can of sprayfoam. Seal that area that is letting in air. Trim it with a box knife, chances are you won't know the hack exists.

A red nightlight or two somewhere between your bed and the bathroom. Red doesn’t wake you up as much or destroy your night vision. Ideal for trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Great topic idea! Here are some of mine, I'll add links later:

• Heat resistant cooking gloves. These are basically oven mitts, but because they're gloves, you can keep them on while cooking. I've gifted a few pairs of these and everyone loves them!
• A percussion massager is great for getting out muscle knots. Foam rollers too.
• Collapsible creates for the car and around the house - mine are made by InstaCrate
• A refillable oil sprayer so that you can buy any oil you want and evenly coat a pan. Great for searing and air frying
• Stainless steel pots are amazing. IKEA sells a set that's around $50. Totally dishwasher safe, heat tolerant, just all around easy peasy
• Costco membership

Big ol' bag o' weed

A bidet

I haven't read all of the comments on here, but here are mine that are more beauty related that improve my quality of life:

• a bottle of oil makeup remover and face cleanser, specifically the DHC Cleansing Oil that you put on your dry face, rub lightly all over and then rinse off. Gone are the days of drying out your face and creating more waste with makeup remover wipes.

• if you prefer just water and no oil, a simple soft makeup remover towel is a dream, removes makeup with just getting the cloth wet and then gently rubbing on your face and eyes. Buy a pack of like 12 or something as you shouldn't use the same towel more than once to clean your face - the bacteria it gets on there can actually make your skin worse if you use it multiple times before washing.

• sunscreen! Omg if you don't moisturize or use sunscreen you're doing yourself a disservice. Do yourself a favor and make it easier by gettinga 2-in-1 moisturizer+SPF. Good brands being dermatologist recommended CeraVe or flight attendant/aesthetician recommended Kiehls. Honestly, throw in some lip balm from them too or their overnight lip mask where you put it on before bed and wake up with super soft and non-chapped lips - a lifesaver especially when you're sick and end up mouth breathing all night.

• a microfiber dedicated hair towel - immediately after your shower wrap up your hair in this for like 5-10 min and then your hair won't be sopping wet and will be less frizzy from the lack of scratchy towel drying. Bonus, you get to look cool in a hair wrap.

• an eyelash growth serum, my favorite is Babelash. Gone are the days of falsies or weak thin lashes that don't keep debris out your eyes. Put this on your lid lash line religiously every night for a week then alter every other day and then after about 3 weeks you should see results and then use as-needed. Stuff is amazing and you can get a two-pack at Costco even - just don't buy the ones off Amazon as it's a knock off formula and you're putting stuff near your eyes so be mindful about that.

• nail cuticle oil, my fingertips get dry and I end up picking them. Not to mention how much healthier your nailbeds will be when you start using this. Put some on your cuticles and then rub it in - I do it mindlessly while I'm watching TV or something. Helped me get my nails back after biting them for decades.

• a cozy pair of soleless slippers, I prefer the brand "snoozies!" I wear those all the time I'm in the house and love that I can even put them on the couch or wherever as I don't go outside with them. Alternatively, a good pair of slippers with a sole you wear to get the mail with if you are in chill mode and don't wanna put on actual shoes for small outdoor tasks.

That's all I can think of right now, but those are some of my favorites for smaller daily life improvements.

Electric blanket.

I feel like a grandparent on the couch but fuck it's nice and cozy when I haven't turned the heat on and I'm watching tv.

Ryobi Desktop Vacuum. I do a lot of small-scale craft stuff and absolutely love this thing. Good for cleaning up odd crumbs and whatnot, too. It's surprisingly powerful and fairly quiet (a LOT quieter than a standard handheld vacuum).

https://www.ryobitools.com/products/details/33287217182

Knife sharpener.

Your knives aren't bad, they're dull. A knife sharpener will make every knife you own good as new (and it's cheaper than any single knife as well)

Warm soft socks!

Activated charcoal shoe deodorizer bags

Two items I don't see in anyone other people's replies:

• A dual-wall stainless water bottle like a Hydroflask. It'll keep water ice cold all day.

• Pop Socket, never drop your phone again.

Situational, but mine was 50m of CAT5e cable, a bag of plugs, and a crimping tool. I finally eliminated the "but what if we move the router" spool of excess cables behind the furniture.

In a similar fashion, several 3m USB-C cables.

If they don’t already have a decent kitchen knife, get that. The victorinox fibrox pro goes for around $40. There are also rosewood handle versions that feel a bit fancier for just a little over $50. You may want to pair it with a budget honing steel (can be had for around $15).

Small usb powered fan.

I’m gonna sound like a shill, but fuck it. This is genuinely good and I don’t mind.

My DTTO case. They make great cases for iPads and Samsung tablets (I haven’t tried their iPhone ones). Yeah, every asshole makes iPad cases, but these are high quality while still being around $20. Unlike a lot of cases, they feel like they were actually designed for practical real-world use. For something this simple, details matter, and they got it right.

I used to get a random new case every year, but after finding these people by sheer luck, I won’t buy any other brand.

Ad over.

I made soup containers for my family last Christmas, went down really well! Got glass containers from IKEA, layered lentils, beans/herbs/pasta/seasonings in a decorative way. Looks pretty, throw in a pot when lazy!

Sawyer squeeze. Used to spend more than $100 a month on bottled water. Not anymore.

$35 gets me twelve bottles of soylent, which I use as twelve days I get to skip breakfast but still be well fed.

Rubber hot water bottle. It is so nice to have when you're sick or achy.

Rice cooker

A pocketable flashlight. I have recommendations over at !flashlight@lemmy.world

a few random things:

• $5.99 magnetic measuring spoons. They stick together and nest.
• $18.99 MagSafe phone car mount. I use iPhone and my car supports Android Auto/Carplay, but there isn't really a good place to stick your phone. This thing is basically a big magnet, I plug my phone in, throw it on this thing, and we good. Worth noting, even if you have CarPlay (guessing Android Auto as well) even though you don't need to use your phone, some apps have some functions when you're using them in this manner. EG: maps displays the next few turn by turn directions on the phone screen, and the overview of the map on the carplay screen.
• decent/good chef's knife. I think the one I'm using now is about $30, but you can get the ol' reliable Victorinox for around that price or a little cheaper.
• cabinet lighting pucks. I think Walmart has them for like $12 for two, but they are basically stick somewhere, motion activated lights that are battery powered. Paired with rechargeable batteries, I can now see the food that we push to the back of the cabinet to die.
• new streaming stick thingy. Though I greatly prefer Apple TV, it's hard to justify the price of those compared to Roku/Fire TV. That said, if you're hanging on to an older version of the Fire TV/Roku, upgrading helps the annoyance factor because it's just far less slow. We just added a $24.99 4k Fire TV stick, much nicer.
• Wireless chargers for phones. You can get them for like under $10. Buy 5, put them where you generally set your phone down. Or more simply, right next to the bedside. I generally only charge at night, so much nicer to be able to just drop it on a pad/magnet, etc.
• $9 dimmer switch. Our master bath is weird. The toilet/shower area has a door. The sink area connects directly to the bedroom with no door. The sink area has large mirrors and massive amounts of lighting. Fucking sucks if you're just getting up to pee and you now have the light of the sun on you and your partner at 3am.

more niche, bunch of smart home shit:

• just think about how $10-$20 and a little bit of thought can improve your life. I have a switch connected to my espresso maker, now I can yell in the shower to turn it on to pre-heat. If I had a regular schedule, I could automate this further just on time. I have it set so that once I tell it to turn on, it turns off after 20 minutes.
• motion sensor lights. though technically you don't need a smart home for this, there are some lights in my house that I only want to turn on when someone is there. I have a hallway, for example, that is more or less a cave tunnel. Any time I'm in that hallway (or anyone else) I want to have some light. So I have a motion sensor that turns the light on, and based on the status of the sun, it dims accordingly. When I walk into my garage, there are a few lights that turn on in sequence and it feels like you're walking into the bat cave.
• buttons! You can buy many different remotes for < $20. Pretty much anything you automate via voice you also need a button for. Pro-tip, use in-wall switches where you can, but in my case I didn't have a neutral wire because it's an older house, and my options were pretty limited/expensive.
• last example: my entryway lights. I have a door sensor ($10-15) so if I open it I can perform an action. My entry light has a smart bulb ($9.) I also have a floor standing lamp adjacent to this that has a smart bulb. What this allows me to do is check when I've recently arrived, and if it's after sunset and the bigger light isn't already on, turn on this entry light. If my TV is playing a movie, the light goes on in the dimmest setting so arriving people don't disturb.