A good pocket/utility knife and sharpening set. You don't need to spend hundreds, but my favorite is my Spyderco Para 3 Lightweight. It has a 3 inch blade, weighs 68 grams, and it's made of BD1N steel which keeps an edge very well.

Nugget ice maker. All the chewy ice you can dream of.

Also want to say that home gym equipment a fantastic investment if you have the space.

It might take a few years to pay for itself, but a good bar and squat rack will last forever. And the commute out of the equation means you're probably more likely to use it.

We got a Litter Genie for our two cats and I have never regretted it even once. We had an automatic litter box but it did nothing to trap the smells, and was a much bigger pain in the ass to maintain and clean. Now, we just have a regular litter box with a top-cover, and I scoop it out every other day and take out the litter genie bag once a week, easy peasy.

i also struggled with the idea of paying for this but tbh after using it for over a year now, i don't have a problem.

we live in a place with micro climates where there temps can swing widely at night from day to day & the auto pilot does small fine tuning based on a number of things. this for me at least is worth $10 a month.

compare & contrast with the oura ring which requires a $5/mo sub to get any useful insight out of it - without the subscription you only get how long you slept witha proprietary sleep score that has no insight behind it. after spending a few hundred dollars for the ring this really started to piss me off.

at least with the 8 sleep bed the device is actually performing / working for me vs just giving me data.

the 8 bed also gives you much of the same data oura does so the subscription just hits differently for me.

finally if you're thinking about this - definitely consider the cover vs the full mattress. same tech and they way they've designed it makes it fit beautifully on your existing setup at ~ $1k less than the mattress combo 😊

A Hydro-Flask brand water bottle. It makes the contents immune to all delta T. Very solid product, highly recommend.

The good windshield washer fluid. The stuff that's a dollar or two more expensive. Rain basically jumps off my windshield, and I don't need my wipers above 50 unless it's really raining hard. When I actually do use my wipers, they work so much better.

The herman miller aeron is the best chair ever. other chairs I've tried all feel so much worse, and ventilate terribly. I recommend removing the back support to make them even more comfortable.

Also, Patagonia backpacks are really nice. I used one for 9 years of daily heavy use for school, but they also work well for laptops and travel if you get the right one.

To go along with the mattress theme, and since I’ve had two back surgeries (in my 30s after a car wreck), my sleep number mattress was a big expense but I was miserable and could never get a good night’s sleep before it. It’s been a game changer.
The other is a little more niche, but I’m a runner/endurance sports and my Balega socks have been incredible. They are $14 a pair (yes, $7 a sock), but they are easily worth every single penny. I’ve done 30 hour hiking/running events and my feet were the only thing still dry on my body thanks to those guys.

Steel series GGs. Best headphones I have ever had for gaming and streaming.

A good set of kitchen knives. I am not a culinary expert, but why fuck around with crap knives.

AAA card has saved me so much money in tows and keys. I have an older car as a commuter and while it was a steal there were a few odds and ends that needed to be worked out while making it a commuter.

My AirPods Max

I commute daily on the central line in London at an extremely busy part and loud part and I’d go absolutely fucking mental if I had to listen to it all daily.

That noise cancellation is worth the absurd price it’s the 2h in my day where I can just completely zone out and not think.

Likely my school/training which did cost a bit but enabled me to create a career.

My bike. Although that's with the caveat that it's only really effective because I use it all the time for all sorts of things.

I'd say probably a Kindle and an electric toothbrush:

1. Kindle Paperwhite (~130 USD) - Was addicted to social media for a while so I decided to get into a healthier hobby, and I'd wanted to get into reading for quite some time. Instead of a tablet or an actual physical book (I have nothing against it; I actually prefer it but I have storage issues), I opted for a Kindle cuz it has no intrusive notifications, and I can bring it anywhere, at different times and lighting situations.

2. Oral-B Electric Toothbrush (~25 USD) - One of the best purchases. I like brushing my teeth in general, but having an electric toothbrush feels even better cuz it makes my mouth feel cleaner than before without having to exude much effort, and the strokes are not inconsistent.

K240 studio headphones and a Samson Meteor mic. Doesn't have to be these specifically, but switching from headsets to decent studio headphones and a decent mic is a gamechanger. Sound quality is way better and good build quality makes them last longer. The only thing breaking in years has been a cable (kind of my fault as well) and they can be easily replaced, unlike most headsets.

1. My horses and dog have brought me so much happiness and fortune over the years. I’m so glad I got through having my horse when I was young and poor and didn’t wait until later to adopt one.

2. A vacation to Europe (specifically the southern Netherlands). It radically changed my outlook on life that I got out and lived with my internet friends for a few weeks. As an American who grew up being told how bad it was outside the country, it was mind blowing to see and meet people outside my bubble. I now want to move to the EU (have my eye on Marseille and Seville).

3. AirPods Pro 2 (specifically the 2nd gen because of the improvements): before having these, wired earbuds were a pain in the ass to use. Transparency and ANC have changed my life because I can pop on ANC while vacuuming and not be bothered to crank up a stereo to hear over the vacuum. Also for riding my horse: I got some accessory ear huggers that you slip on so they literally cannot fall out. I can ride for hours while listening to tunes.

4. A very bright ceiling light in the kitchen. Self explanatory.

5. A chef’s knife. I personally only spent 40$ and it’s been great so far.

6. A dog door. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to just let the dogs shit outside on their own and they come back in. No more worrying about leaving them home because of the anxiety induced when they don’t shit on the morning walk.

My first house. I got it for a song thirty years ago, bought it from a friend who had been renting me a room. It needed a lot of work and was in a city nobody wanted to live in. I rented a room to a friend, fixed it up and later my girlfriend/later wife moved in after he moved out. Yadda, yadda, yadda the neighborhood went upscale and now I rent it out. Now we live in the outer burbs in a house we got during the housing bubble bust fifteen years ago.

A shower chair. I find hot water soothing, but I dont have a tub that I cam sit in. The chair lets me just relax under the shower. It's a great place to brush my teeth, so my dental habits have improved.

Honestly, my current car. It's a tiny old rusty beat up car from 1990 that I got for around 650€ 3 years ago. It uses around 5L/100km and in total I've only spent around 200€ in parts for it and it just keeps going. It's old enough so that I only have to do inspection every 2 years (instead of every year on newer cars), don't have to pay road tax, and insurance is around 11€/month. It gets me where I need to go and is dirt cheap to own. Definitely a money saver for me.

OXO ice cube trays. All my life ice cube trays have been annoying to deal with.

Saw these in some absolute random YouTube videos and I had to have them.

I cycle 3 trays all year round and have perfect to pop ice cubes anytime I want. Yeehaw.

Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless

I never owned "expensive" Headphones so buying these improved my enjoyment of listening to music so much.

When I was learning to drive, I bought a steering wheel for PC/PS3. It helped so much, it's pretty crazy.

6 years ago, a 110 € Android phone. What an absolute beast for that price. Had the USB connector not failed, I'd be using it still honestly.