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What small purchase has vastly improved your life?
Inspired by posts I've seen elsewhere, what small purchase have you made that has vastly improved your life?
For me, one example would be this Gerber Folding Utility Knife. It's great for opening boxes. I've had several pocket knives over the years, but this one has replaced them. When the blade gets dull or gunky from opening packages I just replace it.
I cannot recommend a water flosser enough.
I hate flossing. I never did it. My dental health suffered greatly. Every time I went to the dentist it looked like there was a massacre in my mouth because my gums would bleed so much. A water flosser has changed all of that, to the point that my dental hygienist said I should be a spokesperson for the manufacturer of the brand that I use (I'm not -- at least not in any official capacity, though I do plug their devices to pretty much anyone who will listen).
Once you can get past the initial awkwardness of water flossing, it's superior to actual flossing in every way. Faster, easier, more satisfying (it's like a warm-water massage for your gums!), and more effective (it flushes below the gum line). I now water floss daily and I look forward to it.
Some tips:
Along these lines, a good electric toothbrush! My dental hygienist asked if I used an electric brush right after I started using one. Way more effective.
Are there actually a big difference between the brands and price? I've been using Oral-B for many years but would gladly use a better one if that's a thing. I saw a fancy and more expensive one at my dentists office and asked her if it really made a difference and she said not really.
Trials/studies that my dentist has shared show that a sonic toothbrush is better than manual and a oscillating head sonic toothbrush is better than pure sonic. So...
Oscillating head sonic > sonic > manual > finger
...and brand does not play and real difference.
Yeah, the finger just don't seem to cut anymore. Well hit me up with some examples then! Thanks.
My hygienist said that the ones with the circular rotation are best, but I don’t think brand matters too much.
That portable one look like something I could use. Would you say it's still a good switch from regular flossing with these in spite of the mentioned less effectiveness than the wall mounted ones?
Definitely. The portable ones absolutely still work well -- I have one for when I (used to) travel -- but they're more of a hassle IMO.
Their main issue compared to the countertop models is maneuverability. With the countertop ones, you're holding a small handle and can easily move and twist it any way you need to which makes it very easy to get the tip to all the different places it needs to go (imagine how many different angles a toothbrush goes through in a regular brushing and you'll have a good idea of the range needed here). With the portable model, you're holding the whole device in your hand which is much larger and more awkward to control.
Also, because the water basin is included on the device, as it runs low, you'll end up in a situation where only certain angles will "feed" the tube with water. This can lead to holding it even more awkwardly as you're forced to get the water to pool in a specific area of the basin. This doesn't happen on the countertop one because the basin doesn't have to move with you and can just drain until empty each and every time.
Additionally, the basin on the countertop is just plain bigger. I get a lot more runtime out of it. With the portable model I usually just have to accept a shorter cycle or run it twice in order to clean to my liking.
Finally, there is a noticeable power difference as well, which is a YMMV situation. I prefer the strength of the countertop models at max power (most of which have an adjustable knob that lets you set it to your liking), but some people prefer a less intense stream which the portable ones do fine with.
All told the portable model isn't bad by any means (and I'd recommend it over no water flosser at all), but I think it can falsely appear to be more convenient at first glance when instead it has a good number of tradeoffs.
You're not making it easier! Seriously, thanks for the thorough rundown. You make a good case either way.
100% seconding this recommendation, especially if you have an extremely sensitive gag reflex like I do. Before discovering water flossers, I would only floss when there was something trapped in my teeth that I couldn't get out with a toothpick, because regular flossing (even using stick flossers) would cause me to gag so much. But with my Waterpik, I now regularly floss without any gagging issues whatsoever, and my oral hygiene has improved dramatically thanks to that.
Unless you have extremely hard water like I do, since the tips eventually get clogged with mineral build-up and will start spraying streams of water in random direction. :P But even with hard water issues, I have only had to replace the tip a handful of times in over 4 years of daily use.
Considering "pik" means dick in my language this sentence is just gold :)
Soaking the tip in citric acid or vinegar should clear up the mineral deposits.
Citric acid is also great for cleaning out kettles, dish washers, etc.
Yeah, I regularly clean my kettle, and various others items that hard water deposits become an issue for (including the water flosser machine), with vinegar. And I'm sure I could do that for the flosser tips too... but I bought an 8 pack of replacement tips for $15 when I originally bought the waterpik ~4 years ago, and still have a few of those left. When I finally run out of those I might start trying to clean the tips instead of replace them... but TBH I'll likely just buy another set of replacements, since they're not expensive, and it's recommended you eventually replace them anyways.
p.s. Thanks for the tip about citric acid though, I will have to give that a try and see how it compares to using vinegar.
You'd be a good spokesperson for a lot of things!
On #2, if anyone finds the open mouth too awkward you can also just get into a habit of turning off the water (there's a switch on the wand(?) of mine which I'd guess is fairly standard). I just do a quarter of my mouth at a time.
It also may appeal less to people that don't stay at their sink when flossing. The person I'd intended to get one for idly flosses while watching TV.
From the research I did at the time it seemed like water flossing was at least as good as flossing, and preferable for people with things like braces.
I got a waterproof Bluetooth speaker a couple of years ago for use in the shower. It’s really handy for podcasts and coupled with a wall mount for my phone I can get a great morning YouTube experience while getting pelted with hot water.
I'll second this. It's an essential purchase for anyone who sings in the shower, and playing music stops me from getting into "shower arguments" where I construct adversarial conversations in my head and then "win" them by playing both sides perfectly to my favor.
Oh I didn't know other people did that too.
I'm still not giving that up though!
Also great for bringing with you places where water is likely to happen, such as the beach or a pool.
I never considered taking mine in the shower! I mostly use mine while cycling, since it has a bungee strap on it.
A phone mount for my car's dashboard. Don't know where you're going? A suspicious amount of traffic? Enter your destination on your favorite map app while having clear visibility of the road. It's so much more convenient (and safer!) than glancing down at your lap.
Mine attaches to the AC grills. It slightly obstructs airflow, but it's also never fallen off (contrast with the suction-type mounts).
I like the AC grill ones anyways. If you are operating your phone on a hot day and the sun is hitting the phone, the AC will help keep it cool. Also helps when you are charging and displaying the map at the same time.
I got one from iOttie that charges my phone wirelessly (it uses a suction cup actually and works great). So much better than the plug + attach action you'd go through with an old school mount.
Same, and it's a magnet mount. Makes it easy to don and doff.
I got one designed to be a somewhat permanent addition that uses VHB tape. The best part is that it’s magnetic so my phone just thunks and it’s securely attached.
The one bad thing about it was I got this just before iPhone got MagSafe charging, so if I want to charge I have to plug it in. My current phone doesn’t have that feature anyways.
A rice cooker. I am not a good cook at all. Having a rice cooker makes me have a great side for anything I make. And wow the rice is so great compared to how it used to taste when I made it without a rice cooker, cause I am bad. I love rice. I love rice cookers.
I have been working to convince my husband to transition to rice cookers for years! He's a pressure cooker person and I suck at using those (I never seem to use enough water, all rice/lentils are different and idk how many whistles to wait until it's cooked and I can't see the food cooking without removing the pressure and starting over and also I hate the loud whistles, I can't seem to clean it properly and it gets stuck or foams... very scary --- I've ruined pressure cookers and I feel bad about it because they are expensive).
I know I could always just buy a rice cooker, but I don't want to clutter the kitchen space with so many different things that can essentially make the same thing in the same amount of time. But recently he finally convinced himself it's a better choice... I will jump at this opportunity to buy a rice cooker, mwahahahaha!!! We essentially eat rice daily. Even if he changes his mind... I'm buying myself a small rice cooker, so what for the clutter, at this point, me using a pressure cooker is a safety hazard.
Then there's no excuse not to buy a rice cooker. Also, those are essentially fire-and-forget devices ; this should feel liberating compared to your pressure cooker.
We came from it from the opposite angle. We were rice cooker people and got an electronic pressure cooker and haven’t looked back. For me, it’s nice to have one thing that does rice cooking, pressure cooking, and slow cooking. We eliminated two other kitchen appliances with one pressure cooker. But I can definitely see your point, they take some learning, and we still will make the occasional error when trying a new recipe.
I'm not sure if the fancy new electronic pressure cookers have it these days, but a great feature of rice cookers is the keep-warm setting. You can start the rice whenever you want and when it's done cooking, it automatically switches to a low setting that keeps the rice warm and out of the temperature danger zone. Not worrying about timing the rice to finish with the rest of dinner is great, as is being able to get a hot second helping of rice part way through the meal.
Plus, most rice cookers I've seen these days come with a steamer basket insert, so it's not a total uni-tasker. And a rice cooker frees up the pressure cooker for preparing the main meal concurrently.
I recently upgraded from some low-tier cooker to a fancy zojirushi induction model and it is amazing. Zero sticking, zero burning during cooking or keep warm, settings for different types of rice, super easy to clean, perfect results. Might be hard to convince your spouse that price point is worth it though.
I'll echo what PetitPrince said :). It is so convenient to use a rice cooker and so low effort!
I was also a bit skeptical of having such a weirdly specialized appliance just for rice, but it is so great and I don't regret getting one at all. If you make rice often it will definitely be worth it, and even if you didn't I bet you would start making rice more often!
(I am not paid by big rice, though it may seem like it, I am just unreasonably happy with my rice cooker :))
I purchased a rice cooker years ago because I kept seeing it recommended in threads like these. I have yet to use it…
The problem for me is that I don’t cook in the first place. Rice even less so. And I do love rice! But yeah, turns out, rice cookers can be magical devices, they still won’t get you to cook rice more often if you aren’t the kind of person who does that.
Also that thing is way bigger than I thought. European kitchens are small, so I keep the thing in a cupboard and I have zero willpower to get it out and set it up if I want an easy dish to prep.
If you want to get in the habit of using it, you could try cooking easy one-pot meals in it. Roger Ebert (yeah him of all people) wrote a whole book about using it to cook whole rice dishes and not just plain rice.
Cube up some meat in to small chunks, throw it in the pot with the rice and some seasoning, add a few cut up veggies (or frozen straight from the freezer, even better) and you've got a whole meal out of it. Very little cooking effort needed, only one pot to clean, not much prep work, hard to do wrong, tastes good.
https://www.amazon.ca/Pot-How-Use-Mystery-Romance/dp/0740791427
https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/the-pot-and-how-to-use-it
That's really good advice, thank you. I don't know that I'll ever follow through with it but it's still a great idea :)
A good quality expensive rice cooker is worth its weight in gold. Especially if you like Chinese, Japanese, or Korean cuisine. Not only is it far more reliable at making rice perfectly, it does it while you focus on the flavorful parts of your meal. Plus it should also have a bunch of extra features to get the most out of your rice, like a timer and extended keep warm settings.
These are both medium purchases, but are my favourite non-obvious purchases (at least for North Americans).
An electric kettle. I use this multiple times every day. It heats water for tea, hot chocolate, or even instant noodles. Stove top kettles are slower and less energy efficient. I think everyone should have one.
A bidet. When there were toilet paper shortages in 2020, I wasn't concerned. Letting water do the work saves you money on TP, puts less pressure on your pipes, and gives you a better clean than ever before. I bought a cheaper addon type but I like it so much I'll probably get a nice one for my next purchase.
e: Typo
As a Brit the lack of kettles across the pond is wild to me. As is the fact that you call it a medium purchase... £5 for a basic one over here?
It's important to note here that due to the voltage difference, the UK kettles use almost double the wattage of the US kettles, and so ideally heat almost twice as fast. Couple that with less focus on tea and more on coffee (which has it's own range of tools and devices), a tendency to stick with the familiar, and probably some other factors, then it's not so surprising that the US hasn't switched from traditional kettles to electric.
Well, that's because of 2 points,
#1, we don't drink tea that much over here, and basically no one does instant coffee. Most people have drip coffee machines that they use for coffee in the morning.
#2, electric kettles in the US, across the board, suck compared to Europe. Our normal wall outlets are 120volt/15a, with some being 20a. Because of this, the absolutely most powerful electric kettles you can buy here are 1500 Watts, so as to not trip breakers every time you use it. Outlets in the UK are 240v and up to 13a, yielding an insane 3000 watts of possible power per outlet. As a result, electric kettles that you guys use are WAY more powerful, and as a result, faster than any one you can reasonable use in the US. However, electric cooking ranges in the US are connected to a beefy 240v 50 amp circuit, so depending on your stove and its efficiency, you can have burners that push out a TON of power. As a result, even though it's less efficient, boiling water on the stove in the US tends to just be faster for the rare times we want a hot drink that's not coffee, especially on an induction range.
For a basic electric kettle, they usually go from $15-$30, so evidently it’s much more expensive for whatever reason.
It’s strange to me as someone who was raised in an Asian household in America. Guess if you’re not a tea drinker there’s not much need for it.
I was freaked out when in college apparently it’s quite common for people in the states to cook cup ramen… with a microwave? Like, you put the water in cold from the tap then stick it in the microwave? What?
Oh god, there was a viral TikTok a couple of years ago about this, some lady showing you how to make "the perfect cup of tea" and starting by microwaving some cold water. Absolute abomination. Not to mention unsafe!
Okay, maybe I'm dense (or just american) but why would microwaving water be unsafe?
If nucleation sites fail to form, the water can be heated above boiling temperature without triggering a phase transition [1]. The water will then violently explode when perturbed (for example, by stirring it).
It's much safer to use an electric kettle and at least as fast. I don't think there are any advantages to using a microwave (besides the cost savings, but even then kettles can be procured for cheap).
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superheating
Physics!
The other version of this is supercooling water below the freezing point, then disturbing it to induce ice crystal formation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM9nwYF1uR4
Fun experiment to do at home (and safer than superheating stuff in your microwave!).
Apparently there are even vending machines at 7-Elevens in Asia that use supercooling (to -4℃) to basically allow you to make an instant slushy out of ordinary bottles of Coca-cola. E.g. This video is of one in Taiwan, but I have also seen videos of them in Japan and Hong Kong as well.
p.s. Out of curiosity, I looked up the the QR code on the Taiwanese machine, and it leads to this instructional video from the official Coca-Cola YouTube channel.
A few internet searches say you can mitigate this by putting a non-metallic object in the water (like a popsicle stick or chopstick).
OK speaking of electric kettles and if allowed I will raise with an expensive purchase that has changes my life in the kitchen. This Quooker.. It serves instant boiling water. You can get it with ice cold water and club soda too. All in one. I only have the one with boiling water but god damn don't I use it several times every single day. To make instant coffee that's actually instant, steam vegetables, fill a pot with boiling water to cook pasta etc. super fast, clean baby things, well cleaning anything. It's pretty expensive but if you're renovating or making a big purchase anyways this is seriously well worth the money.
I 100% agree. We had an electric kettle and loved it, however the house we bought a couple of years ago has an instant hot water faucet and now we use that. It's definitely a more expensive purchase but I'm glad the previous owners thought to add one. It's especially handy when making pasta.
And yes, the bidet we bought at the beginning of the pandemic has been pretty life-changing too. Good recommendations.
Ahh, I love a good bidet! You can buy a portable version (water bottle with a special attachment), which I have for traveling after I bought the add-on type for the house.
Years ago I bought a lifetime license for BetterTouchTool, a utility for macOS, and had no idea at the time exactly what it was capable of. Honestly BTT needs way better marketing... if you judge by its name it just sounds like a trackpad driver or something. Which it is, but also so much more. I'll try to do it justice.
BTT is a robust, highly flexible and extensible automation tool that allows you to execute almost any operation from any trigger. Triggers include multitouch gestures, keyboard shortcuts, UI interactions like double-clicking window titles or mousing into hot corners, scheduled/periodic times, specific apps launching/activating/exiting, and signals from external sources like mobile apps, shell scripts, MIDI controllers, web triggers, you name it. It's fully customizable. A single trigger can run multiple actions concurrently or in sequence.
Actions include any system operation you can think of (switching applications, adjusting volume, manipulating files or windows, etc.) but it also has rich support for executing shell scripts, JavaScript, and AppleScript. It can emulate keypresses, move your mouse pointer, open URLs, run Siri shortcuts or Automator workflows. Basically anything you might want to do. You can limit certain action-trigger combinations to running when particular applications have focus, or enable them globally.
Beyond that, it has a number of surprising UI features: You can build and instrument your own HTML+CSS+JS based floating menus. It has deeply configurable window snapping options. If you have a MBP with a touch bar, it gives you full power over everything that displays and does with a huge library of widgets and tools to build your own. If you have a MBP with a screen notch, a new version of BTT includes a custom "Notch Bar" you can enable to extend the system menubar with additional functionality.
When I first started using it I was just configuring a few basic trackpad gestures, but I'm constantly discovering things it can do. It's updated frequently and the release notes often announce big new features. At this point, I've customized and automated so many things with BTT that I can barely use a Mac without it anymore! It's literally the first thing I install on a new machine. If you're a power user and you're not running BTT, frankly you're doing it wrong. The lifetime license is $21 and at that price it's an absolute bargain.
Seconding BTT. I use it for my Logitech mouse because it is 1000% better than the actual Logitech client (G-Hub)
I’ve looked at BTT several times and struggle to see what I’d use it for. It does look super neat.
No I don’t need to see Bitcoin price in my touchbar. And their site doesn’t show other default flows.
Maybe I’m just not imaginative enough to come up with a use. What do you use it for?
Multitouch gestures were my gateway drug to BTT:
I also use window snapping regularly and I've mapped some of my function keys to run shell scripts. Lately I've been getting more into the scripting/automation features. Here's a project of mine I've been meaning to share in the recurring programming show-and-tell...
Long geeky description of weird niche project, feel free to skip
I have a bunch of games on this computer that I want to put in a Games folder in my Dock for easy access. Problem is, they run in a wide range of different environments:My goal is to create Mac launcher apps for all of them, to open whichever game I want to play without needing to think about how to run it. My approach is to keep the launchers themselves light, just AppleScripts saved as run-only applications, and let BetterTouchTool named triggers handle all the logic. The launcher scripts can activate BTT via a URL scheme, which I call twice:
First to store the requested Game ID in a persistent BTT variable:
btt://set_string_variable/?variableName=LastOpenedGameID&to=[GameID]&shared_secret=[BTTSharedSecret]Then to activate the appropriate named trigger for the type of game (I have different triggers for each environment):
btt://trigger_named/?trigger_name=[BTTLauncherTrigger]&shared_secret=[BTTSharedSecret]The named triggers respond differently and that's where the meat of the project is. I'm controlling my VM state and injecting shell commands into Windows through Parallels APIs. Some games have special extra instructions, like Sims 2 has to be run through Fullscreenizer to display properly. I can't manipulate my emulated classic Macs from the outside but I rigged up a way to use host file sharing and MacOS startup items to launch the applications on boot (some of those require resolution or color mode changes first, fun stuff).
I'm even running modern Mac games through this. This allows me to do stuff like set context-dependent config before launching. For example, I've been playing Project OutFox, a FOSS Dance Dance Revolution clone. Sometimes I want to play with the built-in speakers, other times with my Bluetooth desk speakers or AirPods. Each of those has different latency which can really throw off the timing of the game. I added a "current audio device" check in the launcher that updates the game's
Preferences.iniwith the appropriate global time offset before it opens.Anyway, this is all pretty specific for my use, and BTT is only one small (but important) component in this particular project.
Oh one other thing, back when I used a Mac with a touch bar, I got a ton of value out of GoldenChaos-BTT, a fine-tuned BTT preset you can import that does all sorts of nifty things besides showing the Bitcoin price lol.
I am a user of BetterSnapTool, which I bought for like $12 and is the precursor to this. I think I may upgrade
A very small purchase which makes a lot of difference for me are sleep masks. I've been using them for years and the quality of my sleep greatly improved, specially because I tend to work and study at night, and wake up pretty late sometimes. Also, I can sleep soundly even when my girlfriend is using her screen devices. I'm very sensitive to light.
I got an onigiri mold at Daiso for $1.50. I don't have to go to the store for rice balls now =].
I recently purchased a golden hour lamp, I can enjoy a mock version of the sun when it's gloomy outside or if I have to stay indoors for long periods of time.
As I wrote this, my husbands car got a flat tire, so I'll add: portable tire inflator. And I'll add a foldable/ portable dolly (although I have yet to purchase, I've had one in the past that gets passed around family members... it's time to spread my wings and get my own.)
And, my menstrual cup. I can be on a job site and not have to worry about changing out my menstrual hygiene product. I'll add electric heating pad. And prozac and anaprox, but they are pricey and you need a prescription for that. Changed my life.
If you live in a cold-weather climate like me, get yourself some slip-on grippers for your boots. The most well-known brand is YakTrax but there are so many other types, and generally they're in the $15-$25 range. They can be an absolute lifesaver in icy weather. I buy them for everyone.
Oh wow, I have so many of these. Apologies in advance for the Bezossite links.
Wall sconces for phones. At work, I keep my phone on the wall, charging, at the other end of my desk. I can't reach it without moving, but I can glance over if there's a notification, so I'm much less distractable but if someone needs to reach me they can.
Tandisk has a cotton skirt collection which are extremely durable, have fairly deep pockets, and look decent despite being so inexpensive. I use them for everyday work-at-home wear and when doing physical tasks; the first two I bought in late 2019 and they're still going strong, sans one pocket repair.
I got this automatic egg boiler for my mom, since she's getting older and has a hard time remembering to take her hard boiled eggs out in time. However, my ADHD means I have the same issue, and it works well for me too.
This simple stamped steel book holder is great for my journalling habit. I keep my Leuchtterm propped up on my desk so I can easily take notes while working or in a meeting.
I'm curious how this is different from pi-hole, aside from it just being an external service vs self-hosted.
It sounds like it works better than pi-hole. Which I have setup. It blocks most things but I find it's difficult to block YouTube ads. NextDNS sounds like the same thing, but they tinker and maintain it for ya.
Basically nothing can stop YouTube ads at the DNS level, because they are served through the same servers as the content. You need a second layer - a browser extension or a custom app to block them.
No need to be snide. Sounds like YouTube might have changed something up. They absolutely have served ads over the same domain as video content before, though, which is something that can't be blocked by DNS servers.
I setup NextDNS last night!
It definitely still allows youtube ads. Both Mac & iOS native youtube.
I simply set it up via my router, IPv4 + IP Address.
I have a kid, so NextDNS is perfect for me.
Thanks for the recommendation!
I was wondering if the difference might be one or more of your blocklists. Do you mind sharing which blocklists you're using?
Seems like the Stephen Black blocklist might be the one that's doing it. I opened an incognito window and disabled uBlock and went through the first few adding them one at a time and stopped getting preroll and other youtube ads after I added the Stephen Black one.
Cool, thanks!
To be clear is it the main unified hosts file on their github?
I'm not sure, I just added it through the setup page on NextDNS' web client. I'm not at my PC to check at the moment
It's not the blocklists, although I'm glad I set them up.
I have similar setup to yours, except for the blocklists.
I throw a browser into private mode, which disables all ad blocking plugins and clears my cookies, and boom, instant youtube ad.
Any of the blocklists related to youtube or google?
Well shit that's incredibly surprising, thanks for the info! I did a quick google of certain keywords like NextDNS and youtube ads and found others with a different experience before posting the knowledge I had, but perhaps things have changed yet again in the ads vs adblocking war.
I have also seen zero youtube adds relying entirely on free browser extensions and apps. Ublock origin + sponsor block on firefox, newpipe on phone and SmartTubeNext also on a Sony Bravia TV.
I haven't configured any of these after initial installation so I don't think it's necessary for this to be a subscription service.
I agree that the peace from an absence of ads is priceless though.
To clarify, it is possible to block them as they are usually served through a different subdomain. However, you can't use blanket wildcards for this without blocking the actual video playback as well, so the subdomains have to be blocked individually. These are not static and change regularly, and also varies between regions, which is why blocking is very inconsistent.
Pi-hole should be able to achieve anything any blocking NextDNS can with the same blocklists.
Thanks for this recommendation! I have been wanting to set-up pi-hole for awhile now but electrical outlets are at a premium where I would need to put it so this a great alternative.
OK what the fuck....Are you telling me that this thing can remove adds from my youtube app on my Samsung TV? Please say yes. The amount of hatred I have against adds in general is just not good for my health.
Velcro cable ties
Throw them on all your cables, now you can easily shorten them for transport or cleaning up your mess of cables, easier to strap, unstrap, modify, etc.
Kitchen timer
Magnetic, small, throw it on your microwave or something close to your stove, now you don't have to fuss with the timer on the microwave (which won't work if you want to use the microwave at the same time), can always accurately countdown for steps when you're cooking. You can use your phone instead, but it ends up being way more convenient to just peck at some actual buttons on a device guaranteed to be next to your stove at all times.
Will add with your kitchen timer, a meat thermometer. No more guessing on food temps! Even a cheap one is better than nothing.
Will add one more kitchen appliance - a scale. I use mine everyday and if a recipe has the weight measurements for ingredients, you will never have to fiddle with all the different measuring spoons and cups. This cuts down on the amount of dishes everyday. If you end up counting calories, this is also the most accurate representation of how many calories you are intaking. They can be had for under $20
That's very true, I got a Thermapen for Christmas, but before that I just had a cheaper Thermoworks one, all it is is a bit slower but still fine.
Makes cooking big meats a lot easier, but ends up being useful for everything. Want to know if your bread is done baking? Jam a probe in it and see what the temp is, very useful, takes out so much guesswork.
Oil temperature control is also very handy for deep frying.
If we're allowing digital purchases: Tasker (and also a few bits of the AutoApps suite).
I do not have as much of a need for them right now as I have a much more flexible computer ready and don't "go outside" as much, but when I need them, they can become very useful.
I currently use it for some "small things", from turning up the brightness and toggling autorotation in certain apps (camera, gallery,
youtubenewpipe) to automatically copying the 2FA code my bank sends (through SMS, in 2022!) when it arrives.If you add Termux into the mix, you can also do things like: unspeakable ffmpeg incantations, or SSHing into a machine to run wget or yt-dlp on it to acquire the funnies, or (probably) anything else you can compile to arm64.
Apple does a pretty good job of this, but I wish they’d throw all of those messages into a different bucket. It makes no sense to see a ton of 2fa items in the same place as where I talk to friends and family. I manually clear them out but if they can automatically throw the codes into my clipboard they should be able to automatically clear out the messages, too.
Supposedly Google Messages was adding this, but I've yet to see it.
I've been thinking about this for a few hours, and this I think this could be possible with Tasker. I might try making it for myself, even.
A quick search on Taskernet (using Taskernet Collector) suggests this hasn't been done in the past, but I don't see a reason why it can't be possible.
Oh no. Android only :(
Silicone ear plugs. Quiet is a luxury that most people don't have access to. But with ear plugs, I can usually reach quiet enough to focus/sleep and ignore background noise.
I need to sleep with earplugs because my neighbors can be noisy. I also like noise cancelling headphones for work/productivity but that might not count as a "small" purchase anymore...
I'm staying at my moms place and she has very thin walls. I've come to the conclusion that the neighbors dgaf. Do you have any brand/style recommendations?
I've been using the foam ear plugs. At first they were itchy and I'd take them off in the middle of the night when the neighbors finally called it. I've gotten used to them now, but I'm still interested in recommendations. I've been eyeing moldable ear plugs since I'll need them for the job site too (I'll get one for job site, another for sleeping).
I think foam are better for noise blocking. Either way, Mack's are fairly soft in my experience.
Mack's
These are also great for music festivals. You can still hear the music fine but your ears are not destroyed the next day.
Depending on what you consider small, I’ve been paying a small (but monthly) fee for a Linux VPS that I get a lot of use out of.
Separately, I’ve had my eye on the Gerber utility knife that OP mentions, but in the meantime I carry a Gerber Curve. It’s tiny enough that it doesn’t feel clunky in the pocket, yet the tools are all useful. I use it all the time.
What kind of things do you use the VPS for?
I use it for email, note taking, data analysis, small programming tasks and other miscellaneous shell-based projects — but all of that is under the larger umbrella of a social Linux server I run on the vps called rawtext.club.
A sleep-wearable watch with a silent alarm has been a good buy for me. It cost $30-ish on sale. I usually get up an hour or two earlier than my wife, so I can’t use an alarm to wake myself. The silent alarm, which vibrates on my wrist, has been perfect.
Edit: Sorry, I just had a few additional morning ideas.
2nd Edit: added links.
An Aeropress coffee maker. This, along with a Prismo attachment which allows you to make a little bit more espresso-like coffee, and a JavaPresse manual coffee grinder. As someone who isn’t willing to shell out for a $1000 espresso machine, I have found this triplet to be a local optimum. Total price is less than $100, and the quality of espresso (well, espresso-like coffee) is more than tolerable. The only drawback is that the manual grinding of coffee is a rate limiter — although this can be seen as a good thing if you’re trying to keep a caffeine addiction under control. It’s not fast. But it’s good. And it travels well, unlike an espresso machine.
I love my tiny pocket knife. Comes in handy for so many things. I originally bought it for camping (because it was recommended), but honestly I just carry it everywhere now.
Oooh, Every-Day Carry knife talk. I love EDC knife talk! :P
I currently have two knives in my EDC kit that I absolutely love. One is a Leatherman Skeletool (serrated knife, pliers, wire stripper/cutter, bottle opener, bit driver + ratchet + bit kit, with a driver/hammer/prybar mod), and the other is a ROXON KS S501 (Tanto blade & scissors combo).
And together with my Swiss Nailcare Card, LUMINTOP Tool 2.0 flashlight, Anker PowerCore 20k, ASICEN retractable USB cables, retractable cloth tape measure, KOH-I-NOOR lead holder pencil, Parker Jotter ballpoint pen, and Moleskin Cahier notebooks, I have just about everything I could possibly need in my EDC kit... other than a saw and diamond file, which I am considering modding onto my Skeletool eventually.
How to the necks hold up on those USB cables? I switched to the braided nylon kind a few years back, and now I don't trust anything else, haha.
I'm sure it's not as strong as on a regular braided USB cable, but it's still sturdy enough that I have been using them daily for over 6 months and there is absolutely no noticeable wear on them yet. But even if there was, the portability and convenience of the multi-headed (USB C, micro, lightning) retractable cables have been absolutely perfect for EDC. And at only $24 for the 2 of them I have gotten more than my money's worth out of them already, so if/when they do eventually break I will simply buy another set to replace them.
I can't speak for everyone, but at least for me they genuinely feel like one of those "once you try them and see how useful they are, you'll never be able to go back to carrying around any other kind" sort of things. So much so that I am even considering buying some retractable Ethernet, HDMI, and 3.5mm Audio cables for my EDC kit now as well.
I can't believe I didn't think to add this until now:
Monoprice 3-in-1 Charge and Sync Cable
It's a USB cable that can easily swap between USB Micro, USB-C, or Lightning. I have one on my bedside outlet, one on my couchside outlet, and one with my computer, so now I never have to go searching for the right cable/connector and can just plug in what I need to effortlessly, anywhere. Saves me so much time and hassle.
I had something similar to those too, but then I noticed that the adapter tips got worryingly hot when used to charge my devices... so I recently switched to using these instead. They are also USB-C + Micro + Lightning, but don't get hot like the cable tips did. And IMO they are actually even more convenient since the whole cable is retractable, has a small footprint, and never gets tangled, so is perfect for carrying around in my EDC kit. :)
And as I said in my other reply in that EDC kit thread:
Interesting. I've never had an issue with heat with them, but yours look great too! I'd recommend any form of multi-tip USB cord that works.
That is a good one. I've got several of them around the house.
Rollerblade-style polyurethane office chair replacement wheels, like these:
https://www.amazon.com/Office-Chair-Caster-Wheels-Set/dp/B01CTIG4GE/
They make it so that moving around in your office chair is silent and effortless without being so frictionless that you slide all over. Feels like a buttery knob. Another big win is that they don't trap hair, dust, or small cords. They usually go for <$40.
My understanding is that there is one size stem diameter that fits IKEA chairs (10mm) and another that fits all the rest (11mm).
Cheap NFC tags for ~$5-$10 that you can use for anything. Shortcuts on iOS can run automations based on NFC trigger so that's pretty good. I find it best for setting up timers or turning on WiFi etc.
I just bought some of these! I’d love to know what other shortcuts you run with yours.
How about a sweet way to turn on your PC? All you need is a terminal app with Shortcuts support and a PC that supports Wake-on-LAN. Now when you're at your desk, you can turn on your PC with an NFC tag :) or maybe just stick it on your office door!
(As for what I run regularly, see my reply below)
Yes, I'd like to hear more about this if you have the time to expand on it. I remember the WWDC where they introduced being able to do this but haven't heard much about it since then.
Pardon my late reply!
I cycle between what I use them for. Right now I use them for pomodoro timers and triggering music playlists. Unfortunately no Spotify support yet :(
If you're really keen on doing something cool, you could make them run different shortcuts based on the time of day or other pieces of context!
If you haven't tried this before, you can get a cheap pack of NFC stickers and open Shortcuts app -> Automation -> Personal Automation -> NFC to get started.
One useful tip is to disable the "Ask before running" option if you want it to be seamless (you do need to have your device unlocked when you tap the tag!)
It's one of those features that seem pretty lowkey but integrate pretty well into your life and stay out of it, just the way technology should be :)
Lumbar support pillow. Basically, it's a pillow with straps that you strap onto a chair and it emulates the lumbar support an expensive chair would give you. It greatly improves the sitting experience of cheap chairs, and office chairs exist in this weird space where there's a "missing middle" - either you get the cheap <$100 chairs, or you get the used Herman Miller chairs that start at $500 and go for $1000 new. You either get no lumbar support or great lumbar support. Of course, a $100 chair from staples with a lumbar pillow is not a herman miller but it's still much better, and it's even effective on making folding chairs more comfortable..
Wirecutter link since this is a pretty interchangeable item: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-lumbar-support-pillow/
How small is small? I looooovvvvee my stick vacuum. I got a tineco, recommended by wirecitter, for about $250. Their customer service stinks tho.
Duet It was designed by a former Apple engineer before Sidecar, so they expanded their market to Windows/Android. It helped out last semester because it let me turn my Samsung tablet into an extra screen for my Surface Go. It's the most useful Android app I've paid for, aside from gstrings, which I've bought every iteration of.
incense! I like POSITIVE VIBES from Satya. If you're buying it, you want to get the stuff from Bangalore (it'll say BNG on the box.) The BNG stuff smells better --- the company split in two and Bangalore makes the better stuff (long story short.)
It's just nice -- and you can get a lot of incense for ~$2 per box, depending where you live.
Much as I generally am wary of single-use kitchen gadgets - toaster tongs are a game changer. Everyone laughs but as soon as I buy them a set they get it. (in a similar vein, the pineapple device although while good I wouldn't say it has vastly improved my life)
This life changing purchase may only be useful in cultures where making toast is (a) common and (b) mostly done in a slot style toaster
For that purpose I use a pair of long chopsticks I use as an alternative to regular tongs to move things around while it's cooking.
Kitchen chopsticks is another good item for this list of recommendations. They replace so many specialty tools.
Need tongs? Chopsticks
Need to poke into your baked goods? Chopsticks.
Need to mix things? Chopsticks.
Need rough measurements? Chopsticks.
How do you easily measure 100 g of flour using chopsticks (or 100 ml of water, or whatever)?
Well clearly you need to learn how to use chopsticks first.
Seriously, though, I meant measuring lengths. They're not great for volumes or weights.
Ahh... That makes much more sense.
Seems like the keyword here is “rough.”
That's interesting. We have a slot style toaster, but I've not yet ever had a situation where I thought something like this would come in handy. What's the use case? The toast is too low? Or the toast is too hot? Our toaster's lever has an extra "give" when you press up on it that raises whatever is in the slot about an inch higher.
Main use case is when the toast is too short - happens with homemade bread if I use a particular bread pan, or the end slices of a bloomer such as sourdough often comes in. Also very useful for crumpets which are commonly too short for the lever lift to help much, and are toasted much longer so not only are they very hot but the toaster surround is too.
Also if you have a toast jam you can't beat some non-conductive tongs for poking around in there to get the errant bread products out.
Finally you can use them to attempt to catch the toast mid-pop if you're feeling particularly sporty. Our old toaster had a digital time control so you could see the number of seconds left before launch which did take some of the challenge away.
I'm "cheating" on the spirit of the question here, but how about this answer:
Switching to Linux. I paid $0 for it.
I also paid $0 for these apps that I use regularly on Linux to get work done:
I also pay little to nothing in terms of:
I wanna put it out there that one doesn't even have to switch to Linux full time to benefit from it. If you've got the hard drive space, or the slots for extra drives (the best setup), having it around as a second OS is immensely useful. I dual-boot my desktop with Arch+Windows because there's plenty that is simply better for me in Linux: Real-time audio (Guitarix and Supercollider/Tidalcycles), some games (OpenMW), and if you take the time you can set it up so you have to boot into Windows minimally if you're already doing something in Linux. I also have a laptop running Arch exclusively for Guitarix and if I need to travel, which is pretty sweet.
EDIT: Arch is my distro of choice, but any will be great.
Not sure how I'd never heard of Guitarix (not being a guitarist is probably why), but that looks great. Will test drive that with ardour at some point.