House in 2017

Can you expand on the whole gym stuff?

My PC.

Very specifically, my Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro headphones.

I was lucky enough to go to a retail store with plenty of display models and I tried headphones that cost €2000 and up. They were so cheap for what they were (€139), I'm probably going to buy an extra pair in case they stop making them. Too good to be true. Use them everyday, and still surprised at the new things I'm hearing in songs played a thousand times.

I will second the Bogleheads book, which you is online for free by the author. Really simplified investing into a 2 or 3 fund hands off portfolio. I've had great success with it and I never have to worry about financial news.

Ontario Rat pocketknife replaced my Benchmade I sadly lost. 90% as good for way less money. It hurts losing an expensive EDC item.

Add on bidet. I didn't know why baby wipes are so popular when this is cheaper and won't mess up plumbing.

Aeropress and pour over cone with Trade coffee subscription. With my medication I didn't drink much liquor anymore. Coffee tasting has all the fun of trying single origins without interfering with my meds and is probably cheaper and healthier.

Musical instruments. My guitars were fairly cheap and require little maintenance costs. I got my electric piano for free. Hundreds of hours of creativity and expression I can use for the rest of my life that is essentially free at this point. I'm not even very good at music, but it's a fun creative outlet.

Good pens. Don't have to be expensive. Pilot V5 and Uni Jetstream are my cheap go to, but they write so much nicer than super cheap ones. Once you appreciate those, check out JetPens and enjoy yourself.

I bought a mobile AC unit that renders my apartment survivable during summers. Prior to it, I'd have all the windows open and it would still reach 35-40 degrees C when the sun was at it's highest point, now I'll keep it at around 21 degrees and love life.

XBox Game Pass. Saved me literally hundreds of dollars on games I'd buy otherwise, and avoids bad purchases like Redfall.

Sleep Number mattress. Yes it’s gimmicky and expensive, but the ability to adjust softness/firmness according to how my back feels is priceless

iPad. A long time ago when I was an IT drone the boss dropped a 1st gen on our desks and said, “set it up and figure it out, you’ll be supporting it.” 2 weeks later I told my husband he was off the hook for Christmas, I wanted one of these. It’s been my most used entertainment tech since through multiple generations

A pair of good boots will outlast 4 pairs of sneakers.

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.

My 512GB Steam Deck, easily. I've used it almost every day for going on a year now, and the novelty of playing things like Witcher 3, or Mass Effect, or a fully modded Skyrim anywhere I want still hasn't worn off.

1. Kitchenaid! I bake bread every week and it makes it so much faster/easier. Also good for mixing stuff and making fancy whipped creams
2. Double full motion monitor arm. This helps me save desk space and allows me to move my screens around depending on what I'm doing. For example when I play FPS games I move the main one from the left to the center (closer to my face)
3. Battery powered air compressor and jump starter for my car. No need to be stranded waiting for a jump or have keep quarters for low tires.
4. Weber kettle and WSM, very solid grill and smoker. I use em all the time.
5. A good mattress! I bought one made locally in Texas, so comfy

Vivobarefoot shoes! Bought the geo racer, my feet feels so light and good! Stretches the hamstrings as well.

Breville Espresso Machine: never would have bought one but we ended up with a bunch of gift cards. If you like coffee this makes such a difference.

Lynda.com/LinkedIn learning account: Keeping with your $0 library theme. Most libraries have had a partnership with online learning services. Used to by Lynda.com but is now LinkedIn Laarning. Search your library + linked in learning for login. I use it to learn so many skills!

Wusthof Knives: I like cooking. These aren’t the fanciest knife by far but they are solid. Combine them with sharpening stones and a honing steel and it is such a treat to cut the things you cook.

New socks: I don’t buy them as often as I want, or should have you ask my wife but, if I won the lotto my rich guy asshole Move would be new socks each week.

5th Wheel: I don’t have it anymore but when we moved out of one state we sold everything and bought a used rv (only after ensuring the espresso machine fit) and fixed it up. We traveled for 10 months around the US with two kids and two dogs, just to do it. We worked as we went. It was crazy and chaotic and wonderful and I cherish all the moments. I love the small nested world it becomes. We finally settled down and sold it but I still think about doing it again.

Thanks for sharing yours!

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.

Leatherman Skeletool CX. It's been my EDC for over 10 years and has gotten me out of a handful of scrapes when I needed a tool for something and none were around. It's broken twice (the pliers don't hold up great to twisting forces), but Leatherman has a great warranty and I've had no problems getting it repaired/replaced by them. Such a nice company.

Rowing machine. I use it Monday-Friday before work. Puts me in a good headspace and makes my workday feel less stressful. I’ve lost a bunch of weight also. I like that I can workout hard multiple days in a row without risking injury.

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 Kawasaki ninja 650. It might not sound like much. But, its given me something to look forward too. Before I was really lost. I thought life just isn't worth living. But now? I still feel like that. But, its given me such a sense of freedom, and, whilst I haven't actually met any other bikers yet. It just feels a lot nicer. Like, when I'm out and I see another, its just a simple not. But, I feel apart of something now.

I've been riding around 2 weeks now. But I still get giddy when I ride. I love it. More than anything I've had before. And I haven't felt like this since I was with my first gf.

This became quite long. Sorry.

I went 6 days a couple weeks ago without power due to a massive storm. After a few days I purchased a small solar panel that has a USB port in it you can plug in anything that needs a charge. Works really good! It’s only 10 watt so charges pretty slowly but when you’re fully cut off from the grid, it’s a life safer. Definitely my most worthy purchase in quite some time.

Android phones because of their open ecosystem and customization. Very easy to get all forms of entertainment for free.

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.

One of those "portable AC" units.

My home office gets up to 85° at minimum during the hot summer days. Having a tech come in and fix my entire HVAC setup is too rich for my blood. HOA won't allow window units... Finally caved and got the more expensive "portable" ac system that sit on the floor and have tubes that go out the window.

Room can get down to 73° during those same hot days and I am so happy with it.

Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless

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

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.

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.

Corded dyson from 20! Years ago. Still sucks, in a good way!

If you don’t have a cordless vacuum yet, it’s an awesome investment. Got one from Costco that has a smart setting for sucking up pet hair and other detritus that typically lives deep in the carpet. I have no problem vacuuming daily now because it’s so easy to just pick up and go. I’ve also heard people with wood floors say that roomba has made it so they never have to swiffer a day in their lives and that sounds pretty rad.

Adjustable bed platform has also changed my life. Don’t wait until you’re 50, get it whenever you can afford it. I swear to god it’s a game changer.

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.