There’s 3 things that really stand out for me that I would say made a massive difference to my life:

  1. Cordless screw driver. Bought the day after building a flat pack bed with a crappy screw.driver that just shredded my hand. Thought it was frivolous at the time, but I’ve used it so much since. It’s light, small enough to fit in my pocket and good for 90% of DIY tasks.

  2. Tassimo coffee machine. Bought it 9 years ago, use it every day. Nice quick easy coffee. What’s not to like.

  3. My first DSLR camera. It was a Nikon D50 back in 2005/6 and it sparked my interest in photography to this day. It gave me a hobby I can take lots of places and do it alone or with others. I never loved the D50 camera itself, but I did get some really nice shots with it

  • nivenkos@lemmy.world
    441·
    8 months ago

    Kindle - all the books, all the time.

    Sony WH1000-XM3 (I guess newer models are still good) - excellent noise cancelling, perfect for flights

    Steam Deck - play almost any games, anywhere, and with a full desktop mode too.

    In the past I’d have put the Acer Aspire One, I loved the netbook form factor, now I use either the Vivobook or Steam Deck like that.

    The Aeropress is also great for quick, simple coffee.

    • AlternateRoute@lemmy.caEnglish
      9·
      8 months ago

      My daughter got the steam deck and she does use it mobile however it has eclipsed the switch as our go to living room family/party/multiplayer console. Family library sharing works very seamlessly in steam.

      I am regularly impressed how well PC titles run on it regardless of if they windows running under proton or Linux optimized.

      There are also an impressive number of titles that have native or at minimum controller support to the point the onscreen prompts all show the correct buttons. We have a number of Xbox controllers now for up to 4 player multiplayer.

      We regularly hook it up to hotel TVs when traveling as well.

    • souperk@reddthat.com
      102·
      8 months ago

      I guess newer models are still good

      Nope. The WF1000-XM4 have battery drain issues, and there is at least one explosion recorded…

      Edit: To everyone saying they have XM4 or XM5 and see no issues, congratulations you are one of the lucky few. Just google “XM4 battery drain” and you will learn the Sony had to issue so many refunds they introduced new processes…

      PS Boycott Sony until they address the issues. It’s not okay for major producer to release a product with such a major flow and then look the other way.

      • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
        8·
        8 months ago

        Had the XM-4, battery life was shit and I will now never ever buy another set of headphones without physical buttons. They were truly dreadful when you put them round your neck

        Changed for Bose QC45 and will never buy Sony again

          • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
            3·
            8 months ago

            A bit too bass-heavy, but far more comfortable. The Sonys had slightly better noise cancelling, I have to admit, but the touch sensitive ear cups is a fucking stupid idea

        • Jarmer@slrpnk.net
          1·
          8 months ago

          haha, I had the Sony XM4’s as well and my favorite day ever of owning them was when I finally got so frustrated I threw them off the mower I was riding on and mowed over them. It felt SOOOOO GOOD. By far the biggest waste of money I have ever spent. Never again Sony anything even remotely related to that. Also never again anything without physical buttons.

      • Blizzard@lemmy.zipEnglish
        4·
        8 months ago

        Got XM5 and the battery seems endless. Noice cancelling great, sound quality too, comfortable. The only con is the fact they are not suitable for conferencing at work via Teams etc. - you either can’t hear what you’re saying or can hear youself with an annoying delay.

        • lud@lemm.ee
          1·
          8 months ago

          Same here, I use them very heavily and I usually charge the headset once or maybe twice a week depending on usage. I haven’t calculated how long they actually last but I absolutely believe the 30 something hours on the box.

          I should be clear that I mean the WH-1000XM4.

          All true wireless in-ear headphones have an awful battery life of like only 6-8 hours or so.

          The one problem I have with the headphones is that moisture from sweat and watering them seems to bring some annoying symptoms.

    • a4ng3l@lemmy.world
      6·
      8 months ago

      Haaaa yeah the kindle. Both loved and hated in my case. Love the form factor, allowing me to indulge in new books. Hate it because I don’t get new physical books anymore. Not that I have any room left for books; that’s the reason I bought the kindle in the first place…

      • nivenkos@lemmy.world
        4·
        8 months ago

        Yeah, it’s a shame for passing on books I guess - like my dad had loads of books by Hugh Cook, an obscure fantasy / sci-fi author, and they’re out of print completely now.

        At least in the future digitisation should stop that completely though.

  • UnpopularCrow@lemmy.world
    391·
    8 months ago

    I bought a 97 Ford Taurus off a friend for $800 back in 2008. Her dad thought it was on its last legs at 155k miles so he wanted to sell it. I drove it for four years. It was running fine until someone blasted it out in front of my girlfriend’s house and drove off. At the time it had 206k miles. 50k miles for $800 was certainly one of my best purchases.

    • moistclump@lemmy.world
      16·
      8 months ago

      All my cars have been sub-$5k rust buckets or on their last legs.

      $600 - 1993 Honda civic

      $1300 - 1994 Volkswagen Golf

      $3000 - 2003 Mazda 3

      $1000 - 2007 ford escape

      $2000 - 2012 Kia Rio

      $3000 - 1994 Chevrolet s10

      $4000 - 2009 Volkswagen rabbit

      $4000 - 2009 Toyota Yaris

      Almost all of them sold for what I bought it for. Im mechanically inept so probably could have kept them longer if I was good at that.

      Good purchases, some adventures, but cheap cars that work out and are in that sweet spot of not dead but still cheap are great.

  • 8565@lemmy.techtriage.guru
    30·
    8 months ago
    1. Back in 2017 while stationed in AZ I adopted a dog who was the cutest little Blue Heeler, for $5 we have been inseparable since and she is the single greatest thing that’s happened to me.
    2. Last year in April my Powerstrokes transmission failed and on a whim I bought a 98’ 4 runner with 245k miles. We have now built the hell out of that little rig and have put 15k miles on it in 11 months
    3. 100 pairs of socks on Amazon. This sounds nuts but, I got 100 pairs of black socks 2 years ago for $60 because I was tired of my socks always missing. I still have 50 socks I haven’t touched.
  • Truffle@lemmy.ml
    29·
    8 months ago

    1. A plot of land in a place I like. Nothing fancy or huge, just a place to be by myself and enjoy a nice bonfire away from people.

    2. Headphones. The old clunky ones that cover your whole ears. I love them! They feel like a hug and I use them all the time while listening to spooky stories. Bought them in a sale about four years ago.

    3. A hello kitty backpack. Bought it as a birthday gift for a friend’s daughter, we had a fallout and I kept it. One day I needed a clean backpack and this was on hand so I grabbed it in a whim and have been using it ever since. I have a pair of Columbia, silver ridge and tetons laying around but this fluffy cute backpack makes me so happy and has the perfect size.

  • Blizzard@lemmy.zipEnglish
    251·
    8 months ago

    1. Smart vacuum cleaner - you pay a reasonable amount once and don’t have to vacuum anymore

    2. Vaporiser - switched to vaping weed instead of smoking joints which is not only nicer in many ways but also allowed me to quit smoking cigarettes

    3. PlayStation - after sitting 8h by the desk moving a mouse for work, I didn’t want to sit in the same position another few hours playing games. With PS I can comfortably sit in my armchair and play on a big tv scrreen using a controller

    4. Ergonomic mattress - healed my hurting back. This should be on the top of this list.

  • wildebeesties@lemmy.world
    24·
    8 months ago

    My recliner that I bought with one of the first Covid check. I have horrendous back issues (3 major surgeries and constant pain) and having another resting/sleep area has been a lifesaver many times. Currently pregnant and it’s one of the only places I can sleep.

    This set of 2 grabbers from Amazon. They weren’t super expensive but nicer than other grabbers commonly bought by others. They have been used daily by me, my toddler plays with them, they get dropped, etc. and they perform so well. I can pick up the tiniest item off the floor, a piece of paper, etc. with no issues. Had them 3 years. I keep one on each floor of the house and they save my back so much. It’s one of the only ways I can do chores and keep the floor clean from a toddler.

    Silly, but this last year I really appreciated having a laminator at home. It’s nothing fancy- just a simple one from Scotch from the store. I’ve laminated different rules for games (card games where we wrote out the rules) and my son absolutely LOVES when I draw him characters and items from his favorite shows, laminate them, and then he plays with them for months. It’s saved us a ton of money buying toys he doesn’t need, stores easily, and he loves it. It also gets out some of the creative side that I kind of lost the last few years.

    • quickhatch@lemm.ee
      1·
      8 months ago

      Which recliner did you go with? I’ve been shopping for one for a while and haven’t had any luck finding one I like…

  • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    23·
    8 months ago

    Steam Deck - since having kids I was really struggling to play games at all. I had gotten to where I was only playing phone games and switch games, but the Steam Deck has really enabled me to start enjoying my steam library again. If it broke I would buy another one instantly.

    Bone-conductive headphones - I wear these all day. I listen to audiobooks, take calls, have them read out notifications, etc. It’s also great to know that if I open a random meme video on my phone, I don’t have to worry about the sounds of the video being inappropriate for my surroundings. They’re so much more comfortable than traditional headphones.

    My house - I got an insanely good deal on my house, less than what many people pay for cars. It’s not the fanciest house, and it needed some fixing up when we bought it, but it’s enabled me and my family to live with extremely low bills which has made my life very low stress. Houses are generally cheap where I live, but I lucked out and got the best house deal I’ve seen, and it’s made everything so much easier.

    • Cwilliams@beehaw.org
      1·
      8 months ago

      I’ve been looking into bone conduction headphones, but I’ve has trouble choosing a model. Which ones do you have?

      • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        1·
        8 months ago

        I started with some cheaper ones off Amazon to see if I liked using bone conductive, and after using those for a year or so I upgraded to Shokz Openmove, which I have been using for a few years now.

        If I break these I’ll probably upgrade to a nicer Shokz product, but I’m not sure which one. I’ve been really happy with the Openmove though.

  • CarrierLost@lemmy.one
    252·
    8 months ago

    1. My horse, Lola. She’s an amazing 9yo grey quarter horse mare. “Retired” barrel racer, she’s the perfect trail/ranch horse. She’s got the best quirky and silly demeanor, she loves to hang out, and she’s playful, but never gets crazy under saddle.

    2. My guitar. 2012 PRS 513. I absolutely love that guitar, and it got me back into playing after almost 20 years off. It’s my “do everything” guitar, and the difference in sounds between pickup combinations makes it incredibly versatile.

    3. A good mattress. I spend a solid 1/3 of my life sleeping (or trying to) and a great mattress helps so much.

  • 🦄🦄🦄@feddit.de
    18·
    8 months ago

    1. My vasectomy. Hands down the best ease-of-mind investment ever

    2. My computer. Easy choice, I use it daily, sometimesmore than 8 hours

    3. Good, high quality spices

  • Fizz@lemmy.nz
    17·
    8 months ago

    Boring answrs but… A computer. It’s the 2nd most expensive thing I own and it’s provided me thousands and thousands of hours of entertainment and use as tool.

    A car. The most expensive thing I’ve brought and very useful. I’ve been able do a lot more with my time and get into many new hobbies.

    Power rack. 3rd most expensive. Having a power rack in my garage allows me to safely lift heavy by myself which is awesome.

    Bonus cheap thing. Screw driver set. Allowed me to fix many things around my house and easily saved me 10x the cost.

  • OhmsLawn@lemmy.world
    171·
    8 months ago

    By order of lasting positive effects,

    1. First vape (a cigarette-shaped item from the corner store, cherry flavor). I had been smoking with suicidal enthusiasm for 18 years. I was out of breath, coughing, stinking, and (at $7 a pack) broke. A decade later, I still vape, but I can breathe now.

    2. First not-fully-depreciated used car (3-year-old 2012 Focus SEL hatch with 30K mi). Apart from warranty transmission work, the car’s been stable, and pretty. The real change was introducing me to finance and lending. I grew up poor with a debt addicted dad. At 32, I had never had a credit card. I’ve still never given the bastards a dime, but I’ve pulled in thousands in rewards and have an outstanding credit score.

    3. Passport / first international airline ticket. I mean, yeah. I hadn’t had any desire to leave my state, let alone see the world. At 20, I grudgingly flew to Europe to visit my girlfriend who was studying abroad. We didn’t last, but the travel bug did.

    Honorable mention, only because it isn’t technically a purchase would be my first union payment. Best deal ever.

    Edit: how do you add line breaks? It worked, magically, when I made the list heading bold, but that was hella annoying.

    • XIIIesq@lemmy.world
      2·
      8 months ago

      People that say “vaping isn’t good for you!” etc etc are people that are missing the point and people that have clearly never tried both.

      Firstly, no one is saying it’s good for you, just that it is better for you than smoking is.

      Secondly, maybe listen to people like yourself who have extensive experience with both options, the different in you personally health is night and day.

      • Atemu@lemmy.ml
        1·
        8 months ago

        The statements “vaping isn’t good for you” and “vaping is a lot better than smoking” do not conflict with another; they can both be true.

        Whether vaping is an improvement or not depends on what you were doing before. If you were smoking before and are substituting cigarettes for vaping, you hurt yourself a lot less and it’s an improvement.

        If you weren’t smoking before (the case for most teens for example) and would start to vape, you’d be hurting yourself significantly more than before.

        You should be advocating to never touch a vape (or cigarette) to non-smokers and to try vaping to get out of smoking addiction to smokers.

        • XIIIesq@lemmy.world
          0·
          8 months ago

          Fair point.

          It’s obvious that the best thing for your lungs is clean and fresh air and the best thing to do with nicotine is never try it.

          But some people are always going to be attracted to that sort of thing and it’s sensible to not fear monger the option which is clearly the healthier choice.

    • Empricorn@feddit.nlEnglish
      1·
      8 months ago

      I might be misunderstanding your edit question, but I think you did it?

      It’s just Enter twice to force a new paragraph using Markdown.

      • OhmsLawn@lemmy.world
        1·
        8 months ago

        No. it’s really strange and only happens with numbers. I entered everything just like one would, with double spaces, each item starting with 1., 2., etc. Nothing I did would make it come out with a gap.

        It only worked after I changed the first letter of the section to an asterisk (to make the subject bold). Also, like you see here paragraphs that start with anything other than a number work fine.

        1. It’s

        2. Only

        3. Numbers

        4. Asterisks

        5. Work

        6. Fine

        I’m using sync, but I doubt that matters.

        • Atemu@lemmy.ml
          2·
          8 months ago

          Numbers at the start of a line followed by a dot signifies a numbered list item. If you just want the numbers without it being considered a list item, you need to escape the dot like this:

          1. This is a list item
            With line break

          1. This is not
          With line break

          1. This is a list item  
With line break

1\. This is not  
With line break
  • SuperDuper@lemmy.world
    14·
    8 months ago

    1. My house. Bought it in 2019 right before the market went completely wacky. More of a lucky timing situation, but I’m extremely thankful to not be renting anymore.

    2. A really high quality mattress. You’re supposed to spend about a third of your life sleeping, and the quality of that sleep has a huge impact on your physical and mental health.

    3. A really good set of kitchen knives. I hate having to cook at other people’s places because of it, so many people have cheap, dull knives that do not do the trick. At my in-laws house I basically have to hammer tomatoes in half with their knives. FYI, you’re more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife rather than a sharp one.