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Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)

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Re: Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)

#101

Post by jareds »

madamelic wrote: post #38
mikestew wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see that the cheapest Ember is now $130. My first-gen is about six years old, and the battery is about shot. I hesitate to drop another $150-ish on a new mug, but OTOH, is consistently hot coffee worth $25/year? Yeah, it probably is to me, so I'm going to have to suck it up soon.

Oh, I wasn't even aware they were that much. I could've sworn they were like $70 - $90 last I saw. That sucks.

I'm pretty sure the one I got was $99 but that was a black Friday deal on amazon.

Re: Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)

#102

Post by post_break »

Tozo openreal headphones. $40 I use them 8 hours a day. They let you hear everything around you while also being decent headphones. In the office where I take phone calls they are much more ergonomic than my Bose QC45s which I used to wear the same amount.

Under $1000, my bambu labs printer. I've fixed things, made things you couldn't buy, it's a staple in my house now.

Re: Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)

#104

Post by teuobk »

Under $100: a Knipex pliers wrench. Best hand-tool ever! I originally got just the 7.25" size, but now I own everything from even shorter ones to much longer ones. I use them all of the time. If you're cheap, you can even get a knock-off version from Harbor Freight now at about half the cost of the German-made Knipex ones.

Re: Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)

#105

Post by littlestymaar »

dgacmu wrote: post #73

It wasn't under $1k but you can do some options for close-ish to that: a cargo e-bike. It's been amazing and has let us remain a one car family despite two kids with a lot of activities. I adore it. About to hit 2k miles on it.

Cargo e-bikes are tempting. I also have two kids and I've managed to work it out with just two seats on my bike (one front, one back) and now that the big one is tall enough to ride his bike I've got a "follow-me tandem" which allow me to tug him uphill, but carrying sports equipment is starting to be a hassle, so I'm seriously considering buying a cargo ebike to replace my current set-up.

Re: Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)

#106

Post by Cilvic »

sva_ wrote: post #43

Recently got some over-ear Bluetooth headphones with active noise cancelling for 150 euro. I knew the audio quality would be worse than with my cabled studio headphones, but the ANC is just amazing in noisy environments - especially while on public transport. I used to hate taking the train for longer rides because it'd be hit or miss, but with the headphones I'm actually looking up to it. Also looking up to trying t…

Which ones did you get?

Re: Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)

#107

Post by mbrameld »

smeej wrote: post #53

Under $1,000, but just barely over $100: Semi-recumbent stationary bike that fits under my standing desk. I've never been coordinated enough to get the hang of walking on the treadmill and typing, but pedaling slowly all day I can do! I've lost 45 lbs so far this year, and adding up the calorie estimate for each day (I've been tracking) and dividing by the 3500 calories people say are in a pound, about 20 of them hav…

> (The rest have been from hard work with a dietitian who helped me solve some longstanding issues, but that was more expensive.)

Just a heads up, if you're in the USA I believe all health insurance plans must fully cover dietitian visits if you have certain conditions, obesity being one of them. Hypertension and pre-diabetes are a couple other common ones.

Re: Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)

#108

Post by lowbloodsugar »

Under $100

Aeropress - quick coffee with easy cleanup. Waterproof and nonslip cat blanket to go over the couch. Surprisingly comfy. So far saved more spillage from humans than the cats.

Under $1000

Replaced all my Audio RaspberyPis with WiiM devices. They are like $150 - $400.

A bit over $1000

Apple 5K studio display. Can't begin to desribe the difference on my eyes compared to a regular 27" with 1/4 the number of pixels.

Bonus category, things that were shit:

Hand massager. Device you put your hand in and, in theory, it massages it. It tried to bend my finger joints back by pressing down in the middle.

Re: Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)

#109

Post by technothrasher »

In 2020, I bought an old broken clock on eBay for $60 on a lark. I wanted to tinker with something and see if I could figure out how it works.

Since that time, I spent literally thousands of hours immersed in horology. Everything from clock repair where I started, to learning how to use a lathe and a mill, studying the impact of clockmaking on the industrial revolution in early America and the history of maritime navigation, building an atomic NTP server from a rubidium engine bought off eBay and a raspberry Pi, becoming friends with several of the Antique Roadshow experts, volunteering to help build a pollinator meadow at a small clock museum nearby…

It’s amazing to me how much of an effect that little junky impulse buy had on how I’m living my life these days.

Re: Ask HN: Life-changing purchases since 2020? (Under $100 and under $1000)

#110

Post by voisin »

Under $100:

I think it’s $89/yr for Walmart grocery delivery. We were doing app orders + self-pickup, and the time savings of having them deliver for no added cost on every order over $35 has been amazing.

Under $1,000:

I bought an Olympic bar and plates from Facebook Marketplace ($250) and the Bells of Steel Light Commercial power cage ($700) from Amazon and started doing StrongLifts 5x5 consistently beginning in January of this year. It’s been nothing short of life changing. Having the safety of the cage, and the simplicity of StrongLifts really opened the door to strength and I would highly recommend it to anyone who, like me, didn’t know where or how to start.

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