Surprisingly - Soylent. It saves a lot of eating time. No, a LOT of eating time. Plus it is probably a little healthier than what I'd eat otherwise.
Ask HN: What do you spend money on that greatly increases your quality of life
31–40 of 68 posts
Re: Ask HN: What do you spend money on that greatly increases your quality of life
#32I measure my quality of life in experiences, so there are 2 issues here: good health and knowing what makes you happy. I'm going to focus on the first one because it is more generic.
It depends on what you're doing. I spend most of my day sitting in front of a computer: around 9 hours with some small breaks. Another good portion of my time goes to sleeping, so a great bed, pillow, chair and desk are a must. If you make compromises with any of them - you'll have neck/back pain.
Food is another thing to spend some money on: especially fresh fruits and vegetables. If you're a caffeine junkie like me - a good coffee will make a huge difference.
Another thing to consider is a suitable sport. It doesn't have to be a gym (I find gym borring), it can be any sport you find satisfying. I put it in the list because some sports can get really expensive but might or might not be worth it, it depends on you.
I'll just sketch some non-health related life improvers: trips, bike riding, hiking, music lessons, volunteering - anything that takes you out of your routine and makes you happy.
Re: Ask HN: What do you spend money on that greatly increases your quality of life
#33Gym - what gym has the best equipment for me to get to my fitness goals Bicycle - which bike is going to make my daily commute the most enjoyable? Weight, reliability etc. Clothes - when I'm on my bike and it starts raining what rain jacket gives me the no movement resistance while keeping me dry? Skills - what books, websites, subscriptions can I get to learn new skills the most efficient way There's a bunch more. E…
I was recently wondering about the bike. I commute 15 km each way and have a cheapo bike. I could afford way better (say , a 5000€ one compared to the 300€ I currently own) but has always wondered about the actual improvement.
I tried a new bike a few times on my commute and yes, it may have been better but not that significantly. The 15 km are mostly flat, save for a step part of a few hundred meters, and 1/3 of the path is in a forest (the other is on well separated bike paths).
I was wondering if a super bike is actually and objectively worth the investment (I know that some peine just live nice bikes and that's great, I am more thinking about the case of someone who sees them as a pure commodity)
Re: Ask HN: What do you spend money on that greatly increases your quality of life
#34I measure my quality of life in experiences, so there are 2 issues here: good health and knowing what makes you happy. I'm going to focus on the first one because it is more generic. It depends on what you're doing. I spend most of my day sitting in front of a computer: around 9 hours with some small breaks. Another good portion of my time goes to sleeping, so a great bed, pillow, chair and desk are a must. If you ma…
How do you find a good chair? I personally want to try a chair it before buying it. But I find all the local stores have cheap chairs that last a year or so.
Re: Ask HN: What do you spend money on that greatly increases your quality of life
#35I measure my quality of life in experiences, so there are 2 issues here: good health and knowing what makes you happy. I'm going to focus on the first one because it is more generic. It depends on what you're doing. I spend most of my day sitting in front of a computer: around 9 hours with some small breaks. Another good portion of my time goes to sleeping, so a great bed, pillow, chair and desk are a must. If you ma…
How do you find a good chair? I personally want to try a chair it before buying it. But I find all the local stores have cheap chairs that last a year or so.
For office work:
http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/performance-wor...
For relaxation: http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/lounge-seating/...
disclaimer: I have the first, I want the second ;-)
Re: Ask HN: What do you spend money on that greatly increases your quality of life
#361. Food; I love cooking from fresh and find it immensely relaxing
2. Travelling; my partner is a school teacher and has 12 weeks holiday a year, we try to maximise that time by travelling around the world
Re: Ask HN: What do you spend money on that greatly increases your quality of life
#37I had a discussion with a friend about that subject.
I told him that what money brings in is highly non-linear.
When you start in life, every euro counts. It is the "to cinema or not cinema" (or whatever you like). It also mean substantial changes in housing.
Then comes a moment you are on a plateau (my case today). I own a house (payed off), a car, have a family, and earn enough to be secure. I know that I will be able to afford two extra rents when my children leave for university. That I can travel the world if I want to without any big hit on my budget, etc. In short : a comfortable life.
It would take a significant amount of money (raise) to move up in my chart (first class travel everywhere, or a jet, or a yacht or several apartments worldwide).
So money cannot buy me much more than I have today - the recent great, great improvement was to have someone come and clean the house twice a week.
Since I am rather frugal, my own definition of "comfortably rich" is to be able to go to any normal store and not check the prices of what I am buying , especially to compare two products and decide on the cheaper one.
EDIT: I was once offered the possibility to, as I put it, move up in my chart. A golden opportunity with a fantastic salary in what looks like a nice company. I did not take it because it would have meant more business travel, wearing a suit all the time, etc. My family and comfort is more important. But this is only because I am today at this plateau which is enough for me. I would have taken it if that meant moving from "struggling" to "stable".
Re: Ask HN: What do you spend money on that greatly increases your quality of life
#38Best single investment ever on personal well being? I trained with a personal trainer for a few months. I'd been more or less a couch potato for three decades. Now I actually know what to do to keep at least somewhat in shape. I specified that I wanted a body weight exercises based regimen and nothing based on fixed gym equipment and we did that.
Re: Ask HN: What do you spend money on that greatly increases your quality of life
#39Rock climbing and (mostly audio) books.
Re: Ask HN: What do you spend money on that greatly increases your quality of life
#40Surprisingly - Soylent. It saves a lot of eating time. No, a LOT of eating time. Plus it is probably a little healthier than what I'd eat otherwise.
Soylent is the single saddest thing i've ever heard of. eating is fun. cooking is fun. treating my body like a truck and pumping myself full of gas is just sad.