Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 618 posts

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

#51

Post by madamelic »

throwaway4220 wrote: post #23
nnf wrote: post #12

I got an Ember mug and use it every day and love it. It keeps my coffee at a set temperature (controllable via my phone over Bluetooth) so it doesn't get cold right away, and I can take my time drinking it. I've bought a couple more as gifts since, and the people I gave them to say they like them a lot. The impact on my life isn't anything to get excited about, but it's been positive nonetheless. I don't feel rushed…

That sounds up my alley! What kind of material is the cup if that's the one you're using? I couldn't clearly tell from the website.

The mug part is metal, the electronics bit at the bottom is plastic-y rubber.

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

#52

Post by jauntywundrkind »

joezydeco wrote: post #32
binalpatel wrote: post #20

Under $100: The heat gun mosquito things that some tech folks were mentioning on Twitter. Always get quarter sized terribly itchy bumps for each mosquito bites and using it makes them essentially itch-free immediately. Under $1000: Weekly house cleaning. Such reduced cognitive load/increased free time to not have to clean all the time, think about cleaning, etc especially with a toddler.

If you mean Bite-Away, then yes. I bought mine with leftover FSA funds and as far as I can tell it works, placebo effect or not. https://www.bite-away.com/en/

I got the much smaller usb-c keyring Heat-It, and works so great . Previous submission, https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/12/usb-c-cures-mosquito-bites/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41548336

There was a study recently on it, which feels fairly encouraging. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3257884/

The real winner this year was the $30 (rainbow, because it's cool) mosquito net. It's been shockingly hard setting it up really well, some still get through, but I can sit outside all day & break out the electric swatter two or three times & be fine. And I keep tuning the net a little... (I used to lug a bunch of fans in and out of the house, to keep them off me, but that was only semi-successful & made it a project each time.)

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

#53

Post by smeej »

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

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

#54

Post by coldpie »

Under $1000 - my first guitar. Started as a pandemic experiment going into Minnesota Winter 2020, and has turned into my favorite hobby. I play almost every day for 4 years straight now, I've started attending local classical guitar concerts, and I do a little volunteering for them, too.

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

#55

Post by Loic »

haolez wrote: post #8
jzig wrote: post #3

A bi-weekly house cleaner. Saved my marriage!

Did that a decade ago and it saved my marriage as well :D I'd lived alone before marrying and I did all my chores, but my tolerance for messy stuff until I got to action was way more than my wife's.

This! My tolerance was also just above my wife's. We will never go back to not having someone helping us.

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

#56

Post by y-curious »

Under $100 - an Aroma rice dispenser

We cook rice every night for dinner, and this saves me about 30 seconds per meal. It holds 25lb of rice and dispenses one cup at a time. I didn't expect to love it as much as I do.

Under $1000 - A Dyson V7 vacuum refurbished on ebay

I hate vacuuming and if you go on forums, they always say "stick vacuums just aren't as strong." I caved when I found a deal on slickdeals and WOW! It works better than my old plug-in, it's cordless (a big blocker to cleaning) and it's fun to use.

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

#57

Post by erikerikson »

gnu8 wrote: post #11

I’d like to be contrarian here and suggest that if you happen to be possessed of a sudden impulse to buy something, but you can’t identify any particular thing that you need, consider putting that amount of money into an investment or retirement account instead of searching for a trinket to buy. That way you are scratching the itch and you’ll be better off later on. In other words, you can have your cake and eat it t…

Sounds like you are advocating the purchase of peace of mind and future stability. Strongly recommended!

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

#58

Post by madamelic »

mywittyname wrote: post #47
rdoherty wrote: post #14

Under $100 - Ember mug. No more reheating coffee a few times/day or trying to drink cold coffee. I was surprised at how much I enjoy it. A nice napkin holder that is easy to pull napkins from. Vertical magazine/tablet organizer. Whiteboard next to my desk. Anything simple that makes a frequent chore or task 50% easier. Under $1000 - Twice/week 'house helper' who does dishes and laundry. My wife travels a few weeks/mo…

Okay, this is the fourth Ember recommendation I've seen, so I'll bite. Why is it better than an insulated carafe and an insulated mug?

It keeps the drink at a specific temperature indefinitely.

With an insulated mug, you aren't putting more heat into the drink but just trying to keep it for longer. In my opinion, insulation works great for cold drinks (I use a giant insulated cup for my cold drinks) but not so much for warm drinks.

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

#59

Post by terminalbraid »

~$250: I hate kitchen appliances, but I got a Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker and that is the best thing I've ever had. It works perfectly, if you set it to have rice ready by a clock, it will be ready at that time. It makes happy music. I use it multiple times a week.

It was clearly built by engineers with love and passion.

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

#60

Post by Vaslo »

joezydeco wrote: post #32
binalpatel wrote: post #20

Under $100: The heat gun mosquito things that some tech folks were mentioning on Twitter. Always get quarter sized terribly itchy bumps for each mosquito bites and using it makes them essentially itch-free immediately. Under $1000: Weekly house cleaning. Such reduced cognitive load/increased free time to not have to clean all the time, think about cleaning, etc especially with a toddler.

If you mean Bite-Away, then yes. I bought mine with leftover FSA funds and as far as I can tell it works, placebo effect or not. https://www.bite-away.com/en/

I used to just run a spoon under very hot water and then hold it against the bite at the hottest I could tolerate and works pretty well, albeit not very temperature accurate.
Post reply on HN