Eye Mask - I sleep so much better and longer with one on. I recommend one that doesn't sit on your eyes directly (has a bit of concavity).
Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?
41–50 of 428 posts
Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?
#42Huge water bottles- mine is 40 oz.
I figured out that I pretty much always drink 2 or three bottles of water per day, no matter what size of bottle I use. So a big old water bottle doubles the amount of water I drink in a day
Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?
#43Mail processor. I spend $20/month, they receive all of my mail, open it, and digitize it. They discard the junk mail if I want. I never have to visit a mailbox again. I can even register it as my address on my driver's license and for my vehicles. EDIT: The service I use is https://www.sbimailservice.com/ .
I've never heard of this kind of service. It sounds like something I want ASAP. Any downsides?
With any mail processor, you're sort of married to them once you start giving out the address. I spent months agonizing over who I was going to tie myself to (and did quite a bit of research from HN folks [1] [2] providing their recommendations). In the end, I picked the vendor I did because I only get a few pieces of mail a month, they're responsive, and I can use them for residency purposes [3] (as my long term plan is to bounce from the US and be an expat). And unlike a startup, they have some longevity track record and are likely to continue to exist into the future, which is important when everyone is going to have them as your mailing address.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5822052
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19076624
[3] https://theboatgalley.com/establishing-residency-at-st-brend...
Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?
#44Food scale I got at Target for like $20.
Over quarantine, I started getting fluffier than I'm comfortable with and reached my highest weight ever. I eat healthy, so my only guess was that I was eating too much. Simply adding a food scale made me cut 15 pounds in a couple months.
Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?
#45A sous vide circulator. $100-200. Never eat dry chicken again, extremely consistent results, flexible (I'm making yogurt in it right now), and stupid easy.
I got this one (https://www.chefsteps.com/joule) but Anova is much more popular (https://anovaculinary.com/anova-precision-cooker/)
Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?
#4620$ nokia 105 that replaced my smartphone.
Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you share the name of the tool for cardboard boxes? I would love to buy, I've damaged many surfaces trying to cut down a box using a box cutter.
I used to be a kitchen manager and we would break down hundreds of boxes in addition to our regular duties. I would knuckle-punch (frog?) the tape, rip the flaps, and fold a box in one motion. These would be stacked in the recycling dumpster. What is the knife used for?
Cutting can save a bit of the space that the fold adds to the stack.
If you don't need the extra space, probably not worth the effort.
Is also nice if you are dealing with mixed sizes of boxes. Cut them to roughly the same size for stacking.
(Not the op, so I could have the wrong motives...)
Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?
#48Cheap attachable toilet bidet
Upvoted. It's the only way to go for me now. I got the $37 model. You can buy direct or from amazon.
Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow I’d be far too paranoid about them leaking things
Why? That's a federal offense in the USA at least. If you're afraid of that, you may as well fear any mail delivery person.
The fear is understandable, as mailmen don't open and digitize your correspondence. It's a new risk, however small, that you have to consider.
Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?
#50a phone case wallet, I love having one less thing in my pockets back in the day it used to be 1) phone 2) small digital camera 3) keys 4) wallet Now it's just phone & keys. Lovely!
On a similar note I can recommend a key case. I have a model that is a leather pouch with a zipper and a small key chain inside (I think I tried one with hooks before but the hooks broke quickly). Much more comfortable than having keys in my pocket. No more holes either.