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Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

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Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#61

Post by beardface »

clumsysmurf wrote: post #14
dTal wrote: post #6

What a great question! * A very long USB-C cable from an Apple store. I get jealous looks when I break it out to charge my phone. * Scented candles from Aldi. It's such a quality of life boost to have the place smelling nice. They last ages and cost nothing. * A creme brulee hand blowtorch. Surprisingly useful! Excellent for lighting aforementioned candles instantly, without burning your knuckles. * A real P3 respira…

> Scented candles Generally candles emit fine particulates which is unhealthy.

That's not a problem as long as they're wearing the P3 respirator!

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#62

Post by is0tope »

Two things:

1. Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2 Bluetooth speaker.

Compact and very loud, also has good battery life. Handy on hikes and similar. The waterproofing is excellent and I use it in the shower to listen to podcasts, etc.

2. Sony WH1000MX4 Bluetooth headphones.

I was skeptical in getting a full set of headphones as I always preferred earphones. These things have amazing sound quality and noise cancelation which means you don't have to listen to music as loud when outdoors. Battery life is extremely good also. Pricey, but well worth it and highly recommended.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#64

Post by bragr »

lloydatkinson wrote: post #26
toomuchtodo wrote: post #10

Mail 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/ .

Wow I’d be far too paranoid about them leaking things

Some people in my area use these services and I've considered it because mail theft is a big problem in my area. Organized rings doing package theft, identify theft, and all that. So for us at least, it seems significantly safer than having it delivered directly. Personally I just go paperless as much as possible and have the post office hold my mail (another popular response).

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#65

Post by whateveracct »

yodsanklai wrote: post #55

A headlamp. Allows me to hike in the evening or night. Super useful to hike in the winter when it gets dark early. It never crossed my mind that hiking in the night was a thing but it's pretty cool and I now do it all the time. Then maybe my commute bicycle that I bought for $200 and that I've been using almost daily for 15 years. So much better than a car or public transportation (at least where I live). Then we're…

Headlamp makes life much easier when I inevitably forget to take the trash out in the winter.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#67

Post by logosmonkey »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #10

Mail 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/ .

Yeah, I use the same. Super convenient for when I work on the road, never have to worry about not getting my mail. For those who are asking I use TravelingMailbox.com, it was recommended by people when I moved onto my boat years ago and even now that I'm back on land I still keep it up.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#68

Post by showerst »

Ajedi32 wrote: post #60
showerst wrote: post #22

I’ve used an $8 gerber shard keychain tool for over 10 years. It opens cardboard boxes, pries open covers, cuts strings, and drives the occasional screw. All without worrying about losing a Swiss army or leatherman, and it’s airport and government building friendly which is big for me.

> opens cardboard boxes [...] cuts strings How does that work? I looked it up and it doesn't seem like it has a knife. (Not that you'd want something that sharp in your pocket unprotected anyway.)

The little “v notch” that they call a wire cutter is sharp enough to go through packing tape. Not sharp enough to bother you though, any more than a house key on the same ring.

It’s not a tool I’d use to break down 1000 boxes a day, but it’s fine for an Amazon box or two.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#69

Post by banana_giraffe »

gadnuk wrote: post #12

Varying length of phone charging cables. Bought a couple of bundles of iPhone charging cables from Amazon that were 3ft/6ft/10ft in length with charging attachment from my old iPhones. It's such a great feeling to use the phone from any part of my place without having to worry about length of the cable. I keep a couple of the longer cables in my car too just in case someone wants to charge on a long trip.

> Varying length of phone charging cables

For me it's Varying lengths of USB-C charging cables, and a bunch of USB-C -> Micro and USB-C -> Lightning adapters so no more looking for the right cable.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#70

Post by beardface »

A large (135cm diameter) umbrella. It cost just under £30 and I love using it.

I've always had a good outdoor coat but my legs and feet would still get wet. With the umbrella, only my toes get wet in a downpour. It's large enough for my two kids and I to get under!

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