Asklemmy

1. My Nvidia Shield TV Pro 2019 and a Synology NAS (sorry they go together), no more dealing with ugly Smart TV or limited game consoles to stream, and it is also very easy to sail the seas with it!

2. Android phone in 2020 (Poco F2 Pro) still rocking this device with the bootloader opened and a custom ROM, this was the first Android device for me, and even when MIUI was a letdown after a while, AOSP wasn't, still I go back and forth MIUI and AOSP though, it still gives me 6-8 hrs of SOT depending on the environment and the ROM.

3. Miyoo Mini V2, I just love to have pocket gaming on the go real quick, those annoying government formalities are not that bad nowadays.

1. Dog.
2. Dog.
3. A really beautiful handmade necklace with a piece of glass salvaged from the waters of Charleston harbour. It's gorgeous.

I'm either at my desk studying/working for a good 4-6 hours or I'm on my feet 6-7 hours a day. Keeping that in mind:

1. A really nice office chair. Perforated back, good adjustable lumbar support and head rest, quiet wheels, soft cushion.

2. One of those fold out sofa/bed things. Folds out flat into a giant bed, folds up into a convenient couch thingy. Better than a mattress to sleep on.

3. A good pair (or two) of shoes. Over the years it's been anything from a cheap pair of skechers to some no name shoes of off amazon to Adidas ultraboosts. Always try in person. Should feel as comfortable as your most comfortable shoes now.

Bonus: a good coffee grinder + v60 pour over + paper filters. Great coffee for under a 100 quid.

1. Mountain bike - on my second bike now, my favorite hobby and form of exercise, excuse to get in nature with my dog, explored a lot of my state because of it.

2. Kobo e-reader. The night light is amazing, I used to use a neck light for night reading to not wake my wife but this is way better. Easier to travel. The dyslexic font helps my dyslexic ass like 10% too which makes a huge difference in me reading more.

3. My first raspberry pi in Jr high led to a career in software. Still love pis, and have even more toys now

• A good coffee maker (moccamaster)
• Steam Deck OLED
• Battery powered lawn mower (eGo)

My girlfriend and best friend tell me it's the couch that I bought a couple years ago. I had a ratty old futon before that and they were not fans. I think it was from Room&Board, and wasn't anything special. Couches are expensive, though.

My first car, a 1988 Toyota Corolla hatchback, which ran for years and offered endless comedic value.

A doorknob cane (think planters peanut), which has been used from everything from altercations with racoons to building a fort with my kids.

My current house, which is located in a great school district and neighborhood.

Herman Miller chair House My newest monitor. It's got KVM support so no more swapping cords between my computers.

1. House

2. Dyson vacuum cleaner

3. Motorcycles

Although I do love my cordless drill as well. And my first cheap community college 2-year diploma which got my career goin, the jury is still out on whether the masters degree was worth it.

In no particular order...

My Panasonic Lumix GX80, it is the camera that made me take a deeper interest and develop my skills in photography. I had a Canon EOS 400D as my first decent camera but due to work my interest fizzled out for a few years. Then at another job I got my GX80, and started learning for real, last spring I upgraded to a Lumix S5, and I am considering complementing my camera setup with a Sony A7 IV for it's excellent AF.

My Philips Hue system has been absofuckinglutely amazing, I live alone and being able to turn my lights on before I open my apartment door during winter after work really makes a huge impact on my mwntal health, getting to open my front door into a cozy apartment instead of a black hole is fantastic

A computer — no other item I own has changed the course of my life as much as owning my own computer has.

1. Full Ton pickup - I had an old half ton and was abusing it.

2. Dump trailer - I can move so much more material, and dump so much faster.

1. vasectomy
2. divorce
3. campervan

Like OP, my camera, phones don't cut it and the pictures I've been able to get of my kid with it have made it invaluable. I got the Canon Powershot MKIII and it's gotten some professional quality shots of him and captured a lot of precious moments.

My electric kettle, I drink a lot of tea and it's so damn useful. I got one with an all metal interior and no visible heating element, it has a bad pour but I still would have a noticeable dip in my daily quality of life without it.

This one is random but a three foot tall solid wood Balinese dragon statue. I got it at an import shop that was closing, it had some damage and so had been marked down and marked down again. I paid less than 10% of the original price of an intact one. We didn't have a car so my boyfriend at the time and I had to take it with us on the subway. It's like 75lbs. On our ~mile walk back to our apartment someone asked directions to a local Asian art exhibition and we had to tell them we didn't know where it was while holding this thing between us. It's beautiful despite the damage and it makes me happy every time I see it. Plus, whenever someone comments on it I have a fun story to share.

Steam Deck - since having kids I was really struggling to play games at all. I had gotten to where I was only playing phone games and switch games, but the Steam Deck has really enabled me to start enjoying my steam library again. If it broke I would buy another one instantly.

Bone-conductive headphones - I wear these all day. I listen to audiobooks, take calls, have them read out notifications, etc. It's also great to know that if I open a random meme video on my phone, I don't have to worry about the sounds of the video being inappropriate for my surroundings. They're so much more comfortable than traditional headphones.

My house - I got an insanely good deal on my house, less than what many people pay for cars. It's not the fanciest house, and it needed some fixing up when we bought it, but it's enabled me and my family to live with extremely low bills which has made my life very low stress. Houses are generally cheap where I live, but I lucked out and got the best house deal I've seen, and it's made everything so much easier.

1. Back in 2017 while stationed in AZ I adopted a dog who was the cutest little Blue Heeler, for $5 we have been inseparable since and she is the single greatest thing that's happened to me.
2. Last year in April my Powerstrokes transmission failed and on a whim I bought a 98' 4 runner with 245k miles. We have now built the hell out of that little rig and have put 15k miles on it in 11 months
3. 100 pairs of socks on Amazon. This sounds nuts but, I got 100 pairs of black socks 2 years ago for $60 because I was tired of my socks always missing. I still have 50 socks I haven't touched.

1. My bike. I use it daily to get to work, to the super market, visiting friends. It keeps me healthy I do not need a car and I can drive wherever I want all the time. It cost me 500€.

2. My Bodom french press. I use it daily to quickly make 2-4 cups of coffee, it tastes fantastic, provides coffee and is high quality. 35€.

3. My Amplifier and Wharfedale speakers. I bought them 2 years ago for 500 €. All my life I had cheap active computer speakers or bluetooth boxes. Everytime I tune them up, it get's a little warmer in my tummy.

All 3 things are far away from high end, people spend the multiple on what I spent. Still they all make me super happy and I will watch and keep them until one of us dies.

1987 ford “exp”: bought it for $500, drove a few years, got hit and insurance paid out $500 and let me keep it, drove it with damage for another few months, sold it for $500.

Breville oven. Found it at a consignment shop for $17, looked to have been used once.

House: bought in 2017 in a rural area to get away from the city occasionally. Moved there permanently during Covid.

1. My house. Bought it in 2019 right before the market went completely wacky. More of a lucky timing situation, but I'm extremely thankful to not be renting anymore.

2. A really high quality mattress. You're supposed to spend about a third of your life sleeping, and the quality of that sleep has a huge impact on your physical and mental health.

3. A really good set of kitchen knives. I hate having to cook at other people's places because of it, so many people have cheap, dull knives that do not do the trick. At my in-laws house I basically have to hammer tomatoes in half with their knives. FYI, you're more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife rather than a sharp one.

1. Smart vacuum cleaner - you pay a reasonable amount once and don't have to vacuum anymore

2. Vaporiser - switched to vaping weed instead of smoking joints which is not only nicer in many ways but also allowed me to quit smoking cigarettes

3. PlayStation - after sitting 8h by the desk moving a mouse for work, I didn't want to sit in the same position another few hours playing games. With PS I can comfortably sit in my armchair and play on a big tv scrreen using a controller

4. Ergonomic mattress - healed my hurting back. This should be on the top of this list.

By order of lasting positive effects,

1. First vape (a cigarette-shaped item from the corner store, cherry flavor). I had been smoking with suicidal enthusiasm for 18 years. I was out of breath, coughing, stinking, and (at $7 a pack) broke. A decade later, I still vape, but I can breathe now.

2. First not-fully-depreciated used car (3-year-old 2012 Focus SEL hatch with 30K mi). Apart from warranty transmission work, the car's been stable, and pretty. The real change was introducing me to finance and lending. I grew up poor with a debt addicted dad. At 32, I had never had a credit card. I've still never given the bastards a dime, but I've pulled in thousands in rewards and have an outstanding credit score.

3. Passport / first international airline ticket. I mean, yeah. I hadn't had any desire to leave my state, let alone see the world. At 20, I grudgingly flew to Europe to visit my girlfriend who was studying abroad. We didn't last, but the travel bug did.

Honorable mention, only because it isn't technically a purchase would be my first union payment. Best deal ever.

Edit: how do you add line breaks? It worked, magically, when I made the list heading bold, but that was hella annoying.

Just got one--a good, wide-brim, adjustable bucket hat. Shade during the sun, solid protection from the rain, comfortable, and not too difficult to make look decent, if not stylish.

Don't get me wrong, education, housing, health care etc have all been pretty important too, but hat wins.

91 CRX Si. Some of the most fun I’ve had driving.

Aeropress Americano maker. Absolutely delicious for dirt cheap.

10” Pioneer sub and amp/upgraded car speakers.

Honorable mentions: 65” LG CX OLED TV. Absolutely gorgeous. Apple TV (various gens). No ads and works wonderfully on all of our TVs.

Although I don’t really like it, I’d have to say my house is my best purchase.

HP48GX scientific calculator, damn old, still works great still use it a lot

Steam Deck, handheld gaming computer, barely use PS5 anymore, this one is so quick and convenient to just pause and resume games and take gaming everywhere and the SteamOS Linux is awesome. I use the desktop mode with full KDE Plasma desktop as my portable computer a lot when on the go. Also with the dock station I can use it as a gaming console when going on holidays.

And the flat I live in. Good thing as I bought it quite a few years ago since the home prices are just criminal and highly unjust now. This stuff does not belong on markets to be sold for profits or some criminal short-time renting crap like AirBnB

1. Noise cancelling headphones and earbuds. By far the best quality of life improvement I have ever gotten from a single product.
2. Whet stones for sharpening knives. It's a fun process and my knives are in perfect condition.
3. Mobile phones.

My first camera was the D60! I loved that thing!

Kindle - all the books, all the time.

Sony WH1000-XM3 (I guess newer models are still good) - excellent noise cancelling, perfect for flights

Steam Deck - play almost any games, anywhere, and with a full desktop mode too.

In the past I'd have put the Acer Aspire One, I loved the netbook form factor, now I use either the Vivobook or Steam Deck like that.

The Aeropress is also great for quick, simple coffee.

Boring answrs but.. A computer. It's the 2nd most expensive thing I own and it's provided me thousands and thousands of hours of entertainment and use as tool.

A car. The most expensive thing I've brought and very useful. I've been able do a lot more with my time and get into many new hobbies.

Power rack. 3rd most expensive. Having a power rack in my garage allows me to safely lift heavy by myself which is awesome.

Bonus cheap thing. Screw driver set. Allowed me to fix many things around my house and easily saved me 10x the cost.

My recliner that I bought with one of the first Covid check. I have horrendous back issues (3 major surgeries and constant pain) and having another resting/sleep area has been a lifesaver many times. Currently pregnant and it’s one of the only places I can sleep.

This set of 2 grabbers from Amazon. They weren’t super expensive but nicer than other grabbers commonly bought by others. They have been used daily by me, my toddler plays with them, they get dropped, etc. and they perform so well. I can pick up the tiniest item off the floor, a piece of paper, etc. with no issues. Had them 3 years. I keep one on each floor of the house and they save my back so much. It’s one of the only ways I can do chores and keep the floor clean from a toddler.

Silly, but this last year I really appreciated having a laminator at home. It’s nothing fancy- just a simple one from Scotch from the store. I’ve laminated different rules for games (card games where we wrote out the rules) and my son absolutely LOVES when I draw him characters and items from his favorite shows, laminate them, and then he plays with them for months. It’s saved us a ton of money buying toys he doesn’t need, stores easily, and he loves it. It also gets out some of the creative side that I kind of lost the last few years.

Roomba. That is all.

• usb kvm. Had to often switch my usb devices between my PC and laptop.
• external wifi antenna. Useful for when my laptop's antenna is not enough.
• electric screwdriver. Saves a lot of time.

I bought a 97 Ford Taurus off a friend for $800 back in 2008. Her dad thought it was on its last legs at 155k miles so he wanted to sell it. I drove it for four years. It was running fine until someone blasted it out in front of my girlfriend’s house and drove off. At the time it had 206k miles. 50k miles for $800 was certainly one of my best purchases.

3d Printer - I print lots of useful thing for work (brew beer).

Espresso maker that I use as a single cup coffee maker (no pods all steel).

eBike - makes me want to bike instead of drive my car around