this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2024
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

Good quality, comfortable shoes.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

GPUs

Don't necessarily go for top tier but something in the top 40% of Passmark's high end GPU benchmarks will last you years

My current GPU is 7 years old and still plays Elden Ring at 60fps, I'll probably get at least 3 or 4 more years before I need to upgrade.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

Personally, used/old hardware is so dirt cheap I think I'll only buy a gen behind or two. Not unless there's some breakthrough akin to X3D cache by AMD.

My phone was like 1400$ 3 years ago and now I can buy it used, in good condition, tested, for like 300$

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

A well made coat and a pair of boots.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I think I need to change mine. Using a $27 Ant esports for the last 2 years.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

Ebikes: Don't cheap out and get an Engwe or Gotrax or whatever other randomly generated name they came up with.

Buy from your local bike shops, not Amazon.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Your kid's first musical instrument. It's counterproductive and false economy to buy them a piece of shit guitar or tuba or whatever it may be, in the belief that "if they like it and want to continue with it, I'll buy them a better one in the future". You might well turn the kid off the instrument for life if their instrument is harder to play/maintain and worse to listen to than it ought to be.

If you want your kid to be enriched by music and to be creative, buy them a decent mid-range instrument. Make it so that the kid can't wait to pick it up, don't make those crucial early days of learning the instrument feel like eating watery gruel for months with an expectation of pizza at some point down the line. A shitty instrument will be an additional barrier the kid will need to deal with every time they use it. Get out of their way, buy them something serviceable. If they lose interest regardless, well at least you know they had a fair shot at it and it wasn't the crappiness of the instrument that caused them to abandon it. And you can always sell or donate the instrument if they really don't give a shit about it.

The best instrument you can reasonably afford is significantly more likely to hook your kid than a £50 piece of junk would. It doesn't need to be fancy, it just needs to be well-made, pleasant to play, and easy to tune/maintain/clean/whatever the case may be.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Oh man this is so true. My parents enrolled me for piano classes when I was a kid but got me a shitty mini plastic keyboard to practice and I hated it, ended up quitting not long after. Picked up piano again as an adult during covid and bought myself a full sized keyboard with weighted keys and damn the difference was night and day.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago

I'll counter with the following: if you aren't sure whether your kid will like it, it's probably a better idea to start with renting. You'll typically get a fully-serviced instrument with coverage for accidental damage.

Yes, it's a fully sunk cost, but it's predictable and you don't have to deal with the hassle of selling off an instrument if they don't get really into it. Once you're confident that they're going to stick with it and know they can handle and maintain it carefully, then you should look into buying.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

You're right, I'm gonna spring for the N64 controller this go around

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I see a lot of specific examples, but here is a good engineering guideline: do not skimp on physical interfaces. **Anywhere energy is changing form or if it touches your body, don't skimp on those. **

For example

  • tires
  • bicycle saddle
  • heaters/furnaces
  • electrical inverters
  • keyboard
  • mouse
  • engines
  • shoes
  • eyewear
  • clothes (buy used if necessary, but always buy quality clothing)

Quality usually means more money, but sometimes one is able to find a high quality and low-cost version. In my experience though, trying to find the cheap version that works well means trying so many permutations; it would have been more economical to just get the more costly version in the first place.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

More expensive doesn't always equal better, especially for things like keyboards, clothes or eyewear, where branding is huge and inflates prices more than quality.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ice cream.

Toilet paper.

Get the good stuff or don’t get it at all.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago

Or upgrade to a bidet if you can afford one for as little as $30.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago

Bed mattress. Sleep is important.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 months ago

Yourself. Time and resources you invest in yourself usually grant the highest returns in the long run.

Examples:

  1. When job hunting, prefer opportunities that give you more valuable experience when possible.
  2. While planning your schedule, give highest priority to activities that contribute to your physical and mental health.
  3. At the grocery store, choose fresh ingredients over the cheaper and easier premade options.
  4. When budgeting finances, pay yourself first by setting aside what you can for your future. If not yet possible, see 5.
  5. Invest in your continued education, which can include traditional credentialing such as degrees or certifications, but also online and night classes, or even self-guided study.
  6. Choose relationships and experiences over things. While things can temporarily improve lifestyle, relationships and experiences permanently expand the life you have lived.
[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

I good leather belt.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago
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