Ask HN: What are some purchases that increased the quality of your life? - samrohn
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godot
I work from home now, but when I still commuted (BART train in the bay area),
the best purchase was a ultra thin laptop-sleeve-style backpack. On top of
being super lightweight, I can sit with it on my back, or I can stand (and not
be one of the jerks who don't put down their huge backpack on the floor when
it's crowded and they're standing). If it's raining, it fits underneath my
jacket.

In a similar vein, lightweight everything is really important to me as quality
of life, as a skinny lightweight Asian person who has a lot lower strength
than the average American.

After going through many different brands of sneakers as I grew up (all your
usual brands like Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Converse, etc.), I've settled on
Big5's Denali (low-cut) hiking shoes. It's both cheap in price and cheaply
built, so it does worn out every couple of years and I have to get new ones;
but it's the most lightweight and comfortable (for the shape of my feet) shoes
I've worn. Similarly, for pants and jackets I've settled on Uniqlo, jogging
jeans (looks like jeans but feels like sweat pants, and is very inexpensive),
ultralight down for jacket.

I'm also a mech keyboard and ergonomic mouse guy (along with good ergonomic
office chair, earphones, etc.), but I would say those purchases don't even
come close to all the other things I mentioned above, in terms of qualify of
life effects.

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diehunde
\- A collapsible kettle for drinking tea when I'm traveling. I have to travel
several days every week and I can't drink tea from those hotel machines
because they have coffee residue and tea tastes bad. I drink A LOT of tea so a
good investment.

\- Mechanical Keyboard

\- Ergonomic Mouse

\- A decent pair of headphones. If you enjoy listening music or watching shows
using headphones, a good set can make a big difference.

\- Two monitor setup for working/wasting time on my computer. Improves posture
and it's more comfortable that using just one monitor+laptop since they
probably are different size/resolution.

\- A big water bottle. I wasn't drinking enough water and always forgot to
drink more. So now I just fill up my bottle every morning and take it with me
to work.

\- This book: "The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and
the Art of Living". A ton of good short lessons on how to live.

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seanrrwilkins
Our bed. Seriously.

I never paid much attention to my bed and typically bought a less expensive
mattress. My last one was a quite firm memory foam mattress that was
definitely firm, but I didn't think much about it and just thought I was
generally a light sleeper. I also really looked forward to sleeping in hotels
for the nicer bedding. I just didn't know better.

When we moved earlier this year we spent some $$$ and bought a new king
mattress, mattress pad, pillows and sheets. It's made all the difference. I
sleep through the night with less tossing and turning, and I'm less achy and
stiff in the morning. It's been a whole new world and I love the new bed.

The only downside is that it's ruined me for hotels now. I'd say 90% of hotels
I've stayed in this year don't even come close to our bed at home. Even in the
higher end places like the St. Regis or Edition.

Spend the money and buy a nice bed.

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croo
Switching from a 2 stroke to a 4 stroke grass trimmer this summer was an
unexpectedly great buy. The 2 stroke trimmer is way more loud, heavy and
smelly. I cut the grass half hour faster and don't die from exhaustion in the
process.

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bloodorange
\- A used Kindle Paperwhite. \- A motorcycle \- Automated microchip based pet
feeder \- Electric bicycle \- Roomba robot vacuum cleaner \- Heated
underblanket \- Some equipment to exercise at home

~~~
LilBytes
A yes to motorcycles. Mindfulness on two wheels.

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troycarlson
A barbell, plates, squat stands...so I can get in a decent workout whenever I
want without driving to or waiting for equipment at a gym.

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partisan
Personal training changed my life (and possibly saved it).

Also, AirPods made a big difference in dealing with my commute. The wires on
my other headphones got in the way all the time and seemed to get tangled just
by virtue of existing.

~~~
diehunde
do the AirPods work fine if there's a lot of noise outside? I prefer noise
cancelling headphones but I don't like going around with my big Bose
headphones so I ended buying the Sony wf-1000xm3 and they are pretty nice. I
think they are the only noise cancelling earbuds truly wireless out there.

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Finnucane
My house. My bicycle. My banjo.

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jxub
E-scooter (dependent on good bikepaths), macbook, comfy office chair and big
screen at home for WFH days.

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andrei_says_
Raspberry pi for pihole. 2015 MacBook Pro. Sublime text. Costco membership
(they cap markup to 10%).

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awareBrah
Aeropress and a hario hand grinder (for coffee) my morning ritual makes me
happy

~~~
banjo_milkman
This. And a milk frother/warmer.

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SamReidHughes
A few extra lamps to increase indoor brightness have come in handy.

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denniskubes
CrossFit gym membership

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bjourne
A kickass road bike.

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lmedinas
without any particular order: Sonos Beam, iPad, robot vacuum cleaner, my house
and raspberry pi to handle smarthome stuff.

