Ask HN: Your most useful purchase of under $100 in 2018? - crypto-jeronimo
======
csnewb
$20 foam roller. As someone who lifts weights, runs long distance, but also
sits at a desk for 8+ hours a day, my body gets so incredibly tight by the end
of the day. As soon as I get home I spend 20-30 minutes working on mobility
from my neck down to my ankles. The foam roller helps a lot with that. It's
painful but I feel so much better after.

~~~
quickpost
What mobility program (if any) do you follow? Definitely been feeling a lot of
tightness lately, but not sure where to begin with the foam roller.

~~~
csnewb
I recommend Limber 11 to get started:
[https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/limber-11-the-only-lower-
bo...](https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/limber-11-the-only-lower-body-warm-up-
youll-ever-need.html)

Eventually you'll need to fine tune the program according to your needs.
Becoming A Supple Leopard is basically the encyclopedia for mobility
programs/exercises: [https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Supple-Leopard-2nd-
Performan...](https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Supple-Leopard-2nd-
Performance/dp/1628600837)

------
pizza
$25 RTL-SDR dongle to sate intellectual curiosity about radio

$5 / mo // $ 60 / yr digital ocean droplets for intellectual curiosity about
web dev

Not exactly within budget but ~$400 gym membership (from Costco.. so, factor
in the amortized cost of that, too, I guess) for 24 hr fitness for 2 years -
going to the gym has been a HUGE game-changer for me. Never really did it
before with any discipline, and already within 3 months there have been great
dividends for me. I'm much stronger than I was just 3 months ago. Much less
anxious and stuff too.

~~~
eivarv
Can you recommend any specific RTL-SDR dongle?

~~~
pizza
I bought the one that RTL-SDR.com sells with the dipole antenna kit (see:
[https://www.rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/](https://www.rtl-
sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/)). They make a good point about avoiding
counterfeit dongles, plus I'd like to support them for making a useful
centralized resource.

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krageon
I bought a water flossing machine. I've been flossing for more than a year,
but there were always bits of my gums that stayed kind of sensitive. According
to my dentist it was "possible to do it right, but hard", which I took to mean
I was bad at flossing. Now I floss in the evening after dinner with regular
floss and use the water flosser twice a day. Works like a charm, I would have
gotten one ages ago if I knew they existed and worked this well.

~~~
vram22
Is it the same as or similar the Waterpik product?

~~~
Doxin
Same thing. Effective but overpriced for what it is in my opinion.

~~~
vram22
Thanks.

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roland35
$85 cordless impact driver (Ryobi) has been my new favorite tool by far. It
doesn't do everything a standard drill can do (i.e. drill...) but it is far
superior for driving stubborn screws and bolts in and out, especially when
they are beginning to strip! It is easier to hold since you do not need to
counter the torque continuously like you do with a regular drill.

Plus it makes a fun hammering noise which makes me feel like I am doing
something important.

~~~
shanecleveland
If you are primarily driving screws into dense material, such as framing
lumber, without first drilling a pilot hole, than an impact driver is
indispensable. It will save much frustration, screws and bits.

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tonysdg
Paper to print my resume out. Got my first job!

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ja27
A minimal laptop bag (Tomtoc). Switching from the big Swissgear backpack
forced me to stop lugging multiple devices, dongles, keyboards, etc. Better
for my back and better for my focus.

A (under $50 refurb) Apple Magic Keyboard 2. I was always struggling with
muscle memory on different keyboard layouts so having something that's 95%
identical to my MBP keyboard helped a lot.

Linode $5/month servers. Couldn't be happier with them as a place to park all
those little sites for friends and side projects, mostly running Wordpress.

~~~
ja27
Oh another - a Radtech "ScreenSavrz" \- a screen-sized microfiber cloth that
goes between my MacBook Pro's screen and keyboard when it goes in the bag. It
looks ridiculous but it keeps those little key rub prints off the screen which
I can't stop noticing whenever they're on the screen.

Oh another - a $100 iTunes gift card for $75 then splurged on a few pricier
paid iPad apps, subscriptions, and IAPs that I wouldn't normally buy.

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jansan
A vertical mouse for roughly 20 bucks. I had developed a strange tremor in my
hand, so I decided to change the way I hold my mouse. Found the vertical
mouse, which immediately made the tremor disappear. The mouse is bulky and
ugly, but it took about two minutes to get used to and seems to be much more
ergonomic.

~~~
konradb
It is a bit more expensive although still under $100 - I've used the 3M
joystick mouse for the last decade with much success for hand pain. Worth a
try if you ever in the market again. It holds the weight of your hand and
takes all strain (at least for me) out of the wrist.

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dcorvasce
A 90$ HP 22" monitor to use side-by-side with my 15" laptop display. The
quality is a bit lower than the laptop display but having more space and a
bigger display is such a blessing for my eyes and my productivity.

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jakamau
$90 8qt Instant Pot

It's dramatically reduced the number of times I eat out for convenience rather
than enjoyment. It's larger than I need but perfect for bulk cooking/meal
prep.

~~~
afarrell
A chest freezer costs more than $100, but is a great way to build on top of
this strategy.

~~~
pasbesoin
I've been eyeing 7 cubic feet (IIRC) chest freezers, a number of which are
around the $250 mark.

I have a friend who's big-time into growing and harvesting locally, including
as a part-time job. The trouble is to keep up with the influx; I'm thinking of
freezing some of it for the colder, lower harvest months.

P.S. Through them, I've discovered this significantly suburban county is
teaming with... I don't know, sort of a sub-culture of like-minded folks. It's
been a rather interesting year.

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tmaly
This reminds me of the Tim Ferris question he asks many of his guests.

I think my purchase would be a $20 yellow led light that does not have blue
light. I use it for reading before bed.

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neocruiser
Kombucha mother for $15. Now I can homebrew and enjoy Kombucha, a fizzy,
sweet, low caloric, high probiotic beverage while coding.

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frnkshin
$40 hhkb hasu usb controller

It allows you to flash firmware with your own keymaps to your hhkb.

It's a great buy if you already have an hhkb.

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GoToRO
Paid tutorial. Much better than to put all the information in the right order
from random places on the net.

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Huhty
Coffee maker! My daily morning coffee now costs me pennies and I can enjoy it
in bed.

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ltmi600
$20 Red Copper Flipwich Stovetop Panini & Sandwich Maker

[https://www.bulbhead.com/products/red-copper-
flipwich](https://www.bulbhead.com/products/red-copper-flipwich)

~~~
tmaly
Does the non-stick on this contain teflon?

~~~
bluegreyred
It says „PFOA and PFTE FREE“ in the description

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perl4ever
It wasn't in 2018, but a couple or three years ago, I bought a brand new
unlocked Android smartphone for well under $100, and it did everything I
formerly used my Nexus for.

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Petrakis
The new kindle paperwhite 2018, it was 85€ instead of 130€ around black
friday. Now I can read all my tech and programming books I buy from bundles or
get on PacktPub.

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shanecleveland
Most recently, a blender bottle for any beverage requiring mixing, such as a
protein drink. $10 to $20. I got one with a ball that gets dropped in the
bottle.

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andrei_says_
If you drink tea, a $30 davidstea 32oz loose tea steeper with a bottom
dispenser. I love this thing.

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partisan
I just bought a monthly subscription for a Mac Postgres client called SQL Pro
for Postgres. After wrestling with PgAdmin 3 and 4, I threw in the towel and
paid for a proper client. It’s 5.99 a month and as much as I hate rent-
seeking, it allows me to try the software before paying the 139$ lifetime
license.

~~~
Cymen
Did you try Postico? I think it has a free / demo option. I bought a license a
while ago. I like it -- curious if SQL Pro offers something it doesn't but I'm
generally happy with it. There is also a github repo with feature requests as
issues. I'd lover for Postico to show JSONB fields more nicely but not really
a huge issue.

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new_guy
Sadly, probably my Amazon Echo!

~~~
Lizzo
You may be interested in Mycroft, if you want a home assistant.

[http://mycroft.ai](http://mycroft.ai)

~~~
tmaly
Have you set one up? What is your take on it?

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chaggy
buy $100 worth of udemy courses when they are on sale

~~~
coreymaass
Sign in with a new account, and every course is $11.

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xfitm3
Adopting a pet.

~~~
siruncledrew
Totally agree. In terms of happiness and being able to give an animal a great
life, it's way way way more worth it than any material purchase.

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thiago_fm
\- Sauna ticket

