I’m curious, what’s an item, tool, or purchase you own that you feel has completely justified its cost over time? Could be anything from a gadget to a piece of furniture or even software. What made it worth it for you?
I guess my bike? Have saved loads of money on bus tickets and it’s much more reliable too.
Sewing machine pays for itself quite quickly as paying a tailor to repair your clothes is like 1/3 the cost of a brand new sewing machine, so just repair like 3 items of clothing to get your money back.
I got a hot air rework station with a soldering iron many years ago.
The things I’ve repaired with it are so numerous, I cannot even recount them all, but here are a few:
- an assortment of gaming controllers
- a ghetto blaster from the 1970’s
- a few gaming consoles (Xbox 360, PS3 “Fat Lady”)
- retro technology (at least two 3Dfx Voodoo’s and a rare Abit motherboard)
- a full-metal eBook Reader (Sony PRS-505) that will probably survive an atomic fallout
- a Panasonic broadcasting camera from the 1990’s (because it looked cool and I wanted it to work)
- a few LCD monitors
Even though some of that work was just replacing old capacitors, I have saved so much money by buying “broken” stuff and fixing it up. No regrets. Over the years, I paired the station with a hotplate and a solder sucker and now I could probably open up an electronics repair shop. But I mostly do these repairs for fun. Fixing things calms my mind and soothes my soul.
a pair of PSB 50 mkII loudspeakers. I paid ~$650 Cdn for them back in 1992, and still have them cranking from my office/gaming PC.
A lot of my work gear is sort of pricey but it keeps me safe and working. Usually pays itself off within a month or two and will last at least a few years.
Bought a sunrise alarn clock then felt some benefits of waking up easier
Then used it with combination of opening curtains and that energized me a lot
Now thinking the final evolution will be to have a curtain setup that auto-opens at the set time, and changeable when needed. Not sure yet if anything already exists product-wise for that but that’s something that will very likely help you a lot too (Hopefully you have a window next to your bed)
It is super underrated waking up millions times easier via the sun (Pair with consistent sleep schedule of when you sleep and wake)
My motorcycle has paid for itself many times over in terms of the enjoyment I get out of riding it. It’s something I can recommend to anyone, and lets you see the world in a way most people never will.
What are your monthly costs? Does seem fun
Something like 1500/yr for insurance, probably 30/month for gas, assuming I don’t take a long trip.
A local NAS for storing all my files, especially if you consider all the value I deprived from Google and Microsoft by not engaging with their cloud bullshit. Even if you don’t, I paid like $500 CAD one single time for a 16 TB server hard drive and $300 for a consumer hard drive I’m using as an offline emergency backup. Meanwhile just 2 TB of Google Drive costs $139.99 CAD per year. I wasn’t able to find pricing for 16 TB but assuming it scales linearly (like if I had 8 2TB accounts since Google seemingly doesn’t offer any higher capacity for individuals), that would be $1,119.92 per year. Even factoring in the hard drive enclosure and the server itself, they’ve paid for themselves in literally half a year. That’s saying nothing of the kind of internet connection I would need to match the read speed of a mechanical hard drive on the local network. I could literally upgrade my entire house to 10 gigabit with the money I saved.
Do you have any guide suggestions I can use to get it setup. Seems like a great thing overall
A couple years ago I bought a lifetime license for Plex and it has been so wonderful. I can truly own my media that I’ve purchased, watch it from any device, and share it with Family and close friends.
My solar panels have. Literally.
Setting up a fully automated system to download, track and organise … eh … Linux distributions …onto a NAS under the stairs. I used to subscribe to a bunch of services that would … eh … provide access to all sorts of … eh … Linux distributions … for a flat monthly fee, but I realised that I often was only really interested in one or two specific Linux distribution so I really didn’t need to pay for these services.
Now I just download the … eh … Linux distributions that I actually want to install. It also prevents my kids from … eh … endlessly installing different Linux distributions. Not really a productive use of time.
Nice set up! You could easily use it to pirate and watch movies too.
Any gadget/tool/product with standard AA/AAA C/D sized batteries and a bunch of rechargeable batteries. Mostly, if I leave a gadget is because it doesn’t work, or because the included rechargeable battery is depleted and hard to replace.
I’m the other way around. Anything I buy i want to run off 18650 (or similar) cells, and i don’t like anything that requires disposable batteries.
Im pretty sure they are talking about getting rechargable AA/AAA/C/D batteries.
My Nancy pelosi stock bot has done really well
Care to share?
It’s called Autopilot, I just downloaded it and it synced with my Robinhood account. Costs 100 bucks a year for the automated trading. I’ve been up 40% over the year
My tractor has more than paid for itself.
The modem. At some point ISPs started charging a rental fee for their provided modem. When I noticed it was 12 dollars a month, not sure what it might have gone up to by now. You can buy a decent modem on the lower side of a hundred ish dollars. Pays for itself in the first year.
Oh yeah, I also did that. ISP’s are enshittifying all over the world, mine here in Germany is doing this crap, too. They’re even a little more evil, because the first year is “free” and they bet on people forgetting about the fee after the first year.
(And also, they only send out the unlock code for your own router per snailmail letter. Dickheads.)
DE-razor I shave with a new blade every second shave and it’s still cheaper than any other shaving method that I’ve tried. On top of that the shaving soap last for ages (literally years) and the shaving experience is fantastic if you get the right razor.
Don’t go down the fancy road to start with though. I have some expensive stuff that I don’t use and have fallen for a cheap razor from temu and proraso green soap. Also just a nylon brush works fine for me to lathe up the soap
I bought a box of 50 blades and a case of arko soap like a decade ago for probably $20 and I haven’t finished either one yet. I’m only like halfway through the soap.
That’s great! Although I’d strongly recommend changing blades more often. They are so cheap that they are not worth overextending like that. Your face deserves better
I change them when they start to struggle, it’s more that I usually only shave like once a week. Also they’re Feather blades which seem to last quite a while.
I think that I’ve got very sensitive skin so I feel them tugging already after a few shaves
Hell yeah. No more plastic, aerosols, costs a fraction of those 8-blade washing boards, and gives me at least as good a shave after a little practice. Zero regrets.
