Asklemmy

does stealing it count? because that would be a boxed copy of redhat linux from best buy in the late 90s/early 2000s. yes, i found a way to steal linux

Bicycle. No gas expenses, no tabs, no loan, free parking. I understand how it works and can mostly fix it myself for very little money. I can take quiet side streets and arrive in a much better mood, plus my fat lazy ass gets some exercise.

Smart vacuum cleaner. You pay once for not needing to vacuum your house anymore - best deal ever.

I love my airfryer and may upgrade it to a larger one. I've started making my own food again instead of eating fast food every day (depression sucks).

Glasses.

Now I'm addicted.

I have always hated bath mats. Especially being in a fairly large family, by early afternoon it seems like the bath mat is always saturated and useless; slipping around the floor if you're trying to use it to dry your feet, or soaking your socks if you happen to step on it in the course of other bathroom business.

I recently got a bath stone made of diatomaceous earth and it has erased all of the annoyance. It pulls the water right off you so I always feel safe stepping onto my tile floor after just a few steps on the bath stone, and it dries freakishly fast, like basically in front of your eyes.

I've only had it a month so I don't know how durable it is over the long term, but so far it has been $40 well spent.

A house. My mortgage is cheaper than rent, and now I get to actually address annoyances with my living conditions.

It's almost 100 years old, and a bit of an fixer upper, but the important stuff is solid. Last summer I invested in proper drainage around the foundation so that I can start making the basement livable. This year I invested in a proper bathroom. Next year it's a new kitchen. And if time allows I'll start rebuilding the basement mainly for one extra bed room and an office.

Chemotherapy absolutely changed my life, does that count?

First place, aSmartwatch.

I all but stopped checking every fcking notification, my life has become peacefull and tranquil.

Second place, my 4yo daughter. Achieved the exact opposite.

An E-reader. There's no more space in my house for book shelves. I've a ton of books stored inappropriately in a bunch of cabinets and on top of furniture, that I hope to find new homes for before irreparable damage is done to their spine.

Having an e-reader also helped me in the gym. Instead of doomscrolling on lemmy or tiktok, I read between sets. Helped me regain my reading habit and kick my social media habit. Also, helped my social anxiety of having to rest longer than half a minute when other people might want to use the iron I'm using.

Synology NAS (basically a hard drive always connected to the home network and internet) - has been amazing for auto-backing-up photos from the family phones and for running Plex run my own personal streaming service for the whole family around the world. Has been great for file transfer too. I can easily move files between my phone, PC, Steam Deck, etc and all the USB memory sticks I had have been sitting in a drawer ever since.

Exercise compression thermals - wear these is super comfortable and really warm. I wear them constantly at home and can have the heating off almost all winter (UK). Saves tons of energy and money.

Electric blanket - another great low energy purchase for relaxing under when watching TV or warming up the bed before sleeping. Gets super hot while hardly using any energy at all.

Split unit air con installation - this was expensive and I thought it would be unnecessary in the UK, but it seems to be used more and more every summer as we get more heatwaves and summers are becoming unbearable.

Safety razors - I have really thick facial hair and the multi-blade razors from big name brands would dull really quickly and cause tons of shaving rash. These razors are sharper, last longer, are recyclable and much better for my skin.

Liquid ink refillable rollerball pens - I tried fountain pens after seeing the online communities that are crazy about them, and really didn't like them. I found rollerball pens I like that take fountain pen ink and have been super happy with them. I write a lot at work and this has gotten rid of the plastic waste of throwing away used disposable ballpoint refills every couple of weeks.

Hitbox controller - I've been playing Street Fighter 6 since release and I made a leverless controller box myself and I've loved using it to play SF6. Managed to make it for one third the price of what these things sell for and completely customised it.

In last 5 years for me:

• a pair of decent (second hand) speakers
• a cheap (blue switches ftw) mechanical keyboard
• a standing desk
• an ergonomic chair

(sorry it's not single item...)

A dishwasher... For a family, it saves a huge amount of time and water.

Self hosting. I’m still a beginner on this but Nextcloud and plex made me way richer than before both economically and mentally

Sunglasses and UV-blocking clothes.

With the first I discovered that I have a high sensitivity to light, now I can see much more during the day.

And the second is very useful, protecting me from sun without the need to worry about sunscreen (except for the face)

My fileserver. I have more media than I could ever need and plenty of room for more.

CPAP.

Recently? A cordless stick vacuum. My wife has wanted one because ours was too heavy and she figured she would vacuum more often if she had a lighter one. Of course that turned out to not be the case and I am still doing the vacuuming but it is a heck of a lot easier to maneuver around and bring it to other areas of the house.

Previously? Wireless ear buds. Loved those. Unfortunately my dog ate my first pair and I left the second pair on a plane. My next pair will be cheap ones.

A ceramic non stick pan.

Nothing ever burns and cleaning even when frying something with cheese in there is just a scoop of hot water and ten seconds with the soft side of a kitchen sponge.

A car. Insane freedom, I can take a day off work and drive to a secluded beach on a whim.

Anything that takes away shitty chores. People take washing machines for granted these days, but a decent dishwasher is a godsend. Modern ones don't need anything more than a basic scrape of the dishes as "prep" and loading it before bed to then wake up to a load of sparkling clean dishes is amazing.

In a similar vein we've just got a robot vacuum cleaner that we've set to run every night. The amount of dog fur in its bin every morning is eye opening, and other than for the stairs there's almost no need to do vacuuming ourselves now.

Bidet, heated mattress pad, shoehorn.

Crocs. Technically two items but you need a pair to get the benefits.

If we're talking about obvious things, getting a washing machine and kitchen with all that comes with it is a tremendous improvement in a new apartment.

If I had to pick something less obvious, I'd say for me it was an e-book. It's hard to measure the effect, but I mostly read non-fiction and knowledge creates a lot opportunities over time in private and work life.

Wireless JBL earbuds. I mainly use them while doing housework or listening to something in a way that won't bother other folks in the house.

Very small quality of life increase, but I got the Scrub Daddy Soap Daddy. Makes life a bit easier and tidier for cleaning up in the kitchen.

~~Zoloft~~ Lexapro aka escitalopram. I thought everyone had the anxiety voices like I did. I told myself I was just a worrier. Then it got REALLY bad in my 30's and even I thought it was getting absurd. My doc asked me "how are you feeling" and I just broke down, spilled my guts. He said "let's try a small dose." and after a couple months adjustment, the crazy voices went from 4/5 to a 1/5. They're still there, but they're WAY more quiet. I had no idea that this is what normal people think like.

Glerups. Greatest slippers I have ever worn.

Blundstones. I live in a coastal city that's wet (but rarely snowy) the vast majority of the year. Having rain-resistant shoes that are comfortable AND durable has been a game changer.

And if I can mention a second: A proper, long raincoat. Combined with good shoes, I'm able to tolerate the weather here much better than when I'd first moved to this city and relied on sneakers + regular jackets.

we were picking up some free boots for my partner off of facebook marketplace when i asked about the weight bench that was also in the yard. the owner said "someone said they were coming for it, but they were supposed to be here 2 hours ago. you want it?" I disassembled it in the yard and ruined my folding knife trying to use it as a screwdriver, but it was the best decision I've ever made. Grabbed some adjustable dumbbells from amazon, have been hitting up marketplace for plates people aren't using ever since, and I've now got a full-body 5x/week workout routine that is 100% the key to my mental and physical health. Best thing I've ever done for myself, and getting every piece of equipment that I use today cost about $100 total.

I bought a low sided frying pan for when I make pancakes. It makes getting them out so much easier

One of those stupid expensive real down feather pillows. I spoiled myself one year for my birthday and only wish I had done it sooner. I go to bed every night and thank myself for getting that pillow.

CPAP

Water flosser + electric toothbrush combo. Water flossers are game changers.

A memory foam mattress topper. Mine is 8cm (3") thick and an absolute game changer. It goes on top of your existing mattress and under the fitted sheet.