Electric wheelchair.
Pretty much been housebound since 2018. I can walk short distances, but large stores like a grocery store or a Home Depot were out of reach unless they had their own scooters available, which were often broken, or un-charged.
Malls were out entirely. City centers? Not a chance.
The wheelchair opened all that back up to me!
If people are here to receive recommendations, I’m preaching to the choir. But responding the question directly, a computer of my own. Being able to go online or work on digital stuff whenever I want to has changed my life for the better.
Tech to make day to day chores easier have had the largest impact for us. The automated self cleaning liter box for the cats, the cordless vacuum, the cordless electric mop (such as Tineco), electric lawn mowers (no maintenance), smart outlets and automations via home assistant.
Another big one is the RO water filter at the kitchen sink. No more bottled water. Bonus points if you get one that tells you when fillters need to be changed. So nice.
I live in Finland and so the seasonal daylight varies from almost none in winter to always in summer. I got a smart socket connected to my grow lamps for all my plants. I used to have an analogue timer that I would have to keep changing the times on as the season progressed. The smart one now turns on when my alarm goes off in the morning and turns off an hour after sunrise, turns on again an hour before sunset and turns off at bedtime.
No messing about anymore, it’s one less thing to worry about.
That’s great! I also use smart plugs for grow lamps! So convenient. The home country of the creator of Linux. Lucky! :)
Replaced all my mismatched socks with 24 pair of identical.
So great on laundry day
Yes, and at the same time I went with thin wool socks too. And I’m in Texas where it’s hot and humid too. Wool socks were a game changer, they don’t hold onto moisture like cotton and synthetics do.
Didn’t want to be a shill, but I got a bunch of medium thick wool socks from Darn Tough and sweaty wool socks are a lot nicer than sweaty cotton/poly socks.
I did this same thing and my life has been changed forever
Yes same, the darn touch T series have been my favorites with the best fit for my thin build. T4021 if I wear my boots, T4016 if I’m rocking tennies.
I tried smartwool and a few other Amazon and popular brands. Came back to darn tough each time.
I did recently get some Alpaca Wool socks and a sweater and they are a close second to the DT socks.
Then I discovered smartwool quarter zip long sleeve shirts, lightweight 150 weight wool, excellent t-shirt replacements
Tabletop convection oven. It’s a game changer to cook and bake in, and it doesn’t heat the whole house like the oven does in hot weather.
I adopted a cat. Best and worst purchase all wrapped in one.
Not specifically mine but definitely that of my wife: a company called Beurer in Germany makes this little tool with a small ceramic plate that you can heat. Press the hot thing against a mosquito bite and not only does the itch go away, the actual inflammation is diminished. For 20 euros one of the best impulse buys I ever did.
We’ve also put in an order for an electric bicycle which I think will lead to us leaving the car now often.
Ultimately trivial cost-wise and to install, but game-changer:
butt game changer.
Electric bike, 95 Ford Ranger, camping gear, garden cart, gardening supplies and plants, cat tree, ebook reader
Shoehorn
Seriously, helps keep your shoes in better condition over time as well as you aren’t pulling on the back of the shoe or crushing the heel.
CPAP, so I can breathe while I sleep.
Pressure cooker, so I can make a delicious stews in 30 mins instead of hours.
Got any good recipes to share?
African ground nut stew is my favorite recipe. This set of instructions is for stovetop, for pressure cooker, I just throw it all but the peanut butter and hot sauce, which are to be stirred in after high pressure. 25 minutes on high pressure.
8-10 chicken thigh Large can of diced tomato Small can of tomato paste 1 large onion 2 medium carrot 2 stalks celery 8 mushrooms or 2 cans of sliced mushroom 1 or 1.5 cup stock chicken 2.5 tbsp peanut butter Hot sauce optional 3 clove garlic
instructions:
prep: dice the onion peel and chop the carrot/celery Clean and slice mushrooms mince garlic or one small spoon worth of pre minced cut chicken into small pieces to quickly cook or cut thigh in two or breast into three if you want bigger chunks
cooking: put olive oil in large fry pan on high add onion,carrot, and mushroom cook until onion is getting soft then add chicken and garlic keep everything moving around so the onion and mushrooms don’t burn when the chicken is half cooked (white on the outside 50% or so) then add both cans of tomatoes (paste and diced) and stock let simmer for 20-25 mins so the tomatoes break down and chicken finishes cooking, stirring every few minutes add peanut butter in 1/2 tbsp at a time to the pan and mix in with the liquids add salt and pepper approx for 2 more minutes making sure not to let the sauce burn on the bottom Add hot sauce to taste. serve over rice
This makes a good amount of leftovers too.
Private therapy sessions. Get therapy.
OK but you need money.
because everything else people have listed are free
A lot of it is single time purchases, therapy is a subscription service.
Absolutely, but its well worth the cost. You improve your own life and the lives of all of the people you interact with since you’re not projecting your trauma or having them bear the weight of your mental ill health as much.
It isn’t a cost that everyone can afford and that’s okay, but it should be high on pretty much everybody’s list of “things to get”.
A good shower head with better pressure and spray pattern. The one I got was Oxygenics, hopefully they are still good.
A bunch of stacking prep bowls for the kitchen. Previously, I had nesting sets of glass and metal bowls, each with three sizes. I still kept the glass set for microwaving, but I gave away the set of three metal bowls. In their place, I got 8 medium bowls and 12 mixing bowls. They are great when prepping ingredients for mise en place style cooking. The mixing bowls are a bit larger, so I also use them for making salads, soaking chickpeas, and so on. It’s nice to never need to scramble for bowls, but at the same time they stack perfectly so they don’t take up much space. I bought extra because I am assuming the bowls with get damaged over time, but the company will eventually stop making them.
Gymnastic rings, straps (includes anchor kit), and I paid people to set it up. Probably the best money I’ve ever spent.
