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?
My solar panels have. Literally.
Ditched gaming chairs, got an ergonomic office chair with several adjustment points.
It’s mesh seat and back, so its breathable in summer, gentle and supportive. I sit upright with no back pain. I lock it in place upright if I’m not using the armrests (eg: controller). Comfortable enough you quickly forget its even there, which is what you actually want in your practical furniture.
Every ‘gaming’ chair I’ve used cost almost as much, was a sticky pleather mess that flaked within months, pneumatics shot within a year, weird ‘racecar’ leaning back, fucked up my neck. But hey, at least it was in garish pointless colours? (Also, fuck those chairs that have the little ‘edges’, are they supposed to cup me in my seat Luke a cot? Because they get in the way).
I will never game in a gaming chair again. Quality ergonomic office chairs are DESIGNED for sitting in for hours at a time, and it shows. I’ve converted several others now.
Office chairs are designed to be sat in for long periods. Gaming chairs are designed to look cool on twitch.
Imagine ricing an office chair to look like a gaming chair:
“Look at my awesome gaming office chair I customized it myself” would definitely be a flex on twitch
Thank you, +1 to your converted list
Can you link the one you got please?
The thing is that this chair is so good that I’ve had it for years and the pneumatics still so no sign of wear. So I couldn’t find a link for you, the retailer I got it from is lone gone. (Also you probably don’t live on the same island as me.)
But I can see the emblem on the back indicating the brand is GTCHAIR, so I guess check their range for full mesh ergonomic? I forget how many adjustment points mine boasts, I want to say 9… also has a lumbar support piece, which goes great with the height-adjustable back
Absolutely agreed. I got a decent office chair over a decade ago, and it’s been good since. I think it has a teeny wobble that popped up in the last two years, but other than that the padding and such are still great.
I bought a second hand Aeron right at the start of Covid, banking on the fact I’d probably need it. I have been permanently remote work since and it’s been one of my best investments. It was very expensive and also very worth it.
My waterfront property. I live right on the Chesapeake Bay and man it is just magical.
- A pinecil. It was like $30, and has paid for itself within the first two things I did with it (repaired a good computer mouse which just had a USB connector lift from the board, and fashioned a DIY solar connector). I have repaired/made countless other small things in the few years I’ve owned it.
- Our bicycles, I guess? Financially speaking, they were dirt cheap (~$80 for both), we’ve sold our Prius since we bought them ($5000), we’re not paying for gas for trips within the city (~$30/mo), we’re not paying insurance or parking or maintenance or any of that crap (~$20-30/mo or so). So they have paid off within the first couple of weeks. And there’s so much more: both of us lost some weight, city errands are sometimes faster, and usually more pleasant now (no being stuck in traffic ever), and we’re not wasting space on a useless hunk of metal or polluting the air we breathe.
I had never heard of the pinecil before, thank you! I’ll keep that saved for when I want to upgrade my dinky little iron
My radar detector (Valentine V1 Gen2) literally paid for itself the first time it alerted me of a speed trap ahead. I am guessing it has since saved me 10’s of thousands of dollars.
I’ve got another one:
Long before COVID, I would go to a barber shop for haircuts.
The place I went to had one short, old guy who had arthritis. I’m tall, and long in the torso. When he was cutting my hair, he couldn’t lower the chair enough to be able to cut my hair, so I’d have to scoot down in the chair so that I was sitting with my ass at the edge of the seat and my spine bent so my head was low enough.
When you entered the shop, you’d write your name on the board, and if you wanted someone specific to cut your hair, you’d put the barber’s name next to yours. So, I started picking one of the taller, younger guys to cut my hair.
One day I was in a rush, and there was a line, so I figured I’d just take whoever was available and scoot down if I had to. The old guy skipped over me two times. When someone pointed out that I was there before him, the barber got pissy and said, “he doesn’t want me cutting his hair”
One of the other barbers apologized and took me next. I gave that guy a $20 tip.
When I got home I went online and bought a Flowbee. I haven’t been to a barber shop since. It does a great job, there’s no line to wait in, it takes me about 10 minutes, leaves no mess behind, and I haven’t paid for anything but electricity and shop vac bags ever since.
No barber visit for 7 years now. been clipping myself ever since.
Used Wacom Cintiq 21UX I got off FB marketplace for like $300 (MSRP went for $1500+) about 5 years ago. No new drivers are being updated or released for it because it’s so old, but it still works great. I’ve likely made back what I paid for it in art commissions since then.
I bought a big pack of eneloop rechargeable batteries a decade ago and they are just within the last year or so starting to fail.
I’m going to say my $50 charcoal grill. I’ve had more propane grills fail on me in 5 years, and charcoal grill keeps going. I know its terrible for the environment.
Your little grill is hardly terrible for the environment. Maybe for your lungs, but that’s why you don’t inhale the charcoal.
A private jet is way worse for the environment. I think you’re okay.
I’d bet that selfhosting jellyfin and running sunshine/moonlight has saved me close to $800 on comparable services since I learned to do it last year. So I’d have to say my GPU, which is used mostly for those purposes.
Only problem there for me was that it went off the rails for me, i got some 100TB of storage and I’ve been collecting old movies and shows that can’t be found anywhere on Netflix type services. II spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours by now
A bicycle. No gas to pay, no parking fees, no insurance, and I can do most of the maintenance.
Battery charger.
- Beefy Laptop
- Rechargeable tools (especially the Impact Driver)
- Local library membership
My Casio A 168 - I like watches and typically I would opt for more expensive ones but I still marvel at the amount of watch you get for this kind of money. The design is great, very comfortable to wear, very precise and has a very good battery lifetime and background light.
Someone else already mentioned a safety Razor.
My iron pan - much healthier, more ecological and will last longer than I will ever live.
Obviously my bike. Saved so much money on it. Although I still need to figure out what I should do with my very rusty chain. Should I replace it?
Yes replace it! It feels good to help your bike after all you’ve been through. Spent more than my bike is worth on repairs lol
Camping hammock, it’s what I sleep in most nights. My body complains when I have to use a mattress
