The best purchase I've made this year has to be the tickets for the "Barbie" movie on opening day July 21st. As I watched the movie in theater (the best way to watch a movie), I was literally moved to tears by the performance of the lead actress, whom I might add, deserves an Oscar this year.

Fellow lemmings, I, for one, will definitely be buying "Barbie" on Blu-ray to have it in my collection.

Multiple copies, in fact.

A bidet. $30, attaches under your toilet seat. Life changing.

Good knives. Well worth it.

My house. Even though we have to pay taxes and mortgage interest, it beats paying rent to a landlord. Also, we bought it in 2020 and it has appreciated it value significantly since then. However, that appreciation is kind of fictitious to me, because if we sold the house it's unlikely that we'd be able to buy a similar one in the same area for less. So, it's just a nice house.

Vasectomy. Before I got my vasectomy, I had a lot of anxiety that the condom might fail and an unwanted pregnancy would occur. That's not to say vasectomies can't fail, they can, even years afterwards, recanalization can happen so I get tested every year.

Annual failure rate of condom (average use) is 18%, and with perfect use it's 2%. This means that over a span of 20 years, even with perfect use, there is a 33% chance for a pregnancy which is too high for me. A vasectomy with annual testing of sperm count is as close to zero as possible.

Off the top of my head no particular order:

• Proper mop bucket like heavy duty on wheels. Mopping takes minutes now, nothing has worn out in years, very little waste.
• Proper broom, not plastic. Got tired of all the waste from plastic ones wearing out so quickly. I got one of these and it is an amazing buy it for life kind of thing.
• Bidet
• An IDGAF pocket knife. All those times when I was young and just needed a vaguely knife-shaped piece of metal but dad was like "don't hammer that knife into that rock you'll damage the blade" or "don't hammer that knife into the can of beans" or "don't hammer that knife into the deer skull you found" well now IDGAF. Sturdy, cheap, doesn't matter it it holds an edge or stays clean.
• A Dremel. I don't have a lot of space and this thing is great for cutting random things I don't have real tools for.
• Respirator and impact goggles. Originally bought for going to protests but I've found they're just fantastic around the house. Don't want to breath in murder chemical while cleaning an oven? Or microplastics from sawing your latest art project in half? What about "This Dremel blade might explode if I use it like this and I don't want to lose my eyes"?
• Yak tracks, they work. I'm getting too old to fall on ice and walk it off.
• The right shoes for the job. Walking shoes, climbing shoes, hiking boots, brown leather heels for construction work, eight inch black leather stilletos for getting attention, blue suede boots for getting attention, six inch pink platform boots for getting attention, blue gogo boots for getting attention. They're all crucial to my day to day.
• Cats. They keep the sad away, works great.
• Jars everywhere. You can store spices, leftovers, paperclips, q tips, an array of rocks for making minis, paints, pepper ferments. They are so versatile and easy to clean I have maybe 150 or so of them currently.
• Air fryer. Didn't think I'd like it but I'm a convert now they're great.
• A growing collection of glues. I don't know why but the ability to properly fuse shit together unlocks so many possibilities. This is a new discovery for me.
• A growing collection of solvents. Like the reverse of glue the ability to clean things in specific ways is great.
• Metal wire shelves. They're versatile, sturdy, relatively cheap, easy to break down and transport if you've been averaging a move a year for ten years.
• A small sewing kit. Great for small repairs. I've added years to some of my dresses by catching weak points early and doing 10 minute fixes.
• Proper electric toothbrush. Even the fanciest ones are cheaper than dental work.
• Lastly, a bin of compost in your living room because you live in a city and don't have much access to dirt. Feed it very slowly so it doesn't rot. Keep roly polies in there, they're cute, and springtails to prevent mold, they're also cute. When you feel sad about living in a cement and steel environment just crack that thing open and pretend you're looking at a forest floor. Dig around a little see how the worms are doing. Bother your nesting partner by grabbing fistfuls of it and loudly exclaiming "dirt smells great today really earthy!"

Edit to add, how could I forget this? I just got home and in my entryway there is an 18 unit locker like the kind you would find during a Bed Bath going out of business sale and they're getting rid of everything including the employee lockers in back, you know the ones. I'm poly so each of my partners and my nesting partner's partners get to pick their own locker to keep overnight supplies in. There are unclaimed lockers for guests to store small things, and some that are effectively house mandatory junk drawers. Also serves as a lost and found when like partners leave phone chargers or whatever else behind. Great purchase.

Our air fryer. I thought it was all hype. I just didn't know. It's so convenient for so many things.

Along similar lines, our Instant Pot. So covenient for so many things. We cook rice in it, chili, stews, my dog's food, stock, etc.

Our bidet. I cringe at how dirty my asshole used to be. It's amazing.

Steam Deck - I know I'm not supposed to promote a specific product (change SD to a handheld gaming device if you must), but after my son was born, moved to a different country and changed jobs my life was rather hectic. I had no time to play videogames at all, which was my go-to method to unwind since I was a little kid. As an almost 40 years old responsible adult I can now still enjoy gaming in bite sized bursts, in bed, instead of scrolling through social media or watching mindless videos. The best thing is I can be next to my SO while she does something else I can work through my backlog.

I bought a rice cooker, and it easily earns it's permanent space on the countertop. Having the ability to cook 5 (dry) cups of rice and have it stay warm for days is so convenient.

Lasik. Being able to wake up in the morning and just see things with zero effort was life changing.

Decent quality automatic cat feeders.

We have 3 cats, and I resisted getting autofeeders for 5 years because it felt silly to buy what amounts to three $75 food bowls.

They paid for themselves the first weekend I didn't have 3 razor sharp dickheads screaming at me to feed them at 5:15 AM. I should have bought them years ago.

Probably condoms.

I bought a nice sandwich last week

A robotic vacuum cleaner. I just have to clear the dust bin weekly and manually mob some spots that the robot couldn't clean

Custom molded earplugs. As a musician and photographer who shoots bands, I can't imagine NOT having them.

I bought a house back in 2009 for around $290,000, sold it in 2022 for $600,000, paid off my original loan and then bought another house outright with the proceeds. No house payment is a huge stress relief. I own this place and will as long as I pay my taxes.

My house. I am constantly stressed now, but it's something I can work on, improve, and builds equity.

The medicine cabinet in my bathroom. I know it sounds stupid, but of all the improvements in my house I've made in the last year, this one has had the most impact. It looks great and gives me tons more storage. And since I use it every single day, I can appreciate it every single day.

One of my favorite purchases in terms of usefulness, cost, and fun (relative) was these frigging ceiling fan pull chains. I saw them on some "things you didn't know you needed" list or something. But for less than $10, they have made my life infinitely easier and they do give me a little joy every time I pull on them.

My synology NAS. It’s great being able to have a central place for all my files that’s platform agnostic.

Bidet, easy, second choice was an AMDGPU, fuck nvidia.

My dog. Easily the most value I've ever got for my money, no comparison.

Hard plastic pan scrapers, kinda like these.

A friend had a bunch in her kitchen when I was housesitting and I took one home. First started using it in my air fryer to get rid of gunk without scraping up the finish, but now I use a set all over my kitchen. For all I know they've been around 20 years and I never knew. Dirt cheap, too.

My IKEA 100cm blahaj for 30€. Now I don't feel as lonely every night.

I recently bought an electric car and I'm loving it. I would recommend getting one. I charge it at night and it can go all over town. We recently took a long trip too. It definitely took more time than it would have in a gas car but we just ate while the car charged and that worked out awesome since we needed to eat anyways.

Electrical tape, anything I don't know how to otherwise fix, electrical tape fixes it in a pinch. Haven't tried it with relationship issues yet, though.

My 2nd monitor. It's some 24" curved 165Hz 1080p monitor that I bought from a guy at my university for $105. While not the best for gaming (noticable ghosting), it's been incredibly helpful for work as it gets more complicated in university. The extra screen real estate lets me fit so much more without needing to alt tab or click on another window.

Thrift store cast iron pan for $2

Craigslist 2001 honda cr-v 4wd for $3100

Craigslist specialized s-works road bike for $150

My first house in 2019 for $400k, with a loan for $280k at 4% (refinanced later to 2.8%)

Harbor freight car ramps for $30 so I can do oil changes and stuff

Soldering Iron, the amount of money you will save from fixing your own stuff is ridiculous.

Multiple computer monitors

I love being able to have chats / reference materials up on one screen while working on another

Doom (1993). I bought it once and now all I need is the iWAD and I've got unlimited maps, mods, ports, and total conversions, to play forever and ever

Ender 3 3d printer about 6 years ago. I bought it used for $100 on a whim with no knowledge on how to use one. Now it's the most useful tool in my house. Need a slightly bigger hollow wall anchor? You can print one. Custom desk organizer? Print one. Name plates for a dinner party. Stamp to impress into wax or leather. Fantasy scatter terrain.

There is certainly a learning curve but if you can get proficient you can make countless helpful things that would would not be able to buy.

stand mixer. i make bread like no ones business. and a warm coat (i bought one at a hardware store lol) and nice warm boots.