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

Bidet. Amazing for a North American, I know RoW has had them for eons. You are so clean that a couple of squares of tp to dry off and you are golden. No more endless wiping.

Noise cancelling earphones.

Oh man. Just not having to listen to my dishwasher, clothes machines or vacuum cleaner run their mouths while they're in service is live improvening.

In the early 2000's, I bought a 1986 Honda XL250R. Just an old dirt bike.

The motorcyckle shop was across the road from the pawn shop I was originally going to buy a gun from, for the express purpose of taking my own life, for reasons that made sense at the time.

Since I bought that bike, I've made friends, learned a lot of new skills, and I met the best person in existence, who I am now married to. I passed on a final exit, and ended up with a pretty great life.

A bidet.

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.

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.

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.

Chemotherapy absolutely changed my life, does that count?

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

TOP OF THE LIST: bidet (duh),

electric water kettle (fuck gas stoves and also faster),

$3 metal tongue scrapper (clean ass mouth),

noise cancelling headphones (it's amazing not going back),

slow cooker (it's impressive how lazy i am. spend an hour cruising slow cooking recipes on reddit/chaptgpt, pick out 10+, set for life),

piratebay

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

50+ pack of small white rags and using those instead of paper towels. simple washer after all used to reuse

cheap air purifier in room @ night, clean air and dual white noise maker.

small $10 desk usb fan. fuck running the A/C just turn this guy on.

electric space heater. depending on your climate, you don't need central gas heat just get space heater and shut the door to the room you're in.

As someone with waxy ears, an ear pick with a wifi camera built in. Would get blockages, cotton buds just pushed it back, olive oil or peroxide would get air locked. The webcam ear pick was super cheap and makes it easy to scoop out any lumps of wax.

A Kobo e-reader. I now read much more than before because of the convenience, and I also became a book pirate. It has paid itself multiple times on the money I've saved in physical books.

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.

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)

An electrical sit/stand desk

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

A dildo. Get to know yourself and what you like a little and it's legitimately brain melting. You don't have to be gay to enjoy em, I'm glad I gave butt stuffing a try.

Just make sure whatever you get is actually body safe. Silicone is generally the only good soft body safe material, look for medical grade or platinum cure.

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.

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.

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.

CPAP.

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

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.

~~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.

Blackout curtains, they are the only reason I'm surviving working nightshift

Wheelchair :)

That and medication. The two changed my life completely.

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.

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.

Glerups. Greatest slippers I have ever worn.

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

Bone conducting earphones, my stupid tiny ear canals mean I can't get any ear buds, to stay in my ears, the bone conducters have changed my life....

• my custom made silicon ear plugs are a close second, sweet sleep when I'm on night shifts

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...)