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Ask HN: What item/service can you buy for less than $50 that is life changing?

by jharohit on 9/12/23, 9:56 AM with 54 comments

$50 because currently for most working folks $50 is something they can most likely immediately spend on and is equivalent to a meal for 2 (at least in a restaurant Singapore!)

  • by chiefalchemist on 9/12/23, 10:28 AM

    Books! You can buy plenty of life-changing books for $50.

    https://ThriftBooks.com

    Based on experience, stick to conditions: New, Like-New, and Very Good. I've had mixed experience with Good, and never tried anything below.

    The Wish List's ability to target format and condition is great.

    There are other posts / threads on NH for book suggestions. I would recommend "The War of Art". It's not just for artists.

    https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-war-of-art-break-through-t...

  • by babyeater9000 on 9/12/23, 7:29 PM

    You can get books from the internet archive or another library for free and in infinite quantity. In general, good information has incredible utility value. Remember that copying isn't stealing. As far as a physical items: A nice insulated drink container A water filter that doubles as a pitcher for your fridge Used book stores and thrift stores often have awesome, sometimes new, non-fiction books for literally 2 dollars each. I found a bunch of programming books at one, once A good small kitchen knife A jump rope ($12) and basketball ($35)to use at the park Maybe a used bike at a pawn shop Flea markets and other places that deal in cash have nice deals on retro games, electronics, and DVDs. You might be able to get 8 movies on DVD or 1-2 8-16 bit games. You might be able to get one wii, but not a snes or nes.Once again, if you're strapped for cash: information is free and is now infinitely replicable at virtually no cost, really. Infinite walks and meditation Mp3 player/recorder that can record fm radio Rubik's cubes of maybe two different sizes An eyeshadow pallette A used laptop at a pawn shop Maybe a single board computer A little outside grill to cook burgers on A big fuckin' hammer A 20 pound single dumbbell Pepper spray Rock climbing gym membership for one When you're hungry, nothing is more valuable than food. Maybe a dinner for two ;)

  • by neallindsay on 9/12/23, 10:47 AM

    Youtube Premium or whatever they call it now. In general, paying to not have ads is great. If you spend even a moderate amount of time on YouTube, this will quickly pay for itself.

  • by tacoman on 9/12/23, 1:43 PM

    A simple bidet like a Neo 120. It simply baffles me that North Americans haven’t caught on to how life changing this is.

  • by gizmo on 9/12/23, 2:00 PM

    - French press. With a bit of practice you can make very good coffee with it in just a few minutes. Machine washable.

    - Glass tea pot with filter for loose tea leaves. Also machine washable.

    - Tower fan. Cools and provides white noise.

    - Gym membership (50 a month)

    - Earplugs (Tinnitus is life-changing, and not a good way)

    - Running shoes

    - Pillow

    The items are not by themselves life-changing, but they can be life changing if they make you change your habits, like they did for me. For instance, by replacing sugary drinks with tea.

    If I'm allowed to up the budget a little bit I would include noise-cancelling headphones. Dual 4k monitors. Mechanical keyboard. Countless books. Prescription eyeglasses (+ sunglasses).

  • by ActorNightly on 9/12/23, 12:15 PM

    Truly life changing in general would probably be 3.5 grams of psychedelic mushrooms, especially if you have never experienced psychedelics before. Massive amount of reports of positive lasting experiences just from one trip.

  • by justinram11 on 9/12/23, 11:42 AM

    Fresh Coffee -- I had bought an expensive latte machine but was still using typical store-bough coffee. My latte's were "good" but not "great".

    Ordered fresh light roast coffee from Happy Mug and it's like a whole new world. I'm getting Cherry, Blueberry, Coconut, Raspberry flavors in my latte every morning that I didn't even know were possible.

  • by dimitrisnl on 9/12/23, 10:19 AM

    It's stupid, but a simple shoe horn made my lifer easier. I used to just squeeze my feet in my sneakers.

  • by jharohit on 9/12/23, 11:17 AM

    OP here.

    My list below:

    - ikea desk lamp Tertial (one you can clamp)

    - moleskine pocket soft cover blank notebook

    - Grab Eats/Deliveroo Plus for free delivery

    - A discounted top game from 2-3 years ago (which usually is discounted below $50 on epic gog or steam)

    - Youtube premium

    - 2-3 casio f91w watches (one in home, in office and in backpack)

    - adopting a kitten (been 5 years and best investment for emotional support!)

  • by mstaoru on 9/12/23, 1:33 PM

    V60 + Porlex + paper filters + some nice light roasted coffee? Should be $50-ish. Be warned, this is rabbit hole.

    In the same vein, a simple pin cha set (porcelain gaiwan with a few tiny cups) and some Fenghuang Dancong "Duck poop" tea (鸭屎香). This can be expensive, but $20 for gaiwan and $30 for tea should be enough to taste it.

    Singapore? A one-way flight to Thailand! :-) What else you can buy in Singapore for $50, a subway ticket? :D

  • by digitalsushi on 9/12/23, 1:20 PM

    I bought a venetian blind cleaner, like 8 bucks. A plastic set of fingers that perfectly match my blinds. This one came with about eight cloth sleeves I can toss in the laundry.

    As I pace on my many work calls from my home office, I absent mindedly use this to wipe dust off the blinds, off the tops of paintings, books, clocks, webcams etc. My office is perpetually dust free because I married a doodad with an obsessive behavior and I couldnt be more pleased.

    A second doodad is a wooden knobby foot roller for under my desk. It helped me with my blood pressure. I can be on a call, barefoot, and grinding my stress into this wooden knob thing, and a 12 dollar carpet square underneath it, and conduit all of my negative energy into the floor instead of onto the call. It's just a stress relief toy but one that none of my coworkers or customers can see. It makes me feel like a four limbed creature instead of two limbed and gives me more sense of control. I dunno. I like it

  • by replwoacause on 9/12/23, 10:46 AM

    Bidet

  • by circlefavshape on 9/12/23, 1:35 PM

    A ukulele. You can learn to play it in 20 hours, and then you are a musician

  • by snyena on 9/12/23, 11:57 AM

    Slightly more expensive than $50, but IKEA's WiFi bookshelf speaker Symfonisk (in collaboration with Sonos).

    I have been listening to foreign radio stations and my language skills have gone up considerably.

  • by mPReDiToR on 9/12/23, 10:03 AM

    Huel.

    Better than shovelling sugar down your neck all day, full of nutrients, saves money over snacking, saves time over making a pack up.

    It's a small change that makes a big difference, or has to me.

    I could put my referral code here, but I'm not shilling or trying to make money, I genuinely eat "hot and savoury" or "Instant Meals" as they rebranded to recently, most days.

    https://huel.com or for me uk.huel.com.

  • by quickthrower2 on 9/12/23, 12:28 PM

    Bad: Crystal Meth

    Good: Eyemask for sleeping

  • by sourcecodeplz on 9/13/23, 2:38 PM

    Lamps. The house feels soo cozy at night when I turn off the overhead lights and switch to lamps.

  • by DarrenDev on 9/12/23, 11:13 AM

    Go into a pharmacy a couple of times a year and get your blood pressure checked.

    Twice a year, should cost less than $50.

  • by neonnoodle on 9/12/23, 1:59 PM

    Aeropress

  • by anujmehta on 9/12/23, 10:33 AM

    Cycle