Ask HN: What are your best purchases under $100? Curious what items under $100 have made your life better or any meaningful impact. Revival of this [thread](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23363396) from 6 years ago. Thought it would be fun to have new answers to this :) |
On topic of best purchases under $100, suppose you regularly boil water for coffee or pasta but don't own an electric kettle, consider investing in a cheap white plastic kettle for $5. Fast and energy efficient way to turn electrical energy into boiling water.
[1] https://www.porlex.co.jp/ [2] https://www.porlex.com.au/collections/porlex-grinders
Nicely made and always useful.
Should have gone after that callus a year ago! Amazing how such a tiny thing can aggravate.
But you're right about a knife alarming people. Years ago in another life I opened a similar knife to cut a cable and my boss literally jumped backward and exclaimed in fear. But he came from a place where, when someone pulls out a knife someone else usually gets stabbed.
* Hakko FX888D soldering iron. I used to hate soldering, and it always came out awful. Perfect soldering is effortless now. It's a delight.
* Oxo 5lb kitchen scale (or anything similar). Cooking in metric is just sane. Excellent for bread.
* The Speakman S-2251 showerhead, with the flow regulator pried out. Was 100 when bought, 3x that now. Reddit voted it the most powerful and high quality showerhead. If you like that kind of thing, it's still worth it at 300.
* Schlage BE365 deadbolts. Can be found on sale under 100. Keyless door entry, supports multiple codes, not smart or connected in any way, battery lasts years.
* Velcro cable ties of various lengths. Every cable in my closet is orderly, and when you're done with one, it never sprawls or tangles.
* ESP32S3 boards. Drastically lowers the activation threshold for oneoff web-connected silliness.
* These little [dimmable lights](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4Q4D5VP) (in amber). Warm colored, layered lighting all over the house. Huge vibe upgrade.
* [Dimmer leashes](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DL7V3CM). These sit between plug and outlet, and provide a separate 6ft cable with a dimmer switch on the end. I use them on my desk to control my zoom lighting, and in bed to dim my shelf lights without getting up.
* Multi-packs of small tools. We have a dozen pairs of scissors, box cutters, etc floating around. Sharpies and mechanical pencils in ~100 packs. Place around the house. It's very nice to not have to look far for these.
* [Masking tape](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R28DGHM) and stickers in many rainbow colors. Useful for knowing EG which cable goes to the PS5 (blue) vs xbox (green).
* [Giant digital clock](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCVV8J98) w/ date, day of week, and temperature. Ended up buying more for other parts of the house because I got so used to looking for it.
* [Ratcheting adjustable belt](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VDMFZB2?) Also loops the belt tip onto the inside, not the outside. The idea of having a belt with adjustment intervals of inches instead of mms, with a tip that flops on the outside feels very silly now.
Weighted blanket
Shoehorn
Holy molly! You aren't kidding. I literally have one laying around in my bathroom cabinet that I bought during Covid for, I wanna say, $60? I used it for about a month or two before I decided I liked my previous shower head better (Kohler Forté).
Also, I'm curious why it is so common recommendation across the internet to take out the flow regulators. Even see it mentioned in Amazon reviews. It is bypassing regulations and selfish. It defeats the purpose of everyone doing their part to cut down their water usage, especially in areas that really need it (Arizona, Nevada and California). I still have mine in at 1.75gpm and it rinses me fine. No one needs the Kramer "Commando 450" force.
They were probably just envious you were rocking a Kershaw Iridium Dessert Warrior. Which also comes in at under $100. And the Iridium family are pretty nice knives.
https://www.bladehq.com/item--Kershaw-Iridium-Dessert-Warrio...
And FWIW I fear if I cut myself with that Kershaw I might grow a pussy.
I flipped the knife out and his eyes got huge, his arms went out sideways and he got in a football stance.
After he calmed down, he told me he was actually attacked with a knife when he was a kid.
Not long after, I finally wore out the fastener on that knife (a buck). Luckily I had already bought a twin for backup.
That seems unusual: if I feared in that situation I would flee. His would be a gutsy, dangerous but certainly unexpected move!
What did you do in response: say "16 - 32- HIKE"?
Yes, I didn't know WTF was there but over the years it had grown beyond annoying , becoming so painful I couldn't tolerate it. I thought perhaps something (a splinter, piece of glass or steel, etc.) had become embedded in my foot. I was determined to dig it out. I'm tall and not flexible so I cannot easily see all of the bottom of my foot. But I can reach it.
The callus was surprisingly small (~1/2") and came out in one piece after about 10 minutes of work. Nothing embedded. No bleeding, just a lot of knife-wiggling. The bottom of the foot is really tough!
Also an electric travel bidet.
I don't put much stock in anything they've ever said, since.
Rivalism at its best. Removing the track balls before the next class got in to the computer room. That then escalated to fork bombing.
The IT techs got pissed that they glued shut the plastic release twist hatch.
:(){ :|:& };:
Daily usage for all of them
Altra Escalante running shoes (not daily usage, sadly)
Leather gloves.
Bedtime story books.
TwelveSouth Airfly pro airplane bluetooth sound adapter.
Belkin wireless car charger.
Standalone coat racks for the office.
3M WR209 Wrist rest - $20
Logitech M310 Mouse - $20
Above combo has made 6 hour sleep feel like 8 hours and 8 hours feel like I can go the rest of my life without sleep in the morning
Fitness: - gymnastic rings: ultraportable and ultrascalable (from arthretic grandma level to olympic athlete level) workout. I have two pairs and I'm thinking about buying another one.
Fun: - someone already mentioned minecraft lol - wireless buds, I have Jlabs go air pop and I sometimes prefer them over my trusty Sennheisers HD 600 - Ibanez rg565 genesis desert yellow (add another 0 to 100 dollars but I bought it in installments so, technically, I paid less than 100 dollars for it per month, worth it, you can shred the absolute fuck out of it)
Health: - good sunglasses (cat 3 or even better cat 4) - omega 3 and vitamin d : important if you live in unhabitable, gray and cold regions of earth (like eastern europe)
Education: - Anki, free for pc and android, cheap for iphones
The other one I paid full price for (Miniature Dachshund), and he's an absolute money pit and brings all the drama.
No, we don't have any kids, why do you ask? :-)
Deltahub carpio 2.0 wrist rest - $35
I definitely use boiling water with my bagged breakfast tea, but boiling is too hot for white and green tea (especially fancier teas), and boiling water "scorches" the "delicate flavors" (using quotes since I'm sure there are better / nicer words than those), so you want to steep at 80C or lower depending on the tea, the quantity the vessel, and the process.
I wonder if any studies have been done on this....
awesome.
turn on, set the pressure value, press start and tire will inflate to that pressure and stop.
swappable batteries is important. Some large tires will drain a small battery and you can switch in a new one.
The ones that plug in to a lighter socket (which sometimes require the car to be running or the ignition switch in ACC position), or have to be clipped to the car battery are not as convenient.
I bought a series from Slime brand; every one failed within two tire inflates. Went to Harbor Freight, and bought their most expensive one; it has earned the price since (still under $100).
It's saved my butt many times.
Mine is viaair, and the device is dedicated (no flashlight etc)
A few weeks ago I knew nothing about radio or ham, but im learning alot and having fun. Its been a good distraction from "stuff".
You take a small portable HF transceiver up a mountain summit and attempt to make at least 4 contacts. You get points for "activating" the summit and folks at home get points for "hunting" you. You can also spot yourself online and sometimes you'll have a bunch of people from around the world trying to make contact with you.
I have 3 for myself as I like to keep them around the house. I've also bought a couple as gifts for my sons who both really liked them.
The sliding switch on the side needs more resistance. I bump it accidentally, or it slides itself.
Could be some user error involved.
There's a lot to like about it, otherwise.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DP1WXVK8?&linkCode=sl1&tag=lydan...
It's not about the time and money I saved by not having to go to a cafe, its about having a great supply of coffee available for the day.
I had periscapular pain when sitting/standing for years: no pain in the morning, but it would grow during the day.
My backpod mobilises some stiff thoracic ribs, allowing me to then do exercises through that normal range of motion to strengthen it.
Use cases:
1. Make your stereo system bluetooth, this includes a nice new pair of powered monitors, or a vintage 70's system.
2. You have an older car, want bluetooth but appreciate high quality audio.
3. You want to make your wired headphones wireless.
4. Buy 2, and make a low latency wireless audio link.
These things are super cool, and are now only $30.
There used to be a beefier version that was just perfect; despite over two decades of abuse (dropping off ladders onto sidewalks, letting children play with them...) my first pair is still going strong.
Now you can only buy slimmer knock-offs, but they're still great. Needle nose, std pliers, hex pliers, and wire strippers in a single, rugged tool.
Raspberry Pi 4 that served as my daily driver for around three years.
A couple of dumbbells that got me started with weight training, and kept me going during covid. Together with the basic equipment that I later bought, it saved me hundreds and hundreds of euros in gym memberships.
Best purchase under 10 euros is a simple cube with blank memo notes, that I use for grocery shopping and all kinds of other to do lists.
I also wrote a blogpost about it: https://www.heyhomepage.com/?module=blog&link=1&post=4
Vertical ergonomic mouse (Logitech Lift in my case). My wrist pain disappeared within a few weeks after years of problems (knock on wood).
Kindle Paperwhite (used for < $100).
Drowsy silk sleep mask. It's truly a "buy it for life" item, and it's made a huge difference in my sleep quality.
I got tired of dealing with wet stones and having to soak them and get the right angle.
This sharpener can sharpen a chef knife razor sharp in less than 5 minutes.
For home: Bidet
For personal: Kindle
I'd highly recommend giving it a shot.
Saved my sanity when the infrastructure team decided to set-up a rack mount server in my office "just for a few days, honestly" and I spent two weeks listening to the system fan spooling up every (count them) seventy five seconds. The sound quality is pretty good too.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/shop/p/lift-vertical-ergonomi...
They're fairly thick and very comfortable blankets, I love these way more than any other blankets we have (and we own quite a few different kinds). I'm seriously considering trying out other kotatsu blanket brands too, even the really expensive ones.
Or, a Knipex Cobra pair of pliers.
Both of my parents have lost half of their adult teeth even though they take care of them, abstain from sugar and processed and/or acidic foods/drinks.
The sound quality doesn't feel crazy but definitely usable for anything I need. Also seems to filter out my laptop fan noise which is much appreciated
Give these people the Nobel Prize as far as I'm concerned.
Universal GaN travel adapter: One of those square bricks that converts from any AC outlet to any AC outlet and has 3 or 4 USB charging ports built in. I got enough wattage to charge my usb-c laptop as well, so one brick takes care of all my devices.
Backup android phone: Our phones are so critical that I keep a hot swappable spare phone on me, currently a Moto G 2025. It’s already logged into all my apps and 2FA. I could throw my iPhone into the Seine and keep on trucking. It even has backup NFC credit cards. I keep a cheap travel eSim plan active on it so that if I am somewhere sketchy I can leave my main phone at home.
Logitech MX Keys Mini: Great portable keyboard. Backlit, usb c and multi-device. Typing this post out on my phone now.
GL-iNet Beryl: The do anything travel VPN router running OpenWRT out of the box. Great for securing and extending sketchy WiFi connections or if you have to work off your phone’s hotspot all day.
Decathalon Quecha Escape 500 23L: Such a great personal item size backpack for the price, less than 40 euros.
It's about an inch square in all dimensions with a folding plug - amazing.
Backup phone, vpn router, etc.
Thank you
* One of those IKEA wall-mounted grate things (SKÅDIS) that you can hang stuff to. IKEA sells hooks for it that turn out to be the perfect size to hold a PS4 controller securely, plus various boxes and mini-shelves that have helped declutter my desk.
* A cheap bluetooth-connected Xiaomi temperature/humidity sensor. You're supposed to use it with the Xiaomi app, but turns out those devices just broadcast their data as an unencrypted BLE feed, so I can just intercept it with a Raspberry Pi and redirect the data to my own Postgres+Grafana setup for recording and monitoring.
Ceramic head tweezers. ~$3 on AliExpress, indispensable for some tasks.
An import die grinder that cost about the same as a new power switch for my Dremel. More powerful, better speed control, better chuck.
The dirt cheap rechargable die grinders. Noisy, not much torque, but cheap enough that you can have a few lying around for odd-jobs. Their low power also means they lack the ability to completely destroy your work in 0.3 seconds. Whereas the one mentioned above managed to shear off a shaft spinning in air when I accidentally turned it up instead of off.
Generaly replacing anything AAA powered by rechargable USBc
Particularly a long one if you'd like to avoid bending down at all when putting on slip-ons. Of course they are primarily great for saving the backs of your shoes. The IKEA one is perfect (at least for 6'1" me).
Once you break one, you'll spend the money.
It was so easy for me to go back to a cheap drip coffee maker and pre-ground coffee. I realized that I’ll never appreciate the flavors and process as much as the investment would call for.
While on the topic of James Hoffman and coffee, a <$100 device I'd nominate is the insulated heated mugs. I believe he tested the Ember Mug but there are competing models. For those who tend to drink their coffee while working, it's quite a decadent feeling to take a sip without ever having the unanticipated shock of your coffee having gone cold and having to trundle over to the microwave to warm it up (in my case sometimes more than once).
I recently got a second shelf rack[1] so they can hang side by side instead of needing to put a plunger in the tube when one is hanging behind.
- French press and v60. Coffee became a ritual I look forward to, not something I drink to achieve a goal.
- Speakers and amp. I got mine used. They are over 50 years old. The amp is a gorgeous object. Listening to music became a full activity. I do it with my coffee. I cannot overstate how much better it feels.
- Wiim Mini. Airplay for 70 year old speakers
- Plants. They make the whole space look better and give you a sense of the passage of time.
- Good pillows, soft sheets. The best of ikea’s sheets is already a massive upgrade. So soft!
- Motion activated leds. It’s nice to reach into the pantry and get light, or use the toilet at night without being blinded. They are magnetic and charge with USB C.
- Robot vacuum. I have a used Roborock S5 that keeps the whole flat spotless at the press of a button.
* Wacaco Nanopresso - manual espresso pump. Great coffee anywhere off-the-grid. We also have their grinder but that's not listed as it is above the $100 threshold
* Klean Kanteen insulated water bottle - fill up from watermaker water, stays nice and cool
* Seeed T1000-e: waterproof Meshtastic radio that allows me to communicate with our boat and crew also when out of cell coverage
* Shelly 1: WiFi/Thread relay that makes it easy to automate navigation lights and other circuits
* Ruuvi Tag: waterproof battery-powered Bluetooth temperature/humidity/pressure sensor. Battery lasts arpund two years. We have a few of these around the boat, including one in the fridge
These days I just use photopea for when I need to make a small edit. It suffices for 95% of what I need to do.
Just having a dedicated IP I can serve small and dumb things from has been fantastic, doubly so now that LLMs can do most of the driving.
https://lowendbox.com/ has a ton of providers, but I personally use vultr (no high or low praise for vultr, but they've been solid and cheap).
I prefer Unbound Merino to Smartwool for shirts, though Smartwool's socks are better than Unbound.
They're just so much sharper and more pleasant to use than your average drug store nail clippers, you can really feel the quality. I can barely stand regular nail clippers now.
140W Anker charger: like an Apple laptop charger, but with 4 ports instead of one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFCH3C4W
Nu-Salt: for those of us trying to avoid sodium, but still wanting to add salt to food https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MVJTL81
Mineral sunscreen stick: very portable, no mess https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CICLTAI
Waterpik: great alternative to dental floss https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DV7RJ9RK
- Thermal inner pants from Berghaus - Knitted thermal jacket from Salewa
I use it with both my phone and also the Steam Deck (with a magsafe sticker). Obviously I could use either device just holding them, but it's more relaxing to do it this way.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CD7558GT
I got this to play around with what's on the air, and now I'm a full blown extra.
The RTLSDR is an easy way to see if you'd like radio or not.
Kindle. Reawakened my inner book-worm many years ago. Library in a pocket. Don't use it so much tho since Audible.
Good quality (sturdy and high lumen) compact tactical torch.
Plenty of no-name ones on eBay for years before Bose took an interest. An example brand though is Musicozy if you want to search. I don't have that brand though and can't testify to them (thinness of phones will be important and will vary between brands).
Ofc mine won't be of similar audio quality to the ones you mention but they are fine for my use at night.
~€80, Anbernic RG35XXSP: Handheld games console that runs (mostly) open source linux distros. Reinvigorated my retro gaming on the go when the OG consoles are too inconvenient to carry around and emulating on a phone just feels bad. Having syncthing on-device means I'll never lose my saves again, and putting new games on it is as easy as dragging and dropping on my PC.
~€5, Mini media keyboard from aliexpress (just any, really): It works like garbage, but I never realized how badly I needed a remote with access to all of the MPV shortcuts for when I hook up my laptop to the TV.
merino wool, always good temp and dry winter or summer
- fiskars shop scissors https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VYOISU
cuts through stuff forever, easily, no slip etc
- 3-in-1 cables https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R3R7QDL
(various brands) these make travel easy
You can also do 4-in-1 with usb-a/usb-c
They can be used on their own or together, frustrating, fiddly, fun. :)
Plug in seat heater for my mom's old Jeep XJ that I restored.
Long johns for under my jeans. Wool socks (the socks I just get generic off Amazon).
For example "Bath Royale Slow Close Toilet Seat" is between $60 and $70.
I stayed in AirBnB in 2021 with soft close seats and I don't know why, but for everyone in my family it felt like a luxury/comfort item. Knowing that there won't be bang, especially at night, especially with small kids, makes a difference. I'd never thought it would unless I stayed at that AirBnB.
I heard somebody on a YouTube video (wittworks) explain why things like woodworking and stuff speak to so many in our profession, "If you work with your mind, you need to rest with your hands". This book helped me unlock a hobby that helps me relax after being at a computer all day without thinking I need a 4000 sq ft wood shop and 10's of thousands of dollars.
Speaking of tweezers on AliExpress: I love my $5.99 nail clippers that collect the clippings in a small compartment so they don't fly off everywhere. Super solid stainless steel construction that's considerably nicer than the cheap classic clippers I already had; it it had "Swiss made" on it or something I would have believed them. The ones I found are in a store called OURINER, but there are lots of weird brands making the same thing.
I got two seemingly identical super bright panels and one now emits only 5% of the light. They look the same, have been run in the same conditions (and indeed the same housing now) run parallel off the same source. The other one is as bright as when I got it. Maybe one dodgy LED bringing the team down? I'm not yet skilled enough to diagnose problems like that.
*except for the time the store sent me a message to say I should cancel the order because they ran out. I couldn't find anywhere in the ever changing AliExpress user interface to cancel the item, so they sent me an allen key, I logged it as "item not as described" and they paid the refund.
I‘d love to have better taste, but I‘m saving so much money, I do not really care.
There are a lot of different recipes for how to brew coffee in an Aeropress.
I accidentally bent mine when I was putting my shoes on :)
I've seen it in ham clubs, makerspaces, etc. It's just what happens. The best thing is having a rock solid code of conduct.
And yeah it's technically interesting though I really miss it being on the bleeding edge. That hasn't been the case for decades. The commercial world can send a gigabit per second to a phone but we're stuck with 9600 baud APRS (or 1200 even sometimes)
