What are your best purchases under $100?

Nesting silicone bowls with lids. Quiet and good for everything.

A set of Wera lasertip screwdrivers.

Or, a Knipex Cobra pair of pliers.

I like this question because I come at it from a very different lifestyle. I’m a digital nomad and I have mostly lived out of a backpack and carry on for the past 10 years. My philosophy is that things have to be worth carrying and they should be very easily replaceable if anything gets lost, stolen or breaks. A few of my under $100 favs:

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.

Rechargable, motion sensing led strips for inside my wardrobe. Not a big thing but improved my ability to find things no-end. The only issue is they don't turn on when it is light enough to see and we slightly disagree on how light that is.

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

Shoehorn!

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).

4 of my 6 animals, which were free. (3 cats, 1 dog) Another was less than $200.

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? :-)

Aeropress coffee maker. Look up the James Hoffmann recipe on YouTube and you can never drink another coffee style again

An old, pre-online activation copy of Photoshop that I still use today.

$50 RTLSDR Kit

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.

Smartwool shirt and socks. no odor absorption so ability to wear without daily washing. Good thermal regulation as well.

Thermal underwear. Entering the 10th year of a 30 euro Helly Hansen long underpants that keeps me warm half the year.

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.

Some of my best purchases were outdoor clothing I bought some 7 years ago on a whim. I constantly regret not getting some 10 of them, and sadly they don't make these anymore.

- Thermal inner pants from Berghaus - Knitted thermal jacket from Salewa

I feel like I get a ton of value out of a cheap VPS.

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).

Probably some wood working tool, guess if I had to pick it would be my ECE Wedge set smooth plane since it is my most used tool by a long shot and it taught me a great deal about using planes.

[EDJY](https://edjy.com/products/edjy-fingernail-cutter) nail trimmers have been awesome and I will probably only ever use that from now on

Sleep buds (flat earbuds you can lie comfortably in). Mine were dirt cheap ones built in to sleeping mask off eBay. Def helped my sleep patterns when I started using Audible on a 30 minute sleep timer with them.

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.

Seki Edge nail clippers.

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.

Azumaya brand kotatsu futons are now my favorite blankets for both sleeping and using around the house, and some of them at least are around $100.

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.

A travel magsafe stand for flights has been really nice. Here's the one I have, but there's lots of options: https://a.co/d/18k9eCa

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.

Stanley Classic Legendary Vacuum Bottle 1.0 qt Bialetti Moka Express 6-Cup Aluminum Stovetop Espresso Maker

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.

Leatherman skeletool knife. Small, rugged, has just the right number of tools on it. I’ve had one for about ten years and it goes in my pocket every day. The one time I managed to break the pliers on it by abusing them really badly, Leatherman replaced the tool under warranty no questions asked.

Merino wool shirts, undergarments, hats.

Leather gloves.

Bedtime story books.

TwelveSouth Airfly pro airplane bluetooth sound adapter.

Belkin wireless car charger.

Standalone coat racks for the office.

Pocket operators are really fun to play with when you need a break from work.

I'm actually jealous of the people that have answers to this questions because I can't come up with any answer even if you multiplied the amount by a 1000.

For work: Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse, Anti fatigue mat

For home: Bidet

For personal: Kindle

Uniqlo Ultra Light Down Jacket

Custom motorcycle handlebar ends and levers. Cumulatively ~$80 and makes my riding experience drastically better.

Dual-end pliers, like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Performance-Tool-W1105-Side-Locki...

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.

Appreciate everyone adding links to their suggestions!

One of those reoriented vertical Logitech mice that reduce wrist pain. Amazing!

Ergodriven topo standing desk mat - $99

Deltahub carpio 2.0 wrist rest - $35

gotta be a tire inflater (not sure what brand) that came with a flash light and works rain or snow powered by car adapter

magnetic shelving for the side of the fridge greatly expanded upon the cabinet space usable to me as a shorter person.

Sensor Watch.

A no name Espresso machine. I got it as a gift but I doubt it was much more than $100. It works great. I had always assumed I would regret not buying a super expensive one, but it turns out you can have great espresso for not much money.

A good burr coffee grinder.

Swiss Army knife

Bidet

Weighted blanket

Shoehorn

Microsoft Modern Webcam - $50 and the image quality is great.

3M WR209 Wrist rest - $20

Logitech M310 Mouse - $20

A nice tea kettle where the temperature is adjustable.

a good mission burrito is like $10 and makes my life better

fucking condoms

The work sharp precision knife sharpener.

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.

Chi-fi IEMs. People have no idea what sound quality can be achieved under 100$.

- darn tough socks https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XG34G8

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

A backpod.

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.

My latest favorite gadget is a Wuben G5 light. Very compact, very bright, and has lots of handy features like a swivel and magnet. $20 on Amazon right now.

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.

A £20 USB microphone from Aliexpress. The audio quality is so much better than laptop or headphone microphone

Im having alot of fun with my new RTL-SDR dongle and Baofeng radio. I pretty quickly found SDR++ which really deepend the rabbit hole and generated about 1000 new questions.

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".

A 10 foot USB C cable. It reaches anywhere in the room. I can charge my phone in any position in bed. I only recently 'splurged' on this $10 item and it is the best thing ever.

probably one of those super bright one AAA battery keychain flashlights (~$12). Because its attached to your keys you always have it with you, and the smaller and brighter flashlights get, the more useful they become somehow. I'm not kidding, these things are blindingly bright.

Small Bluetooth receiver for an older car.

The “Cool Tools” catalog.

I love my Logitech Lift Vertical Ergonomic Mouse since it completely fixed my wrist pain. Also it can memorize 3 different Bluetooth connections and toggle between them via a small button on the bottom.

https://www.logitech.com/en-us/shop/p/lift-vertical-ergonomi...

Rohm Travel Sound Machine

Small things, mostly from skimming my amazon history. Nothing crazy, but all of these make my everyday life... smoother. Things that were a little bit annoying are invisible now. It stacks up. Raw links, no affiliates or trackers.

* 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.

Sonicare Electric Toothbrush. My grandmother bought me my first one in the 90s. I’m on my third, and that’s only because I take them backpacking. It’s my 1 luxury item on the trail. I know much of it is genetics, but a morning and evening cleaning make my teeth feel amazing and have helped me stay cavity free.

Price has gone up a lot, but briefly, multiseat program. Instead of buying a separate gaming/media system, bought one much more powerful system and split it into 2 systems. Setup kind of PIA, but worth it while needed it.

Also an electric travel bidet.

A yearly Github copilot subscription :)