Asklemmy

One I didn't see mentioned yet: a rice cooker.

Put in rice, add water, push start button, and you get perfect rice every time. I'm usually against single-purpose kitchen tools but a rice cooker is soo worth it.

A pair of high fidelity earplugs (aka concert earplugs or filtering earplugs). You can get a good non-custom pair for $15–$40, and that’ll work well for the average person for a long time.

They’re excellent for live music, airplanes, and anytime you want the world to be quieter but still need to be able to understand speech. And for music specifically, they can bring the volume level down just enough to be safe without muffling the sound like traditional foam earplugs do. Protect your hearing, kids!

If you have a car get a dashcam. It’s more valuable than any insurance because it will definitively prove what happened when something goes wrong. Bonus: you can post videos of bad drivers doing stupid things on the internet for imaginary points.

A bike. Poor people in underdeveloped countries can use it to get access to education and markets, while people from developed countries can ise it to keep healthy and reduce their environmental footprint

A bidet. You can install it yourself in 20 minutes and enjoy a lifetime of cleaner buttholes and save on tp.

3 dozen pairs of identical socks. Mine are black crew cut. I'll wear them until the last few pairs are worn through and I'll never have a sock without a mate.

Maybe specific, but if you do any DIY housework, get an endocscope. Baiscally, a 10 foot long flexible wire with a camera and light at the end. Uses your phone as a screen. Can be had for <$50. So many of my house projects would have been impossible without it. Also good for finding stuff under the couch.

A water kettle. Doesn't have to be any fancy one, but it really fucking rocks for anything you might think of : want hot water for tea? No problem. Need hot water to steep something? No problem.

Most mid-range ones are insanely power efficient too, often being alot better than just boiling water on a stovetop, or using a microwave. And, depending on insulation, heat can be stored for over 6! hours.

A fire extinguisher can be found for less than 100 USD and is a must-have. A smoke detector is also a bare minimum in my opinion.

99 bucks

Water sensor alarms.

If you have any doubts about the pipes in your house or have a feeling that water might enter your basement, sensors will help you sleep at night.

Water damage to your home is no joke. I know two separate homeowners who have had leaks from their refrigerator's plumbing (water and ice dispenser). The damage for each homeowner was quite extensive given how small the leak was.

A portable car tire inflator (with build in battery).

An iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit. I can not even begin to count how many times it saved me.

A rice cooker making rice in a saucepan will yield different results almost every time, a $20-50 rice cooker is just a set it and forget it kitchen tool that yields the same results every time. Very nice and easy

A good quality fire extinguisher, multiple if you live in a large house or apartment.

To that note, a good quality, working carbon monoxide detector should be on the list...

A sun hoodie. Sun hoodies are meant to be worn on their own, cover your entire upper body, be very light, and have a high UPF (clothing equivalent of SPF). Instead of dealing with globs of sunscreen that wears out as you sweat, you can slip on a sun hoodie in an instant and get lasting protection. I got the REI store brand, which is around $50. Unfortunately, it looks like they're almost sold out of the nice visible orange color that I bought. It's only available in XXXL.

Meat thermometer.

• The Casio F-91W. Timeless classic, with seven years of battery life.
• A dutch bicycle. Made from steel, with a kickstand, a chainguard a dynamo and internal gear. Built to last.
• A cordless screwdriver from Bosch. Fast charging and very good built quality.
• A water heater for the kitchen.

My dad would say a cast iron pan. That would outlive you and your kids.

I would say maybe an air fryer, I think you could get a decent one for less than $100USD. I use mine every day.

Otherwise, maybe good waterproof boots. I got some decent ones at an outlet store. They are kind of dressy so nice enough for work, but also warm AF and during the winter they are so good.

A decent set of precision kitchen scales, and some general use scales that don't have a massive delay on them #WeightSupremacist4Lyf

But seriously, fuck you, measuring cups. Fuck. You.

An air fryer, my microwave has been gathering dust ever since.

They covered this in Hitchhiker's Guide. The answer is a towel. A towel is just about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can carry.

Electric toothbrush

Since someone already mentioned dashcams and cast iron, my vote is: a bidet toilet seat attachment.

Fancy ones can roll $200+ but a super simple one with just a cold water hookup and no electricity will knock you back $50-60. I bought one right as covid was beginning to hit the west coast, and instantly realized I could never - ever - go back.

Huge bonus of the toilet seat style bidets is that, since you aren't actually replacing the toilet, they take like 5 mins to install and can be done in a home, condo, apartment, wherever.

Jumper cables. For like 10-20$ it can save you or someone else a lot of trouble.

A good pocket knife or multi-tool like a Letherman or Gerber. I always have a pocket knife on me and a multi-tool in my car. Either one gets used pretty much daily.

Knife: https://www.amazon.com/CIVIVI-Praxis-Flipper-Stonewashed-9Cr18MoV/dp/B08PF6NHLJ (there is a mini version of this if you like/need a smaller knife)

Multitool: https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-22-01471-Suspension-Multi-Plier/dp/B07DD69QN3/ref=sr_1_3?crid=L2L8RHSX7WGG&amp;keywords=gerber%2Bsuspension%2Bmultitool&amp;qid=1691155854&amp;s=home-garden&amp;sprefix=gerber%2Bsus%2Cgarden%2C84&amp;sr=1-3&amp;th=1

A water flosser

It's made me way more likely to floss and it's so satisfying to do after eating any sort of food that gets stuck in your teeth

As a homeowner, a Dremel. I've replaced half my tools with a single device and counting. Best 80 bucks I've spent on useful stuff in ages. You can get literally anything as an attachment, Lol. I'm waiting for the attachment that will do my taxes.

A dildo.

Pocket knife/multitool.

Decent digital instant read cooking thermometer. Makes any meat dish on point.

Underwear. I mean it would be super weird if you didnt own any underwear, right?

A "Bullet" style Fisher Space Pen.

People need pens more often than you'd think and you can be their hero. They're nigh indestructible in a bag or pocket and the thick ink will write on many things a normal ballpoint pen can't. I've written on ceramic, glass, wet cardboard, and one time (in the 90's) high school cafeteria roast beef.

The only downside is that if you damage the tiny ball in the ballpoint pentip and then don't use the pen again for a while, the sticky ink can ooze out and make a mess inside the lid.

A bedbug proof mattress cover. Order it today. Doesn't matter what sort of life you live, anyone can get them and it's a horror show.

Ergonomic Mouse/keyboard

Admittedly for $100 you might have to choose one or the other (though I used a $12 ergonomic mouse from Amazon for years until I switched to a trackball, and I loved it) - but if your job is computer based, you really should consider switching to ergonomic equipment.

Your average keyboard and mouse setup is absolute murder on the wrists in the long run - if you spend more than a couple hours at the computer every day without ergonomic equipment and your wrists don't hurt, then it's only a matter of time.

Granted, it's not just about buying a cool new keyboard and mouse - you also need to cut out bad habits like wresting your wrist on the table while typing and so on, but a good KBM will help you build those habits naturall

It sounds crazy, but trust me: a corn cob backscratcher.

It’s essentially just a dried piece of corn on a wooden stick. But the texture is perfect, and because it’s rounded, it covers a much larger area than a regular backscratcher and is much more satisfying to use. My wife bought me one for $11 and I swear by it. You simply cannot go back to a regular backscratcher after trying one.

Oh, and they’re indestructible. My in-laws still use one from 1979!

A basic set of tools. Car jack, tire iron, jumper cables. Rice cooker, crock pot, and air fryer (probably more than 100 collectively, but each one should be less than 100).