I’m curious, what’s an item, tool, or purchase you own that you feel has completely justified its cost over time? Could be anything from a gadget to a piece of furniture or even software. What made it worth it for you?
I have two 10,000 liter water tanks in my basement that I use to harvest rainwater, and another 2,000 liter tank on my roof. From October to around May I close the city water and use only rainwater. I’ve been doing that for a bit more than 10 years now, and it paid for the installation cost in about 4 or 5 years. I also have solar water heaters, but it’s hard to tell how long they took to pay for themselves because I also have on-grid photovoltaic panels for energy generation. My energy bill is about 1/6 of my neighbors’, and the photovoltaic panels paid for themselves in about 5 years as well.
Wow. Thats very cool. I’m planning on getting a solar system installed this winter too (costs less in the winter). Here power supply is not reliable but solar is fairly cheap thanks to China. Infact I’m pretty sure we have a very impressive solar system for a country of our status. (Pakistan)
It’s been more than a decade since I installed mine, so there are probably more options today, but when I did, you were either on-grid or off-grid. On-grid means you “sell” your energy production to the energy company, but if the city power goes out, so does yours. Off-grid means you don’t use city energy at all, but it was much more expensive because it required batteries for storing energy… however, I remember recently reading about people using their electric car batteries to power their houses when the electricity was out, and I’m sure batteries are much more affordable nowadays because of how much electric car technology has developed.
Bit different here. You can be on grid or off grid too. But the government has limits. They don’t want to buy all the power lol. Despite the fact that they don’t produce enough themselves.
You are put on a waitlist first. Now we do have one side of the house under solar already for a year. But thats my uncles side, and they are on grid by now plus have have batteries. And yep batteries are the expensive part here too. But you can manage a combination too.
I’ve got a 5kw battery/solar system for my little off the grid trailer home. Batteries were at $1000 a piece, at 2.5 kw a piece, last year. They are currently $800 each so prices are dropping year over year
Batteries are quite expensive. Lead-acid batteries are readily available, but don’t really work well for powering a house on a regular basis, because they don’t have a very long life cycle. LiON batteries work very well, but they’re fire hazards. Even worse, if you live in an area where you get freezing temperatures, they must be kept inside, because they can’t be allowed to freeze if you’re cycling them. LiFePO4 is the current best option. If you don’t charge them above 80, 85%, and never discharge below 20%, you should have a nearly infinite lifespan. But that means that for every 30kWh of power you use, you want 50kWh of battery. And currently LiFePO4 battery banks run approx. $1000/kWh (+/- depending on band). If you heat your home with electricity, and you live in e.g. North Dakota, you’re going to want more like 200kWh of batteries, because even high efficiency heat pumps can suck a lot of power when it’s -20F.
I’m currently working on getting a 17.7kW system approved by the local utility. It looks like I’ll need to step down what I’m feeding into the grid, because the line capacity out where I live is only 10kW, and they will only approve 75% of the line capacity for grid-tied systems.
You drink the rainwater?
Not directly, but I probably could. I have nets in my gutters so insects and leaves don’t fall on it and I have another filter before the tanks in my basement. I regularly do tests to check levels of pH, chlorine and other stuff. The chlorine tablets I use says it’s used to make water drinkable, and I use the rainwater to cook and make coffee (so I only consume rainwater that was treated and boiled).
My city is in the middle of mountains and it rains a lot and it also has tons of public water fountains, so every weekend I just go to a natural water spring at the bottom of a mountain and fill some bottles to drink through the week - the city’s water company do weekly tests on the fountains and every fountain has a QR code for you to check that fountain status.I think that’s a cool option for preparedness, but seems like a bit of a hassle compared to just using municipal water. But I’m guessing the municipal water is also fairly expensive where you live
There were a couple of years with extended drought season and the city’s water reserves got dangerously low and there was rationing. Since then, I got another five 260L barrels and tons of 5L bottles filled with rainwater under my stairs just for use on my lawn, garden, and houseplants. I don’t believe the climate is going to get any better in the future, nor that the population will get smaller or industry will use less water. Every year is hotter than the previous one. What I expect are longer and longer drought seasons, and I don’t think I’m prepared enough :P
Im my experience, the expensive park of the water bill is actually the sewer expenses. Are you on septic or do you use municipal sewer? Do you have a water/sewer bill at all in the months youre not using their water?
Here the sewer is 80% (so for every $10 you consume of water they charge another $8 for sewer). In those months I don’t use their water I still pay for the sewer minimal fee (up to 10m³ water consumption, my average in the months I use their water is 18m³)
Filters, hommie.
I mean, I know, but wouldn’t those also increase the cost?
I pay $200 a month for water in the seattle suburbs, plus $180 for city drainage, and a one time $25k fee for hook up to the water system. So yeah filters might be a cost.
When you say "I close city water’, sounds like you are also drinking that water? Sounds like a cool idea that I too have been thinking about. That water needs disinfection though
I’m not a native speaker. I just mean I use the city water supply when it’s not raining season, and when it starts raining (about half of the year here) I stop using (and paying for) it and use only rainwater. As I wrote in another comment here, my city has a lot of natural springs and I get water for drinking there.
How did you get the tanks in your basement?
sloped lot. I put them there before the walls.
Boring answer but my hair clippers.
Ain’t been to the professionals for years.
I do look like the wild man of the woods though
It takes a bit of learning and help, but you can get good at doing a gradient.
I’ve been doing a #1 or #0 all over for ages. Clippers work out great for me. No skill required.
My system goes like this:
Summer arrives and it’s hot, time to clean shave my head and beard and look like a nazi skinhead.
By the time winter comes I’m looking like a hobo but my hair is nicely covering my ears and my face and neck are protected by my beard so I don’t feel so cold.
Summer arrives again, time to clean shave again.Hadn’t even though of this. I don’t think I’ve seen a barber in 2 years. I’m glad my partner had experience shaving their dad’s head though, they do a nice job
Good answer - pays for itself in less than a year.
My power tools. I’m not a professional but doing all the diy home repairs myself with the right tools for the job has probably saved me tens of thousands of dollars in contractors. And believe me when I say get the right tools for the job, it’s worth it. You can fight with the wrong tool for hours trying to get a job done poorly or do it right in minutes with the right tools for the job. Not only is your time valuable but having the project done correctly the first time means you don’t have to pay to fix it a second time. Even if you’re the one doing it the second time, you still have to spend the time ripping out the garbage you put in and pay for the materials to do it right the second time.
This 100%
I do my own renovations and build some simple furniture etc.; my drill and miter saw in particular have been invaluable.
Agreed. People might balk at the cost of some tools, but generally, if you are doing a project that’s within your comfort zone, you might only need 1 or 2 more tools.
Oftentimes, tools will pay for themselves in 1 job when compared to the cost of hiring someone. An example job I was thinking of is installing crown molding. It looks like based on a rough estimate of the measurements of a normal house, materials might $1000 for cheap wood. You could get a nailer and miter saw for less than $500. Compare that to an online calculator that estimates $4,000-$6000 to pay someone to do it.
Renting tools is occasionally the way to go, but renting for a week often costs more than just buying the tool. A rental tool might be a better brand, but unless you are using it every day, you don’t need that level of durability.
I have a pretty good amount of tools. I think I’ve made every single one back by now. I’ve done multiple renovations, lots of repair work, build some furniture, did a lot of flooring and also did my front and back yard including fences with it.
I think if I hired a contractor to do what I did myself it would have been faster, but at least three times the cost. There are still some things I cannot do myself or am legally not allowed to work on, but the rest I will definitely do by myself.
My bike is the only thing I can say for certain has paid for itself. If I had paid $1 for each trip I’ve taken on it, I would have spent far more than it cost me.
I bought an expensive e-bike exactly 2 years ago. Here the public transport costs 70 €/month. The bike hasn’t quite paid for itself yet, but it’s getting close!
now add in the value of time and convenience, with that it’s likely paid for itself a few times over
My job pays for a public transit pass for me and get a business discount or something on top of an annual subscription discount vs month-to-month payments, so I have unlimited free public transit in my city. I’m hankering for an ebike to spend less time on the bus but damn if the scales aren’t tilted.
I’m still riding the bike my parents got me when I was a teenager, and these last couple of years I’ve easily put several hundred miles on it. Heck I’ll probably ride it in about an hour to go pick up my kids from school. For school pickups and dropoffs over calculated a conservative $10 a week saved in gas consumption by biking instead of driving, plus I start my day envigerated rather than annoyed about school traffic
Ditched gaming chairs, got an ergonomic office chair with several adjustment points.
It’s mesh seat and back, so its breathable in summer, gentle and supportive. I sit upright with no back pain. I lock it in place upright if I’m not using the armrests (eg: controller). Comfortable enough you quickly forget its even there, which is what you actually want in your practical furniture.
Every ‘gaming’ chair I’ve used cost almost as much, was a sticky pleather mess that flaked within months, pneumatics shot within a year, weird ‘racecar’ leaning back, fucked up my neck. But hey, at least it was in garish pointless colours? (Also, fuck those chairs that have the little ‘edges’, are they supposed to cup me in my seat Luke a cot? Because they get in the way).
I will never game in a gaming chair again. Quality ergonomic office chairs are DESIGNED for sitting in for hours at a time, and it shows. I’ve converted several others now.
Office chairs are designed to be sat in for long periods. Gaming chairs are designed to look cool on twitch.
Imagine ricing an office chair to look like a gaming chair:
“Look at my awesome gaming office chair I customized it myself” would definitely be a flex on twitch
Thank you, +1 to your converted list
I bought a second hand Aeron right at the start of Covid, banking on the fact I’d probably need it. I have been permanently remote work since and it’s been one of my best investments. It was very expensive and also very worth it.
Absolutely agreed. I got a decent office chair over a decade ago, and it’s been good since. I think it has a teeny wobble that popped up in the last two years, but other than that the padding and such are still great.
Can you link the one you got please?
The thing is that this chair is so good that I’ve had it for years and the pneumatics still so no sign of wear. So I couldn’t find a link for you, the retailer I got it from is lone gone. (Also you probably don’t live on the same island as me.)
But I can see the emblem on the back indicating the brand is GTCHAIR, so I guess check their range for full mesh ergonomic? I forget how many adjustment points mine boasts, I want to say 9… also has a lumbar support piece, which goes great with the height-adjustable back
I’ll try to find it. Maybe you can use Tineye or something else from alternativeto.net alternatives to Google Lens to find it using a photo taken too? If not no worries, takes for the info either way
I need to find one of those. I have a mid one my parents got somewhere years ago but I’m short and if I sit in it properly my feet dangle off the floor which is uncomfortable so I always end up slouching. It is also has the mesh stuff but I’m not a fan of it. It doesn’t feel as supportive and it’s not like I’m overweight or anything.
I’m not sure I’m quite there yet but I’m on my way: my sewing machine.
I sew clothes for me and my husband. I sew my kids’ Halloween costumes. I sew bags; my last two purses have been made by me. One is still in great shape aside from the handles; my kiddo said I should get (or sew) a new purse and I replied, nah, just need to re-sew the handles, no biggie.
The only reason I don’t think it’s paid for itself quite yet is because I bought a pricey machine in 2021 after struggling with a hand-me-down for a while.
I’m toying with the idea of getting a sewing machine.
Hand sewing bores the tits off me but I want to be able to fix/adjust/create my clothes
I recently picked up a sewing machine at a garage sale for $40 and it has been a game changer for me and has really upped my look. All my clothes are now tailored to fit my body, and it makes a huge difference. I’m a middle-age man, but am very fit. However, most off the rack clothing is cut for the average American male physique, which means that shirts that fit me in the shoulders generally have tons of extra fabric around the mid section. Now, every short sleeve shirt I buy gets “the treatment”. I take up the sleeves to mid-bicep (because showing bicep is the male equivalent to showing cleavage), take them in to hug my biceps, and then taper the shirt to the waist to show off my trim waistline and emphasize my shoulder to waist ratio. Quite honestly, it’s amazing how much more attention I get based upon that one simple change.
lol I agree! Hand sewing is so slow. I only do it when I absolutely must.
As a kid I liked cross stitch, and I think I still might (I’m also a knitter so slow processes are fine) but I don’t enjoy the end product so I never do it.
Cross stitch looks like fun, but I don’t want any cross stitched stuff afterwards, I guess.
Most modern sewing machines have capability to do so much more than you probably really need.
Personally, all I really need is a machine that can do straight stitches with adjustable stitch length and reversing. I have a 1950s machine that does that, and it was free to me, and there’s attachments for zigzagging if I want.
If you are just patching and altering clothes, that’s probably all you need, too.
Yep, definitely.
No need to spunk loads of money on something I’ll not use to its full capacity…
A second hand simple model will be sufficient.
The most exciting thing I’ll end up making is probably pillowcases/cushion covers.
Or that dress from IASIP
What was your hand-me-down? I’m working with a 1950s machine, and it seems to work great for me, but i have to admit I haven’t used a machine built in the past 20 years, so idk what I’m missing.
It was a 1971(? I think) Kenmore of all things. I had no idea Kenmore even made sewing machines, but apparently they did. I still have it. I couldn’t get the zipper foot to work and the proverbial straw was that not only could I find no help online, but the guy at the repair shop said “Why are you bothering?” Although that did rub me the wrong way, admittedly. I took it to a different shop and they said essentially the same thing but in a much kinder and gentler way. (I bought a new machine from them instead of the first guy.) I decided I wanted something I could at least find help for on YouTube, and in fact I have watched videos a few times when I couldn’t figure something out… or whenever I want to do a blind hem because I can never remember how to do it.
Ah, I wonder if it was new enough to not be dead simple, but not new enough to not have any documentation or spare parts?
I didn’t even know what a zipper foot is, but it turns out I have one, lol. That shows what I know.
Oh yeah, I bought a cheap machine pre-2000 and it’s paid for itself several times over just making boat canvas and doing sail repairs.
A book. Teach yourself Perl in 30 days. (Edit - may have been 21 days)
I bought it around 25-30 years ago. I have dyslexia and autism and have had problems learning from books in the past, but something about the way that was written just clicked for me.
It allowed me to write some pretty cool software, including a huge system that ran a large animal charity for a very long time, tons of automation software and scripts, and several full webuis. Indirectly it led me to a new career where I write perl every day.
(I can write in many other languages now, but that was the keystone of everything for me)
It’s it possible the title was Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days?
Yes, I maybe misremembered the title. I couldn’t find it in a quick search and it’s up in the loft in a box somewhere.
Which book if you don’t mind me asking?
My sous vide, 100% I have never gotten a steak from a restaurant that was better than what I make at home with my sous vide and a good thick iron pan. It cost $100 and it probably paid for itself with one package of steaks from Costco.
Agreed! Sous vide has turned me into a steak snob! I’m looking at $50-$60 steakhouse steaks to get close to how mine come out. And my circulator is just a cheapo $25 Aldi model. Still going strong even after 12 years.
My noise cancelling headphones.
Bose QC35s and I’ve worn them until the ear cups basically fell off, then replaced those for ~$20USD and am still getting daily use out of them.
They have made public life actually livable and music is fantastic with them, plus noisy roommates are no longer as upsetting to be around, lol.
I LOVE them. Work with them a lot of my time, they signal that I want to be left alone and I also can just not listen to my colleagues yapping
Careful not to use them too loud though studies are being done and finding that hearing loud sounds consistently especially earbuds/headphones over/in ear are killing the hairs in ear that help with keeping hearing good
I appreciate it lol, I’m very careful with my hearing and actually use them as ear protection at concerts and sports events as well!
Hair clippers. I started with a $25 cordless rechargeable one that I got on sale during the pandemic when everything closed down. I recently upgraded to a much better and more powerful corded variant. Looking at how much haircuts are these days plus tips, it definitely has paid for itself multiple times over.
Robot mower. I bought one on sale 4 months ago. It hasn’t paid for itself yet because I’ve only had it for a short while, but I believe within a year it will, with how much time and effort I save for myself. That and my knees and back are thanking it.
The corded ones really are better than the cordless ones. My bf went through several cordless ones before I bought him a corded one. Years later, it’s still going strong. Don’t know why the lifespan is so different. They’re the same brand.
I think the battery-powered ones are simply just weaker. Making them as powerful as the corded versions means shorter working times and you have to re-charge more frequently. Mine was also getting jammed with hair clippings that I had to clean them out after every use. My corded clipper on the other hand has barely any hair on it after use and a light brushing cleans it up. It also has fewer nooks and crannies for hair to get stuck in.
During covid I bought a 4x4 pickup for 10 grand and it is maybe the best purchase I’ve ever made in my entire life. 2007 Sierra with every option except sunroof. It’s been to the arctic circle and back and I’ve been out camping at least every second weekend since obtaining it. It’s a little beat up but mechanically sound so I don’t feel guilty about things breaking or putting kilometers on it and I use it way more than I ever expected to
My 3d printer(s). I bought my first one used for $100 ~10 years ago and offered to print a small model for someone’s college capstone project. People learned I had a printer and started coming to me for all sorts of small things. I would only charge for substantial jobs but people would end up paying me anyway. I quickly got a resin printer and started selling miniatures for friends. I eventually got contacted by one of the major manufacturers who would send me return units and replacement parts so I could repair and tell them what was broken, if anything, then I could keep or sell them.
Everything I have done with 3d printing has been subsidized by side jobs. It’s a super fun hobby because 3d printing sits at the nexus point of basically every other hobby. I have done jobs for people building rat rods, model trains, cosplay, interior designers, hydroponics, brewing, architects, drones, and more.I bought a cheap 3d printer years ago and I’m pretty sure it’s paid for itself just making replacement parts for our dishwasher. Probably paid for itself several times over if I add up the price+shipping of all the other miscellaneous repair parts it’s made.
I bought my first one to do exactly that! The clip that held the spring in place to gently lower the door snapped twice and I saw that someone had a beefier one modeled and decided I would buy a printer rather than pay the $17 dollar for another part that would break.
Designing exactly what you need and printing it for pocket change is amazing.
My favorite replacement part was cloning a missing window frame clip from the 80s (original was extruded aluminum).
Safety razor
Blades are extremely cheap and always gives a great shave.
Elliptical and dumbbells
Gym memberships add up quick so went with a cheaper elliptical and a nice set of adjustable dumbbells.
Kobo ereader
As I get more into reading I’ve come to appreciate that this one allows loading my own ebooks from my PC which can save a ton depending on use case.
Safety razor was a game changer for me. Although I do find that some brands of blades irritate my skin and some don’t, might be worth trying multiple if you get one.
lots of online stores that specialize in that stuff sell variety packs of blades so you can find what works for you.
I bought a Kobo as well, after having a ton of DRM issues with books I’ve bought on kindle. I love the Kobo!
I have priced out gym equipment, because I live 100 miles from the nearest “city” (…which is, like 20,000 people).
At $30/mo for a gym membership, it would take me >15 years to pay for a decent, mid-range power rack, Olympic bars, and bench. And that’s not including the weights themselves, which are usually $2-5/pound. A decent elliptical machine from eBay? Another 2 years, plus a year and a half for shipping.
If you’re serious about weights, and not independently wealthy, it almost always makes more sense to have a gym membership.
Agreed. For anything beyond the simplest setup membership is the way to go especially if near enough to some of the cheaper options; we had a Planet Fitness open near us that offers $10/month for lowest tier membership (prior it was YMCA at $70/month for the family).
I have a kegerator that isn’t seeing much use as I don’t really get full kegs of beer anymore these days. We were buying cans of seltzer by the case and I figured I could just make my own. So I got a new 5 gallon keg for around $100 and some connectors and stuff. Got my co2 tank filled. Filled the keg with water and cranked the pressure up. After a day or two I had decently carbonated water. Pour a glass like you would a beer, add a little lemon or lime juice for flavor and boom. Seltzer. Been doing that a few years now. Between the co2 fills and the water from my tap it probably costs me $2-3 per 5 gallon “batch”. Compare that to $10-15 for a case of twenty four 12oz cans.
For all others who didn’t own a pub before: things like sodastream do basically the same and are easy to place and handle.
I have a similar setup (keezer), and i really want to start kegging a wider variety of drinks, but I’m not going to make a whole 5 gallon batch of tepache. Putting 1 gallon of liquid into a 5 gallon keg isn’t ideal cause you either have a lot of oxygen in the headspace, or have to waste a lot of co2 purging.
Unfortunately, 1 gallon kegs are way more expensive than 5 gallon kegs.
Woa.
A cargo ebike. No insurance (very cheap anti-theft insurance if you want), no registration fees, $20/year in electricity. I can get anywhere in the city as fast as driving but that’s no longer stressful. Instead of being stuck in traffic and dealing with road raging drivers, I get to zoom along nature paths with the strength of an Olympic athlete. My commute feels liberating instead of like the first and final insult of my day. It’s the first thing I’ve purchased since a smartphone that feels like it’s a foundational 21st century technology. Most of my problems with 20th century development go out the window with it.
Ebikes can be incredibly liberating. Since switching that up as my commuter vehicle, I don’t stress at all before or after work.
