Looking for some neat ideas/quality of life improvements aka lifehacks I guess
A breadmaker which also makes jam.
If it can give hugs too, you basically got a whole gramma there.
The smell of fresh bread is like a hug for your nose.
Honestly something I got for my partner - a silicone microwave popcorn bowl kinda like this one. I stumbled across it at Goodwill, still brand new.
It’s a medium sized, black silicone bowl with a vented cover - fill a recessed space in the bottom with normal popcorn and microwave for a few minutes.
No extra packaging, no grease, easy cleanup, and you can use cheap (or super nice) popcorn as you like. And it collapses down for storage.
They’re great. I’ve got one and love making popcorn with it.
I was able to afford meat twice this week!
A fluffy blanket
aw heyo yee fluffy blanket
An electric blanket. Fuck utilities costs, eats next to nothing and so, so comfy.
Electric blankets are peak-cozy. Like a warm shower but dry.
I have one too but you have to put it on your matras because it’s quite rigid. Do you have one in an actual blanket form?
Yeah I have this one
Fermenting everything I can find in every discarded glass jar I come across.
So far, I turned blueberries into olives, and lemons into… they stayed lemons… So far!
Old Pico de Gallo seems slightly more promising.
Actually QoL improvements in a purchase? The last one was a computer for running offline AI. It lead me to blueberry alchemy… yrmv
Turn blueberries into shrub, add shrub to sparkling water (or cocktail).
Blueberries aren’t olives… You just mean you fermented blueberries and they taste like olives?
Yes, sorry if my sarcasm was not clear. I managed to make blueberries taste like bad olives… So far.
I don’t buy anything
My local discount zoo of a store was selling cold brew tea for a dollar so now I have twenty-four boxes of cold brew Watermelon Lime Zinger.
But seriously, for $1 that’s crazy economical and I am on some medication where it is paramount that I stay hydrated.My more normal snag is produce crates. The local asian market literally gives them away and they’re incredible tools for organization! They stack, you can take wire cutters to the plastic grill on side to make them into stackable cubbies, and they help organize the trunk of your car.
If I’m doing better in the spring I’d like to ise them to make raised beds for growing some veggies.
I got a soda machine that uses packets of powder instead of a c02 cannister.
Fun fact: the CO2 version can actually be made incredibly cheap if you retrofit a decently sized paintball CO2 canister to work with your soda machine (kits can be bought). The biggest difference is that paintball CO2 isn’t food grade, but it’s pretty common to dismiss this if that’s something you’re comfortable doing.
You go from spending however much (think I remember them costing as much as $50 for like, 12oz) on a SodaStream proprietary CO2 canister, to spending like $10-$30 every couple of months on a 20+ oz fillup at your local sporting goods store, and the one time $40-$60 for a decent sized canister that lasts forever. Seriously, I still have my canister from when I played paintball in 2008.
I bought an adapter and a 25 liter siphon tank.
I found a local gas company that will refill my siphon tank with food grade CO2. Because it’s a siphon it’ll transfer liquid directly into the SodaStream tanks.
I own five SodaStream tanks. I can refill them about four times out of the siphon tank.
The siphon tank cost $25 to refill at a semi local gas company.
pop rocks?
sodium bicarbonate
Got a robo vacuum (Roborock q revo). Amazing stuff. It runs every day and the first floor has never been cleaner.
Air fryer has been fun though I’m still trying to learn what works well with it.
3D printer (Bambulab A1)! So fun.
I just realised that I’ve spent like 2k on gadgets in the past two months oops.
Though I really really want a rice cooker but haven’t pulled the trigger… yet.
Something a bit cheaper is this home made bread that needs no kneading and is amazing.
3dl water (1.3 cups) pouch of dry yeast (11g, 0.38oz) 1tsp salt 1tbs maple syrup (or whatever syrup) 2dl of dried oats (0.85 cups) 5dl of wheat flour (2.1 cups) 2tbs neutral oil (haven’t tried olive) Seeds if you like!
Mix up dry ingredients. Add lukewarm water and mix (add a splash or two extra if it looks like not everything is mixed into the dough). Do not knead, just mix. Add oil and mix slightly. Put a baking sheet in a bread pan and pour the dough in it. Add a spritz of water on the dough surface (not necessary though). Cover and leave in room temperature for 30min. Bake at 175C (350f) for 45-60min.
I think I’ll make one.
Rice cooker you should definitely get if you eat rice on a normal basis. You can get them super cheap like $20
I love my $19 Aroma one if you are looking for suggestions. My 3 year old can make rice, and it’s absolutely adorable.
Fill the included cup twice and dump into cooker. Fill the cooker with water to line marked “2”. Hit power. Hit brown or white. In 30 minutes you’ll have perfectly cooked rice.
I can’t believe I went 30 years making it the hard way, or not at all.
I found a more sensible thing instead of a rice cooker was to just get an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker, and cook rice in it. It works really well and then I have it to use for a bunch of other stuff.
Yeah maybe, haven’t really looked at what I could do with one. Though they’re probably a decent bit more expensive.
They were a huge fad (though worth it, IMO), but lots of people have given them up to thrift shops, and you can get them for really cheap now
Absolutely excellent for cooking chili and bean soups, and you can do pasta in 5 minutes in them. I find they are worth the extra money.
Chili and bean soups sound great, I’ll take a look, thanks!
Rice cooker is definitely worth it if you eat rice with any degree of regularity. I love my zojirushi, it makes excellent rice and its super easy to clean. Plus it plays a little tune when the rice is done!
Flair Pro 2 manual espresso machine.
Ohhhh that’s been on my radar ever since I saw James Hoffmann playing around with it. I’m about to move abroad so it would be unnecessary ballast, but once I’ve settled in, that’s on the to-do list.
How steep is the learning curve to get the workflow & output consistent?
Not the OP but having got rid of my Flair as it was too painful to get great coffee out of at 6am every morning, the learning curve is very steep unless you are already familiar with making espresso.
The learning curve is a bit steep, but for me it’s part of the fun. You control all the variables, which kind of forces you to learn about the whole espresso making process. Once you got the workflow down it’s not too bad.
Don’t get it if you expect a quick cup of espresso in the morning. Do get it if you like to fiddle with things and want go the extra mile to get the most out of your espresso.
Oh sure, it wouldn’t me my daily driver I guess, at least not the one for the first shot. But I’ve already got a decent espresso machine for that (plus 7 other coffee making contraptions), so the flair would be for the second and third short during the day. And a nice showpiece for sure.
Cast iron griddle, scraper, and chef weight. I should have bought these years ago. I use the griddle and scraper daily.
For the weak like myself, carbon steel is also a great option!
The aeropress coffee maker and a coffee grinder. I threw my kurig machine in the trash after making my first aeropress coffee.
Bit of a waste if it was a perfectly good machine?
I would be creating more waste with the k cups if I kept the Keurig
I have been using the same reusable k-cup for years now, so you can get around that issue.
This is true. I still enjoy my aeropress.
This is why I’ve never bought a machine that takes pods. That and every time I’ve used a shared one there’s always a wierd song and dance you have to do to get it to actually brew and not throw vague errors or worse just do nothing at you.
I’ve been using a $10 drip coffee machine with a reusable filter for 3 years now and it makes coffee easier and with less waste than a Keurig ever would. Oh and it’s literally just as many steps as a Keurig with a reusable pod
Got myself a Logitech G502X and the Powerplay charging mouse pad. Now I can have my wireless mouse charged 24/7 and never have I think about plugging it or docking it.
The powerplay is a game changer. You made a great choice getting that thing.
Not really bought but I was gifted a used 3D printer (Ender 3 pro) from a print farm. Great starter printer and it’s solid and totally upgradable. It’s like a manual Jeep Wrangler from the in line six days and before. I can print anything to improve my life.
First great functional print was a wall socket cover plate with a HomePod mini shelf above it to get it off our kitchen counter. Projects sound much better since it’s no longer surrounded by stuff.
My wife then wanted a handle for a 20oz Yeti tumbler. Printed that and she loves it.
Little things, printed a tool holder for my 3D printer tools that fits on it and keeps them neat and out of the way.
Recently printed a computer monitor stand VESA mount to lift it up (I only have a short monitor stand). Spent $2.63 on the filament to print that. It’s freaking awesome.
Easily the best gift I’ve received in decades.
I’m still rocking a super old monoprice mini select. It’s been so heavily modifier and repaired at this point I probably should have gotten a better one. Small print area, no magnetic build plate, no auto leveling. It feels like a geo metro with manual everything.
Hanging transparent “jewelry holder” for the hall closet. Instead of a box/drawer, I now have 80 little pockets for all the various adapters, connectors, and small cables
