Things I Love and Actually Use
Everything on this list earned its place. Nothing else made the cut.
The list fits the way I try to live below my means on purpose: buy the thing that lasts, skip the thing that doesn’t, and never pay for a logo that doesn’t change the product.
That last point gets its own column below — Brand matters? Sometimes the brand is the whole reason it’s good (a clipper that lasts 20 years). Most of the time, any decent version works, and you’re just paying for a name. I tell you which is which.
For electronics, Amazon stars alone will fool you. New, better models often show fewer reviews than old ones, so the rating sorts the wrong way. I ask an LLM to compare specs and reputation too, then decide.
The list
| Item | My take | Brand matters? | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 777 Three Seven Nail Clipper Set (TS-800C) | Our last set lasted 20 years. The most-used clipper finally went dull, so we bought another set — betting on another 20. | Yes | Amazon |
| Safe-Cut Manual Can Opener (no sharp edges) | Different design: it cuts the side of the lid, not the top. No sharp edge left behind. The lid lifts off clean instead of dropping into your food. | No | Amazon |
| Nexcare Strong Yet Pain-Free Tape | Mouth tape, to cut snoring. Doesn’t work 100%, but beats nothing. Tears by hand. Gentle on sensitive skin. (Why I bother: Why We Sleep.) | No | Amazon |
| Oral-B EssentialFloss (50 m, 24-pack) | Love it. Use it every single day. | Yes | Amazon |
| SUNGAIT Lightweight Polarized Sunglasses (UV400) | Bought four pairs and stashed them strategically, so one’s always within reach. | No | Amazon |
| Plastic Tongue Scraper / Cleaner | Tried a stainless one — too sharp. These plastic ones work best so far. | No | Amazon |
| G.a HOMEFAVOR Stainless Steel Bento Box | Expensive, but worth owning one. Can’t microwave it, so I heat my vegetables at home, cool them off, then pack. | Yes | Amazon |
| APC UPS Battery Backup | Small backup battery, just enough to cover the internet router. Don’t go big — they wear out in a few years anyway. | No | Amazon |
| Minimalist Quartz Watch | Accurate. Battery ran 1.5 years; my last watch ran 2. | No | Amazon |
| Kensington Duo Gel Wrist Rest (mouse + keyboard) | Use them every day. | No | Amazon |
| Wide-Brim Sun Hat with Neck Flap (UPF 50+) | Wear it any time I’m out under the sun, for UV protection. | No | Amazon |
| UPF 50+ Full-Zip Sun Hoodie | A sun-protection layer I wear outdoors. | No | Amazon |
| Pudolla Lightweight Hiking Pants (quick-dry) | Wear them under the sun for UV protection. Light, quick-dry, zipper pockets. | No | Amazon |
| Compact UV Umbrella (99% UV, rainproof) | Covers both rain and sun. | No | Amazon |
| CLEAR CREEK Black (Beluga) Lentils, 25 lb | Every breakfast, sometimes lunch too. I boil them using a rice cooker. | No | Amazon |
| Adidas Running Shoes | Wear them every day out of home. Don’t buy from Academy — buy from Costco, especially on sale. | Yes | Costco |
| Adidas Slides / Sandals | Wear them every day at home. Buy from Costco on sale. | Yes | Costco |
| Samsung Galaxy A-series phone | Cost-effective, and guarantees 6 years of major Android upgrades and security patches. I have an A35; honestly an A17 would’ve been plenty. | No | — |
| Asus Vivobook laptop | Good value. (Remember: for computers and phones, check more than Amazon stars — ask an LLM too.) | No | — |
| Apple — nothing | I own zero Apple products. Remember how Apple made shareholders a fortune selling iPhones? I pass. | — | — |
A few notes
On “buy from Costco, not Academy.” Same Adidas shoe. Lower price. The brand is worth it here — Puma isn’t as comfortable. But where you buy changes the price more than people expect.
On the sun gear. Hat, hoodie, pants, umbrella — it’s a system.
On the phone. The lesson isn’t “Samsung.” It’s years of updates per dollar. A mid-tier phone supported for 6 years beats a flagship you replace in 3. Run that math before you upgrade.
Plans & media
Same pattern as the gear: pay for the cheapest thing that does the job. Refuse to pay for the things designed to eat your money and your time.
| Item | My take | Worth it? | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Mobile — Light plan | $8/month, 2 GB data. Tiny on purpose. I block YouTube from pulling 5G data, so video stays on Wi-Fi and the small plan is plenty. | Yes | usmobile.com |
| T-Mobile Home Internet (5G) | $50/month. Our local cables are bad; the 5G tower has far higher uptime and gets repair priority. | Yes | t-mobile.com |
| Cable / Streaming TV | None. We only have Amazon Prime, which throws in some “free” movies with ads. TV is full of ads, and quietly eats your life. | No — skip it | — |
| Paper books | Best of all. Read, re-read, scan, jump, mark up, tear out — do it all. Cheap enough to buy multiple copies if you need them. | Yes | — |
| Kindle (e-books) | Usually cheaper than paper, and lighter to carry. For a plane or a dead zone I use Offline Book, which needs no internet at all. | Yes | — |
| Audible (audiobooks) | The one screen-free way to “read” while your eyes are busy. Great for a long commute. | Yes | — |
On screens vs. pages. Here’s my media ladder, worst to best. TV sits at the bottom — ads, endless length, designed to keep you sitting. Movies are better but capped: A movie is limited by what’s visible. Books win. A book is limited only by your imagination — a far bigger room. (Same idea behind designing the day on purpose — spend the hours on what grows you, not on what’s built to consume you.)
On remembering what you read. A good book changes how you think for about a month, then fades. So I now build each one a short companion I can reopen in thirty seconds — Why We Sleep, The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, On Tyranny, and the rest. The notes are the cheapest part of reading and the part most people skip.