I apologize to all the marketers in the world, but I’ll say it anyway: not everything worth buying costs a lot of money.
There are plenty of potentially life-changing things that do, yes. I’ve upgraded a fair few of my things over the years and can’t even pretend my old keyboard sounds better than my current piano. But with most of the expensive things I own, there were much more affordable versions I owned before that changed my life just as much when I bought them.
So we’ve decided to go through our possessions and list out some of our favorite reasonably-priced items that changed our lives for the better.
I suppose your wishlist might be getting a jump-start this year.
Things mentioned in this episode:
This week’s episode is sponsored by:
- Brilliant: Accelerate your learning in math, science, and computer science. Start learning for free at Brilliant.org/CollegeInfoGeek — and if you’re one of the first 83 people to use this link, you’ll also get 20% off your subscription.
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Other things we mentioned in this episode:
- How to Get Out of Debt as Fast as Possible (Ep. 238)
- Iron Gym Workout Bar
- ProSource Multi-Grip Pull-Up Bar
- Audio Technica ATH-M20x
- Chef Knife
- Alex French Guy Cooking on YouTube
- Leuchtturm Hardcover Dotted Notebook
- Sharpie Plastic Point Stick Water Resistant Pen
- Stainless Steel Electric Kettle
- AeroPress
- The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland, by Catherynne M. Valente
- The Slow Regard of Silent Things, by Patrick Rothfuss
- The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson
- Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, by Eliezer Yudkowsky
- Rationality and Precise Thinking (Ep. 57)
- The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut
- Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown
- Deep Work, by Cal Newport
- Atomic Habits, by James Clear
- The Productivity Project, by Chris Bailey
- Practical Botany for Gardeners, by Geoff Hodge
- The Victorian Internet, by Tom Standage
- Isa Does It, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
- The Science of Cooking, by Dr. Stuart Farrimond
- Ontario Knives Rat 2
- Oster Blender
- NutriBullet
- Bean Zafu Meditation Cushion
- Bean Bamboo Meditation Bench
- Hover
- Backblaze
- Lifefactory Glass Water Bottle
- How Much Water Should You REALLY Be Drinking?
Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page.
Timestamps:
- 0:04:50 – Pull-up bars
- 0:08:22 – Noise-cancelling headphones
- 0:12:47 – Chef’s knife and knife-honing tools
- 0:17:35 – Notebooks for your ideas and goals
- 0:20:25 – Wall of velcro
- 0:22:17 – Teapots, kettles and AeroPress
- 0:27:53 – Fiction book starter kit
- 0:32:37 – Sponsor: CuriosityStream (Learning new topics)
- 0:35:17 – Sponsor: Brilliant (Learning problem-solving skills)
- 0:37:31 – Fiction book starter kit (continued)
- 0:39:17 – Plug strips
- 0:40:30 – Nonfiction book starter kit
- 0:46:13 – Pocket knives
- 0:48:37 – Blenders
- 0:50:57 – Toolkits
- 0:53:21 – Meditation cushions and benches
- 0:56:21 – Taking care of plants
- 0:58:31 – Domain names
- 0:59:57 – Cloud storage services
- 1:06:07 – Reusable water bottles
- 1:07:46 – Conclusion
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