I was never a big dreamer about material things. I never wanted that one car, the house, that special guitar, the carbon frame bike and so on. Things are tools, and tools serve a purpose. They don't need to be the best among all, they have to fulfill their purpose within a set environment, and that's about it.
That doesn't mean I don't upgrade. When my oven didn't make the cut anymore, I bought a bigger, better one - but not because I wanted a bigger and better one, but because I needed it to keep working (and actually reduce my workload for a while, as the bigger oven makes more bread faster).
There are some little things though, nothing too expensive, that gave my life exponentially more quality.
My coffee grinder
Holy moly was I happy when I bought this one! I had it always in the back of my mind, to be able to grind my coffee freshly, like I used to while living in Germany. Back then, I had a beautiful old wooden grinder. This one is kind of High-Tech in comparison, but still, for 35$, it was a steal deal. Now I grind my coffee every morning. The smell! The taste! The feeling overall!
(Vitamix Pro750)
Okay, this one was a little more expensive - but used as well, so only $230. Best investment ever. Besides my daily oat-peanut-chia-banana smoothie, I make loads of peanut/almond/sesame butter with this machine which I can sell on the farmer's market. I have this machine for 4 years now I think, and made way more money with it than I expected. I even bought a second one that was brought to me from the US, just in case. But this was more a great investment than a quality of life thing (although those smoothies are SO smooth...)
Bluetooth to AUX converter
Well isn't that funny? Every time I wanted to listen to music on my kind-of-antique sound system, I had to take my cellphone out of the case in order to connect it properly to the system. But then I had to go back the the system all the time when I wanted to change something. Then, one day, I thought: It's 2024. There MUST be a solution for this bs. And there was, and it was only $10, and it works like a charm. It's USB unfortunately, so I have to plug the BT-AUX converter into a 110V-9V converter aka cellphone charger. But as mentioned, I don't need perfect, I need working.
I want a bathtub.
There are many other things that I spend very little money on, but gave me disproportional joy. And there are still things that I would love to have.
For example - a bathtub. Lily loves bathtubs. My brother rented a flat with bathtub last time he was here, and for one whole month, Lily did all her bathing at his place. Besides the quick showers after coming home covered in dirt or sand or whatever children find to roll around in.
I do love a good bathtub, too. It's relaxing, and one of the few things where I really don't care about the amount of water and heating used to make me comfortable. If I ever move out of this house (which is not clear yet - but I'd like to live with my girlfriend at one point, and be able to adopt a dog again), the next one will have to have a bathtub in it. And yes, I might just build my own house, but that's a little too much for a bathtub. Although...
This is a good question.
For me there's been a few however recently I invested in a sling pack to carry my things around when required. As I've gotten older I find I have to take along more things when I'm out, glasses, medications and such things and I tend to want to be more prepared for the unexpected. Having an "every day carry" sling pack, quite a small one but with ample pockets and storage has made a big difference to my life.
Little practical things that make our life easier - that fits well. Thank you for stopping by!
What a great post and what an interesting question. A couple of months ago, I bought a grain mill. At the time, I wanted it to grind chickpeas and make falafel. But then I discovered that grinding roasted corn and sweetening the flour with sugar made it a delicious homemade snack. I decided to sell that roasted corn flour with sugar, and it's been a delight for the children around me. Unintentionally, that little thing I bought to process a grain has given me a small, unexpected income today, but it's made me very happy! Excellent post.
Wow that is soooo cool! That's exactly what I'm talking about. The same happened with my Vitamix, it wasn't intentional, but that device made my nut butters so much higher quality that I started to sell a lot more. So cool, thank you for sharing that!
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There's a lot of small things in life that can bring a lot of joy. Some nice materials thing can be nice and they can last pretty long. However, my little things probably is coffee 😂 a good variety of coffee raised a good quality of my life. I still need to invest in a few coffee items but that's for future plans. For now, just a good variety brings a lot of joy.
I'm shocked to find coffee as your answer, shocked I must say. 🤣
And yes, I agree. It's that little thing that reminds you every day of the good life you're living.
Loved this post - it's so real and relatable. I totally get what you mean about tools just needing to work, not be fancy. That coffee grinder story hit home - there's just something about having a little ritual that makes mornings better.
And the Bluetooth-to-AUX fix? Smart and simple. It's funny how the smallest upgrades can make such a difference.
Now you've got me thinking I need a bathtub in my future too.
Thanks for sharing - it was a great read.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I liked your post about marriage yesterday, but was too tired to write a coherent comment 😂 Will do that later. Thank you for stopping by!
Haha no worries at all 😂 I know that tired-but-loved-it vibe too well! Can't wait to hear your thoughts whenever you're up for it 😌.