We live in a consumer-based world. Thanks to the technological advancements that have taken place over the past decade (and the ease of online shopping), it's become easier than ever to purchase the goods and services we need on the fly. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work in favor of our wallets. While the things we need may only be a click away, sponsored and targeted ads can also make it considerably more difficult to save money.
However, whether you are a shopping addict or a penny pincher, there are some products out there that are absolutely worth the purchase. Maybe it's something you've had your eye on for a while or something you found surprisingly useful after making an impulse buy. Either way, it's good to let others know how beneficial a purchase has been. Just take it from the following people who shared the most 'worth it' product they've ever purchased.
Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!
#1 Satisfying Suction
A Miele canister vacuum. The vacuum repair tech recommended Miele over all the other ones. My girlfriend and I found the C3 Total Care on sale in Canada for $650 and we jumped on it. She was hesitant to spend that much on a vacuum but it totally outperforms the $200 uprights by leaps and bounds. It's so much quieter and can get into tight spaces. Plus, it has better suction, a powerhead for the carpets, and from what I have heard, will last upwards of 30 years if the proper upkeep is done. Spending a little more to get a premium product is sometimes worth it and this is definitely one of those cases.
#2 Hands-On Prank
Years ago, my dad bought a plastic severed hand as a Halloween prop. Every year, we stick that hand in different places–above the stove, in the trunk of our car, under the front porch, basically anywhere we want. I even tossed it at him once or twice when he asked for a hand (just like Buzz did to Woody in Toy Story). Hands down, one of the best purchases he's ever made.
#3 Convenient Charging Station
I bought an eight-outlet power strip with surge protectors with four USB charger plug-ins built into it. I have everything on my entertainment stand plugged in and a phone charger that reaches from there all the way to the couch.
#4 Keeping It Close
Get a pair of high-quality hair trimmers. I paid $60 for a nice set many years ago. As a guy who wears closely trimmed hair, they've probably saved me thousands on haircuts over the years. Best return on investment of any product I've ever purchased.
#5 Soft Sleep
A four-inch memory foam mattress topper. I got my first one for my dorms and have had one ever since because I am still too broke to invest in a decent bed.
#6 Working It Out
A gym for my basement. They're expensive and I felt like I shouldn't spend so much on a hobby, but I love it. I've probably put $3,000 into it over the last few years but I have the disposable income and refuse to let myself feel guilty about it. No more waiting for benches or squat racks at a commercial gym, or backing out because I just don't feel like leaving the house again after getting home from work. It pays for itself in a few years, and if anything, I could probably sell it for $1,500 to $2,000.
#7 Home-Made Help
My sewing machine. It’s only a $90 machine from Walmart and I barely used it until the last year or so. Now, I’ve found a hobby I enjoy. I’m teaching myself a skill and have even started making money with it by selling some of the things I sew. I’m also teaching my children how to use it and my son has already sold a couple of the blankets he made. It’s teaching him that he needs to have a skill and work to earn money. I’ve used it to repair countless things, from bra straps to pant hems. Overall, it’s paid for itself and then some. I’d love to upgrade in the future but for now, this cheap machine does the job.
#8 All Blacked Out
Blackout blinds. They help keep your room nice and cool in the summer and the darkness has led to the best sleep I've ever had in my life.
#9 A Catty Visit
I spent 800¥ (around $7.50) for an hour in a Japanese cat cafe. It was a little studio apartment but furnished with copious cat condos and cute cat memorabilia. Also, at least half of the cats had cute little handmade collars on them. A worthwhile place to check out if you're a cat lover.
#10 Land That Lasts
My plot of land. Honestly, it took nearly a decade to save up money, find a good location in my price range, etc. but no one in my family will ever truly be homeless. I can help my family, friends, and myself with that plot of land.
#11 Through The Wire
Bluetooth headphones and earphones! I can walk around the house and do chores without getting all caught up in the wires. You don't even need to get a fancy pair like Air Pods; you can just opt for cheaper models. Most of the ones produced by the big-name electronics companies like Sony will suffice.
#12 Worth The Read
Kindle Paperwhite. It always takes time for the physical copy of books to arrive at the bookstore and even when they finally do, I'm too lazy to go out and buy them. Sometimes, a specific book in a series is not available, leaving you with an incomplete set. Plus, the screen is so similar to actual paper that it doesn't strain your eyes when you read on it.
#13 Seeing Clearly
LASIK. My eyes were -4.25 in each eye (which basically means I was blind without glasses or contacts). I go camping and to festivals a lot, so having to wear glasses and contacts were such a pain. I literally don’t think about my eyes anymore. I love it.
#14 Bearing With The Break-Up
When I was going through a really nasty breakup, I bought myself a stuffed animal to cuddle with at night. I deemed it the “self-love bear” and whenever I hated myself or felt worthless, I would hug that bear and cry into him until I felt better. I know it’s kind of mundane and stupid, but it really did help me find some strength in my heartbreak.
I kept him until I finally realized I didn’t need him to cry into anymore (his name is Timothy and he’s chilling on my bed at the moment). I suggest it to anyone going through a breakup. It serves as a great spot holder for any relationship memorabilia that may trigger sad memories and is a sweet excuse to buy a companion when you need one the most.
#15 A Furry Friend
For me, it's my dog. I spent $600 on her, but every dollar was well worth it. She's a gorgeous Border Collie, and she always keeps me company. I've invested a fair bit of time and money in training her properly, so she's well-behaved enough to help watch over my partner whenever I'm away. She's always happy to see me when I get home, and she especially loves to come over when I'm just relaxing to ask for pats. She's possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen. If you're ever on the fence about getting a dog, just know it's very rewarding, provided you have the time, effort and money to put into their upkeep. They will really love you forever.
#16 Cutting Back On Caffeine Costs
Get yourself a $30 Aeropress. I was terrible at making coffee, and would often spend upwards of $10 a day on americanos and drip coffee. Now, I make better coffee at home and I don’t have to go anywhere. Five years of homemade coffee allowed me to save hundreds of dollars. Not bad for a little plastic tube!
#17 One For The Books
My education. Like most people, my parents didn’t have money in a bank account somewhere for my college, so I did the loan thing and worked for any scholarships that I could. I got an Engineering degree and was able to eventually work my way into a career that I thoroughly enjoy. I still pay student loans, so I guess technically I haven’t finished the purchase, but I know without my education I wouldn’t have the life I have now.
#18 Done With Dishes
A portable dishwasher! My fiancé and I live in an apartment without a dishwasher or a place to hook one up. It was fine for a while, but then we were both working full-time, our house was a wreck. We’d come home and we'd be so exhausted, then on our days off, we'd spend HOURS doing the dishes. I love to cook and stopped at one point because it became too much work. Finally, I said screw it, we’re buying a portable dishwasher. Best. Purchase. EVER.
#19 Playing For Keeps
My Nintendo Switch. I went back and forth for weeks about whether I was really going to pay $400 for it when I pretty much just wanted to play Breath of the Wild. But I was having a really hard time that winter when it first came out, so I decided to buy one to uplift my spirits. Having the Legend of Zelda to look forward to honestly saved my life in so many ways. Never underestimate the power of simple fun to make a real difference in your own life and mental health.
#20 A Teaching Toy
For $20, I got my son a toy laptop and it helps him learn colors, shapes, basic math, names of animals and objects. He absolutely loves it and it helps reinforce the stuff we are already teaching him. He will be three years old this June and he can already count to 13. He also knows a lot of shapes (including the trapezoid and nonagon) and can name nearly any animal he sees. Education is never a waste of money when it's applied properly.
#21 Traveling Tea
A $5 microwaveable travel mug. I keep an assortment of tea bags and a vial of honey with me at all times. Every place of business I've ever been in has a water fountain and a microwave. I have never paid for coffee ever since.
#22 A Warm Welcome
A towel warmer. Not the kind with the bars that you drape a towel over. Get the towel spa you put your towel in beforehand—while you shower, it will warm your towel and you will have a piping hot water towel to wrap yourself in once you're done. I also use it to warm my robe at night on cold evenings so I can be cozy while watching television before turning in. Warmy goodness.
#23 Saying Yes To The Dress
I’m a chubby gal and buying clothes has always been an ordeal that ends with nothing being bought. But I found this dress once that was literally cut like it was made for my specific body type. Even on an extremely self-conscious day, if I put it on and look in the mirror, suddenly I feel happy and a little confident.
#24 The Greatness Of Salt Grains
Salt, $0.86 will get you 26 ounces of table salt. A grain of salt is about 0.0000585 grams or 0.000002064 ounces. That's somewhere around 12,596,900 grains of salt. If you really wanted to splurge, you could spend an extra $0.14 to get another 1,900,000 grains to take you up to an exhilarating 14,500,000 grains of salt. Just imagine how much fun you could have with almost 15 million grains of salt. You could put some in your neighbor's car's gas tank. You could put some in your own gas tank. You could even pour some into a water bottle and drink it to pretend you're lost at sea and can only drink salt water. The possibilities are as endless as the number of grains of salt you have.
#25 Taking Advantage Of Taxes
Get yourself TurboTax premium for $39. It includes a live CPA on webcam and all the extra forms. I went from OWING $470 to a REFUND of $970. It's the most worthwhile $39 dollars I ever spent!
#26 Perfect Work Pants
Get a pair of quick-drying pants for fieldwork. Try North Face aphrodite 2.0 capris; they dry very quickly. When I fell in a river, they were dry within a half hour. For anyone who knows how hard it is to dry clothes in the jungle, it's 100% worth it to be dry fast.
#27 Just-Right Jacket
My current winter jacket is made by Didriksons and it's just awesome. I've always had the worst winter gear, mostly because my parents were poor. When I got the chance, I bought this jacket and it is HEAVEN. It can be -20 Celsius out there and I can just wear a t-shirt underneath. Whenever I wear it, it feels like I'm still indoors. Heck, it's so darn good I don't even need to wear gloves most of the time. It has super warm pockets. There's even a tablet-sized pocket inside!
#28 Home Movies
Home cinema projector. Hear me out, it was about $800 USD. If it blew up tomorrow, I would be going straight back to buy another as having a big screen like that for movies and gaming is amazing! I already had a 5.1 audio setup and having decent blinds plus a white-painted wall helped.
#29 Ease Of Earpods
Surprisingly, AirPods. I know it’s a meme, but they're nice to have and they feel very comfortable. I’ve been using my AirPods for almost six months and I haven’t had any issues. Meme or not, it’s definitely “worth it” to me.
#30 Fantastic Flush
My Australian Caroma toilet. I won't pretend to understand how it works but it has a completely different flushing mechanism than American toilets. There's almost no water in the bowl and it has a 4" trapway. I used to clog and unclog my toilet almost daily, but now I'm completely problem-free. My dad thought it was an insane purchase and that I just needed a higher power American toilet, but since getting it, we've replaced all the toilets in our home with them. They're low flow too, but they're still very powerful.
#31 The Best Boots
A pair of Timberland boots. Like yeah, they can get heavy and chunky, but honestly, I've used mine for about three years almost every day and I can say they're the best investment. You could use it for any seasons too (I know some of their boots have fur inside, mine don't). It's raining? Well, it's waterproof. Worried you're gonna slip on wet concrete? The sole has got you covered. I think this was the first piece of item that truly taught me sometimes spending a bit more money is more worth it in the long run.
#32 Post-It Love Letters
A 4-pack of mini post-it notes and a pack of pens from the $0.99 store. I've been leaving little "I love you" notes around my girlfriend's house. I keep them in my car and write a few new ones that I sneakily place around when I'm over. The amount of times I get a text with her excited and happy to find a new one VASTLY outweighs the $2 that I used to purchase them. Even Geico would be impressed with how much value I'm getting out of them. Worth it? Absolutely.
#33 Gordon Ramsey The Cat
My cat, Gordon Ramsay, who is not technically an item I guess. Due to a mix-up with the shelter and pricing, I ended up paying double for him. I was not going to be the guy who argues with a charity on price so I paid for him and took him home anyway. He's the best. He would have been worth paying double again. Right now, as I'm typing this, I keep having to stop because he's headbutting my phone to get me to love him. He just wants to cuddle with me all the time, 24/7.
#34 Smart Purchase
My smart TV. It has virtually any streaming service and app integrated into it. I have my TV hooked up to my stereo speakers and it has the Spotify app, so I can even cast my music to my sound system without an AUX cable or Bluetooth adapters. The convenience is amazing. Technology is pretty cool.
#35 Hitting The Right Keys
My mechanical keyboards. I have a nice Corsair for home use. There are red switches with o-rings to make it a bit quieter. I didn't get the mechanical keyboard hype until I started typing on it for a while. I can't go back now. I'm more precise. My WPM has gone up by at least 20 or 30. I was a fairly quick typist before on cheap keyboards so that was shocking to me. They sound great and the parts are easy to replace. Plus, my work requires me to do a lot of typing these days. I can almost keep up with my average talking speed now. I didn't think that was possible when I was using membrane keyboards.
#36 Post-Depression Dream Car
For me, the best purchase I’ve ever made is my car. I have a brand new convertible Mustang. It’s given me the confidence boost I’ve needed for years. It’s allowed me to get out of my shell and meet people. This goes for friendships and business relationships. I went from a shy, beat down, and depressed 21-year-old guy to feeling like a rockstar almost overnight. The first time I put the top down I actually had to put it back up because I started crying my eyes out. I finally felt happy after three years of depression. My car freed me!
#37 Preemptive Protection
A proper phone case, more specifically, the Otterbox Defender. Sure it isn't pretty, but I use my phone every day, and I drop it a lot. I never had to pay for a repair due to a drop or ever had a broken screen. Worth every penny.
#38 A Van Revamped
My Chevy 15 passenger van. As soon as I bought it, I remodeled it as a living space and it’s by far the most valuable and sentimental thing I own. My dog and I live wherever we want. We live in places that people would pay millions of dollars for, but for a fraction of the cost, if not free. I’ve learned to deal with the cold, as well as appreciate nature as it changes!
#39 Masking It
A sleep mask. During my freshman year of college, my blinds were terrible and I couldn’t sleep, so I bought one for $8 at Target. Five years later, I’m still using it and I sleep better than I ever did without it. The best part is, you can bring it along on airplanes, in hotels, etc. and the sleep is just as well as if you were at home with a set of blackout curtains.
#40 Understanding The Steps
My fitness watch. My ex helped me buy it during a particularly hard chapter of my life. He had one of his own and thought it'd help me get moving a bit more. He pitched in half the cost so I could get one. I'm a super competitive person and at times have a tendency to overachieve, so I started challenging myself to do more steps or climb more hills than he could in one day.
Having a little digital assistant tell me I'm doing a good job and keep me on track is super motivational. I started exercising daily and found joy in my life. I started spending time working on myself again, pushing myself further and further. One day, I just woke up, jumped out of bed and went for a run and realized how impossible something like that would have seemed two months prior.
The watch felt like an extension of myself. It was the handiest and most worthwhile purchase ever. It recently broke, so I just upgraded to a newer version. It may seem silly that one little watch could do so much but I truly believe it brought me back from the depths of my own personal underground.
#41 Reliable Laptop
Probably my 2012 MacBook Air. I still use it every day and although it is underpowered, I never notice it's shortfalls. I've been considering replacing it for years but all of the current MacBooks are compromised in one or more areas. I may end up begrudgingly replacing this with a Linux machine. Honorable mention to my AirPods. I jse them quite a bit and feel that they are the only wireless headphones I've used that don't suck.
#42 Icy Hot
Yeti insulated tumblers and mugs. They made every other Thermos (yes, I know its a brand) look worthless. Before I had one, I thought they were weirdly overpriced for a cup. Nope. Worth it if you value keeping iced drinks iced, or keeping your hot coffee hot.
#43 The Ease Of Amazon Echo
Honestly, I was against the Amazon Echo for freaking ages. Then, I got intoxicated at a party and yelled at one until 4 a.m. That's when I decided I wanted one. I specifically wanted it for its smart lights feature. Now, I wake up to my lights turning their brightness up for me.
You can have a lot of fun with it, too. My boyfriend loves to mess with me. I decided to set up an Alexa command that would turn off all the lights and play Marvin Gaye Let's Get it On whenever I said, "Alexa, get sexy." He was not impressed when he was trying to seduce me and I loudly gave the command. He just shook his head and walked off out the room. I’ve also used it to set an alarm to Hot Potato by The Wiggles instead of the usual alarm.
#44 Glad About Garbage
I bought a nice new kitchen garbage can (the foot-pedal kind) as a Christmas present to myself and my housemates this year. I don't want to shill the brand or anything but it's available at Bed Bath & Beyond and I got mine on sale for $90. Yeah, it sounds crazy to spend $90 on a kitchen trash can, but this thing is so nice. The pedal is sturdy, the lid moves smoothly, it opens up nice and wide, it closes nice and tight, and it's designed to minimize the areas where trash might actually touch the lid or the can. My housemates used to be the messiest people until I got the garbage can. I think they'd feel guilty whenever they left the apartment messy because it was like they were letting the garbage can down.
#45 Cooking Essentials
A cast iron skillet and a good chef knife. You can cook amazing and simple dishes with minimal cleanup. Both last forever and once you have a chef knife that you take good care of, you’ll never want to use another knife.
