Amazon / etc
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This is a page with affiliate links, mostly for products on
Amazon. I theoretically get money when someone buys stuff via them.
Everything linked here is a thing I've used personally and didn't regret
getting, but prices may have changed since I got things.
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small items
I like guava, and this is a convenient way to get it. I've tried a few kinds of guava paste now and liked this kind best. At $2.27/lb it's also fairly cheap. Some people eat guava paste straight like a candy, or use it in pastries, but I like adding it to oatmeal.
Merino wool socks (COZIA brand)
They're warm socks. Merino wool is relatively fine and soft.
If you're cooking Thai food, you probably want some kind of curry paste. You don't have to use this brand, but it's a popular one.
polyurethane-coated gloves (DULFINE brand)
These are somewhere between disposable rubber gloves and heavy leather gloves. I keep a box of clean and dirty ones, then occasionally wash the dirty ones. That way, I always have a supply of clean gloves. Compared to rubber gloves, they're easier to put on, more cut-resistant, more comfortable, and can be taken off temporarily, but they don't protect your whole hand from liquids.
You should probably have a couple 18650 flashlights with >400 lumens sustained output and USB charging. Wurkkos has made relatively good flashlights at relatively good prices for a while now, but you might want to compare a few models or check /r/flashlight.
appliances
Levoit Vital 200S air purifier
Purchase price and filter costs are reasonable. Noise is relatively low. Washable prefilter. Granular carbon, not carbon foam. Low power usage on speed 2. It's a good size; large units can recirculate air. Get enough that you can run them at speed 2 (half flow) normally: that means less noise, longer filter life, less energy usage, and extra capacity if needed.
audio
Headphones with an analog jack, generally considered studio-quality. If you get them, you might also want some better earpads for them, like these BRAINWAVZ polyurethane ones.
These convert between USB data and analog audio input/output. They're relatively good options for that. If you do video chats or phone calls or streaming on your computer, it's worth having a decent audio setup. There are some good microphones and headphones that use USB directly, but many of those have low-quality conversion. Personally, I normally use a separate interface. A Scarlett Solo is enough for most people. (These don't have enough power to drive large speakers; you'd need a separate amplifier for that.)
books
- The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
- The Cartoon Guide to Physics
If you have kids, or you're getting a present for someone's kids, then I think these books are decent things to get.
finance
Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card
No annual fee, 1.5% cash back, 3% at restaurants. If that's better than your current card and you use Chase, maybe you should apply for one. Sometimes they have a cash bonus for getting one, too. (Note that getting a new credit card will temporarily lower your credit score, but in the long run, having a bunch of credit cards can improve your average credit account age and reduce your net credit utilization rate. Credit scores are weird.)
There are slightly better brokerage places, but if you have a bank account at Chase, I think this is worth signing up for. If you don't have a brokerage account, this is adequate and easy to set up. If you do already have one, I think this is still worthwhile, because transfers between your bank account and investment account are faster than transfers between different companies. That means you can keep money that you want quickly accessible in some ETF that holds Treasuries (such as XHLF or VGSH) and get that money into your bank account in a single business day, while getting better interest rates than savings accounts at banks give.
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