Asklemmy

A bidet. Fight me.

One I didn't see mentioned yet: a rice cooker.

Put in rice, add water, push start button, and you get perfect rice every time. I'm usually against single-purpose kitchen tools but a rice cooker is soo worth it.

A toothbrush

A pair of high fidelity earplugs (aka concert earplugs or filtering earplugs). You can get a good non-custom pair for $15–$40, and that’ll work well for the average person for a long time.

They’re excellent for live music, airplanes, and anytime you want the world to be quieter but still need to be able to understand speech. And for music specifically, they can bring the volume level down just enough to be safe without muffling the sound like traditional foam earplugs do. Protect your hearing, kids!

If you have a car get a dashcam. It’s more valuable than any insurance because it will definitively prove what happened when something goes wrong. Bonus: you can post videos of bad drivers doing stupid things on the internet for imaginary points.

A bidet. You can install it yourself in 20 minutes and enjoy a lifetime of cleaner buttholes and save on tp.

A bike. Poor people in underdeveloped countries can use it to get access to education and markets, while people from developed countries can ise it to keep healthy and reduce their environmental footprint

3 dozen pairs of identical socks. Mine are black crew cut. I'll wear them until the last few pairs are worn through and I'll never have a sock without a mate.

Soft close toilet seat. You'll slam the seat out of habit every time you visit someone.

A first aid kit

A fire extinguisher can be found for less than 100 USD and is a must-have. A smoke detector is also a bare minimum in my opinion.

The Haynes manual for your car. Even if you're not a mechanic they are so detailed they will walk you through fixing almost anything, they're made for the laymen. I'm a diesel mechanic and even i own one for my cars.

When friends buy a new car i buy them a Haynes manual.

They don't do them for ever single car in the world and the coverage isn't as great on later model stuff but if you own s car 5 years or more old they're great.

https://haynes.com/en-au/?gclid=CjwKCAjww7KmBhAyEiwA5-PUSuYaLa8Lf9OzVI6z-fuUXN0lI7Wo2VP6vV-gXqGiDAJzVaogwRctThoChAIQAvD_BwE

A water kettle. Doesn't have to be any fancy one, but it really fucking rocks for anything you might think of : want hot water for tea? No problem. Need hot water to steep something? No problem.

Most mid-range ones are insanely power efficient too, often being alot better than just boiling water on a stovetop, or using a microwave. And, depending on insulation, heat can be stored for over 6! hours.

Maybe specific, but if you do any DIY housework, get an endocscope. Baiscally, a 10 foot long flexible wire with a camera and light at the end. Uses your phone as a screen. Can be had for <$50. So many of my house projects would have been impossible without it. Also good for finding stuff under the couch.

A fire extinguisher

I spent a lot of time in the middle east, so I'm going to say: Deodorant, not more perfume. Please.

99 bucks

A towel

An OBD scanner

A decent flashlight

A mini screwdriver set

A multimeter

An outlet polarity tester

These immediately come to mind.

A rice cooker making rice in a saucepan will yield different results almost every time, a $20-50 rice cooker is just a set it and forget it kitchen tool that yields the same results every time. Very nice and easy

An iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit. I can not even begin to count how many times it saved me.

Water sensor alarms.

If you have any doubts about the pipes in your house or have a feeling that water might enter your basement, sensors will help you sleep at night.

Water damage to your home is no joke. I know two separate homeowners who have had leaks from their refrigerator's plumbing (water and ice dispenser). The damage for each homeowner was quite extensive given how small the leak was.

A cast iron pan. Not only under $100 but will last generations. I just passed the one my father used and gave to me down to my Son when he moved out.

A portable car tire inflator (with build in battery).

A good quality fire extinguisher, multiple if you live in a large house or apartment.

To that note, a good quality, working carbon monoxide detector should be on the list...

An air fryer, my microwave has been gathering dust ever since.

A nice first aid kit with tourniquet. That thing saves some serious lives.

There's an ISO standard for first aid kits. Check them out.

A sun hoodie. Sun hoodies are meant to be worn on their own, cover your entire upper body, be very light, and have a high UPF (clothing equivalent of SPF). Instead of dealing with globs of sunscreen that wears out as you sweat, you can slip on a sun hoodie in an instant and get lasting protection. I got the REI store brand, which is around $50. Unfortunately, it looks like they're almost sold out of the nice visible orange color that I bought. It's only available in XXXL.

A decent set of precision kitchen scales, and some general use scales that don't have a massive delay on them #WeightSupremacist4Lyf

But seriously, fuck you, measuring cups. Fuck. You.

My dad would say a cast iron pan. That would outlive you and your kids.

I would say maybe an air fryer, I think you could get a decent one for less than $100USD. I use mine every day.

Otherwise, maybe good waterproof boots. I got some decent ones at an outlet store. They are kind of dressy so nice enough for work, but also warm AF and during the winter they are so good.

A pen and paper, for work.

You know those people who seem useless and forgetful all the time? They don't write anything down so they are lost when they try to do things and too embarrassed to ask for advice again because they forgot what you told them. You also end up repeating stuff to them over and over again when they just don't do a task or mess it up.

Don't be that person, write stuff down!

Meat thermometer.

$99

• The Casio F-91W. Timeless classic, with seven years of battery life.
• A dutch bicycle. Made from steel, with a kickstand, a chainguard a dynamo and internal gear. Built to last.
• A cordless screwdriver from Bosch. Fast charging and very good built quality.
• A water heater for the kitchen.

They covered this in Hitchhiker's Guide. The answer is a towel. A towel is just about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can carry.

As a homeowner, a Dremel. I've replaced half my tools with a single device and counting. Best 80 bucks I've spent on useful stuff in ages. You can get literally anything as an attachment, Lol. I'm waiting for the attachment that will do my taxes.

A water flosser

It's made me way more likely to floss and it's so satisfying to do after eating any sort of food that gets stuck in your teeth