Got a bidet as a joke gift for Christmas a few years ago, it has been an absolute game changer. Hate pooping anywhere but home now, I actually feel clean, and use much less toilet paper.

An oversized poncho cape from the local Goodwill. It was woven in different shades of blue and while I’d never wear it outside, I’ve used it as a wearable blanket at home for a few years now.

I found out it was actually hand made, and costs 300+ USD from the original shop. Bonus points, I feel like a wizard when I wear it

Bug zapper flyswatter. Like you can buy at Harbor Freight for a few bucks. It might not be a terribly effective solution to the overall fly population, but in terms of grim-bloody-vengeance-per-dollar, it’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made.

My wife bought me a Beard Bib as a joke gift after I found it online one day. It’s basically a smaller version of the bibs you wear when getting your hair cut, but with suction cups attached to the bathroom mirror to hold it horizontal and catch stray hairs when using an electric shaver. It looks ridiculous.

I now use it every time I trim my beard, even if my wife still laughs at me every time she sees me in it. Cleaning up all the stray hairs was always a pain in the ass, but this thing does a surprisingly good job at catching 99% of the hair, and I can just brush it all into the trash when I’m done.

A 3D-Printer, I thought I just play around with it and get bored, but you discover so many things that you can do!

The handle on the fridge broke? Print new ones. Need a Flowerpot? Just print one. The router needs a wallmount? I have one ready in a few Hours.

Also I can watch it print for hours, very fascinating and calming.

Maybe not stupid, but I purchased a pair of bone conducting headphones just because I thought they would be better for running, and harder for me to lose. I wasn’t expecting much, but damn, they have been so much better than I expected. Even though the sound quality isn’t quite as good, they work so much better with my sensory processing issues, and I can just leave them on all day without concern. Because I’ve got curly hair, people don’t even know I’m wearing them, and because they don’t go in my ear canal, they don’t impact my ability to hear/talk/interact with the world around me.

I needed a “lap desk” or something to put my laptop on, but I wanted it to be low-profile and I could only find a wooden cutting board. Now wooden cutting boards are the only thing I use as lap desks because most actual lap desks I find are super bulky.

I bought an Ember mug because I thought it was silly. I ended up really liking the temperature control. I don’t rush my coffee/tea. Now every sip is as hot as the first one.

The new Ember costs, I think, half again as much as the first iteration. It’s a cute gimmick but I certainly wouldn’t pay what they’re charging now.

My neighbor bought a very good quality ebike. Their brand has good service and is highly praised. You can check it out through this link: [https://randridebikes.com/](This is their website), they have Good warranty service.

Wireless headphones. The original goal was working out and I didn’t want to carry my cellphone on the hand. I never went to work out, but it turns out to be very convenient when my neighbors are being loud, since it has noise cancelling, and also for chores.

Also, some better clothes. For context, I’m FtM. My sister and mother are vain and buy chic clothes like every month, so I always had a surplus of hand-me-downs. I didn’t want to buy more clothes because I already have perfectly serviceable unisex clothes on my closet, but when I donated out all my feminine-cut clothes and shoes I found myself lacking clothes so, yeah, I went and bought the stupid clothes. I fucking love them and wear them on every opportunity I get. They make me feel so much better :)

Shower mirror. It has a base that suctions to the wall and a reservoir that you fill with hot water so that it doesn’t fog. I had no idea how much better it was than shaving at the sink. If I’m in a hurry I’ll sink shave but I love shower shaving and I love that mirror.

Edit: Here’s the one I use. No major complaints, just remove the mirror between uses and re-suction every once in a while.

Bed sheet suspenders. Dumb problem, stupidly cheap, horribly made, and ABSOLUTELY fixed the friggin sheets being yanked off the corner of the bed twice a night by my tumble-dry-medium sleeper of a spouse.

When they finally broke after almost 2 years I sewed some that’ll last 10 years and I don’t regret them at all.

A Raspberry Pi. I bought it out of a whim and now I use it as a portable desktop computer, I can use Alpine Linux with my files and my setup on virtually any system that doesn’t whitelist MAC addresses.

Especially handy when your university has contracts with Microsoft so you aren’t supposed to use competitive software, I feel like I’m breaking the law.

An air fryer. It was a bit of an impulse buy and I didn’t think I would use it very much but as it turns out it’s much more versatile than I initially thought. I’m actually considering getting rid of my regular oven since I’ve rarely used it since I got my airfryer.

An impulse buy of a $20 micro wireless Bluetooth keyboard. Holy shit. Rock-solid design, ludicrously long battery life, excellent signal transmission, a replaceable battery with the option to use AAAs, a usable trackpad with sensitivity settings. I cannot stress enough how impressed I am with this device as an electrical engineer.

Now I can actually get real work/play done when I’m too depressed to get out of bed. It’s also really useful for working with a Raspberry Pi. That plus a cheap LCD means I can just use it like an ordinary desktop.

If anyone is interested in this product, ask for a link and I’ll post it in the comments.