Impulse purchases are something we all make, but not all purchases are just a waste of money. Sometimes that impulse buy turns out to be the most useful thing you own.
Reddit user YokoDice asked:
"What ended up being the best purchase of your life?"
Googley Eyes
"Self adhesive googley eyes. I carry them in my purse everywhere and passively vandalize things. Foil star stickers are a close second, putting them on the bottoms of salt shakers and backs of rollercoasters."
"Edit: proof of my adventures in an HEB grocery store https://imgur.com/gallery/a9mPTXv"
Adoption Fees
"The adoption fees for my evil cats. And the cost to fly them to the US with me."
Roadster
"I accidentally bought a roadster on eBay. I bid an auction up to the reserve price and then waited for the 50+ bids like I'd seen on other auctions. Nobody else bid and I had to buy the thing."
"A roadster is like driving an amped up go-kart everywhere. It makes even trips to the store fun. And they're very cheap since you can usually sell them for not much less than you paid - mine ended up costing me less than a grand a year for as long as I owned it."
Plastic Cups
"Plastic cups."
"When I first started college, I bought a four pack of cups for my first apartment. I'm down to two now and I protect them. They are the perfect size. They hold just as much liquid as I would ever want in a drinking vessel."
"They aren't the most exciting purchase I've made, but time and time again, whenever I want water, they're the cups I go for.
They're good cups."
Fitness
"Fitbit. Bought it to track sleep but turns out that the HR tracking has taught me a lot about my habits- eg, it goes up w alcohol but lower than average the day after drinking, up before period, straight slope down after period, up when angry, etc."
Yacht
"I bought a 30ft yacht on not much more than a whim. Lived on it for 5 years, would still be except slight health issues atm. Should be back onboard in 6 months or so. $16k usd."
Dishwasher
"Buying a dishwasher literally saved my marriage."
"My wife and I sublimated all our smaller, pettier problems with each other into a daily WAR over who would do the damn dishes. Finally, my dad suggested that we purchase a dishwasher, which we did. That reduced the warfare and forced us to reckon with the littler things. We made peace with those, and now we're good. Thanks, Kenmore."
Ticket
Giphy"A train ticket to visit my dad while he was battling cancer. I managed to spend my dad's last few months with him re-establishing our relationship and giving him closure on lots of things he wished he'd done better when he split with my mother."
"Extra added bonus was that I met my partner while caring for Dad and we have been together now for almost 25 years."
Minecraft
"I bought minecraft when I was very little and my parents thought it was a waste of money. Still playing it 8 years later."
Home
"My home. It's small, but every day I get to come home and be reminded of my accomplishments in life."
Tees
"50 identical black t-shirts."
"They're comfy, durable, have no logo on them and they fit really well. I hate buying clothes and picking out clothes in the morning. That time could be spent on more important things, like staring at the wall in the shower."
"Added bonus: i pretty much have to stay thin or they won't fit anymore."
"Since i'm getting the same questions over and over again, i'll just answer them here."
"Yes, i'm a cartoon character."
"Yes, i'm a minimalist."
"Brand is called Lower East. Got them on Amazon a long, long time ago when there was a sale for a whole bunch of them. No idea if they're still selling the exact ones i have."
"50 is really not that much to store away, when they're neatly folded."
""Why 50? Because finding really well fitting shirts as a really tall skinny man is hard. S is often times too small (arm length) and M is like a tent. Basically like this: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/shirts_fit.
"I'm also outdoors a lot, so stuff happens to them. Just last week i was riding my bicycle through the woods when a tree attacked me and ripped some holes in one of the shirts."
Giphy"Yeah except Gaston ate 4 dozen eggs every morning to help him get large when he was but a child."
"That's 48 eggs."
"Now that he's grown he eats 5 dozen eggs, which is 60 eggs, and this allows him to be roughly the size of a barge."
"You're 2 dozen eggs short of a full Gaston."
Tickets
"A ticket to see "The Room." The ticket taker was also a fan, and we chatted briefly about Tommy Wiseau. After the movie ended, my crappy old car wouldn't start. The ticket taker noticed me struggling in the parking lot. He offered me a ride home, I ended up asking him out, fast forward a few years and we're married now!"
"Our first dance was "I Will" which is a gorgeous song if you can get the image of Tommy Wiseau's naked butt out of your mind's eye. So yeah, that movie ticket was absolutely the best purchase of my life."
Washer
Giphy"Recently my husband and I bought a portable washer. We live in a tiny apartment and the building's machines are disgusting and cost five bucks to wash and dry (barely) a couple shirts. We got a hundred dollar gift card for a wedding gift and the washer was $130 on Amazon. I kid you not I did about thirteen loads of laundry the day it came because we had only been able to afford to wash the essentials and it all piled up. Highly recommend for people in small apartments, dorms, trailers, etc."
Travel
"Bought a one way ticket to New Zealand and got a holiday visa when I was nineteen and wanted to move out of my parents for the first time. That one purchase changed my life."
Headphones
"Noise Cancelling headphones. And not the cheap ones. No. I paid the full 500 and have not looked back since. I've used them for 3 years now, almost daily, and the pleasure of hearing nothing but your music is next level. They work great on planes, public, anything. For those wondering, I have the Sony MDR-1000X model."
These all turned out to be great investments. Do you have similar stories? Please share them below.
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