What is the BEST "value" you ever paid for?

[TonyStark]

Actually, my MacBook Pro. I used to be a fervent opponent of anything Apple, but now that I own a MacBook Pro, my entire life has changed.

For the first time, I don't worry about stupid software problems, slow start-up speeds, etc.

It's F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C.

I don't think I could've been as prolific on this forum if it wasn't for my Mac.

 

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[Anon48331]

this $13 fruit slicer i use every day for my apples and oranges. just bought my mom and grandma one for christmas too

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0170AW0J6/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

 

[TonyStark]

This was MJ's secret way of fulfilling his Christmas shopping list.

 

[SpartanWarrior77]

Eat every day chia seeds and flax in my breakfast.

Rich in minerals, fibers and vegetables fat omega 3.

A few dollars and so much wellbeing.

Careful, flax has a LOT of estrogen.

 

[GuestUser4aMPs1]

I don't buy much stuff but honestly the most valuable ongoing purchase I make is for Spotify Premium.

Music is incredibly enriching to my life, and the fact that you can get unlimited access to streaming/downloading millions of the world's music...

for the cost of ONE nice meal per month?

The tradeoff is astounding. Still boggles my mind.

 

[TonyStark]

I don't buy much stuff but honestly the most valuable ongoing purchase I make is for Spotify Premium.

Music is incredibly enriching to my life, and the fact that you can get unlimited access to streaming/downloading millions of the world's music...

for the cost of ONE nice meal per month?

The tradeoff is astounding. Still boggles my mind.

Did you know that now they offer Spotify premium for $99 per year?

 

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[socaldude]

Becoming a Mexican citizen was a pretty good value. Paid about 500(About $26) pesos to get a "Acta de Nacimiento". Bought a house cash close to the beach. Property taxes are cheap. Cost of living is cheap.

Never would have been able to do that in California(Can't afford $400k).

Most 25 year olds spend all their money on cars, I decided to buy a house in another country. Will always have a place to stay even if i'm broke. Never ever wanna spend my life in a merry go round of paychecks and bills.

Cerave cream is a geat value for me. I have a dry skin problem. $12 and has made my skin a lot healthier. Has worked better than any other prescription cream.

Aquaphor is pretty good in this dry cold weather.

Has saved me a lot of stress.

this book was a great value. Anything that expands understanding of ourselves and the world and relationship between the two is gold. Sometimes you gotta read non-business books to be better at business. Everyday I wake up I have these books by my bed like some hotels have bibles on the dressers. These ideas will make you smarter for sure.

And of course MJ's books are a great value.

 

[MetalGear]

A gym membership and the Insight Timer app...a free meditation app that helps me chill the fck out when I feel anxious.

Better than the drugs pharma tries to shove down your throat

 

[WJK]

What is the best "value" you ever paid for?

Just curious to hear people's experiences.

For me, my foam roller was a great value. It cost around $20 bucks but helps relieve my back and neck of stress and pain. On bad days, rolling on this thing becomes the best $20 bucks I ever spent!

What is the best $X you ever spent?

There is no limit ... if you spent $80K on a Corvette and felt is was the best value ever, then that's OK!

Let's hear it!

It was my eye surgery for cataracts. I haven't worn glasses since and I can see.

 

[BD64]

This business degree I'll receive in 2 weeks, then probably never touch again.

 

[ZF Lee]

Ha Ha, yea, I've been taking notes, the salt deodorant, the good razors, ya'll are making me go buy stuff!

Could this be a Christmas gift list of suggestions to get stuff for friends and family?
Lack of gift ideas IS a legitimate problem.

 

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[adventureguru]

- Used Herman Miller Aeron chair (new about £1k, I hustled one for £180) - What a difference having a comfy chair makes!! I actually want to stay seated and put in the hours, at least that is how I justified the expense, lol.
- Dymo 4XL printer (How could I forget - would marry this machine if I could !!)


I bought my Herman Miller Aeron chair the same way, even second hand it was x3 times dearer than what i had paid for any office chair previously. Used it daily for five years, and is still as good as new. So, so comfy for working from.

There is a business in itself of this one product, sourcing these and resale.
The product has such a wonderful reputation.
People are will to pay for the quality.

People are willing to buy them new (big blue chip corporate) but a full time eBay seller or stay home author will happily pay good £££ for them in the secondary market.

The quality and rep of the chair is so good,

Should mine ever break i would buy another without a thought for price.
Learn the make up of this product, its set up, what goes where. Breaking up a broken one for for parts. Servicing. Buying lone ones that break and retro fitting the parts to re-brand as refurbished gets you a saleable item that can still be sold for good price
......................................................................................................................................................................................
The Dymo LabelWriter printers are also superbly awesome for any seller for product. Bought my first in 2006,not one has failed on me.
I have only upgraded to their newer models because they have been quieter and quicker

Address label needed ? Copy & paste, click print. LABEL done !
x2 bold fragile labels, needed. Click Print LABEL done !
CN22 customs label needed for the same product you have sent x100 times before. Open template, Click PRINT done !

NEVER ever again has anything EVER been hand written
Time saved is Time Banked & value added

 

[Xeon]

View attachment 17072

Besides buying TMF and Unscripted ? (seriously)

This ^^^

And the necessary Olympic weights and bench to go with it.

About $2,000 all said and done, and by far some of the best money I've ever spent.

Saves gym membership fee's, save HUGE amounts of time since it's in my garage, and keeps me healthy.

And I don't have to deal with the "New Year's Resolution" gym goers every January (that alone is worth way more than what I spent haha)

I wonder if it's possible to own one of these if one's budget is $200 or less. Maybe that's a pain point....

 

[Xeon]

My Xiaomi Mi Max phone:

I got it at approx US$180, it has a 6.44" big a$$ screen, fast and has really good specs for its price. Not too small to use, and not too big to hold. If an iPhone 12 and this phone falls into the sea, I would save this first!

 

[Siberia]

[QUOTE="SpartanWarrior77, post: 65736

In flax seed there are not estrogen (animal origin) but only Phytoestrogens (natural plant source) as a paltry percentage.
I use a spoon for breakfast and the advantages are stratospheric compared with the disadvantages.

Friend be careful what you say.

 

[MidwestLandlord]

I wonder if it's possible to own one of these if one's budget is $200 or less. Maybe that's a pain point....

A used rack, probably. A new one? I wouldn't trust a $200 new rack with, literally, my life. (Safety bars for benching with no spotter)

It's the weights that are expensive, even used. Get a used bench and an adjustable dumbbell set from bowflex and you can do the same movements (dumbbells instead of bar) for about that, if you buy used.

 

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[JAJT]

I wouldn't trust a $200 new rack with, literally, my life.

This is really an important point. You don't NEED a rack to do most of the movements (except maybe the bench press). You need a rack to save your life when the movements fail. Even a spotter can't solo-catch a bar loaded with 200 lbs that's free-falling to the ground hovering just over over your neck. Power racks are life-saving devices.

That being said, the company I bought mine from is offering this guy for just over $200. Says it has a 700 lb capacity:

AmStaff DF-1161A Power / Squat Rack | Fitness Avenue

I own a different one that cost about double this (and came with a lat-pulldown attachment) though.

The total cost is going to add up though. Ideally you probably want something that looks like:

- Power rack
- Bench
- Olympic bar
- Weight (300 lbs in mixed weights is a common set to buy)
- Gym mats so you don't ruin your floor

The weight alone is usually anywhere from 75 cents to a dollar per lb. So even if you do get a $200 rack, you're still looking at another few hundred bucks in weights.

This stuff isn't cheap, but having it and using it is one of the best investments you can make in your health.

 

[GuestUser4aMPs1]

2. Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones:

More audio, I know, what can I say? I love this stuff.

These are probably one of the most popular pro-quality headphones on the market and they have been for years. If I had one purchase I wish I used more often than I do it would be these. They are passively sound isolating (meaning they don't actively interfere with the audio to provide noise cancelling, instead they are just built that way) and even the quietest classical music will drown out just about any noisy environment. Super comfy, sound amazing. Have held up beautifully for years.

@JAJT can definitely attest to this. Sennheizer makes incredible headphones. I have the same pair that's held up for 2 years so far.
This exact model has been in production for 8-10 years with zero design changes.

Excellent for Pro Audio because the EQ curve (how much bass/mid/treble you have) is pretty flat, or what we call an 'even response.'

Most consumer headphones like Beats boost the Lows & Highs so much to the point of distortion.

The HD280s are great as a control for other sound systems.
If a mix sounds good through these, they'll probably sound good through anything else.

Props. Didn't expect to see this here!

edit: The only thing that's changed for me and these headphones is how psychotic you look walking around with a long-a$$ dangling cable in public.
I'm leaning to getting a new Sennheizer pair that's wireless and has a built-in mic for taking calls.

 

[JAJT]

edit: The only thing that's changed for me and these headphones is how psychotic you look walking around with a long-a$$ dangling cable in public.
I'm leaning to getting a new Sennheizer pair that's wireless and has a built-in mic for taking calls.

Literally my only complaint with them as well - you look REALLY out of place these days wearing something that's more function than form.

Luckily though, you can't hear anyone talking about you because of how isolated you are while wearing them

 

[Ascension]

Interesting thread. I'd probably say this stuff.

View attachment 17090
Not the brand per se, but the product category. If you're not familiar its a (rigid) natural form of salt that eliminates the need for body deodorant. Regular deodorants (old spice, etc.) try to stop the skin from actually sweating via aluminum. This stuff, when its rubbed on wet skin, it creates a film that prevents bacteria on the skin from forming for most of the day. Bacteria is the source of the body odor. I've used these things for years and the big rocks last about 6 months to a year for around $6-8. Makes obsolete the entire category of body deodorants sold at every supermarket or pharmacy. They don't contain any perfume like deodorants. That opens you up to use more subdued, subtle and suave colones, if that's your thing (it's not mine). My only adjustment? I carve 'grips' into mine or occasionally you drop the things and they shatter.

I was pretty excited about this but I looked it up and it turns out it isn't free from aluminium. Quite the contrary actually, they are free from aluminum chlorohydrate but use potassium alum which is the potassium double sulfate of aluminum. The claim is that those crystals are too big to enter the pores on the skin. I can't say whether that is true or not but minor cuts on the skin for example from shaving would definitely make it possible.
Apparently the alum concentrations go up to 20-30% compared to ca 7% in classical deodorants (in Germany).
Since there are deodorants completly free of aluminum I'd probably stick with those unless someone knows more about the toxicological profile of potassium alum or how the "to big to enter" claim holds up.

 

[GuestUser4aMPs1]

I'll add one:
I bought a small whiteboard when I was like 12, with allowance money.

Maybe cost $30.

This thing accounts for immeasurable personal growth over the years.

 

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[MidwestLandlord]

Sturdier 2 liter coke bottles. (the old one's would flex and make it hard to drink from straight, and specially made water bottles are either junk or too small)

Paid 99 cents for one on sale.

Poured the coke out. Refill daily with water and a shot or 2 of lemon juice.

The only thing I drink all day. 3 months caffeine free now.

Perfect for on the road.

Thanks coke! Good value!

 

[MidwestLandlord]

You don't NEED a rack to do most of the movements (except maybe the bench press).

You can bench press with dumbbells, but it's really, really, really hard on the rotater cuff and you'll never get the same results since your max weight will be limited. (good luck getting a pair of 100lb dumbbells into position for a press haha)

 

[JWelch]

View attachment 17110

Sturdier 2 liter coke bottles. (the old one's would flex and make it hard to drink from straight, and specially made water bottles are either junk or too small)

Paid 99 cents for one on sale.

Poured the coke out. Refill daily with water and a shot or 2 of lemon juice.

The only thing I drink all day. 3 months caffeine free now.

Perfect for on the road.

Thanks coke! Good value!

Dude, I am a ridiculous coffeehaulic. Really need to kick that shit.

 

[JAJT]

Dude, I am a ridiculous coffeehaulic. Really need to kick that shit.

I've quit caffeine a few times before and I've given up trying.
The week-long headache that painkillers barely work on is just balls.

And the second you find yourself off the wagon for a week for whatever reason you get to do it all again.

 

[MidwestLandlord]

I've quit caffeine a few times before and I've given up trying.
The week-long headache that painkillers barely work on is just balls.

And the second you find yourself off the wagon for a week for whatever reason you get to do it all again.

I used 2 Excedrin tablets every morning for the first week.

Yes, because it has caffeine in it haha. (130mg for 2 tablets, far less than what I was drinking though)

That got me over the habit of drinking it, without the headache. Then I stopped the Excedrin cold-turkey.

Started to get my energy back on week 9. (I had full on adrenal fatigue though)

Drink lot's and lot's of water when kicking it. I was drinking about 5 liters a day of water at first. (you won't pee that much if you don't have caffeine with it, other than the Excedrin)

Edit:

It's a big identity thing too. Gotta change to "the guy that drinks water" lol, instead of "the guy that always has a coke zero in his hand" like I was.

It's super, super hard to kick, my gosh.

Next is nicotine. Bleh.

 

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[KLaw]

I had a fire in my man cave fire place. Woke up the the next morning and could smell gas. A small gas leak was coming from the fire place. I crawled down into my crawl space in my basement and, luckily, found the shut off valve. Shut it off. The following night, instead of fixing the leak, I went out back and chopped some wood and made a regular fire. It was awesome and kinda therapeutic. That valve has not been turned back on. Pure value.
Awesome thread. Mj. I've added a few of these to my Xmas list.

 

[JWelch]

I used 2 Excedrin tablets every morning for the first week.

Yes, because it has caffeine in it haha. (130mg for 2 tablets, far less than what I was drinking though)

That got me over the habit of drinking it, without the headache. Then I stopped the Excedrin cold-turkey.

Started to get my energy back on week 9. (I had full on adrenal fatigue though)

Drink lot's and lot's of water when kicking it. I was drinking about 5 liters a day of water at first. (you won't pee that much if you don't have caffeine with it, other than the Excedrin)

Edit:

It's a big identity thing too. Gotta change to "the guy that drinks water" lol, instead of "the guy that always has a coke zero in his hand" like I was.

It's super, super hard to kick, my gosh.

Next is nicotine. Bleh.

I’m going to do this. If it worked for you, it will for me.

 

[MidwestLandlord]

I’m going to do this. If it worked for you, it will for me.

Excedrin is addictive, be careful. It's like the parachute when you jump out of a plane, you don't need it once you hit the ground. (or some other analogy that makes more sense lol)

Stop Excedrin after a week for sure. Seriously. (purely my opinion, consult a doctor for real advice!)

 

[SpartanWarrior77]

View attachment 17110

Sturdier 2 liter coke bottles. (the old one's would flex and make it hard to drink from straight, and specially made water bottles are either junk or too small)

Paid 99 cents for one on sale.

Poured the coke out. Refill daily with water and a shot or 2 of lemon juice.

The only thing I drink all day. 3 months caffeine free now.

Perfect for on the road.

Thanks coke! Good value!

Once again, I gotta say it. Plastic water bottles (especially when re-used) - contains ESTROGEN