Why?

There’s a handful of things that have been really awesome, perhaps oddball, sometimes life changing items I’ve purchased via Amazon that I tend to share with people. The disclaimer here is all the links I’m posting are Amazon Affiliate Links, which means if you click the link on this page and purchase the item, I get a tiny cut (no difference in price to you of course). Note if you don’t see images, your adblocker is probably blocking them. No big deal, the text links will still work. These aren’t necessarily in perfect order, just the order I thought of first. On to the list!

The List

1. Bidet

Owned time: 2020

Queue the sheepish sideways grins and laughs, but seriously this is #1 for a reason. We as a family use about ten percent of the toilet paper we used to use, and well, the thing is simply awesome and you just have to try it to understand. We got this based on both a coworker and our doctor’s recommendation. This particular review puts it as frankly and hilariously as possible and definitely better than I ever could.

Get it by clicking here!

2. Eneloop Rechargable Batteries

Owned since: 2017

When we had our first child in 2017, we were not prepared for the onslaught of battery powered toys. We chewed through batteries like nobody’s business, and while buying in bulk can help, we sorely needed rechargables. These Eneloop batteries by Panasonic have been amazing. They charge quickly and last a long time. They have AAAs and AAs, and the bigger sizes are all derived from the AAs with small adapters (to C and D sizes).

Get the starter kit here!

3. Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System

Owned since: 2019

I got tired of replacing fridge filters for $50 a pop twice a year, so I started buying much cheaper ones that go on the outside of the fridge, in line with the water supply. Those got to be a pain because I had to pull the fridge out every six months to replace them. We had water at a friend’s house and it tasted amazing. It turned out to be reverse osmosis water. This particular system is from iSpring, and we originally bought the 7 stage. It turns out the 7th stage (a UV light “treatment” actually activated something in our city water to make it skunky) so the recommendation here is the 6 stage. Not to mention iSpring took excellent care of us by sending us two years worth of filters for the mess up. The water is amazing, and has the all important re-mineralization stage post-osmosis filter. I cannot recommend this enough as the water tastes so good we drink a much healthier amount of it every day. We also cook and make coffee with it as well and the difference blew us away. It’s not too hard to install but you should be a little bit handy.

Check it out here!

A quick extra: I also bought this kit which lets you easily run the same reverse osmosis water straight to the fridge. So my ice and cold water tap from the fridge tastes great too!

4. Dash Cam

Owned since: 2017

I wanted one of these just because I nerd out on electronics and wanted to make cool time lapse videos of me driving around. Little did I know that it would save us huge by proving the other driver’s fault at an accident which totalled my vehicle. I now make sure every one of my vehicles has one of these in it. You can easily install it yourself if you don’t mind the cord showing, and if you have a little mechanical knowledge and tools it’s not hard to wire in permanently. This thing paid for itself at least fifty times over without exaggeration simply because of one accident.

Check it out here!

5. Bluetooth Audio Transmitter (and headphones)

Owned since: 2018

This item was huge for my wife and I, to let us watch TV and movies once kids were in bed. It plugs into your TV or home audio setup and simply transmits audio over bluetooth. The reason for the particular model(s) of these items (from Avantree) are that they support Bluetooth Low Latency, and support two pairs of headphones at the same time.

• Transmitter - This is our older model that only supports PCM, works great but you can’t feed dolby digital to it.
• Newer Transmitter - This is a newer model that does support dolby digital that we’re considering getting as of this writing.
• Plantronics Headphones - These are more of a cadillac of headphones but they feel great and sound amazing.
• Avantree Headphones - These are a newer version than what we have (our specific model is no longer available) but the Avantree brand has been awesome.

6. Kitchen Shears

Owned since: As far back as Alton Brown’s Good Eats told me

You wouldn’t believe how many simple, mundane cutting jobs in the kitchen can be done with scissors instead. Cutting up meat, salad bits, kids hot dogs/grapes, sandwiches in half, you name it. We love these things so much we’ve bought five pairs and use all of them regularly. This particular brand has been sturdy, is dishwasher safe, and has a nice little nub on one side that makes cutting things like small fruits really easy. Total game changer in the kitchen. Seven bucks a pair (as of this writing), you can’t beat that.

Snag a few pairs here

7. Large Tools Mobile Base

Owned since: 2019

I’m a very amateur woodworker but do have a several large tools like a table saw, bandsaw, drill press, etc, and quite a small garage. This mobile base kit makes moving them around and locking them down really easy. You supply your own plywood and cut it to the size of your tool, and attach this kit’s wheels and off you go. It’s so nice to be able to wheel a large tool out, lock it down easily, and move it back. I’ve got two so far and will definitely put them on any more large tools I own later.

Grab one here

8. Electric Kettle

Owned since: 2019

I’ve used this particular Bonavita electric kettle for several years even before I bought one myself. Nearly every day at work making coffee with an Aeropress. This workhorse has never failed me and it’s simplicity is also what makes it great. You set the temperature and off it goes. If you are a tea or coffee drinker this is a must have. There are two different sizes too:

• 1.75 liter version
• 1 liter version

9. Aeropress

Owned since: 2012

Speaking of the Aeropress, if you’re getting your daily joe from the gas station or a keurig (I don’t know which is worse) and looking to up your coffee game, this will be the best thirty bucks you’ve spent in a long time. It’s a fairly simple device but very well thought out and engineered to brew a heck of a cup of coffee. This thing is so widely accepted as a great brewing method, they hold world championships each year!

Grab one here!

10. IP Cameras

Owned since: 2016

This should have been higher on the list, as I type this I can see my infant daughter in her crib, my driveway, backyard, and side yards, all in real time. If you’re not sure what “IP” camera refers to, it simply means that the camera sends its video out via some form of computer networking (usually wired Ethernet, or WiFi). You can make these as simple or as complicated as you’d like, some just have an app you use on your phone, others can involve setting up a dedicated computer or network video recorder. The point here is, just purchasing the IP camera yourself rather than with a kit, or a “baby monitor” can save you a lot of money. The setup of the system is another whole blog post for later, but for now here’s the two we use daily, which record 24-7-365, and with my specific setup I keep two weeks of recordings.

• Hikvision 4MP Turret - I have these on the exterior of the house, the night vision is automatic, and they have a great, sharp picture.
• Amcrest Pro HD - We use these indoors as baby monitors, they pan/tilt/zoom with a phone app, and are super easy to set up. I hard wired them to my server but you definitely don’t have to.
• Annke C800 - This is a more modern version of the Hikvision type exterior camera above, is 4K and still a great price. I’ve seen them highly recommended and this will be my next camera.