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Black Friday is a month away, post household items/appliances to keep an eye out for that generally improved your life in any way.

Zutrax

Zutrax

Member
Oct 31, 2017
4,189
I recently became a home owner, and I've been really trying to just wrack my brain for any and all items or appliances that might be useful or helpful in my continuous endeavor to just make my life a bit easier and save minutes to hours here and there on with handy things I may not think of.

I'm talking boring adult stuff that people never really think about until they need it, or don't realize they wanted it until they finally have it.

Fancy vacuums, kitchen appliances (yes everyone will say pressure cooker, we know), outdoors/lawn care items, smart home tech, etc.

Anything that might be useful to toss on a wish list and save some money on.
 
Squarehard

Squarehard

Member
Oct 27, 2017
25,829
e3b05b09facc78bad635849508bf2c3f_original.jpg
 
Sandcrawler

Sandcrawler

Member
Oct 27, 2017
545
Nothing specific, but hardware stores usually have great deals on tool accessories and sets (drill bits, sockets, etc.)
 
Pixieking

Pixieking

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,956
Garlic Press (who can be arsed faffing slicing it?).
Do you have a decent knife set? Knife sharpener?
If you drink alcohol then drinks pourers are damn useful things.
 
Volimar

Volimar

volunteer forum janitor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
38,284
I never thought I'd be this person, but an air fryer. They just make food taste better.
 
Burt

Burt

Fight Sephiroth or end video games
Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,130
There are few things better than a decent sized whiteboard
 
Zippedpinhead

Zippedpinhead

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,711
I love my larger air fryer (it's a combo air fryer/toaster oven).

Makes something's so easy. Instant spots are good, but I think this is actually better for QoL.

I'm also a huge fan of Masterbuilt brand Smokers (both the cabinet style and the gravity style). If you want to see if smoking meat/ BBQ is for you they have a very affordable entryway that also produces great results
 
Ambient80

Ambient80

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
4,599
Electric kettle. A nice pour over electric kettle for use with an AeroPress will make you some excellent coffee with minimal effort.
 
Rocketz

Rocketz

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,904
Metro Detroit
Electric Panini Press
Worx tools. I have a leaf blower and edger/trimmer that I really enjoy from them. Plus you can get free spools for life. Just cost the shipping price.
 
theme park joe

theme park joe

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,201
PIT
Dr_LawyerCop said:
Cordless vacuum cleaners are a pretty big game changer.
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atdawnwestrike said:
I got a Lodge dutch oven last year and I love it.
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Ambient80 said:
Electric kettle. A nice pour over electric kettle for use with an AeroPress will make you some excellent coffee with minimal effort.
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Great posts and I agree. I'll also add an electric chopper (think a mini food processor) is a relatively cheap and useful gadget for onions/garlic/spices/etc
 
R2RD

R2RD

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Nov 6, 2018
2,784
any recommendations for a steam cleaner? under $100 would be cool.
 
JigglesBunny

JigglesBunny

Prophet of Truth
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
31,061
Chicago
I love my Roomba, but only buy one that empties itself. If you skimp out there, you'll be doing it every twenty minutes if you have a pet/pets.
 
Dr Doom

Dr Doom

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,001
A month away? Amazon is doing their Black Friday already because of the supply shortage
 
KNZFive

KNZFive

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,756
Convection oven/air fryer. We got one from my mother-in-law 2 Christmases ago wonder how often we would use it.

The answer ended up being every single day that we cook.
 
StrayDog

StrayDog

Avenger
Jul 14, 2018
2,602
November 11th is Single's Day in China... their version of Black friday. If you like me I keep in an eye on Aliexpress :P
 
0ptimusPayne

0ptimusPayne

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,745
Roborock S4 Max is the absolute GOAT vacuum for your home, especially if you have pet hair. If youre not getting a robot vacuum that has lidar mapping, then dont get one at all honestly.
 
SeanM

SeanM

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,420
USA
Robot vacuum (I have the Roborock brand).

You will be amazed at how much dust it picks up because it can go underneath couches, beds, TV stands and places that you can't really reach with a traditional vacuum. And an unexpected side benefit, it encourages you to live neater too - before I used to leave socks and cords on the floor, now I pick them up so the vacuum won't have any obstacles.
 
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Zutrax

Zutrax

Member
Oct 31, 2017
4,189
0ptimusPayne said:
Roborock S4 Max is the absolute GOAT vacuum for your home, especially if you have pet hair. If youre not getting a robot vacuum that has lidar mapping, then dont get one at all honestly.
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SeanM said:
Robot vacuum (I have the Roborock brand).

You will be amazed at how much dust it picks up because it can go underneath couches, beds, TV stands and places that you can't really reach with a traditional vacuum. And an unexpected side benefit, it encourages you to live neater too - before I used to leave socks and cords on the floor, now I pick them up so the vacuum won't have any obstacles.
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Walter White Walker said:
I got a robot vacuum earlier this year. It's amazing not have to deal with vacuuming.
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So I've always been a bit wary of buying one of these because I have a blind cat who will frequently miss her litter box. I'm genuinely concerned about a robot smearing that stuff around.
 
Babyshaq90

Babyshaq90

Member
Oct 28, 2017
341
I think a cordless vacuum is good for routine vacuuming every few days. Like others have said to buy some tools, like a multi kit and a drill bit set as well. If you have HVAC a wifi thermostat like ecobee or nest is a cool convenience upgrade. You can set a schedule or turn it on before you get home so you don't waste power.
 
hom3land

hom3land

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,580
Need to upgrade my toaster oven.. Looking for a air fryer/toaster oven combo. And coffee maker. Going for the Ninja coffee maker.
 
Empyrean Cocytus

Empyrean Cocytus

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
18,691
Upstate NY
Instant Pot. Best Buy's Insignia brand pressure cookers are just as good (in fact they are made by Instant Pot) and go down to stupid cheap around Black Friday.

Air fryers are great too.
 
Saucycarpdog

Saucycarpdog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,292
hero-DZ201WBKT.jpg


Air fryers are basically mini ovens that cook stuff in half the time. This dual pot one lets me cook both a main dish and side dish together and it's amazing.

Also air fryers are the only way you can reheat french fries. Need I say more?
 
SeanM

SeanM

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,420
USA
Zutrax said:
So I've always been a bit wary of buying one of these because I have a blind cat who will frequently miss her litter box. I'm genuinely concerned about a robot smearing that stuff around.
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With the Roborock at least, you can set up "no go zones" and virtual invisible walls and stuff. After the first clean cycle the vacuum will have created a map of your house, then you'd go to edit map and basically just draw a rectangle around the cats litter box area and it will skip that section on all future runs.

They also have a super expensive version with a camera that does AI poop detection (lol) and tries to avoid it.



But if pets are a concern I would just not use the scheduling features, and start the vacuum manually when you're home.
 
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Zutrax

Zutrax

Member
Oct 31, 2017
4,189
SeanM said:
With the Roborock at least, you can set up "no go zones" and virtual invisible walls and stuff. After the first clean cycle the vacuum will have created a map of your house, then you'd go to edit map and basically just draw a rectangle around the cats litter box area and it will skip that section on all future runs.

They also have a super expensive version with a camera that does AI poop detection (lol) and tries to avoid it.



But if pets are a concern I would just not use the scheduling features, and start the vacuum manually when you're home.
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Great to know thank you!
 
Post Reply

Post Reply

Member
Aug 1, 2018
4,506
Some kind of air fryer. We have an Instant Omni and the oven and microwave basically don't even get used anymore.

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Ashlette

Ashlette

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,254
Mesoian said:
How easy is this to empty? Does it have a base station?
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Super easy, open the top cover, take off the bin, then open the latch on the bin to empty it.

It has a base station that it uses to rest and charge. If your house is too large for the robot to vacuum in one go, it will go back to the base to recharge before resuming.
 
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Zutrax

Zutrax

Member
Oct 31, 2017
4,189
R2RD said:
any recommendations for a steam cleaner? under $100 would be cool.
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Echoing this sentiment, though I kind of want a steam cleaner that's super easy to use, so cordless, easy to clean, etc. I have to use my current one very frequently for my pets and it's a huge hassle every time because I cheaped out on it.
 
StarStorm

StarStorm

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
7,589
A new L shaped desk. Maybe a toaster oven or air fryer. Looking out for a 2nd PC monitor too.
 

Antagon

Member
Nov 4, 2017
516
Boiling water taps (ie quooker or similar)are great if you've got the space and budget for it.
 
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Zutrax

Zutrax

Member
Oct 31, 2017
4,189
I've been looking into the idea of digitizing all of my general life documents onto encrypted hard drives so I can shred all my papers I have in various cabinets. Does anyone have any suggestions on a decent batch scanner and secure storage for said documents?
 
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