Top 10 Things I Am Glad I Purchased

These top 10 items I am glad I purchased semi-recently are not just sustainable items, but also items that have made my life better in various ways, which I will explain how below.  Because not only am I a woman who wants to live a simpler life for the world, but I am also a woman living with ADHD and anxiety, so I need items that help me have a simpler life in general.  So, some of the items help combat either of those, as well as some of the others are more eco-minded.

Not only that, this list is not my "all-time favorite items", but rather my most recent favorite items, as I have things from many years ago that I've also loved, but I either no longer use those items, or I don't own them anymore.  And that list would be way more than 10.  

So, without rambling on about nothing, as sometimes I am wont to do, here is the list, along with the items I've bought in relation to these items that just didn't quite work out for me.

1. Industrial Fans from The Hardware Store.  I paid around $50 a piece for these.  They are round, they pivot in place from their perch on the ground.  They are full metal and AMAZING!  We could not have gotten through the past two summers without them.  Yeah, I know they aren't doing me any favors in the energy usage department, but I have POTS and hypothyroidism, and both of those things mess up my ability to heat and cool my body.  So, these fans are spectacular at keeping my body temps just right!  Also, I have pretty bad tinnitus, and I have to have noise on at all times, so I don't hear the static in my ears (I've had this my entire life). 
   
   Counter Purchase: Crappy Plastic Fans from Family Dollar (all plastic and cost around $15 a piece).  These SUCK and not work at all.  But it was all we could afford at the time, and we had to suffer because of it.  One time, our air conditioner broke, and we had to use these horrible fans to try and stay cool all night.  Safe to say, it did not work.  
   
   
2. Ninja Blender.  I got my first Ninja blender from my mother in 2013.  It was after the first time I went no contact with her, but due to our financial circumstances, I had to go crawling back.  And she rewarded me by buying me a Ninja blender.  I didn't want it.  I was so very, very angry she bought it for me, that I didn't use it for an entire year!  But then I looked at the poor thing in the box and decided to try it out.  And I didn't have to replace it until 2020!!!  Who on earth has a blender that lasts over seven years?  Ninja owners, that's who.  
   
   Counter Purchase: Any other cheap blender.  Yes, I paid around $75 on sale for my Ninja.  Before, I'd only buy $20-$30 blenders.  Once, I used one for the first time, and popped in a single ice cube, turned it on, and it immediately broke.  Sigh.  Don't buy cheap blenders, because you end up paying more in the long run having to replace them.  Ninjas are definitely the way to go.  
   
   
3. Canva Membership.  I used to scoff at paying for monthly memberships to anything, mostly because I could not afford it.  But today, I use Canva for everything, and I can afford it, yay!  I even designed a book on it!!  Yes, it has its limitations, but they definitely are able to be worked around and when used in conjunction with a free online editing program like Pixlr or a free downloadable editing program like Krita, then you have a match made in editing heaven!  I pay for my membership because I use it so much that the paid features are soooooo worth it for me.  
   
   Counter Purchase: Gym Membership.  I have paid for a Planet Fitness membership like fifty times, and I've always canceled it because we never use it.  I do get every cent out of the fee I pay for Canva, though.  Even though it doesn't make me at fit as a gym membership would.  Oh, and I also have another counter: Designrr.io.  I paid for that for two years becuase I forgot about it and never got any use out of it.  So annoying (I find the site pretty useless).  
   
   
4. Metal Insulated Water Bottles.  If you're going to replace single use water bottles, go all out and get the insulated kind, because it keeps your liquids cold for like twelve hours or more.  And who doesn't want cold drinks?  I am a water junkie and I drink predominately water, so I love my Bubba water bottles.  Even my kids have their own they use for water, PLUS they replaced their single use plastic soda bottle and can addiction with getting a refillable metal Bubba from Walmart, which only causes $1 to fill up at the soda fountain.  
   
   Counter Purchase: Single Use Plastic Water Bottles.  Good god, we used to fill up our recycling bin with these things to OVERFLOWING.  I am soooooooo glad we gave up that whole thing, because goodness, that was awful (and a mess!).
   
   
5. Colorful Pill Organizer.  Here is the link to one I have.  I have ADHD, so remembering to either take my pills or if I have taken them or not is a daily battle for me.  Until I got this organizer.  There is something about the fact I have to open it up, choose today's color, and click open the day or night pill side that for some reason reminds me to take my pills.  AND, I never get mixed up thinking I already took them.  
   
   Counter Purchase:  Regular Pill Organizers.  They just don't work for me.  I don't know why.  Also, another counter, is not having a system in place for someone like me with ADHD.  You can do good for a long time, then mess up once, and then you'll forget to take your pills for days on end.  So always, always have a system in place if you have ADHD or anxiety.   I just wish I had done this earlier.
   
   
6. Comfortable Clothing.  I used to be cute.  I used to be thin.  I used to be young.  And back then, I loved wearing clothes that reminded myself and other people of those things.  But now I am in my forties, and why the hell do I need to be cute?  Even though I wasn't thin as I gold older, I still thought I had wear things that made me look cute and so I wore cute shirts and always tried to look like I had a hot date somewhere.  But today?  I still look presentable, but now I dress for comfort.  I wear what I feel good in, because you need to feel good in what you wear in order to feel mentally good.  So, I dress in clothes that represent the real me, not the me I want others to think I am (leggings and big pullover hoodies, y'all).  Which makes me feel so much more amazing.  Even if other people might think I look more masculine than I should (I used to dress super girly).  Oh well, right?  I feel great, and that's all that matters.  
   
   Counter Purchase: Cute Girly Clothes.  I used to think that I needed to look cute in order for others to think I am cute.  But why did I want others to think I was cute?  It was almost like I couldn't be invisible or else I'd feel bad.  But I am not like that anymore.  Now, I am perfectly fine with people seeing the real me, rather than hiding under frilly tops and shoes that hurt my feet and pants that hurt my back.  I am too old for clothes that hurt me.  Yuck!
   
   
7. Digital Streaming.  Whoever invented this is my hero.  I mean, I get access to all my favorite shows and new shows that become my favorite shows, anytime I like!  Well, duh, we all know how streaming works.  But like I said before, I have POTS.  And sometimes my POTS keeps me in bed for days at a time.  The last two days I've been in excruciating pain after pushing myself to get things done around the house, and streaming TV is the only thing that helps take my mind off it.  It's an amazing invention and I hope it never goes away.  Also, the price is so very right.  
   
   Counter Purchase: Direct TV/Dish Network and Cable TV.  I have been screwed over by both of these satellite TV networks toooooo many times to count.  And cable just sucks because you are at the whim of their programming, and their prices are INSANE.  And for what??  Streaming is where it's at.  
   
   
8. Cole's Classroom.  Are you a beginning photographer?  If so, get your butt on over to Cole's Classroom and learn what you need to know!  For real guys, I was just another person with a DSLR camera and no idea how to use it until I found his site.  I mean, I am still an amateur, but not on the way I was before.  I finally get how to use my DSLR now.  I understand how it works.  And it's the first place that has ever gotten through my thick skull what all of those settings mean.  And sooooo much more!  I cannot rave about this site enough!  
   
   Counter Purchase: Amy and Jordan.  Now, I loooooooove Amy and Jordan!!  I love their photos, their enthusiasm, and everything else about them.  But sorry to say, anything I've purchased from them, I have not gotten any use out of it.  Which sucks.  But mostly what sucks is that even though I love, love, love their aesthetic, I always end up wasting my money.  But I do love to watch their little intro videos for their courses and see their pics on Instagram, and those are free! 
   
   
9. Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot style).  I use this almost daily.  I have only had two Ambiano brand (Aldi brand) pressure cookers and now I am on my third, which is from Family Dollar, which I got on sale for $30 (and it works great!).  I use it for rice, cooking roasts, chicken, etc.  It's great!  And again, I have POTS, which causes me massive pain if I stand for long periods of  time while cooking.  And if that happens, I can't even eat what I cook, because I get pretty nauseous by the time I am done.  So, the IP just fixes all that and does the work for me.  I am so grateful someone invented this version of a pressure cooker.  It makes life for people like me soooo easy (I used to have the old-fashioned style and never used it because it scared me LOL).
   
   Counter Purchase: Slow Cookers, Rice Cookers, etc.  All single use kitchen items that the pressure cooker replaces.  I do loves me a slow cooker, but rice cookers?  Goodness gracious, those things sure make a terrible mess.  
   
   
10. And last but not least, Paying for Someone Else to Mow Our Lawn (and sometimes shovel).  Listen, I know it's expensive.  And I am frugal gal, so it really, really bugs me to pay someone oodles of money to mow our expansive yard several times a month.  BUT, there is not one person in my house who isn't allergic to mowing, and one has asthma.  If our yard was smaller (and it used to be), we'd mow all the time, and even use our push mower (the kind without gas).  But now we live on a large piece of land and we do not have a ride on mower.  So, I hire a guy who is a professional, and pay the price.  And it's freaking worth it.  There is no reason to make ourselves sick with our piddly little lawnmower and our big 'ol hills and valleys.  Good grief, it sucks. 
    
    Counter Purchase: My Lawnmower.  Enough said.  What a waste of money.  We started paying someone else because our lawnmower stopped working last year.  And I am glad it did.