The Stay At Home Period Made Me Buy It
A few weeks ago news blew up about the need for another possible lockdown period. Since then, multiple European countries have decided to close down again with the hopes of getting back to normal in December.
The current situation is uncertain and, if your country is not in quarantine, there is a small possibility that it will be at some point. Furthermore, you may have to stay home, and you might find yourself staring at the wall after binging on Netflix whilst craving some Vietnamese Pho.
This post is about a list of items that saved my life this year and might help you with yours. I have selected a few of my best purchases and I will put them against some others that weren’t that good. I have taken into account the price, the number of uses and the expectations I had when I bought the item in comparison with the reality, after I receive it. I have also added an affiliate link to the products that I enjoyed the most, so in case you click on them, you will be going through my links, and I may get a small commission if you buy the product just after clicking through my link.
The idea of buying a food processor had been crossing my mind for years. Every time I watch a video about protein balls and hummus recipes, I think about how convenient having one would be.
I always talk myself out of the idea. One of the minimalistic laws I live for is “If you don’t use something already, chances are that you won’t use it after buying it”.
I wrote a list of all the recipes I needed to prepare when I received it just to make sure I didn’t use it once before storing it for good. There are so many things you can prepare with a food processor, from natural pasta sauces to cereal bars and other snacks.
I saw there were two types of food processors, the manual one and the electric one. I got an electric one that I saw on Amazon after seeing the insane amount of positive reviews.
Since I got this kitchen tool, I have prepared multiple recipes including protein balls, pesto sauce, hummus with olives, natural tomato puree and ice cream. I still use it regularly which awards it a spot on my list of best purchases.
New Headphones
I’ll go straight to the point and announce that this was a “you should have considered it twice” purchase.
These headphones are wireless and need to be charged regularly. It sounds simple, but I find irritating having to add one more device apart from my computer and phone and Kindle that needs to stay plugged in before using it.
I don’t think the headphones are bad. I should have been more conscious about the fact that this type of headphones would need extra attention when it comes to plugging them every day.
By now, when it comes to my audio game, I will proudly consider myself a cavewoman and continue using the ones that are stuck to the device by a cable.
Rummikub
One of my best memories from college is the short breaks we had between lectures when I used to meet my friends in the “Student area” to rent a board game and enjoy a few minutes of fun. My favourite one was Rummikub, and I was pretty good at it!
Being decent at a numbers game when I actually suck at maths made me love it even more. Since then, I have considered getting the game but didn’t see the point until this year.
I have played the game dozens of times with my boyfriend. Playing board games is also refreshing if you want a break from computer screens.
Maze Game Board
Another failure in the leisure section of my year. I don’t even remember the name of this item. I saw it in Flying Tiger a couple of months ago. At first sight, it gave me the impression that it would be a great tool for my meditation sessions.
The board has a small ball that you need to move along the circuit, avoiding it from falling inside the holes.
I played a few times during the first two days. I was unsuccessful, there are too many holes and you are only allowed to move the circuit with a very loose handle on the side, making it almost impossible.
By the end of the session, I was feeling more frustrated than relaxed. Since then, it has been accumulating dust on top of my wardrobe.
Water Filter
After I announced my decision to stop buying bottled water, I was recommended to get a water filter to minimize the high mineral content that forms in the tap version.
I bought a BRITA Marella filter jug enjoyed the first glasses of mineral-free water and continued to use it daily until I saw the short lifespan of those filters. The jar has a small screen that shows you how effective the filter is. A new filter has 4 lines and the more you use it the less efficient it gets, showing fewer lines on the screen.
Mine doesn’t last longer than 3-4 weeks. I think it’s a great piece if you suffer from kidney stones. Other than that, I will need to do more research to understand which are the real benefits of filtering the drink. I’ll wait until then to decide if this purchase was a good purchase or not.
Which have been your best purchases so far?
20 Comments
Jamie
Great post! I really think that in this time, doing some ‘original and creative’ stuff at home like cooking can help a lot (even to your mental health). I got a food processor last year but I have definitely used it a lot during this lockdown!
Kiira Smith
It’s great that you are using it during these weird months, cooking helps a lot!
John Malone
Cool update. Board games are the best, I like Rummikub and I also like other games like Scrabble. They are really entertaining and sometimes one can just get bored of Netflix!
Great time to pick up books too
Kiira Smith
Can you believe I have never played Scrabble? It’s in every American horror movie! I will talk about books very soon too 🙂
Manon
totally understand your issue with the headphones… I have used bluetooth headphones in the past, having different sorts of issues, and I still use the ones with cable as well.
Even if it looks really good, sometimes you don’t need the hassle!
Kiira Smith
Exactly! I get is nice not to have the cable in the middle but it feels a lot easier to have the normal ones most of the time hahaha
Karen
I feel like my best purchase recently was to get Duolingo premium (as I am trying to learn French). Are you currently learning any languages? I don’t think you have mentioned it lately so don’t think so but just thought about asking 🙂
Kiira Smith
I downloaded Duolingo a few months ago to learn French too! I haven’t upgraded to Premium because I am not enough regular with it, but I am trying to relearn the knowledge I learnt years ago at school 🙂
Louise
Me and my bf got a 2nd hand ps4 and have been trying some games… it has been good for a change!
Kiira Smith
That’s really cool, Interesting video games must be a life-saviour during these months. I haven’t played a lot but if you can I recommend playing all seasons of “Life is Strange”, it’s an amazing story 🙂
Fede
Good advice, will definitely check the food processor 🙂
Kiira Smith
I may post some recipes soon hehe 🙂
Carrie
I have also had bad experiences with ‘physical games’ like the ball maze you posted! What I learned from it is that is is better for the majority of the entertainment you have to be ‘not physical’ so that if you get tired of it, then it doesn’t occupy any space
Kiira Smith
Good idea, and I’ll think twice before buying a game I have never tried before!
Amber
Board games are the best these days. I like that one you said, and I also like trivial pursuit, cluedo, jenga…
Kiira Smith
I LOVE Trivial Pursuit, it’s at my parent’s home and I wish I had it here now, but I don’t think I have played Cluedo or Jenga so I am adding them to my list 🙂
Kathryn
I have been reading you since recently and I love your approach. I like when you write stuff about mental health so I would love to see more content like that!
Kiira Smith
Thank you, Kathryn I really love your comment, it warms my heart. I will write more about mental health, it is something we need to be paying more attention to, especially right now 🙂