💰 Some stuff I'm surprisingly happy I bought in 2025
Every year at tax time I go over the pervious year's purchases for things I can expense. This year, I'm sharing a list of the stuff I don't regret buying.
Normally I review books and articles, but as part of the tax prep process I spent some time reviewing my purchases from 2025, and reflected on what I’m glad I bought and what I wish I’d skipped. I’m not going to go through the trouble of reviewing everything on Amazon’s website, but figured y’all might be interested in my unvarnished opinions on the good stuff I feel comfortable vouching for.
Note that these are affiliate links, unlike the last time I wrote up a list like this (2023 was my last tax-time purchase reflection). The small amount of money Amazon pays me goes to things like grabbing lunch with readers, paying for the domain name and making pretty pictures as featured images.
These little rope baskets are apparently a frequently returned item because of their small size, but I like them because of their small size. They’re great for tossing keys or screws or whatever into and they fit neatly on shelves. I am a big believer in giving random crap a “home” so things don’t feel cluttered even when they aren’t all put away properly.
Although it is properly intended as a hiking backpack, I originally got this 20L Osprey backpack to use as carry-on luggage because my postpartum back is not up to the task of carrying a normal backpack full of travel stuff across a large airport. It took me a bit to get used to it, but the waist and chest straps are incredibly helpful for settling the weight so that it doesn’t pull on my shoulders. I use it all the time now, even just popping out for lunch with a friend, because it’s much more comfortable to carry than a purse and I can keep a bunch of odds and ends (pens, business cards, my Pokémon Go spinner) nice and tidy inside of it.
My husband and I both use these adjustable dumbbells, which are nice both because they’re easy to hold and because they don’t take up very much space. They’re also incredibly easy to swap the weights for, unlike the screw-on type. I particularly like that they increment in 3lb gaps instead of 5lb gaps.
We put a bunch of the kids’ outdoor toys and balls and stuff into this deck box, which has held up much better than the other one we bought for our porch even though it gets more direct sunlight. I like that it’s lockable, although currently we don’t bother (ironically, we do lock the one in front, and we ended up having to drill a hole so it’s not weatherproof anymore, bleh. If you want a deck box, get one like this.)
I bought this knee-length winter coat because of a December wedding in New York and it was so warm and cozy, I love it. I wouldn’t want to ski in it or anything (I have a different coat for slushy snow I’m expecting to exercise in) but it was nice for formal occasions or semi-formal date nights around Christmas. These wide width low heel boots are the first boots I’ve ever owned that are actually comfortable (although note that I have very wide, weird feet).
I have tried a variety of phone cases over the years, and this Teelovo phone wallet is my favorite. It doesn’t fit many cards (I habitually only carry two, my driver’s license and credit cards), but it’s not bulky at all and it’s quite sturdy.
My first vertically oriented power strip fits in my bedside nightstand much better than the flat I one I used to use, and it’s much easier for me to keep my cables under control than it used to be.
I looove these rectangular windowsill planters. I had to repot my succulents and the aloe plant I mentioned Annie Normal helped me save last June in my article about what aloe, flax, & silica gel taught me about timing. These fit nicely on my kitchen windowsill and look so nice, and the tray keeps things from getting waterlogged or soaking my sink.
I first saw this incredibly well-labelled analog clock at a friend’s house and got one for my living room to help the kids learn to tell time, but I like it for my own sake too. It makes the room feel a lot more homey to not have any screens.
I bought a lunch box with built-in freezer packs for my kids, but we take it to the park filled with snacks for the whole family, and it’s amazing to not have to worry about icepacks and the lunchbox separate. It just goes right into the freezer and the food stays so cold all day.
I’ve come to love cotton-linen blends in hot weather, and these pants are so comfortable. Crucially, you can get them in multiple length and waistband size combinations, which is helpful for me because I am taller than average.
Hell, while I’m at it, here are the top ten most links to items I mentioned or reviewed in 2025:
Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff was genuinely the best self-help book I’ve ever read. I picked it up on a whim and then wrote a whole essay about testing hypotheses instead of setting goals around it.
I have ten of these Leuchtturm1917 A5 dotted notebooks on the shelf behind my desk, spanning idiosyncratic timeframes across career changes, marriage, and kids. One actually belongs to my son and he references it for his Minecraft notes, it’s wonderful. There’s a linearity to flipping through them that digital notes can’t match, as I explained at length in The Konik Method for Making Analog Notes. I also like the The Official Bullet Journal Pocket Edition. It’s an A6 notebook designed to be used in portrait mode, so it has the same footprint as a single A5 page and fits neatly in my pocket when I don’t feel like bringing a backpack or jacket or purse somewhere.
Safort bootcut yoga pants and Halife V-neck tank tops. I did not expect “my standard clothing uniform” to be so popular with y’all (most readers I talk to are retired guys!) but it came up in Complaints about immodesty go way back. These have amazing pockets and incredible range of motion but look like office slacks and a blouse. Amazon informs me I have bought 9 pairs of the pants and 12 of the shirts, which sounds right. They last a couple of years, which isn’t bad considering how often I wear them. I use this AmélieBoutik bolero cardigan (I own three) so it works for all seasons.
The War Dogs Trilogy by Greg Bear was a great book series I picked up on a recommendation ended up reviewing as post-rationalist philosophy in SPAAAACE. I’d get it from the library. I also devoured The Folding Knife in a weekend; it’s by the Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City guy but I liked it better. Read Sharps right after.
The Road Runner: A Very Scary Lesson (Little Golden Book) has a delightfully anti-safetyist message from the 70s, and showcases the Little Golden Book art style I grew up loving. I featured this in Toy Problems Make Economics Easier To Grasp and still read this book to the kids as often as I can.
This VEIKOU 8x16ft cedar greenhouse is something I mentioned because of the glass-walled garden rooms in a Florentine villa. I came home wanting one so bad. Turns out that for under $2,000 you can get a beautiful cedar-framed one big enough for a hammock, a little table, and a blanket chest, but I still haven’t done it yet.
As a bonus, here are some items I bought even longer ago that I really love:
this sixteen slot desk organizer continues to be a godsend. It has held up really well since 2021 and was surprisingly cheap and easy to assemble. It actually does manage to hold pretty much all of my stationary equipment and the angled drawers make them easier to see.
This one-piece wooden cutting board was shockingly cheap compared to most wooden cutting boards I’ve seen, so I was worried the quality would suck, or it would warp, or crack easily. I got it for $30 in 2022. It seems to have gone up to about $40, but it has outperformed boards that were way more expensive, and it has awesome features that help it dry quickly. Even now, it never slips, the grooves are perfect, and the built-in ruler has been surprisingly handy without catching any food particles like I half-expected. It has held up remarkably well over the last 4 years, although I mostly use it for bread because it’s the perfect size for the loaves I bake.
This soap holder is self-draining, doesn’t fall apart, doesn’t get gross (and is easy to clean when necessary, which is almost never), looks cute and is made out of a single, solid piece of natural wood. I bought my pack in 2021 and they’re all still holding up great.
I have not bought hair ties since 2022 because these hair ties come in a bag of 100 and are the only hair ties I’ve ever worn that actually don’t wear out or pull my hair when they get stuck.
If you got something useful out of this list consider forwarding it to a friend who might also be interested — and encouraging them to sign up for more honest reviews of random stuff.
Also, have you bought something in the last couple of years that turned out to be way more useful than you were expecting? Please reach out — I’d love to hear about it, either via email or in a comment on the web version where other readers can see. Especially since Mother’s & Father’s Days are coming up in a couple of months, and my husband and I are both very hard to shop for...
I need to get one of those deck boxes for my kids outside toys. Thank you.