What's the Best Money You Ever Spent on Making Life Easier?

LASIK! Best 3k I ever spent! I don't have to fiddle with my glasses in the morning or in the middle of the night. No worrying that my contacts will fall out when I go swimming. I had such a great result that my husband got LASIK six months after I did. He can't believe he waited so long. :)

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The hubs is an engineer, so he's pretty set on doing things himself. So, when he actually hires someone to do something, you know it's money well spent...
- Hardwoods professionally installed
- Second "HVAC" zone put into our basement so we aren't paying to heat/cool a space that isn't "finished living space", but may be in the near future!
- Larger deck installed professionally

As for what is the best "money spent" to make my life easier... housekeeper. Hands down. I would live on rice if needed to keep her.

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my robot vacuum cleaner.
But the best one of all, getting out of real estate and renting. So far we've saved a couple hundered thousand there. Unless you own outright, we all rent anyways right? Except my landlord fixes the boaken stuff.

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My kitchen remodel! Not major or fancy, but replacing the ancient cabinets and shifting things a little makes it a J. to be in the kitchen.

And my murphy bed. We don't have houseguests often, but enough that we needed a comfy bed that could get out of the way for everyday life. the murphy bed in the extra bedroom has been perfect!

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Best money ever spent was paying off my house and SUV in full :) NO MORE WORRIES

Here are my most recent budget busters...

1. My two story garage (we do not have a basement) could actually use it
as a house.

2. bought a mulching lawn mower, and gas leaf blower/vacuum....cut
down my yard cutting time to 4 hours a week instead of 6. Might soon
need to purchase a new grass wipe. Can’t wait for fall leaves I AM
READY!

3. screw shooter and impact drill for all my household fixes...don’t have to
listen to others complaining about me borrowing tools!

4. Snow blower-no more back aches...

saving up for a new engery saving "metal" roof....

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A sofa bed for guests. A lot less work than the Aerobed and it doesn't ever get holes and deflate in the middle of the night like the Aerobed did to my in-laws.

A new dishwasher and cooktop. It's nice to have a dishwasher that doesn't mind drying dishes and a gas cooktop that boils water in less than 20 minutes.

Also, an ongoing way to make life easier: A housecleaning service every two weeks. Worth every dime.

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A few years ago I got a decent sized blow-up pool for the kids for the backyard. It was probably 9'x7' & maybe 24" high & the kids were I'm guessing 7 & 8 years old that summer so it wasn't really big enough for them, but it gave hours & hours of entertainment for around 10 bucks!!

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Having a housekeeper come in every other week to clean and having a lawn service take care of our lawn maintenance weekly. It is worth the money we spend each month to not have to do it since we both work long hours.

Oh and thanks, Michelle A - how could I have forgotten the snow blower? BEST investment ever for our Chicago winters, especially with the doozy we had this year.

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the money we spend every week for a cleaning service to come in and "srub" the house. There is nothing better than coming home every friday night at 5pm to a sparkling clean house and then waking up Saturday to a day full of time with my kids instead of srubbing toilets and mopping floors. :)

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1- My COUCH. Spend almost a thousand dollars on it and it's amazing. Our old couches were so embarrassingly stained and disgusting... so just looking at my new couch gives me peace of mind. Because it's a sectional, it's better to the baby too (he kept going between the 2 old couches and getting stuck in the corner), plus, the cushions don't come off, and it has huge fluffy pillow's that are tons of fun! AND it's microfiber and SUPER easy to clean. I have never been more in love with a piece of furniture before!

2- My new (to us) Jeep. Our old car was a DEATH TRAP, and we already had a Jeep. I wouldn't use the car because I didn't want the kids in it, so my fiance had to drive it... but that made me feel awful too. So now we have 2 Jeeps, both reliable, both family friendly!!

3- Our Angelcare Deluxe Movement Monitor. I would have gladly paid 3x what I bought it for... the peace of mind is priceless. I would seriously have no brought my son home from the hospital unless it was all set up.

Waste of money... brand new kids bikes. They lasted a year before they outgrew them. Next time, I'm buying used!!

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Heck we added on to the house! made a real dining room, extended the living room and took a wall out between family and living room. I dont know how long we would have stayed here if we hadnt. Been here 33 years now and the house is paid for. Getting the new garage door and opener was wonderful since I come and go thru that door so much.(even tho Im trying to save electricity and use the front door more. We built a counter top and cabinets when we added on, and nearly doubled the ammont of storage space we had. One of my favorite things we did when redoing the kitchen was adding a drawer to the side of the stove, just for potholders. I never had a place to keep them before other then on the counter or a bottom drawer with dishtowles so its nice to have them right there handy when I need one. Also, yes the gal coming once a month to clean is wonderful! A couple years ago we replaced old aluminum windows with nice white vinyl windows you can actually open without breaking fingers. Biggest regret is the side by side fridge. As much as I like how it looks and the water and ice in the door is nice, there is never enough space for anything. And its a great brand and one of the bigger ones on the market. Still no place to thaw a large turkey or store a sheet cake for a party.

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a housecleaner. I don't have one now but the second we can afford one, I'm getting one!!!

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Our espresso machine. No kidding, one of the best purchases we ever made. My husband and I are both coffee enthusiasts, and it's a hobby we have together. We love it, because we don't have to go to crappy coffee shops anymore (we love to try out new ones and are loyal to a few, but there are ZERO in our town that we like), and we can entertain lots of guests with anything from hot chocolate to lattes to frappes!

And my Dyson.

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My 2 favortie expenses:

- maid

- accountant

I currently have neither... but the sheer WEIGHT off my shoulders makes life at least 10x better when I DO have them. I don't even care what other people think. I'd rather walk around in clothes with holes in them (in order to pay her/him) and have a maid (and be thought frivilous/inadequate/whatever! I don't give a darn!) that have to constantly be playing King Canute with the house. It only takes me MINUTES every day to keep my house clean when I have a maid come once a week, versus 2 dang hours every single day just to tread water with the mess (not actually be clean). Ditto, I'm adhd. The fee for having an accountant collect my paycheck, pay my bills for me, and deposit the rest in my account was LESS than my late fees. And I had these super organized LOVELY little financial reports. GOD ABOVE I miss my maid and my accountant. <sniff sniff>. No joke. It's been years, and I still tear up at the thought of what life was like when I had them. Granted, my husband took over my accountant's job, but he keeps me in the dark and then when I DO manage to pry out financial info out of him it's so garbled that it takes me hours to sift through. Versus her handy little bimonthly reports.

FIRST thing I do when I go back to work is to rehire them.

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For me it's about eliminating the little daily annoyances...I hated our bi-fold pantry doors so we had nice, 6 panel wooden ones installed and I LOVE them every time I open or close those doors--ditto with the 2 coat closet doors in our family room.
Also we had a window seat converted to a bench/storage seat and I am loving the extra storage space.
New tub surround is very appreciated and I was SO happy to say goodbye to the ugly tile that was there.
Also, penny for penny, my Dyson kicks some serious cleaning butt as far as efficiency and ease of use.

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fencing in the backyard and putting up a swingset for the kids. yes parks were close and great to go to. but the convenience of letting the kids out to play in our own yard without worrying about them running into the street, or worrying about dog poop was priceless for us

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We are still new in our house, and it was move in ready including kitchen appliances (other than personalizing it). This would be a great question for me in about a year! Right now I would have to say....

Our new mattress! My husband does not wake up with a backache every morning.

Garage door opener - house did not come with one!

Front loader washer and new dryer - Love them!

The moving company we used to get into our new state & home - ABF - great job!

New GPS for car!

Wall paint for kids room - made them so very happy!

Materials for outdoor storage box my husband built.

Legs from Ikea - for a computer desk my husband built for the kids. Saw the idea at Ikea and he built it for much less!

I am sure my list will be continued....

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A pool for the backyard (just one of the intex ones you set up and take down each year). A great way to cool off in the hot weather, and keeps the kids entertained.

A deck on the back of the house, it's only two feet above the ground, but now we have a nice area to eat outside and entertain during the summer.

Refinishing the hardwood floors in the living room (couldn't do the whole house at once). It looks so much better and much easier to clean. Can't wait to do the rest of the downstairs.

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This isn't so much household related, but it is kid related.

I often think of all the baby/kid stuff I got thinking I HAD to have it, then ended up using it a few times... or toys or things I bought my son that he HAD to have, only to find that he wasn't nearly as interested in it as he/we thought he'd be.

But I do regularly say how there is one purchase we made (kind of a bigger purchase, as kid's stuff goes) for my son, that was worth EVERY PENNY, and then some. 2 years ago, we bought him a powered John Deere tractor, which he rides around our yard on... constantly. He is forever out there with my fiance or dad while they are cutting grass, and he's "cutting" grass too... our yard is large, with a garden, a farm in back, and a kind neighbor with a great tree swing, and he uses his tractor to get himself from point a to point b all the time... His tractor has a wagon attachment on back, so he can haul his gear (shovels, balls, etc.) around with him. And he actually DOES help with little tasks, like if my fiance is trimming shrubs, my son will load the clippings into his tractor, and dump them off in the "tall grass." He has gotten SOOOO much use out of this thing, and he LOVES it. It looks just like a miniature of his Pappy's mower, so he feels really cool. Sad thing is that I think this is going to be his last summer on it, as he is outgrowing it... not sure what we could replace it with, but man, it was money well spent.

And yes, he gets PLENTY of exercise otherwise... he does plenty of running, playing, etc. But when he needs transportation - lol - he jumps on his tractor!

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we bought a microwave that had a pizza sized oven underneath which is great for frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, etc.. save $ not heating up the entire oven. :)

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A silly one, but my refrigerator! We got it on cyber Monday for less than half price and it is a french door one with the ice/water thing, plus the two freezer drawers. I can keep things SO much more organized, less food goes to waste, and I can fit and find more things in the refrigerator. Plus it's easier for my kids to get healthy snacks because their grab and go snacks (prepared bags of carrots, celery, broccoli, grapes, apples, and clementines) are right in their faces when they open the doors!

Also that we moved the other one to the garage and can stock up when the deals are amazing!

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House cleaner!! When I had a 3 bedroom house and a full-time job it was a miracle to come home on a Friday after work and see the clean floors and bathrooms!

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Money worth spending
installing central air,upgrading heater
swimming pool in backyard
Second garage in backyard for DH "stuff"

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Mini-van- automatic side doors

Dyson- although I would upgrade next time to the longer cord

Loft bed for my son- made for more room for him to play and best of all, less clutter

Buying all of one kind of socks and tossing all of the others. This way, if one gets a hole, there are others that can match and you don't have ten piles of socks to match. Each person has one kind of socks. The same goes for underwear. You see a specific type, you don't have to look at sizes.

Finding what detergent, paper towels, toilet paper and multipurpose cleaner that I like and just buying those. That way there is no question on what product to by or what product works or having a pantry of ten products to do the same thing.

Pantry door organizer

Laundry sorter for kids and us. Although, invest in the chrome one with the better quality bags. Makes life so much nicer.

Laundry baskets- all the same size and shape so they stack nicely

Dinner planning- makes life run so much nicer and less food is wasted.

Play set for backyard. Horribly expensive but it's been amazing for my kids the neighbor kids.

My husband built an island in basement. Makes wrapping presents, etc. so much nicer in the basement.

Hope this helps!
N.

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Roomba, indubitably. And the crockpot.

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About three years ago we did a major remodel and got lots of upgrades to make life easier (new appliances, closets, etc.) but by far my favorite is the new heating and a/c system. OMG it is SO nice to have a system that WORKS and works quickly! The old system never worked in our master bedroom, we were always freezing in winter and sweltering in summer. Not any more!

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We just had our basement finished. It's just one big finished room and it's awesome. We went with TBF who uses a product/wall system that is water friendly and won't mold if (God forbid) our basement ever floods. We went with carpet on the floor versus their product because I really wanted it to feel warmer down here. It's a great tv room/play room and office (I work from home). Total cost was just around $K and worth every penny! Love it!
I would like to put a bathroom w/ shower down here (which will cost somewhere between $7-12,000) but there are more important things I'm going to do first including a privacy fence in the backyard and play area for the kids as well as some landscaping.
I also have a cleaning lady every other week which really makes life easier so my husband and I get to spend time with our children on the weekends versus one of us watching kiddos while the other does the cleaning. Worth every penny!
One more love I have is my expresso/cappicino/coffee machine from Costco.com. I think it cost around $600. It's a Saeco. I makes 1 cup at a time and I've had it now for almost 6 years. It is great to have a fresh cup of coffee every time and it smells so good.

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1. cleaning lady
2. keurig (coffee maker)
3. uppa baby stroller.....we walk everywhere and a graco would never work for us:)

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Apple; Macbook, Ipod, Iphone.

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iPhone - just got one but oh how it makes life so much easier!

Pottery Barn Sullivan Ottoman - makes our living room oh so much more comfortable

Finishing our basement - feels like we have a whole other house...great for the kids

Summer Pool Pass - gives the kids something to do everyday

House Cleaned...for the first time this week - what an amazing feeling to come home to a clean house! I may need to splurge and do that a few times each year just to take a load off!

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First and foremost: Our new Toyota Sequoia. We had an FJ Cruiser and with two carseats in the back seat, there was absolutely no room for any one or anything else! My poor SS had to sit sideways back there whenever we were all together. The new car also has GPS navigation and an automatic back hatch. I love it!!

Number 2: my carpet shampooer. We have two dogs and a lot of carpet plus the two little ones (one walking one about to crawl), so as much as I love my Dyson, sometimes I just need to know that the carpet is deep down clean! Seriously after I cleaned the carpets the first time I was disgusted with how much dirt was left even after vacuuming!

Something that was a waste: the $50 baby tub with the whirlpool and shower head lol. I think I used that thing once and then moved on to the big tub with my oldest. The youngest either gets her bath with big sister with daddy holding her for me, or in the cheap folding tub my mom bought that fits in my sink!

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I've had my share of gadgets but some are keepers - the foreman grill has become our quesadilla & hot wrap maker & grilled cheese maker - quick easy & less mess
I use my electric kettle daily to boil water for tea,hot choc. pasta, soup etc- yes I have a new stove but this is super fast
Just got a shark cordless vaccine - this is the best cordless vac - great for kitchen clean up & with carpet mode can even do a quick pass or stairs it really works & is light weight
Love my wireless printer & found lexmark 105 xl black ink for $5 for certain models - I use the scanner to send my docs to email before I turn in for kids school & can print or bring up on phone if needed.
Yes agree with many of the others too LASIK with my eye sight was life changing swimming especially. IPhone. Snow plow contract with Chicago winters.
I finally lost my weight on Weight Watchers & it really was life changing in so many more ways than I could have imagined.

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Great question, Great answers!! what a way to start my day...I recently spent the money to have my windows professionally cleaned. I am amazed at how much better I feel looking out clean windows! (38 weeks PG so can't do much). And yes, the Pool for back yard, intex. easy to put up and take down and you feel like you are at a resort all summer long.
Lawn maintenance tip...spray your blades with WD40 to keep grass clippings from caking on!

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Up there would have to be our minivan. Every time I use the power doors from the driver's seat, have kids pile in and out so easily etc, I think how much I love it. Outside gas grill has also been well worth the money. It's so fast and makes meat easy and better than in the oven, less cleaning too.

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It's not my main home but we have a cottage on a lake that is only 25 minutes from home. It's great. It's close enough that we can go there for the day anytime. So we have been putting money into that. Funny, the cottage is about 200 sf. It's one big room and a bathroom. Now my husband is a carpenter so we got a lot of this for free but I still find it funny.......my lake cottage has an anderson front door, my home......something we got out of the trash.......cottage....brand new kitchen.....home, cabinets we got off a job he did that burned. They were damaged with smoke and we had to clean them up and paint them. Everything is just the opposite of what you would expect. Isn't that funny?
:)
But to answer your question, the cottage and fixing up to stay there has made my life so much easier because when the kids are restless I can take a ride to the lake so they can fish. :)

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Two come to mind: replacing windows with wood replacement windows that match the style and age of the house; and purchasing a wheeled cart with stainless steel work surface that has changed my life in my small kitchen. Quite an inexpensive 'fix' for just a little more counter work area, and best of all, it moves wherever I need it. This has been a great question. I intend to refresh throughout the day to see more. Thanks, everyone!
J.

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My new computer was the best money I ever spent.

oh AND GPS for the car. it was a gift but it made a huge impact.

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Our spring break vacation. Our vacations have tended to be "visiting family" and somehow a lot of work. This year, we took a vacation to visit my parents, who happen to live 30 minutes from a beach. We rented a condo on the beach for a whole week. We had great weather and a fabulous time. The condo had an indoor and outdoor pool, and was just a few feet from the beach. Best money we've spent in years.

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Electric gate was so very much worth the money. I didn't need it, but it sure does it make it easier when we come and go. It is nice to stay in the car when it is raining instead of getting out to open the gate, drive through, and then get back out to close the gate.

Counter-top convection oven. I just got it in April and I love it. It uses way less electricity than the big oven, doesn't heat the kitchen and living room, and cooks in less time.

New shower. Our old shower was literally falling apart (holes in the floor and everything). Instead of trying to rebuild it ourselves we tore it out and put in one of those pre-made ones from Lowes. It was worth every penny and because it's a corner shower the bathroom has more room. No more standing in front of the toilet to get in and out of the shower.

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What a interesting question! I'm really enjoying reading all the answers.

I would definitely have to agree about the Lasik. I had it done more than 10 years ago, so I don't think about it much, but I remember at the time thinking it was the greatest thing I'd ever done in my life!

I also loved getting my mini-van when my first child was an infant. To be able to remotely open the side doors while holding a carseat was the best!

Several of the answers here have inspired me about getting a house cleaner...I think it might be time for me to splurge on that, too. I'm sick of my house being so dirty, and I'm definitely too busy to do it!

Thanks for the really fun question today!!
Jen
www.morethanmothers.com

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Having someone plow the driveway when we had tons of snow this winter. My husband was much more pleasant to be around on all those snow days ! ; )

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What a small world, as I recommended the exact same change to my sisters remodel..that she turn a coat closet into a pantry for her family with 3 teens....she thanks me all the time...the kids can easily make their own lunches, everything is organized and easily accessible..

And my best investment was buying an Acura MDX with navigation because we moved to a climate with snow....and snow tires..I feel very safe and confident while out driving in those terrible winter conditions and have not fretted even once. :)

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