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Not luxury, but I keep a small AAA flashlight with me nearly all the time.
Easier to handle and faster to use than a phone light. Also doesn't use phone battery. I clip it on my hat if I need both hands like taking out the trash.
I have an Olight i3T but I would try out the i3T 2. More lumens and better battery efficency.
A small USB-C hub. It has a USB-C out on one end then HDMI, 2 USB-A ports and another USB-C in on the other. I use it as my travel dock for my switch and steam deck, I've used it as a USB A to C converter, and I'll use it to test inputs on various TVs. I've gotten so much more mileage out of this $15 Amazon purchase than I ever would have expected
Freshly roasted coffee beans. A bag sets me back maybe $13 or so and gets me approximately 10 cups. Not what I would call outrageously expensive but I enjoy it a whole lot
May I share with you that I roast a lot of things and it's mind-blowingly easy, it saves a lot of money, and it's a lot better than buying roasted from the store!
I used to use my oven, but it's literally as simple as raw almonds 325 in the air cooker for 15 minutes sometimes. Depends on the ingredients, I've never done coffee but I think I'm going to do that this afternoon!!!
edit: I couldn't find coffee beans that weren't roasted (i never thought this through) so I bought the lightest ones and tried roasting them at different temperatures. It just kinda wrecked them.
Unfortunately, I believe coffee might be a different beast. I'm not sure you will be able to achieve desirable results with that type of equipment.
In fact, James Hoffmann recently made a video on whether it's possible to roast coffee beans in an airfryer recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyLXmbTnJIY (tl;dw: not if you want good coffee)
The Lady we got ours from isn't showing up at the farmer's marker anymore, but for well under $20, you can make your own corn pillow
This winter's been bad for deep freezes and 4 minutes in the microwave will keep my corn pillow hot for an hour or more.
when I was younger, my family used dry rice. I wonder which works better.
Some Warmies are under $20 too. My son freaked out when I started to put his cute new kitty in the microwave haha
$20
OP said under, so $19.99.
Okay... Now only over-budget by $79.95. I'm starting to think we're bad at this.
Platinum Preppy fountain pen. Often, it's less than 10$
No one needs a fountain pen to write, but writing with a fountain pen is a unique experience. Alas, many fountain pens will cost a little fortune and other will cost a large fortune (what about a 40k$ one?). The Preppy is an exception. It's not the best fountain pen but it's very decent, it's even incredibly good considering its price. For slightly more 25-30$, I would also suggest the Lamy Safari.
Beside that, I can't think of many luxury items under 20. I mean, I can think of a few useful luxury things but they cost more than 20.
Love Platinum, they’re the only fountain pens I can even consider using, as they’re the only ones I found that can handle my low writing volume without drying out between uses.
A bamboo back scratching stick. I bought dozens back when Pier 1 existed and sold them for 75¢. Most are still around.
I carry an arch lighter everywhere. It cost me $15 but saves me a ton in lighter fuel, and you'd be surprised by the number of every day situations that a controlled burst of plasma solves. Opening packages, lighting candles, kills mosquitos in the dark, and it's a fantastic taking piece as mine slots into a zippo.
Only downside is I can't use my zippo for light on the off chance I get trapped in a dark tunnel.
Zippo sucks imo because the gas evaporates so quick
Exactly, as a non smoker, I don't use it enough to justify the cost of fuel. That's why I like the arch lighter insert. All the look and feel of a zippo but I have to fuel it annually instead of hourly and it takes USB instead of oil.
Only downside is I can't use my zippo for light on the off chance I get trapped in a dark tunnel.
Use your arc lighter to light something else on fire: your shirt, Joe Pesci's head, that angry bear you didn't notice at first in the darkness but really hoped it was Scooby-Doo
An electric 'coffee grinder' just for grinding up spices / seeds. Don't use the regular coffee grinder, or your coffee drinking housemates will get super annoyed. The flavor, and nutrition is so much better when you cook with freshly ground spices.
May I suggest a mortar and pestle, then you don't have build up of contaminants in the burr, and blending of particulate from past grinds
Try grinding 60ml of flax, sesame, cumin, black cumin, and fenugreek in a mortar /pestle. It's too much work. I'm a tool using primate, and I like powertools. For 5ml, even 20ml hand power is fine. The Chinese developed a thing called a "Brass Boat" for grinding up larger quantities, "manually", actually by foot/ leg power. Alas, I can't seem to find an image for ya.
A coffee cup warmer. No more getting up from my desk to nuke cold coffee.
Those are stupid cheap at the thrift stores and there's always one there.
Get a double walled cup, i can have hot coffee for 4 hrs and warm for another 2-4 hours
Orthotic shoe inserts. The good ones (superfeet) cost more than $20 but I was able to use my HSA $ to buy another brand for $0 out of pocket. Feet not hurting is worth the money.
Foam roller. I roll out my back 2-3 times a day.
Can you tell I'm getting old?
A decent pen and/or pencil. I have several nice fountain pens that I use for journaling, but I use my Zebra F-301 ballpoint daily for general notes/etc. -- ~$10 for a 4 pack on Amazon. If you prefer a pencil, you can pick up a Pentel Sharp Kerry for under $20 on Amazon.