If all goes well I'll be moving out on my own for the first time this fall, so I've been trying to figure out worthwhile appliances and such to set my sights on. So far I've got:

  • Rice cooker for easy cheap meals
  • Cold brew maker (I do be drinking it almost daily)
  • Sparkling water maker (any non-sodastream recommendations?)

Doesn't have to be kitchen stuff or even an appliance like the stuff above—anything helpful (and general advice) is good!

  • AHopeOnceMore [he/him]B
    ·
    1 year ago

    Congratulations! That's really exciting and I'm happy you get your own space.

    There are already a lot of great recommendations here and I'm going to overlap with them a bit. These are the things I think are the most important.

    Bidet: they cost like $20, are easy to install, will save you money within like 2 months, and will make you waaaay cleaner on your butt. 10/10 recommend.

    Instant pot: you can also use it as a rice cooker! 1:1 ratio, 4 minutes at pressure, 10 minutes after the beep before releasing pressure. You can make a ton of stuff and it's nice to save shelf space with a multifunctional item. If you or someone you know had a Costco membership (a unionized store!) you can get them there for around half price.

    A decent mattress: this can be pricey and you might already have one, but it's really nice to have a good place to sleep in your refuge. I'd recommend a no-haggle shop and to get a double-sided mattress.

    One (1) decent slicing knife like a chef's knife or Chinese cleaver. A shi ba zi zuo f208 (for large hands) or f208-2 (for medium/small hands) is my favorite and I literally need no other sharp knives other than a cheap paring knife.

    Stainless pots/pans and carbon steel frying pans: literally IKEA stuff is great for both and is often stackable. The stainless stuff is light, easy to clean (especially with steel wool), and works with induction. The carbon steel stuff is a great way to have non-stick that isn't coated with teflon and IKEA's are reasonably priced.

    Induction burner: you could think of this as a "nice-to-have" but IMO this is better than and can replace an electric kettle while also being more versatile. The best thing about an induction burner is that it is really fast. Like literally 30 seconds from faucet temp water to boiling for a medium-sized kettle. Also if you get a temperature-controlled one, which I recommend, you can use different temps for coffee/tea and alsp use it as a deep fryer w/ a stainless pot. You can get one for sub-$100 at IKEA or Costco, usually.

    Stainless steel cooking utensils from goodwill: if you avoid nonstick cookware, you can use nice stainless stuff while cooking. And goodwill has great stuff for like $0.75. And because it's stainless, you can fully sterilize and clean it before first use. PS if it fits in the instant pot, you can fully sterilize w/ it.

    Glass tupperware: great for saving food, which saves $$$ and keeps your fridge from getting fridge stank. Usually on sale at costco.

    Properly sealing chip clip-ish food savers. Like these. Not just for chips! Any bag can be resealed with them. Bag of frozen tater tots. Bag of spice mix. Bag of MSG.

    Bar soap saver. Anything that lets water drain off the soap after use. No more soap that turns into a weird sticky glycerin puck at the end.

    Something personal that gives you a little lift every day: I don't know what this is, of course. Maybe it's the $5 more expensive Mr. Coffee that has a timer on it so you can wake up to coffee. Maybe it's 30 minutes sitting by your window - so you need a comfy chair and a little table. Maybe it's that carbonated water dispenser. PS I don't remember what brands, but I recommend getting one that uses standard refillable/recycleable CO2 charges. Like whippets but CO2.

    • Wheaties [she/her]
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Properly sealing chip clip-ish food savers. Like these. Not just for chips! Any bag can be resealed with them. Bag of frozen tater tots. Bag of spice mix. Bag of MSG.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRPdVaiaT1Y&t=65s

    • serveranim [none/use name]
      ·
      1 year ago

      You can't cook anything slowly on an induction cooker, they just cycle on and off which sucks.

      The problem with a bidet is that after a while, you don't want to crap anywhere but your own home. It kind of turns you into one of those weird poo people.

      Use liquid soap and a plastic poofy sponge instead of the old-fashioned bar & washcloth. SO much better.

      • AHopeOnceMore [he/him]B
        ·
        1 year ago

        Cycling on/off isn't so bad, but the $100 ones are usually much more controlled and can hover nicely at low temps.

        Personally I have no problem using other restrooms lol.

        A bar is nice for space-saving, budget, and dealing with waste, unless you're using castille or something. Usually liquids are just a watered down detergent with inflated prices.