In this age of consumerism, there’s never a dearth of things to buy and a myriad of products is constantly shoved in our faces.

Of the purchases we make, most add little to no value to our lives. Some prove to be worth their price. But only a few, very few purchases end up becoming investments that pay off handsomely in terms of — our health, productivity, and overall wellbeing.

I want to share 6 such purchases with you. These sub $100 items have added immense value to my life and I hope they do the same for you.

An E-Reader ($85)

Well, my Kindle is not only the best purchase but also the best investment I’ve ever made. More than 4 years old and I’ve read hundreds of books on it, but it's still as good as new.

I’ve been a voracious reader all my life. But earlier, my reading was limited to inexpensive books, ones borrowed from friends, or the ones that caught my eye in libraries.

While buying expensive books wasn’t financially feasible, reading them on my phone or computer proved to be unhealthy — severe eye strain and headaches.

Buying a Kindle solved this problem and more.

The eye strain is the same as a physical book. And e-books are much cheaper than their physical counterparts — not to mention the fact that you can find a free copy of almost any book on the internet.

Moreover, an e-reader has a slew of other benefits — an inbuilt dictionary to check on the go, custom text size, easy bookmarks, notes, highlights, and enough memory to store thousands of books.

If you travel a lot, the last one is especially helpful —instead of a book or two, you can carry along an entire library in your pocket.

A 2.2-Liter Water Bottle ($15)

Drinking adequate water is of paramount importance yet statistically, most of us are clinically dehydrated.

With our busy lives, tracking our water intake and making sure to drink enough every day isn’t easy. I used to struggle to drink enough and my urine was perennially yellow.

All this changed when I chanced upon and immediately bought a 2.2-liter water bottle.

According to the US National Academy Of Sciences, the average male needs to drink 3.7 liters, and the average female 2.7 liters. As I work out regularly, my ideal water intake is a bit higher at 4 to 4.5 liters a day.

With this bottle, this became straightforward — I just had to finish my bottle twice a day. It has volumetric calibrations so you can fill it up precisely based on your target.

Be it classes, work, or the gym, I carry my bottle pretty much everywhere I go and my clear urine is an indicator that I’m well-hydrated. And as weird as it may sound, I’ve grown attached to my bottle.

Nowadays, with the pandemic raging, I’m mostly at home, at my desk. And I can work for long hours without having to worry about hydration— as my bottle is always within my hand’s reach.

A Book ($6)

Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy that has changed my life. It has improved my self-control, taught me to how to deal with suffering, and reduced my anxiety.

Unlike most other philosophies, it lays down simple principles for happy living that can be applied irrespective of your standing or situation in life.

And The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday with 366 excerpts from the Stoic teachings serves as a constant reminder of the Stoic way.

This book lives on my desk and I flip through a few of its pages every time I feel low. And it makes me feel better immediately. Here are a few quotes that I love from the book,

“In your actions, don’t procrastinate. In your conversations, don’t confuse. In your thoughts, don’t wander. In your soul, don’t be passive or aggressive. In your life, don’t be all about business.”

“Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will — then your life will flow well.”

“Apply yourself to thinking through difficulties — hard times can be softened, tight squeezes widened, and heavy loads made lighter for those who can apply the right pressure.”

“There are two ways to be wealthy — to get everything you want or to want everything you have.”

This book may not change your life completely, but will definitely help you live a better life.

A Fitness Band ($40)

As an ex-insomniac, I knew the ridiculous importance of sleep and wanted to track mine. After some research, I bought an Honor Band 5 whose sleep tracking was supposed to be pretty accurate.

And I’m more than glad I did — the extremely detailed sleep analysis has helped me optimize my sleep a lot.

Moreover, this band has a decently accurate SPo2 tracker which has been super-helpful during this pandemic.

Another highlight is the different workout modes — be it running, cycling, weight training, or HIIT, I can easily track the calories burned. The other tiny features such as the stopwatch, timer, and music control also come in handy while working out.

All in all, this band has proven to be something I’ve always needed but never knew I did.

A Pair of Good Quality Wireless Headphones ($99)

Few things help you zone in as much as good music does.

And I really discovered the power of music only after scrapping my worn-out and creaky pair of wired headphones and getting a quality wireless pair.

Unreal noise reduction, large comfortable ear cups, and no wires to fumble with — just absolute bliss. Be it a hardcore workout or a concentrated session of writing, these guys have my back.

With some heavy metal blasting in my ears, I’ll be grinding the weights oblivious to the world. And with some chill pop, I’ll be ripping words surfing on adrenaline.

Having used cheap headphones and earphones all my life, this one opened my eyes to the fact that— if there’s one thing that you shouldn’t skimp on, it’s on a pair of headphones.

But unless you’re a hardcore audiophile you don’t really need to dish out a lot. Mine cost just below $100 and you can even get a good noise-canceling pair if you’re willing to spend up to $150.

A Doorway Pullup Bar ($15)

The pullup is one of the only two exercises required to train the entire upper body, the other one being pushups. And it’s one of the best exercises you can perform to improve your posture and overall fitness.

So, last year during the lockdown, being unable to do pull-ups felt like a handicap. Doing them off ledges severely scraped my fingers. And most pullup bars were expensive and required drilling.

Then one day, I came across doorway pullup bars — inexpensive ones costing as low as $15 that don’t require drilling. I immediately bought and installed one.

Being skeptical I did a weight test and mine held tight up to even 100 kgs. So I started doing weighted pullups. And over the next few weeks, I not only maintained my muscle and strength but also built more.

The benefits of a doorway pullup bar go beyond pullups. You can perform a slew of other exercises — knee raises, chin-ups, skinning the cat, inverted rows, front lever, back lever, scapular retractions, etc.

You can also just hang from it which can — decompress your spine, improve posture, relieve shoulder pain, and increase your grip strength.

Moreover, every time I pass through the doorway, I make it a point to bang out two or three pullups. When you do this, you not only increase your daily physical activity but also get better at pullups.

So do yourself a favor and get a doorway pullup bar.