While thinking about the material things I’ve made investments in over the past year, I have come up with a top three of my most practical and useful purchases. Yes, they take up space, but they make my life so much more productive. I don’t feel like they were an impulse buy as I waited several days after doing research before I purchased them all. I’m very pleased with the results! Let me show you.

First and foremost, this little office setup from IKEA is the MOST practical thing I’ve spent money on in a while. With the exit of a different piece of furniture that belonged to a roommate I had an opportunity to set up a real office space for myself in my home. I can finally sit comfortably while I’m being productive. My desktop computer no longer sits in a very uncomfortable corner where it gets sporadic use. I now have a place to store my tablets and all of my other items I utilize to do business and be creative. I’m no longer putting off certain tasks because I dread temporarily relocating my desktop to another more comfortable surface and then putting it back in the corner. And everything looks so neat and clean! This is the Alex series of office furniture (desk and add-on drawer unit) and the unexpectedly comfortable chair is named Alrik. Love it. My life has changed for the better. Super happy with this.

Not the most attractive, but not the least either, is this automatic pet feeder I purchased online for less than $30. It feeds my precious little furry friend three days of food, twice a day, using six compartments. I don’t have to wake up at 6am every morning to a hungry cat standing on my chest, licking and nipping at my face to wake me up for her breakfast. And I also don’t need to worry about coming home late at night and feeling like a bad mommy because Isabel didn’t get fed at 7pm. She still sits patiently by her feeder on most days as if I’m not aware that she just got fed. Pets are such con artists…

Now this little guy was a bit pricey, but worth every penny. I got him on sale and was able to finance the purchase for six months on an Amazon credit card and didn’t pay a penny in interest (which is something I refuse to do with any line of credit). Looking back, the amount of anxiety and time saved by Harry’s purchase was without a doubt a necessity for me. I’m rather fastidious with the cleanliness of my living space so dirty floors really bother me, but so does making the time to clean them. And when my little buddy is done doing his thing, he goes to sleep on his dock that fits unobtrusively under a dresser in my bedroom. Love.

Summary: These are the kinds of purchases that will most likely make you happy. They enrich your life, create more time for you to relax and enjoy other things, and are used almost every day. What material possessions you perceive as meeting these criteria may be totally different from the items on my list, but as long as you feel they are a value-add to your life that’s all that matters. Keep it simple!