What’s something you were too cheap to buy, then wondered why you waited so long?

Laser printer. I never print in color and I print maybe 5 to 10 pages a month and sometimes go 2 months without printing. I have always bought ink jets. Not too many problems except ink nozzles don't like to sit unused for long periods. Went to get a new cartridge  They were out of small black cartridges and the large one was $79. Fuck that I bought a new printer. Canon. Ink is much cheaper. The problem is that the wifi connection drops out after 1 day of non use and it's a hassle to reset. There were other problems too but I wont go into it. Bought a Brother laser. The cartridge it came with prints 700 pages. Do the math. I print a lot of detailed schematics and the laser prints them perfectly. It also does not care how long it sits unused. No dropouts, no clogged nozzle.

Fleshlight.

I learned many years ago that mattresses are not something you should skimp on, ever. Shoes are another one. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.

The cost of Printer ink is ridiculous when you get the brand name / OEM ink. Last time I bought ink  I found generic ink for my HP. Got 2 cartridges for half the price of just one OEM Cartridge. The cartridges looked different but they installed perfectly and printed perfectly. 

I will third the mattress.

Our Sleep Number is amazing and worth every penny we paid for it and then some.

Analog Speed Queen washing machine - previous washing machines needed some type of repair every year and only lasted about 3 years.  The Speed Queen we have is 11 years old and has not needed a repair...yet.

Outside shower - living in Texas, we use it almost exclusively during the hot months.  No glass to clean, just pressure wash it when I'm washing my scooter.

Whole house generator - My wife's request.  That is the one thing I was always too cheap to buy.  It is nice to never lose power out in the country.

A cowbell. Can't believe I lived life without one.

Bean to cup coffee machine.

Good all weather, zip-out lining, riding gear for road riding. Not sure why I avoided this for so long but it has made an unbelievable difference to riding in the wet and cold weather.

A stand up Jet Ski back in the '90's.

A good laptop. I used to buy whatever was on sale and functional, I don't need a lot of computing power. 

Fast forward to a flooded basement and insurance claim, I put $1500 towards a nice 2 in 1 (folds into tablet mode) with touchscreen, backlit keyboard, metal frame instead of cheap flexy plastic. 

Functionally it does nothing better, but holy shit is it nicer to use. 

Word on the street is that you are a cheap skate and bought that Fleshlight at a garage sale.

😁

Hookers and, cocaine

Pringles can, sponge, and disposable glove for a hobo fleshlight

Induction bolt heater, so much easier and safer than a torch

A dishwasher. That dang ring was 3K 😂 

I’m thinking paying to have my lawn maintained will be the one I wish I did sooner. It takes so much effort to get the time and good weather aligned to get it done each week. I have 1.5 acres and a bunch of areas that have to be trimmed and weeded.

I feel like I’m wasting my free time keeping up

With the yard and never make progress on any of the projects I’d like to tackle.

I think if I ever pay someone to do it, that’ll be my, dang, why didn’t I do this sooner.

But I’m a cheap prick and I actually like doing it, it just is a real time suck.

Pest control.  I gave up on the battle with ants and signed up for a yearly contract with the local pest control service. They wanted seven hundred and something a year, they come out on a regular schedule, and anytime ants show up between stops. "If they come back, we come back"  Ok sign me up.  7 hundy is a big hit, but then I started looking at what I was spending at Denaults and Lowes just to have them show back up 2 weeks later and it took away some of the $ting.

At one point I was like, Ok you little mother fuckers, you want the dog food and minute table scraps that bad I'll put em in the yard for you, here ya little bastards I'll feed your whole goddamn village, I'll even give you water just stay the fuck out of my house. No ???   Alright then that's your call, time for you to die 😄  

I made what I thought was a funny remark that when my gal drinks we call it loading the dishwasher. 

I laughed pretty hard as I was running away.

Don’t forget the clothes washer 😂 

The first time I ate at a real steakhouse, I thought to myself, "I am never going to Outback again." 

Dunlop, Pirelli, Michelin or Continental tires for my nicer cars. 

Not that I was too cheap, I just kept blowing it off.  I had meant to do this years ago and once I did I wondered why I waited so long.

I got an Elgato USB Capture Device to hook up my old VCR to my computer so I could digitize old VHS tapes.  I had tons of old tapes.  Movies that I bought on VHS, stuff I recorded off TV, old family home movies that had been put on VHS decades ago, videos of me racing motocross that people had sent me on VHS.  Anything I had on VHS that was not currently on YouTube or streaming, I digitized. Why did I wait so long to do this?

I have nearly an identical setup and it works great. Digitized some mx tapes recently from the 90's. Also discovered a Blockbuster video that was never returned. Wonder what the late fee on that will be? 😬

Central air conditioning this year. Game changer. Our little window A/C unit wasn't cutting it anymore.