What’s your top BIFL purchase, that might not in itself has been all to frugal, but long term, will be?
After having 5-6 different office chairs over the last 10 years, none of which I liked. I went and bought a Herman Miller Aeron chair. It’s ridiculously expensive, but I’m so pleased with it and hope to keep it for well over 15-20 years. If that actually succeed, I will have spent less money one chairs than if I hadn’t bought it.
What similar items (cheap or expensive) do you feel the same about?
Just wanted to let you guys know that Bifl sounds a lot like “Bifle”, a unique french word. It’s a quite precise verb that means “slapping someone with a dick”. It merges the words bite (= dick) and gifle (= slap).
That’s all folks
Can I BIFL a bifle? Asking for a friend.
It’s a subscription service Sir.
I was just about to intervene
How’s that chair? Big guy here, and most chairs are absolute shit, barely coming up high enough to adequately rest my head.
That’s the one negative, there is no headrest. Not even to purchase. Though there is a company that specializes on headrests for their chairs, that are made with great quality and looks as official as it gets. I’m about to purchase one of those, which sucks considering what I paid.
I’m fairly tall 187 cm / 6”2. And have zero struggles with the size of the chair. I’m on the medium size, so there’s a larger one available. Depending on your size, I’d imagine that one would work for you.
It’s 100% the best chair I’ve ever sat in. Took 3 weeks to break in, had some crazy pain in my lower back. Realized afterwards that what had happen, was my posture was being corrected. I sit with much better posture on regular chairs now as well, it basically forced me into learning how to sit properly. I never ache, never feel like I have to stand or move. It’s just awesome.
Definitely one of the advantages of mine, over the crap I’ve tried before.
How big? I’m 6’3”, 300+ lbs, and it is so nice. Arron comes in three sizes and I do have the largest, but it fits, with room to spare.
I usually have the worst problems with posture, because office chairs do not adjust high enough to match my legs, but this does! I don’t have a headrest and don’t know if they make them, but I don’t even notice that since I can now sit upright!
Osprey backpack
Zwilling and wüsthof knives
De Buyer carbon steel pans
RM Williams boots
Dynaudio speakers
Thinkpad laptop (on Linux)
Greenbell Nail Clippers. Freaking sharp as anything and they’ve been my goto for about 10 years. I got them the same time I got my safety razor which is a great, cheap, beard removal tool.
I’m definitely “that guy”, but chairs are hard to BIFL, as your body’s needs changes. Kinda like asking for a BIFL mattress. You can do it, but not recommended.
My hiking boots.
Scarpa full leather, purchased in 1999 for ~USD300. They have been on 3 different continents, covered thousands of kilometres.
They turned 24 a few weeks ago, I still wear them a couple of times a week and they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned.
All for the cost of about $1 per month.
Money well spent.
Maybe not literally for life, but having family that’s into the whole thrift store thing is pretty decent. Got a big honkin’ cast iron skillet and a stainless pan for super cheap, easy to fix and they’re likely to last a long damn time at least.
The last couple years, I’ve mostly switched over. After yet another over-priced set of non-stick “good” cookware started peeling, and now that I’m the one in control of the kitchen ….
- set of Kirkland (Costco) stainless 5-ply, for less than a similar set of non-stick, it should last forever
- set of cast iron skillets. Lodge is a great bargain, should last forever, and is frequently on sale.
- a couple ceramic knives. Cheap ones are much sharper than steel, stay sharp longer, and can go through the dishwasher without fear. While good steel knives might literally last forever if you give them the attention they deserve, this is last much longer than standard, without any attention
A good quality kitchen knife. It’s a bit of personal preference but I like Global for their price/value.
Whatever kind of pan you use the most, good quality. Le crueset or all-clad.
Actually just purchased a set of global knives. I’m extremely happy so far!
BIFL isn’t usually really ‘for life’ since we buy practical stuff as adults.
But… when I was born in the '60’s someone gave me a simple, elegant little steel cup and plate, with cartoon bears engraved in simple lines for decoration.
The plate is still in the cupboard with the general plate population, and the little cup is perfectly sized for a double shot, so it lives on top of the espresso machine and gets used daily, adding special value each time because it’s a joy to use, and old like me.
My aeron is 20 years old and still good. The mesh is a little looseer, giving a bit less support, but I’m still happy. You made a good choice.
I bought a used aeron a few years ago after using them at work forever. A few weeks after I bought it i turned it over to replace the pad on the front of the chair and saw that it was manufactured over 22 years ago. I would have never thought it was older than a couple years by how good of shape it was in but these things are built like a tank.
I bought a vanquest backpack about 5 years ago. Bullet proof. Mine is gen-2. The shoulder straps do not tear - ever. They’re expensive, but the craftsmanship earns the price. Their other products are good, too. This is just one type of backpack they make.
Love my aeron chair, luckily I was able to steal it from my old job during a buyout.
That’s great! I was able to get one overstock for half price. It’s still expensive, but it’s made working from home so much nicer, should last a long time, and I feel like a scored a great deal. Not as great as your deal, but still a thing
Something that I’ve not seen a lot of people talk about is a good lidded kitchen trash can.
When I moved out I picked up the best looking option from Lowes, figuring maybe something marketed as meant for use by tradesmen might hold up. Hinge broke in the first month. At the end of the day all you need is a bucket with a lid, but when this cheap plastic molded crap is being sold for ~$60 I wanted better.
Picked up a SimpleHuman bin on sale a few years ago and haven’t had any issues. Think it was around $200, so stupid expensive for a kitchen trash bin, but it looks and works just as good as the day it came out of the box. I would have easily spent more by now on the cheap Lowes bins.
Never had any escaping smells (which can cause quite a surprise on trash day when you pull the bag out and get hit with what it has been hiding in there). Easy as hell to change bags, no fussing with stretching the bag around the top to get it to stay or hoping the first few things don’t pull the bag down into the bin with them. If you slam down on the foot pedal the lid doesn’t go rocketing up and slam against the cabinet it’s stood up against, it still opens nice and smooth. The lid doesn’t slam shut when you’re done either. Iirc they’re also warrantied for some outrageous amount of steps on the foot pedal mechanism.
It sounds stupid to be so obsessive about such a minor household object, but if your kitchen trashcan is the central trashcan in the shared space of your home like mine is, then it’s something everyone in the house is going to interact with at least once a day. If it’s shit or lets smells out then it’s going to do that right in the middle of the most used spaces of my home. Similar to a good mattress, bedsheets, a good pair of shoes, for me this falls into the category of something I use often enough where it makes sense to spend a little extra.
I’m sure there’s more cost effective solutions for good lidded trash bins that keep the smells locked away, but for something that was me taking a chance with some gift money I’ve been impressed.
Yeah we have kitchen and bathroom simple human trash cans that are all 10+ years old. I buy rubbermaid for the office though, people are rough on them.
Something that I’ve not seen a lot of people talk about is a good lidded kitchen trash can.
I accidentally did the reverse of your BIFL with my trash can.
I was at IKEA, and went, “Cool! A retro trash can!” And I got it. Because it looked retro. It’s the type that looks like a stereotypical trash can, round lid and all.
…the materials hold up, but it sucks. There’s a reason the general design of trash cans changed from this type to the ones with the step-pedal.
