The 3 Best Things Below $100 That I Bought in 2020

The first saved me $508.80, the second boosted my productivity by 25%, and the last made my coffee tastes better.

Unless you are some tech billionaire, probably 2020 was not among the best of the years for you. At least it was not for me, an entrepreneur in tourism, one of the hardest-hit sectors. But three small things that I bought (or that someone bought and gifted to me) made my year better.

There are 3 questions I always ask myself before buying something. If the answer is positive to all the questions, it means I should buy it. This was the case for all the gadgets listed below, making them useful and affordable purchases.

One of them helped me to gain knowledge and learn fascinating things while saving hundreds of dollars, the other drastically improved my posture and productivity, and the last one… the last one is difficult to explain.

Let’s go for the list.

Ebook Reader (Amazon Kindle Paperwhite), $73

The discussion between paper books and ebook readers sometimes is fiery. There are plenty of points in favor of the traditional printed publications.

• It is possible to lend to your friends that do not have a reader.
• The pleasant paper smell of new books.
• The feeling of touching the words when turning each page.
• They never run out of battery.
• A shelf full of books makes a nice decoration — this is superfluous, I know.

I agree with most of the advantages of printed books over ebooks. But there is one single advantage of the electronic readers that, sometimes, beat all others: it saves money.

This is particularly valid when you are a heavy-reader. Last year, I read 48 books (you can read my review of each of them here). The average price of the printed version of each title was $18.8, meanwhile, the ebook version has an average price of $8.2. This means a total savings of 508 dollars in a year. Almost 7 times the price I paid for my Kindle Paperwhite — bought in an airport sale.

The next time someone asks you if it is worthy to buy an Ebook reader, the answer should be another question: How much do you read? If it is only 1 or 2 books per year, I would stick with printed books. But if it is 1 or 2 books per month, an electronic reader (with an e-ink screen, for the sake of your eyes) is a good deal.

Main benefits:

• An Ebook reader will save money if you read more than a dozen books per year.
• Do not need to wait for delivery, downloads are instantaneous.
• They are very light — Good if you travel with low-cost airlines with limited baggage allowances.

Back Brace Posture Corrector, $24.99

One research from the National Institutes of Health found that near 80% of the people had or will have back pain at some point in their lives. Even though I am in my early 30s, I was already one of them.

Even having an active routine during my free time, an office job had its toll on my back. In the middle of 2020, my neck started to hurt almost every afternoon. Bad posture, the doctor said. A symptom of times when we are inclining our heads forward during ours, to check our phones or laptop screens.

Even slight posture deviations can mount considerable damage on your back. For every inch that your head inclines forward from the shoulders, there is an added pressure of 10 pounds on your structure. Therefore, a 12-pound head inclined 3 inches forward — a normal bent to look to your cell phone — requires that the cervical extensors hold up to 42 pounds. Take that physical burden into consideration the next time you think about social media addiction.

This type of posture corrector looks like a sloth hugging you from your back, and exerting pressure so your shoulders and neck do not bend forward. It is a movement that we could do naturally for a few minutes until we got tired or distracted. So the back braces simply do it without needing me to keep my attention on correcting my posture.

After starting using it, I can work for hours with no break due to back pain. When I am using it, if I need to look at my phone, instead of bending my neck, I simply raise the phone to the height of my eyes. The difference that it makes in my quality of life at the office is so considerable that my only regret is that I didn’t start using it before.

It has some negative points, however. Sometimes it can make the region of your armpits irritated or itchy. I solved that by using it over an undershirt. If you live in a hot region, it also requires frequent washing — the material will be in constant contact with your sweat, after all. A last piece of advice is to always consult an orthopedist to check if the model is good for you.

Main benefits:

• A better posture reduces back pain and the need for constant breaks (I reduced my breaks by at least 25%). This means more productivity.
• The person looks better — At least this is what my wife told me.

Coffee Mug Warmer, $15.99

I love hot coffee, especially on cold winter afternoons like the one we have right now here in Poland. The problem is that it does not stay hot for a long time, and my favorite way to drink coffee is slow.

Warm it in the microwave is a big no. The taste of coffee comes from over 1000 different chemical compounds (caffeine is just a small part of it), and rapid re-heating breaks many of them. This makes the coffee tastes more watery, and the aromas less organic.

There is a good way to re-heat coffee: slowly, at a low temperature, at a stovetop. It still will not be the same as fresh-brewed coffee, but definitely closer to it than a cup from the microwave. Here there is another issue, however: we do not have stoves at the office, neither the time to slowly reheat our cups 2 or 3 times per day.

My wife solved this problem when she gifted me an electric mug warmer. Check few types of mug warmers here. It is practical, safe — when turned off, it quickly cools down, and keeps my coffee warm for as long as I want, so I can sip it while working in my business, reading, or writing this article.

Main benefits:

• Warm coffee all day long without the need to warm it in a taste-destructive microwave.
• Coffee smells great, and with warm coffee at my table, my office smells great.

Levi Borba is CEO of expatriateconsultancy.com and a best-selling author. You can check his books here or his Linkedin here.