(This is going to be US-centric, because guess where I happen to live!)
Firstly, I feel like I should acknowledge that I continue to remain deep within the Amazon ecosystem, despite being aware of the corporation's horrendous labor practices. And, yeah, I should stop, but the site is Very Convenient.
Alternatives to Amazon
(See also: The Amazon Pamphlet, Cancel Prime.)
But it's because I've spent over a decade using the site that I'm aware of a 'jack of all trades, master of none' scenario. Amazon tries to do a lot of things to a certain degree of competency, and excels in selection and logistics as a result. But, other companies focusing on their niches tend to provide a better service and often for cheaper.
- Costco Wholesale
-
For
half43% of the price of Prime, you can get your Gold Star and have any item from the nearest warehouse shipped to you in 2 days. Even the refrigerated and frozen stuff. - Monoprice
- Low-cost retailer for all sorts of A/V equipment and cables, with prices that usually beat Amazon's on equivalent items.
- Vat19
- Good source for oddball and obscure tools and useful items. Also has a nice selection of drinkware and oversized gummy candy.
- Archie Mcphee
- Produces novelties and gag items to delight and prank your friends with.
- Monterey Bay Herb Company
- Direct dealer for bulk spices and herbs, because you know it's time for more oregano and cinnamon sticks.
- StarTech
- Loads of PC and networking components and peripherals to get your old and new computers working how you need them to.
Then, with all the money you're saving by not having a Prime membership, you can sign up for a streaming service much more focused to your media interests:
Recommended Items
On to the purchases. Prices may have changed since I made this page.
- $180 Alera Elusion
- Highly comfortable and customizable chair.
- $37 Rollerblade Chair Wheels
- For superior manuverability and immunity to hair-clogs.
- $27 Stanley Work Light
- Useful rechargeable light with unfolding LED panels and a magnetic base.
- $15 Nintendo Console Repair Kit
- Screwdrivers, spudgers, and picks to get into your games machines.
- $10 Cedarwood Incense
- 200 sticks of a superb Japanese-style low-smoke incense.
House Embetterment
- $260 Tineco A11 Hero
- The best value for a battery-powered canister vacuum cleaner.
- $80 5-Tier Metal Book Rack
- Sturdy storage solution for your book and/or movie collection.
- $30 Luxe Bidet
- An easily-installed bit of plumbing to get ur stinkin' hole clean.
- $30 2x Emergency Light
- These ones have a battery so you can keep seeing during power failures.
- $29 Non-Programmable Thermostat
- Basic-bitch heat/cool sensor with no lithium battery that inevitably fails.
- $24 RMR Mold Killer
- A quality disinfectant that the pros use.
- $20 10x E26 LED Bulb 4000K
- Efficient 3-watt light globes to illuminate the space.
- $17 Delta H2Okinetic
- Simple but effective pressurizing showerhead with 1.75/2.50 GPM toggle.
Everyday Carry
- $43 Solar Battery Bank
- Charge your phone with the power of the sun!
- $31 Emergency Radio
- AM/FM/WB radio with reading light, usable with a hand crank or AAAs.
- $28 First Aid Kits
- One for home use, and a mini pack for your pocket.
- $26 Anker Power Brick
- Folding-plug USB charger with A and C ports.
- $21 AmazonBasics Tablet Bag
- Ample space to bring all your shit.
- $18 Tactical Belt
- Seatbelt-style pants-securer that doesn't go anywhere when clicked shut.
- $15 2x Butane Lighter
- Adjustable handheld stick lighters that spew a jet flame.
- $14 Battery Tester
- Universal tester for the most common forms of 1.3-22.5V batteries.
- $10 Zebra F701
- Sturdy all-metal pen to satisfy your writing needs.
Batteries
Based on a series of comparisons by Project Farm, the best value for alkaline batteries is from AmazonBasics (or Kirkland Signature), the longest-lasting batteries are Energizer Lithium, and for a balance between price and time between swaps, there's Energizer Max.
I would avoid Duracell whenever possible, as it seems like in the past 10 years those have become extremely eager to leak.
For rechargeable batteries, Eneloop has the best capacity retention in storage, while SmartTools cells offer the best cost per mAH.
Got a Mavica? Try a WasabiPower L-cell. And while they seem to not be manufactured anymore, if you can track down a ProMaster Traveler+, those charge nearly every variant of InfoLithium (and even a few Panasonic batteries).
Online Services
As a fan of reducing expenses when possible, I've been seeking out the lowest-charge, highest-quality stuff out there. Here's what I can confidently recommend:
- Webhost: NearlyFreeSpeech.NET (Used since 2011)
- By far the best webhost for a single static site (besides Neocities lol), at under $4/year. But if you should need it, PHP is supported.
- Home Phone: voip.ms (Used since 2018)
- The hidden gem of the industry, offering a self-explanatory configuration system and $0.85/mo numbers.
- Cellphone:
Consumer Cellular (Used 2009-2018)Ting (Used since 2018) - Expensive phone bills? Fuck that noise, how's $10/mo for unlimited talk and text plus $5/GB sound to ya? Or perhaps something even cheaper?
- Domains: Porkbun (Used since 2020)
- The cheapest domain name registrar on the entire internet. On top of that, they don't charge extra for must-have features like DNS and WHOIS privacy. See how they compare.
- Email:
FastMail (Used 2011-2022)PurelyMail (Used since 2021) - If you just need mail and not a bunch of other crap added on, you can have it for only $10/year. (Other low-cost providers: NexusBytes ($3+/yr), Zoho ($12/yr), Tutanota (€12/yr).)
- Cloud Storage: BackBlaze B2
- If you do need to host a lot of large files, it might as well be done for 1/4th the price AWS would charge you.
No matter what you'd choose, I suggest avoiding GoDaddy (overcharges and uses shady upsell tactics), and any webhost owned by EIG (guts and races-to-bottom the companies they own).
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Listen to
"Modern Talking - Geronimo's Cadillac" on YouTube?