The Best Things I Bought in 2024

Every year we spend money.  Most of it is on food, shelter, and 43 streaming services, but every once in a while, we spend to make our lives better. Over the past few years, I've been sharing the things I have spent money on to make my life easier (more room, improved health, better coffee, the ability to shower when you have 4 kids, reliable WiFi and furture-proofing my career). This year was a little different; inflation made everything more expensive and interest rates made it more expensive to borrow. Even with all this, I still managed to buy some gems.

New Van
If you recall from an earlier post, we went looking for a new van in March of 2022. We found what we wanted and agreed to buy it. The only issue was they didn't have any on the lot due to the chip shortage. We patiently waited for 2 years before we finally got the call the van was here. Of course what we took home was a 2024 model which also came with a higher ticket price, but it was worth it. The hybrid engine gets me 900+kn to the tank. We are back to being the coolest kids on the block with 2 minivans!

Ryobi Multi-Tool
As you know, I do all the renovations on the house. Sometimes this means cutting out small sections of the wall. In the past, depending on the size I'd do it with a hand saw (slow and hurts my office hands) or a reciprocating saw (fast and messy). We have a TV mounted on the wall in our room. It sticks out about 5 inches because of the thickness of the old mount. When we decided to get a new one, I had the great idea of recessing the TV into the wall to give us even more space on the cabinet that sits in front. I lined up the TV, mapped out the cut lines on the wall and decided it was time for a new tool. With this thing, I cut the straightest, most even lines ever. After reframing a bit, the TV slid right in with barely any gap. Since then, I've used this tool to do a ton of little jobs that would have required moving furniture before. It has paid for itself in time already.

DIY Paraphernalia
Social media can be a wonderful place: see what your friends are up to, find new recipes, all the cat videos...and DIY projects galore. This last category is where we fall victim to new trends. This past year, Pottery Barn released a new line of weathered wood dressers and cabinets. They are gorgeous! But who has $3,000 for a dresser? Not this guy, nor a ton of people online who figured out how to do it yourself (hey, I just got that!). My wife watched a few videos and tried it out on one piece we had. That turned out so well that we sold ALL our IKEA furniture, picked up free dressers and cabinets from Facebook Marketplace, and refinished them. We have picked up 5 free pieces and refinished them in the same way. Now they all match and look like we spent thousands on them. More like $300 for the supplies.

Portable Monitor
Did you know this was a thing? As you read above, we sold a lot of our IKEA furniture, including my desk, which housed my PC and the two monitors I have become accustomed to over the last 20 years. Since switching exclusively to a laptop, I found that I was less productive when it came to working on Financial plans or spreadsheets. That's when my wife, the shopping ninja that she is, found portable monitors that ran off a USB-C cable. Nothing else. I picked up a 16" monitor during black Friday and it has changed the way I work. Now, no matter where I go, the office, client's home, I have my entire workstation with me. Productivity has gone back up. 

Honourable Mention - Deck and Patio
This summer, my sister-in-law got married. We were voluntold we were hosting the brunch the next day. At the time, the backyard was not ready to host 50+ people; the deck was 14 years old and in need of replacing and we had just moved the garden beds from the top of the yard to the bottom, leaving a dirt patch. Now, I don't fancy myself a deck and patio builder so I asked around for help. The best quote came in at around $9,000. Needless to say, I figured it out. 3 weeks of trial and error and the backyard is more suitable for hosting now. 

How about you? Think back over the last 12 months and let me know what some of the best things you bought were.

Kenneth Coombs CFP CHS RRC

Ken has worked in the financial services industry since 2005 and holds the Registered Retirement Consultant and the Certified Financial Planner designation. Ken has written financial planning columns and has been a guest on financial radio and podcast programs.

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