‘Tis the season for online shopping. While the world is not very accessible at the moment, there is one thing that always is: the internet. Since I am at home with so much time on my hands, all I’ve been doing is thinking about different products that I need (or I should say want) in my life. This has led me down a bit of a rabbit hole in terms of spending. They say money can’t buy happiness and I wholeheartedly agree, but these items have brought me joy in a time where it is fleeting.
Record Player
I’ve wanted a record player for years, but I always found excuses to forego the purchase. Yet, I could not get it off my mind and kept seeing signs everywhere telling me to just get it. It took a few weeks and some peer pressure from my friends, but I finally gave in. I bought a beige Crosley record player and I love it! During my initial purchase, I also bought two records to start out with: Ben Platt’s Sing to Me Instead and Billy Joel’s The Stranger. It has been three months since I acquired my record player and ever since, I have been slowly building my record collection. Record shopping has become a bit of an obsession, but I’m okay with it.
Prescription Sunglasses
I, unfortunately, do not have 20/20 vision, so I have to wear some sort of corrected lenses. When I am in Irvine, 95% of the time I am wearing contacts. However, now that I’m back home with nowhere to go, I have become a bit lazy and have opted to wear only glasses. On the occasional days when I go out in the sun, I instantly become blinded by the light, so I decided to invest in some prescription sunglasses. It has been one of my best purchases thus far. Now my eyes don’t burn and I can see the world so clearly.
Mattress Topper
I love to sleep, so when I don’t have a good sleep, I’m not too thrilled. For over a year, my mattress at home has been uncomfortable. I would wake up and my back would feel sore. I did not do anything about my mattress because I would only be home for a few weeks out of the year. It did not seem worth it. However, now that I’m home indefinitely, I decided it was time to finally do something about it. I ended up purchasing a gel memory foam mattress topper and it has improved my sleep substantially. I sleep longer and I don’t wake up feeling like a 60-year-old woman complaining about her back problems.
iPad + Apple Pencil
This was a bit of an impulsive purchase. I think I’m going to blame TikTok for this one. I saw many videos popping up on my For You Page where people created graphic illustrations on their iPads. I was mesmerized and I wanted to do it myself. Of course, I did not buy an iPad just to draw. I also thought it would be useful for note-taking and reading e-books. Overall, this iPad has been a great addition to my Apple collection. It has become a multipurpose device that has increased my level of organization and productivity.
These are only but a few of the items that I have purchased while I have been stuck at home. Occasionally, I do have post-purchase guilt, but I try not to let it get to me because retail therapy is helping me cope with the situation at hand and lifting my mood. So, while it is true money cannot buy long-term happiness, maybe it can buy short-term happiness.
