Cheap Shit That’s Worth Every Single Penny
The Amplified Impact Podcast
November 17th, 2023
You might remember when I stirred up some chatter about pricey investments that are actually worth it.
Today, we’re flipping the script and diving into budget-friendly finds under $100.
From the magic of books, delivering boundless knowledge at minimal costs, to the subtle yet powerful influence of candles in setting the perfect work environment, these affordable investments have redefined my approach to productivity.
These affordable items can transform your day-to-day and I’d love to hear what affordable treasures you value too.
TWEETABLE QUOTE:
“The knowledge is potential power. And that’s one thing that I’ve never skimped on.”
– Anthony Vicino
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Episode Transcript:
Anthony Vicino:
What’s up, everybody? Welcome back to the pod. So a while back, a couple months back, I did a post about expensive shit that’s worth every single penny. And it kind of sent the Internet into a tizzy because a lot of the things in that, like, we’re talking about expensive things. So by qualification, most people aren’t gonna be able to afford them, which rubbed a lot of people wrong because they’re like, well, this is great for the 1%, but what about the rest of us? And then I did another post where I kind of broke down, where a lot of those things are actually a lot more accessible than people realize. So things like a personal cook or a house cleaner or what was another one? A tailor. Right. So wearing tailored clothing is a really great thing. That’s really worth the money.
Anthony Vicino:
And a lot of people equate those things as being very expensive. And it’s true, they do cost money, and it’s probably a lot more money than you might have just sitting around right now. But if you would stop spending money in stupid places, then you could afford to spend money on these other things, which, as a consequence, can buy back your time, which allows you to go and do the things that you want to do, or you can back into your work and make more money to offset the thing that you’re paying them. Right? And so I kind of outlined how that’s possible. For instance, Jamie and I, we don’t have a personal chef. We use pre cooked meal, like precooked meal service called factor. We’ve tried a bunch of them, but factory is by far the best one. And so for a set dollar amount, they send you 18 meals per week.
Anthony Vicino:
Jamie and I eat that. They’re delicious instead of eating out. So on a normal month without factor, Jamie and I eat out a lot. And we probably spend like $1,500 a month, just the two of us eating. And when we use this meal service, suddenly our bill is a quarter of that. Not even a quarter, maybe one third of that. And so that’s a massive savings. But that’s just one example.
Anthony Vicino:
Anywho, if you want to learn more about that, go listen to that podcast where I talked about the expensive shit. That’s worth it. But today I wanted to do a different take, which is, let’s talk about cheap shit that’s totally worth every single penny. And particularly when I say cheap, I mean under $100. And that, again, is relative. But we’re just got to peg it somewhere. So, number one is books. My number one cheap investment is books.
Anthony Vicino:
You’re not going to buy a book for more than $20, right? Like, for the most part, you can get every Kindle out there under the sun for 999. If not free, you can go to the library. But even if you’re buying new hardcover, it’s like 25, $30. Maybe that is a great investment, given how much information is in there. That knowledge is potential power. And that’s one thing that I’ve never skimped on. I maybe buy too many books, so it’s gotten to the point of being expensive, but always a great investment. Number two is candles.
Anthony Vicino:
You can see I got a bunch of candles back here. I actually have a bunch of candles over there on the other side of the office as well. Candles are super valuable because they set the olfactory tone for your work. And I think that’s a very important thing. If you want to be getting into the hyper focus state consistently is manipulating your olfactory scents, because you get those smells every now and then. Like, when you smell cinnamon or fresh baked bread, you’re, like, instantly transported back in time to Thanksgiving when you were seven years old. Right? So we know that scent is powerfully linked with these biological chemical reactions within our body. And so if we can manipulate that with intention by setting the scene or the smell, then we can put ourselves in a better state, a mind state for getting into flow.
Anthony Vicino:
And we talk about this in the hyperfocus masterclass. You guys can check that out beyond the apex. What is that? It’s beyond theapex.com. Hyper focus talks more about how you can do that. But candles, always a great investment. Number three is a slim wallet. So a number of years ago, this might not apply to the ladies out there, but for the dudes, if you have a big, fat leather wallet that you put in your back pocket, because for some reason, that’s how we were trained to do it as kids, and you grow up, you put it in the back pocket. I did that, and I started developing incredibly bad leg pain, like nerve pain in my right leg, specifically whenever I was sitting and driving.
Anthony Vicino:
If I was driving for more than five minutes, it would be like my leg would fall asleep. And I get this excruciating pain that stopped overnight when I transitioned from my fat back pocket wallet to a slim front pocket wallet changed the game. It also limited the amount of stuff that I carry on me because it is a slim wallet, so I can’t just keep stuffing shit in there. And that’s been really helpful for just making me feel less encumbered throughout life. Number four is boom boom. Again, setting the olfactory scene. This is a stick of boom boom. Jamie also made me a homemade version of it.
Anthony Vicino:
Right. Here it is again, just aromatherapy inside of a little tube that you can take a quick hit of. This is cinnamon. I also have a peppermint, and what you can do with this is when you need to regulate your physiological state, you can use the boom boom to do that. If you’re feeling low energy and you need to get hyped up, then you can take the peppermint, which kind of gives you that pep. Right. I take peppermint whenever I’m about to go on stage, let’s say, or I’m about to get into a flow state of work. I’m like, I need to get zoned in.
Anthony Vicino:
If I’m too revved up, I’m over caffeinated, and I need to chill that hell out, then I’ll take the cinnamon, and that immediately deregulates my heart. Deregulates. That’s probably not the right word, but it brings down my heart rate and puts me back into a state of calm. So that’s also a great investment. All right, number five is a lacrosse ball. I use a lacrosse ball for two things. One for working out the fascia on my feet. So I just put it under the arch of my foot, and I roll it back and forth as I’m sitting, working.
Anthony Vicino:
Or if I’m standing at my desk, like I’m doing right now, or I take it and I put it against a wall, and then I work out the knots in my back, which is super helpful because I spend a lot of time sitting or at my desk still kind of hunched over, like, my notebooks and things like that, writing. And so anything that I can do to kind of open myself up is great. And a lacrosse ball I find to be a very fantastic tool for doing just that. Number six is a Pomodoro timer. This is my preferred one. It is just this little octagonal device. I just put it on the side, the timer starts, and then it beeps at me. It’s very simple.
Anthony Vicino:
Sits right in front of me. But it’s a great way of putting a time limit on the tasks that I’m doing, which immediately amplifies the likelihood that I’m going to stay focused for that activity. Number six is a Sharpie and a journal, which you can see if you’re watching on YouTube, by the way. Go to youtube.com backslash amplified impact. You can watch all the old episodes. You can see my beautiful face I’m not beautiful, but you can see it anyway. But yeah, I’ve been using a Sharpie and a notebook for the last two months, and I love it. It’s a great way of tracking your to do.
Anthony Vicino:
I don’t journal with this, but I love writing with the Sharpie on the big page because it forces me, due to the size of the marker, to only focus on the big things to get clear about what really matters and not getting overly detailed, not putting every little thing on my to do list. And it just kind of, like, reinforces to me, as I’m working throughout the day that I need to focus on less but better. And I find that to be just a really cool little trick for it. And the last thing on the list is actually a twofer, is a nose strip and mouth tape. So I have a really hard time breathing through my nose. I don’t know why I must have small nostrils or something, but I cannot, for the life of me, breathe through my nose without assistance. And the nose strip helps me with that, specifically at nighttime because there’s a lot of research that suggests breathing through your mouth is very bad for you. Like, very bad for you.
Anthony Vicino:
It’s actually ridiculously bad, but I can’t train myself to do it because I have a hard time breathing through my nose. So a nose strip helps me with that, specifically when I’m sleeping at night kind of opens up my airways. And then I use mouth tape when I’m sleeping to make sure I don’t snore, but also to encourage me in my sleep to breathe through my nose. And that’s been very, very helpful for helping train my body to breathe through my nose. And the amount of research that’s on this about how bad breathing through your mouth is, is pretty overwhelming. So I encourage you, if you’re a mouth breather like me, start making steps towards not doing that. And no strip and mouth tape. Great first steps.
Anthony Vicino:
So those are a bunch of things that are totally cheap, under $100, and totally worth every single penny. So I hope these bring you a little bit of value. I would love to hear, what is your cheap thing that you find a ton of value. A lot of people said water bottles. I think that’s a great one, but let me know. Go to the comments on YouTube, leave me a review. Shoot me a DM, slide in. Go ahead, say hi, and let me know what’s on your list? What are some things that are under $100 that have brought a ton of value to your life? I’d love to hear from you guys, and that’s going to do it for me.
Anthony Vicino:
We’ll catch you back here tomorrow. Until then, everybody stay hyper focused. My friends.
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