I’ve had a lot of success taking the rules that YNAB uses and applying to my own budgeting method. I recommend checking out Actual Budget if you’re capable of self-hosting and want a fancier software instead of a spreadsheet. The rules are key, though; pick a methodology/mindset you agree with and stick with it.
Sadly mice aren’t really a BIFL item given their frequent use and how switches have a lifespan before wearing out. You can surely get many many years out of one, though!
I’ve found the Logitech g502 to be my favorite overall mouse, so much so that I bought one to keep at work. The scroll wheel mode on Logi mice is lovely for precision work (clicky) or fast and smooth; a feature I missed greatly when I tried other mice. My first one started dying after 5 years but that was used for regular gaming sessions on the daily.
Don’t be afraid of the extra buttons on gaming mice, either. You can always just not use them but I’ve found the buttons on top incredibly useful as an undo/redo pair and makes working in anything so much nicer.
That being said, the best mouse is the one you find comfortable. Build quality is kinda the same amongst most brands. If you can work with circuits, repair is easy for any mouse. Optical switches and scroll wheels are cool but will need more stringent cleaning (my Corsair M65 had issues regularly because of cat hair somehow sneaking in).
I usually just deep clean once a year and wash the floor multiple times over until it’s pretty clean. Then I let my robot vacuum/mop keep it mostly clean twice a week the rest of the year. The robovac helps enforce a cleaner lifestyle by ensuring things aren’t left out and about. The floors will never be perfectly clean though, just the nature of life~
As for everything else, I set reoccurring calendar tasks to space it out but I try to do one area per weekend. Keeps cleaning manageable but regular.
Since you mention wanting to filter really well, I would recommend you take a look at chemex. It’s a pour over type of brewer but their smaller model is for a single serving and will be more lenient with the pour method since the chemex filters are so dense. Other pour over brewers will require more of a setup to maintain consistency (but you can also tweak the brew to your exact liking in this regard!).
Water temp and grind size are somewhat critical for quality coffee but you don’t need it right off the bat of course. I would get a grinder before a kettle, tbh; fresh grounds make a bigger difference than a few degrees difference in water temp. Do work on “calibrating” your water temp in whatever method you use, though. If you microwave the water, figure out how long to let it cool before it reaches 200 or whichever temp you find brews best for your beans.
Search for local roasters and buy some beans from them. Keep searching until you find a brand you like. Grocery store beans are very mid. (There are many weekly “drop” style bean shippers that are pricey but let you discover online roasters that will ship you beans; it’s been invaluable for me to find really good roasts!)
As for cold brew, it’s a separate beast entirely and I wouldn’t explore it just yet. I used to make large batches for my nitro setup and did that in a bucket. Definitely super smooth but a bit more work. You can make smaller batches with a French press. I’ve always gotten my presses from IKEA because they’re cheap yet effective. Far from fancy. I would never consider heating up cold brew personally.
They have a few plans, but the cheapest is $5/mo. If you go past the allotted searches it’s pay per search after that (at a very tiny cost).
I switched to DDG when Google started adding cards at the bottom of the first page and made search results utterly useless for me. DDG wasn’t bad but it still felt like something was missing or some results were flooded by a specific site. Kagi went the extra step to group results from a site sorta like how Google has.
Ultimately it’s the benefits of old Google but some nice refinements and QoL improvements. Because it’s paid for, they don’t need to sell your data or shove paid for results down your throat.
I was informed about Kagi through one of the posts here and tried it out. It’s quite amazing how much better it is compared to even DDG. I didn’t mind DDG but it felt “old” but Kagi seems to prioritize user experience over everything else. It may not be free, but it’s worth the cost for me.
I had someone send me a 7z at work a few weeks ago and I got so elated that it wasn’t a zip! I did have to request IT to install 7zip but I’m so glad to have it installed now. It’s nice to see it being adopted more.
Having had both great and terrible work out days, I found what led to the good, enjoyable days was purely the mindset. HIIT on a stationary bike sucks, but I had some fun sessions when I turned it into a game. Weight lifting routines can be super boring, but changing from rep based to time based and seeing if you can crank out a few more reps without sacrificing form can make it fun.
It takes a lot to get into that mindset for me, but it’s possible and it makes a world of difference. Gamification of any task can introduce a challenge and give oneself a better purpose in the moment.
Acrylic paints are your friend here. They last a long while in their bottles and you can keep a palette for a few days when using a wet palette. start with just using a brush and jump up to an airbrush if you want to cover a bigger area or do fancy stuff (an air brush is far from required). As another commenter said, the minipainting community has a ton of resources, text and video tutorials, and willing to provide constructive feedback if you want it.
Just remember: thin your paints~