I would buy this toaster/egg maker: Back to Basics TEM500 Egg-and-Muffin 2-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher

Do you like egg mcmuffins? Do you like paying $5 a day for a $1 breakfast sandwich. Hells no!

Seriously, this toaster is awesome. It cooks the egg, toasts the english muffin, warms the meat all at the same time. The other cool thing is your ingredients are fresher & less scary. McDonalds isn’t exactly known for it’s fresh ingredients

My only minor gripe is it’s a little slow. I usually get around this by starting it & then showering while it cooks. It’s not an issue for me but if you ever had friends over and wanted to cook a few it would be a pain.

Back to Basics TEM500 Egg-and-Muffin 2-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher

I would buy this cellphone: motofone f3

I picked this phone because it’s cheap and no-frills. I hate charging my phones every 1/2 hour just so I can have some lame animation type feature that I don’t even want in the first place.

I also hate cell phone contracts. My wife and I had a basic plan that always ended up being way more than it was supposed to be each month. My solution was to go to TMobile prepay phones. I get a $100 card online at a discount (I use cheapphonecards.com & retail-me-not for the discount/coupon). The end result is I end up paying less than $100 per YEAR for my phone & only a bit more for my wife’s. It’s a much better deal with no surprise costs.

The display is really cool. It’s e-ink that is supposed to save battery life since it doesn’t use juice when it’s not changing the display. Also the display looks BETTER in full daylight. It’s the best part of the phone.

I bought mine from Amazon (link below) & then got the cheapest pay-as-you-go cell from Walmart. I then pulled the SIM card & put it in my Motofone F3. Everything worked flawlessly.

wikipedia article for more info
gizmodo article

PROS:
cheap
great speakerphone
really nice/unique styling

CONS:
battery life is not as good as they say
spanish only instructions. You can find PDF’s of the english version online though.

Motorola Motofone F3 Unlocked Cell Phone–International Version with No Warranty (Black)

I would buy this laptop: MSI Wind U100-420US 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 3 Cell Battery)

I am a die hard Apple fan. However, Apple doesn’t currently have a netbook or a more entry level laptop. Their products really are nice but if you are on a budget they can be pretty overpriced.

I picked this laptop because it’s cheap ~ $350 (check the price with the amazon link below). And there are fairly easy ways to get OS X running on this machine.

Because it’s not meant to run OS X, you have to make some tweaks/purchases to make it all work. It’s not too bad and if the end result is an “Apple” with a $350 price tag, then it’s more than worth it.

Wired Tutorial

You will need to buy an external CD or DVD drive. You can get away without one but it’s nice to have in case you want to watch a movie while on the road.
Targus PADVD010U USB 2.0 DVD/CD-ROM Slim External Drive - Black

A new wifi card
Dell Latitude Inspiron TrueMobile Wireless 1390 Broadcom Mini PCI - YH774

Some memory
Corsair VS1GSDS667D2 Value Select 1GB PC2-5300 667MHz 200-Pin DDR2 CL5 SODIMM Notebook Memory

And finally, the MSI Wind
MSI Wind U100-420US 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 3 Cell Battery) Black

I would buy this wallet - Slimmy: Slim Front Pocket Wallet Alternative

I HATE wallets. It’s a pain to carry around something so big and bulky. It also encourages you to carry around way too much stuff.

I have whittled down what I carry each day to the bare essentials:
1 credit card, 1 debit card, drivers license, $20 in cash, 2 membership cards and my library card

The slimmy is just the right size for all of this.

Slimmy: Slim Front Pocket Wallet Alternative

I would buy this organizer: Pottery Barn daily system

I want this for organizing my life at home. I am going to put it over my dining room table. It’s nice since it keeps everything in one spot: calendar, charging stations, digital photo frame, whiteboard, chalkboard, place for keys, etc.

Each individual module costs extra. Because of this I haven’t bought it yet because it’s expensive Still it seems worth it so it’s on my as-soon-as-I-can-afford it list.

Pottery Barn PB Daily System

I would buy this: Gripmaster Hand Exerciser Black, Heavy Tension (9-Pounds per Finger)

I am spending time in the gym but I wanted something to increase my grip strength at home. I bought this because it’s small enough and portable so I can use it in the car while I commute.

I work with a computer for my job so having healthy hands is very important. A couple of years ago I had some issues with carpal tunnel & I am hoping a stronger grip/forearm will help.

Also, your hands are the most visible aspect of your body. 99% of your life is spent fully clothed & covered up. If you get super strong hands and forearms it’s one of the first things that people will notice about you.

Gripmaster Hand Exerciser Black, Heavy Tension (9-Pounds per Finger)