Asklemmy

A mattress, sheets, and at least one pillow. It can be expensive, but the first time you lay down in a bed that’s actually comfortable, you’ll know it was worth it.

I'd take issue with the "only," but setting that aside: musical instruments. Guitars, for example. You can find perfectly serviceable guitars for cheap and they'll be playable with a decent setup, and you can obviously find deals. But in general, if you try your $100-$200 Fender acoustic guitar or mandolin and then go to a guitar shop and try out a high-end Martin, for example, there's a world of difference.

USB sticks. Hold longer, have more speed.

Now that more devices are on USB-C, but the standard isn’t labeled well, it’s worth getting a good cable/charge block that will regulate power appropriately.

Adam Savage had the team that does CT Scans of various products and you really can start justify why some good charging cables cost $100.

I probably wouldn’t spend that kind of money but I’m willing to spend more on one really good one that I can use in many devices.

A refrigerator with a good ice maker is worth the extra expense. Our ice maker just gave out, and I'd forgotten how much a pain in the butt it is to make ice in plastic trays.

Anything that broke and you need a replacement of.

Everything that you use for prolonged amounts of time every day. For me it was ergonomic chair, keyboard, pillow. Expensive is a word, but I would rather think higher quality when choosing replacement for stuff I use.
Another category of things is hobby equipment, for me it's instruments. When I buy one it's to last. So when I was buying digital piano I went for one over my budget because I don't plan to get rid of it for next 5-10 years still, and it was 5years ago. Overall stuff that you don't usually think of buying frequently.
Last category I think of i go for higher quality stuff then generic ones are travel stuff. Last thing you want during your trip, short or long, distant or near, is to deal with faulty bag, broken wheel, or such.

Safety equipment, especially SCUBA. Also clothes, shoes, your bed, and your computer chair.

If you drive a lot, a "low-end" luxury model that isn't fully equipped will likely drive better, be more comfortable, and every feature it does have will be at least a little bit nicer than the equivalent in the "normal" brand.

You might even get a lower sale price on a used luxury car vs buying a new Toyota or something these days.

Maintenance will definitely cost more, but the experience of having that work done is a whole lot better than how it used to be on all the shitty cars I've had.

Not everyone will agree with this one, but I pay more for better seats on planes too, and tend to fly only with Delta for status. That's because I have extra blood clot risk and need the wiggle room, and because I have beef with most of the other companies due to many years of experience.

My travel curse has largely been managed after getting all the stuff that gets you through the lines faster, including global entry.

Recently we were about to miss our transfer and there was a dude waiting at the gate when we deplaned who loaded us into a Porsche and drove us around the runway directly to our next gate. That was probably random, but there's a 0% chance Southwest or Spirit would do that.

Also treat yourself to some fine dining if you are able, even if it's just once every year or two.

Maybe get someone to deep clean your place (even once a year) .

Note that I am in no way a baller when I say these things. I always thought you had to be rich to get anything cool like that, but it's not attainable than you think, assuming you're not in a paycheck -to-paycheck situation (which many are and I certainly was for like all of my 20's and a good chunk of my 30's).

GPU's, usually the budget ones have worse performance per dollar ratios

Flux core solder for electronics

The cheap stuff doesn't stick to the things you're trying to solder. The good stuff melts and flows into the joint like magic. It's really satisfying.

A square cooking skillet pan. So many of these will bend if it's not made of cast iron, but found the scanpan one to work wonderfully.

https://www.surlatable.com/scanpan-es5-11-square-griddle/PRO-5844956.html?cgid=SCA-428040&start=-4