What Small, Inexpensive Things Make Your Life Easier?

What’s a random item that makes your life easier? I once asked this question to poet Kate Baer, and her reply came immediately: “This phone holder for my car. It sticks onto the vent. You probably don’t need it if you have a fancy car, but mine is not fancy and lacks a place to safely see the map! Thank you, car thing!”

Inspired, I purchased car thing for our trusty Volkswagen, and it really does make driving easier. Now we even bring it on trips when we know we’ll be renting a car.

Here are our team’s answers to the question, and I’d love to hear yours…

Joanna Goddard, editor
Lifesaver: Dimmer switches

“My closest friends tease me because after coming into their apartments and giving them a bottle of wine or stinky cheese, I’ll sometimes do a quiet sweep, dimming a few lamps and turning off overheads. (I only do it with bffs, of course!) But then we can truly relax. For our house, I added dimmer cords to all table and floor lamps, and now the whole place glows.”

Jannelle Sanchez, associate editor
Lifesaver: Tortilla Warmer

“I firmly believe that everyone should have a tortilla warmer. Even if you eat them only a couple times a year, it’s a must. After warming tortillas in a pan, you place them in the warmer and they stay perfectly warm and moist for at least 30 minutes. If they’re just left out on a plate, though, they’ll get hard and cold and dry within five minutes, which is the worst.”

Jenny Rosenstrach, food columnist
Lifesaver: Extra measuring cup

“I recently realized that whenever I was looking for my workhorse measuring cup, it would inevitably be in the dishwasher, and I’d have to take it out and hand wash it. Not a tragedy, of course, but when I had the aha moment that I could spend three bucks and always have a clean one at my disposal, I couldn’t believe how happy it made me. (My ‘doubles strategy’ has also worked with scissors and Scotch tape.)”

Maureen Heffernan, marketing director
Lifesaver: 10-foot phone charging cable

“My phone was always on the brink of dying because I use it all day for work calls. With a 10-foot charging cable, I can keep it plugged in all the time, no matter where I am in the room, and it’s long enough so it doesn’t get stuck behind the couch.”

Kaitlyn Teer, contributing editor
Lifesaver: Smart plug

“I love the ritual of pour-over coffee, but I missed the convenience of a programmable coffeemaker. Plugging our electric kettle into a smart outlet that turns on 15 minutes before my alarm goes off has been a total game-changer. I wake up early to write in the quiet hours before my kids start their day. It’s so nice to get out of bed knowing there’s hot water already waiting for me in the kitchen.”