Comment by BryantD

Under $1000: Litter Robot 4. It actually works and our two new cats are fine with it (which was one of our concerns). I do need to fiddle with it now and again, mostly WiFi resets, but in comparison to emptying two litter boxes daily that's nothing.

Also, in the category of special interests, the Radiance Films 2024 Blu-Ray bundle was a significantly good purchase for me. They're an English boutique Blu-Ray company that releases 3-4 movies a month; for about $1000 I got 50-odd movies that I never would have purchased otherwise, most of which I enjoyed. In many cases it opened my eyes to whole categories of foreign genre cinema I would have missed otherwise -- say, modern Chinese neo-noirs. Life-changing is a stretch but I'm really happy with the purchase. https://www.radiancefilms.co.uk/products/radiance-2025-bundl... for the next year bundle.

Under $100: second the rice cooker and bidet recommendations, although we're considering upgrading to a heated bidet.