Reddit users share the best investments they've ever made for under $200

You’ve got $200 to make a purchase that will significantly improve your quality of life within the home, so where do you take your cash?

According to a bunch of people who congregated on Reddit to share the best investment they made for the home under $200, you take your money to somewhere that promises to help you sleep.

Here’s a few of the most popular answers:

A light alarm

One of the most popular responses to the thread was the purchase of a light alarm.

“Seriously can’t recommend this thing enough to people,” one user wrote. “[It] completely resolved my sleeping-in issues. I could sleep though 10 alarms, and this thing gets me up 99 per cent of the time and without a sound. There are sound options though.”

So, how exactly does it work?

A light alarm – and you can purchase one from Philips here for about $77 – is an alarm that wakes you up by creating artificial “natural” light.

Before it’s time to wake up, the alarm clock gradually illuminates (giving the illusion of natural light). If light alone won’t wake you, the alarm clock can also help you rise with one of five “calming” wake-up sounds, including birdsong.

The contraption can also help you get to sleep, with dimming sunset colours radiating from the alarm clock around a room.

A good pillow

Up next on the list of must-buys under $200 were goose-down pillows that make for a perfect night’s sleep.

“[The] best pillows I’ve ever slept on were these really fluffy, goose-down ones at a hotel,” one user wrote. “My wife and I even checked the tags on them to make a mental note of the brand: Pacific Coast. They’re pricey, but absolutely worth it. She bought us a pair as a present last year and it’s made my sleep dramatically better. That combined with some high thread-count sheets makes me feel like I’m going to bed in a luxury hotel every night. Highly recommended.”

Others note investing in bamboo sheets (“a game changer“) and silk pillow cases (“good for your hair“) make for an even comfier sleep.

Weighted blanket

One Reddit user notes a 25-kilogram blanket is one of the only reasons they “sleep all through the night now”.

Another concurs: “Definitely this. I have anxiety issues and my weighted blanket has made an amazing difference. Instead of laying in bed worrying … I fall asleep within 10 minutes and don’t wake up for eight hours. You don’t know you need it until you have it and then you can’t sleep without it.”

Journalist Natalie Reilly reviewed one for Domain last year, noting that “within minutes I really did begin to feel calm”.

Pressure cooker

Another user says a pressure cooker was one of the best things they invested in for under $200.

“Cooks food fast, steam veggies, use as a crock pot,” they wrote. “A great way to get into healthier eating and quick too.”

A white noise machine

And because it would appear sleep is the activity Reddit users want to invest in the most, another one of the most popular suggestions was a white noise machine.

“I’m a light sleeper and have sensitive hearing, so I can’t concentrate or go to sleep if people are in the kitchen, watching TV, or talking or else it’ll drive me mad,” one user wrote.

“The white noise machine lets me rest when I I need to or read in my room in my room in peace even if there’s people out and about making noise. Less than $30 but it’s worth so much more in increasing my quality of life.”