Comments on: One Hundred Dollars

Question: One Hundred Dollars

doorsfan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:11:32 -0800

When I was a kid I could buy the world for $20 but now with $100 I can't get crap. What can I buy for $100 that's fun?

$100 leftover over in b-day money and no clue how to blow it.

Ground rules:
I don't want CDs or DVDs
I already have GH2 and 3 and Rockband
I'd rather not spend on clothes
I just bought tools

I just want something fun – some gadget or gizmo or toy that I would not normally buy for myself for a $100.

By: bonheur

bonheur — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:12:42 -0800

A roomba!

By: box

box — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:15:13 -0800

Twenty Metafilter memberships.

By: stefanie

stefanie — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:17:27 -0800

It's slightly more than $100, but it seems like all the cool kids these days are getting Flip camer

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:18:25 -0800

Five pounds of Silly Putty?

By: stefanie

stefanie — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:18:34 -0800

err... I meant, Flip camcorders, there.

By: contessa

contessa — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:19:18 -0800

Slingbox.

By: craven_morhead

craven_morhead — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:21:55 -0800

What about a fantastic comforter?

By: spec80

spec80 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:22:12 -0800

Donate it:

UNICEF's Tetanus Program
Kiva

It's fun. And that's just two!

By: marxfriedrice

marxfriedrice — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:24:31 -0800

water balloons!

By: captaincrouton

captaincrouton — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:28:00 -0800

beer?

By: captaincrouton

captaincrouton — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:29:36 -0800

oops, you asked for a gadget. Mini-keg cooler or beer taps.

By: Tomorrowful

Tomorrowful — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:29:47 -0800

Some LEGOs?

By: burnmp3s

burnmp3s — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:30:25 -0800

You can get a decent hiking GPS unit for under $100, especially if you buy an older model or a used one. The GPS receiver itself isn't very fun, but you can use it for fun things like GeoCaching.

By: cocoagirl

cocoagirl — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:32:50 -0800

Pyro Pack.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:36:25 -0800

If I had a hundred bucks burning a hole in my pocket, I'd probably load up on survivalist gadgets from ThinkGeek. They have a "Toy" section, too.

By: stubby phillips

stubby phillips — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:37:17 -0800

A mandolin, obviously

By: cda

cda — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:38:43 -0800

3 radio shack dragon flies. especially if you have access to a cat.

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:39:33 -0800

I would buy $100 worth of marbles and release them at the top of a mall escalator right when the Cinna-Buns come out of the oven.

Then I would go home and prepare for lawsuits.

How about blowing it all on a great meal somewhere you normally can't afford to eat?

By: mattbucher

mattbucher — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:44:25 -0800

A Head Spa.
The Ultimate Radio Daypack.

By: Science!

Science! — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:47:51 -0800

Used Guitar.

By: legotech

legotech — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:03:08 -0800

The larger Lego sets go around $90...they have Indiana Jones ones now!

It's a little over $100 but I *heart* my Nintendo DS

By: ddaavviidd

ddaavviidd — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:07:47 -0800

you could buy two or three of the items listed here!

By: tiburon

tiburon — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:10:19 -0800

Gym membership

By: Nelsormensch

Nelsormensch — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:12:23 -0800

You can have all kinds of fun with a handheld GPS receiver. Start geocaching!

By: Perplexity

Perplexity — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:14:17 -0800

A massage at a nice spa.

By: Cat Pie Hurts

Cat Pie Hurts — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:24:31 -0800

Buy enough parts to build five pocket theremins.

By: yeti

yeti — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:25:20 -0800

Swiss Champ. Seriously. I use it every day. It's something you don't realize how handy it comes in until it's always there. And it's big enough that it makes people go "woah", but small enough to always have it in my pocket - as opposed to the impractically awesome Champ XAVT

By: misanthropicsarah

misanthropicsarah — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:25:27 -0800

yeah, definitely a nice dinner somewhere you can't normally afford.

or have an ice cream party with friends.

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:40:05 -0800

Take neighborhood kids to zoo and pizza!
Help someone who is down and out!
Make kites and give them to friends!
Surprise your mom with flowers, but don't leave a card!

By: vytae

vytae — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:43:19 -0800

Personally, I'd go for a super-nice dinner, and take a friend or someone special.

Other ideas from my personal wishlist:

Throw a party for your friends. $100 is a lot of beer and pizza. Or you could buy a couple different bottles of some kind of liquor, and host a tasting - tequlia, perhaps?

Have you got a good mp3 player? If so, do you have an aux line into your car stereo? The sound is way better than using an FM transmitter, and you could probably get one installed for under $100.

If you're into outdoorsy stuff, I'd say put it towards a great pair of hiking boots or a really high-end rain jacket (i.e. very waterproof and very breathable and very lightweight).

Do you like cooking? Maybe you could use a really nice pan of some sort.

Please note, you could also get several Slip 'N Slides for that price. Line them up in the yard and have races all summer.

By: iguanapolitico

iguanapolitico — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:47:28 -0800

It's $129.95, but I'd get an AeroGarden!

By: pupdog

pupdog — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:06:32 -0800

I've made the suggestion before, but take a friend to a good arcade - that's hours of pure entertainment.

By: kookywon

kookywon — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:14:03 -0800

I've built a potato cannon for less than $100. With $100 you could probably build a CO2 powered one.

By: Metroid Baby

Metroid Baby — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:15:22 -0800

Don't blow it just yet! Set it aside (like, in a sealed brightly-colored envelope with silver stars and "AWESOME FUND" written on it) and save it until you come across that one fun gadget that you never thought you needed until you learned of its existence.

I always find the best stuff that I can't live without approximately two days after I've burned through my birthday cash.

By: cazoo

cazoo — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:21:58 -0800

weed

By: slogger

slogger — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:29:59 -0800

A bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 16 year old bourbon.

If that's not available, the 18 year Black Maple Hill bourbon is pretty damned tasty too.

By: indiebass

indiebass — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:42:08 -0800

I would either take the money and *do* something really nice (fancy dinner at someplace I can't otherwise afford, as others have said, or a massage or something like that) or save it 'til I find that "thing" that i need but don't know about yet. I know... BOring!

By: Elmore

Elmore — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:46:16 -0800

Remote control plane/helicopter. Actually anything remote controlled that comes in under budget.

By: Elmore

Elmore — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:50:00 -0800

Oh wait you got me thinking. I was going to say a fishtank and some fish. But you could blow twenty like you would have as a kid - some fake blood, a fake turd, one of those cut off fake fingers, itching powder, stink bombs, sea monkeys, x-ray glasses, etc. and then take a friend out to dinner and have a nice bottle of wine with the rest. Best of both worlds.

By: Vervain

Vervain — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:53:04 -0800

Oh, you know you need the Uncle Milton HomeStar.

By: jinatrix

jinatrix — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:07:46 -0800

something off of www.woot.com

By: !Jim

!Jim — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:09:11 -0800

Mini helicopters or similar RC aircraft
Delicious food out with good friend\SO
Gym membership if you don't have one
Lego Mindstorms kit (if available for around this price)
Other sorts of legos
GPS unit
New cellphone\PDA type device
Wood or metal to build some sweet furniture
Parts to build some kind of weapon (paintball turret, missile launcher, potato gun, etc.)
New rifle

By: Zed_Lopez

Zed_Lopez — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:10:20 -0800

29 book credits on paperbackswap.com (i.e., you can request 29 books from what's available, and they'll be shipped to you at no further expense)

A refurbished Xbox and a modchip

A Logitech Harmony universal remote

a decTop low-power computer

lots o' Legos

an aeropress coffee maker, a hot-air popcorn popper (for roasting coffee), and lots of green (unroasted) coffee beans

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:17:03 -0800

Juggling bags or pins (maybe $30 total for either)

Crazy Aarons Thinking Putty - - great fun! (maybe $15 tax and shipping)

A giant cigar pillow (about $40)

and a sixer or two of the beer of your choice to enjoy them all

= about $100.

By: nikksioux

nikksioux — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:23:22 -0800

If I had $100:

*Get a massage

*Get a facial

*go with a companion for a nice dinner

*donate it to charity

*save it for a rainy day

By: lekvar

lekvar — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:34:35 -0800

A bottle of the best Post-Ban absinthe on the market.

By: raulgutierrez

raulgutierrez — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:50:49 -0800

I have self interest here, but you could buy several pieces of art on 20x200.com

By: craven_morhead

craven_morhead — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:16:16 -0800

Oh oh, buy a bunch of bottles of wine (maybe 4 $20 bottles and a couple $10 bottles) and have a wine tasting. And cheese, grapes, and apples.

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:19:23 -0800

Rock Band Setup! A mic stand will cost you twenty bucks, a drum stool is thirty, an Uncle Milton Lightshow is forty, and a case of cheap beer is ten!

Or, if the light show is not your thing, for under fifty bucks you can construct your own kick pedal using a real drum kick, some reed switches from Radio Shack, some speaker wire, and some scrap wood.

You can customize your GH or RB guitars with some Krylon paint and a steady hand, too.

By: aerotive

aerotive — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:28:18 -0800

One of the more expensive space pens.

By: aerotive

aerotive — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:44:26 -0800

Can't believe I forgot this, a Swissmemory USB key multitool. I got a 512MB version a few years ago and it's come in handy many, many times. It's a nice conversation starter too--when I use it in a store or something people will start talking to me out of the blue about it.

By: Fuzzy Skinner

Fuzzy Skinner — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:54:43 -0800

You don't want CDs, but what about an iPod Shuffle for $49, ($69 for a 2 gig version)?

Random suggestions:
-Hot Wheels sets to relive you childhood. (I bought some about a year ago. I won't say how old I am.) For $100 you can have the dream Hot Wheels setup you always wanted. I set mine up to run from my bedroom, through the hallway and kitchen, and into the living room. (It also instantly made me World's Most Awesomest Dad to my teen daughter's friends.)

-I like the Flip-camera idea. Easy to use, fun, and you can challenge yourself to make some movies tat tell a story, and upload them to YouTube.

-Radio-Controlled "off-road" cars. A set of 2, with different frequencies, and you can race a friend.

-A cheap bike from a big-box retailer (I know it's not a "gadget" but if you don't have one... now is the time.)

-An electric scooter (you'll need about $20 more.)

-A nice watch

-An advanced universal remote control.

-A Palm Z22.

-An awesome nylon kite with dual lines for flight control.

-A great messenger bag.

-A collection of funky plants for a windowsill garden: Venus Fly Traps, cacti, and other unusual and easy-to-care-for plants.

By: b1tr0t

b1tr0t — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:05:02 -0800

One of the more expensive space pens.

Or a very decent fountain pen with change left over.

By: jquinby

jquinby — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:13:16 -0800

A bottle of the best Post-Ban absinthe on the market.

This. I got a bottle of this for Christmas and have been completely pwn3d by La Fee Verte.

By: orange swan

orange swan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:25:35 -0800

Go to a thrift shop or a cool dollar store and go nuts.

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:01:45 -0800

Carbon 14
Or Polonium 210 (same page): the choice of government hitmen, but it only has a half-life of about 6 months.

Barring that, stupidly powerful supermagnets to crush your enemies.

By: lalochezia

lalochezia — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:52:44 -0800

Ferrofluid

Buy some (expensive)
Make your own (cheap)
Do neat stuff (get some electromagnets!)

By: zardoz

zardoz — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:18:36 -0800

Buy an mp3 player. Listen to your favorite music and podcasts all day long.

By: tomble

tomble — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 03:29:27 -0800

If you like cooking, consider getting a Kyocera Ceramic Knife. I bought one a while ago and I constantly marvel at it. It's sharper than anything else I have, and translucent.

It makes me feel like I am living in some amazing future world - a future world filled with perfectly sliced tomatoes.

By: borkingchikapa

borkingchikapa — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:17:02 -0800

seconding weed.

By: doorsfan

doorsfan — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:43:56 -0800

EXCELLENT ideas all!

I think I am going to go with a mtn. bike ($100 at Target or Wlamart) or tickets for me and 2 friends to go to a AA ball game and I'll use the balance on beer.

Thanks!

By: craven_morhead

craven_morhead — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:11:05 -0800

I'd go with ball game and get a solid bike instead of a Wally Mart Special, but that's speaking as a bike snob.

By: moof

moof — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:40:23 -0800

You could do what I did with my birthday money last year--donate it to a group that gives free medical aid to the needy. The memory made me smile all year.