PSA: small purchases after a year [v2]

This came up at a meetup recently and the room was split, so curious what the broader community thinks.

Mostly thinking out loud — feel free to push back hard. For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land. For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land.

Maybe an unpopular opinion but here we go. Long-time lurker, first-time poster. Been thinking about this for a while and curious what the community thinks.