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What's worse: Being unable to charge your phone when you really need to, or getting hit by a train?
The latter is certainly worse, but the overwhelming feeling of frustration caused by a rapidly depleting iPhone battery certainly makes the train seem appealing in the moment.
As I transitioned out of my freewheeling college years and into my mid-late 20s, I started to make a conscious effort to make my life more convenient. This meant spending, literally, just a few extra bucks on basic utilities so I'd never be frustrated by a lack of the right cables, batteries or chargers. And I found that tacking a couple extra bucks onto a random Amazon order here and there to make sure I never ran out of rubber gloves or toothbrushes didn't really affect my budget.
I discovered AmazonBasics a couple of years ago when I first moved to Portland, and it has since become my go-to for basic, inexpensive home goods. The Basics program is massive, stocking every kind of charger and electronics accessory you can conceive of alongside home essentials like kitchenware and pet supplies. And though its the online equivalent of store brand shopping, I have yet to experience any kind of technical failure with anything in their line.
Here are a couple of things I keep around my apartment, car, bag or office. The next time you're getting some stuff from Amazon, spend a couple of minutes browsing AmazonBasics and see if you can save yourself a future headache for less than $10.
Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable
Good God—if there is one thing I recommend every person on earth to carry with them at all times, it is a backup phone charger.
My backup lightning cable, which I keep stored in my bag, has saved my iPhone from many an ignominious deaths in the office, at the airport, in my brother's car, wherever. This $8 cord is among the best investment's I've made, and I can't recommend having at least one ready to go enough. This also makes you "the friend who has a phone charger," which is, really, being a kind of hero. There's even a braided cord option if you want to get fancy with it.
Or, whichever batteries your household devices need. Somehow, all of the battery-powered devices in my apartment ended up running on AAA batteries, and I quickly found that a trip to my living room junk drawer was a lot more convenient than a trip to the downtown Safeway when it came time to change them. And if your turnover is particularly high for whatever reason, you can get batteries on subscription, at a discount. Somehow, 36 batteries for $9 wasn't cheap enough.
One of the most horrifying moments of disappointment one can experience occurs when you are unable to immediately install and enjoy a new piece of electronic equipment because you don't have the right cable. This happened when I first purchased a PS4 and found myself unable to game or watch movies because I didn't have an HDMI hookup to my television. As I lay on the ground, weeping bitterly and cursing God, I vowed to myself that I would never again be without a spare HDMI cable. And from that day forward, I've always immediately enjoyed my new television and computer accessories.
(Cool Stuff is a new feature at Willamette Week where we feature product reviews, roundups, sales and other commerce and shopping-oriented content. All Cool Stuff reviews are editorially independent, meaning we provide honest reviews and aren't paid by the brands we write about. If you do choose to purchase something after following one of our links, Willamette Week may receive a commission, which helps fund our journalism.)