22 Things I Wish I Had Bought Sooner!

Enjoying your purchases (or things that have been gifted to you) is among the joys of life–particularly those that provide us with good experiences and that simply make us think: “Why didn’t I buy this sooner?” Today, I’ll share a list of 22 things that I own (and some I still haven’t bought just yet) that fit into just this category, in no particular order.

22 Things I Wish I Had Bought Sooner – 1. Carbon-Steel Pans

My wife and I really like to cook and I like a nice sear on a steak or a piece of meat. So, initially, we started with Teflon pans. Then, we tried cast iron pans. But, we weren’t good at maintaining them and they would rust frequently. Then, we would get just stainless steel pans, I think from All-Clad.

We’ve got them for a wedding present, and they’re good, but they’re hard to clean and maintain. Then, I noticed, at restaurants, they always had these carbon steel pans and so, I gave them a try. They’re similarly heavy to a cast iron pan and they rust. That’s why you season them and, after you clean them, you re-season them with a thin layer of oil, put it on high heat. It’s relatively easy to do.

They’ve never rusted and the crusts you get, no matter whether it’s on a mushroom or a piece of meat or just if you sauté onions, they just taste a lot better. So, I really wished I had bought this item probably 10 or 15 years earlier.

The ones I bought are from the French manufacturer Matfer Bourgeat. I think they’re on Amazon, but you can also get them from restaurant supply stores where they are usually less expensive.

2. A Safari Jacket

Second, I’m on the list is a safari jacket. I got one in a green linen and what I really like about them is they have little strings. So, you can make them looser or tighter. It’s great when you go to a warm-weather destination. And, best of all, it has big bellows pockets with flaps that have snaps in them.

So, I can have my phone in there, my passport, my wallet, whatever I need when I travel. I can have it all in my pockets and it’s very easy to have it handy. I don’t need a separate thing. So, I really like that jacket.

In recent years, safari jackets and similar jackets have become rather popular. So, they’re much easier to find these days than they were 10 or 15 years ago. So, I wish I had that earlier for travel.

3. A Peloton Bike

Years ago, we set up an LA Fitness membership. It was before we had kids. It was great. We could go to the gym. But, I realized now that, once you have kids and you’re at home and life is busy at work, it’s really hard to motivate you to go out and go to the gym either early in the morning or late at night.

Whereas, with the Peloton, I actually get on it. And just like with any fitness gear, what matters is if you use it. If you use it, it’s worth it because it’s an investment in your body.

It supports you with your data. So, I got a heart rate measurement tool and it tracks all my stuff. So, it keeps me motivated and I can compare and benchmark myself. They have these power zone classes, which are pretty good so you get better and you train at your level no matter where you’re at.

So, I really enjoy that and I think my streak is over 83 weeks now, which means I’ve used it for 83 weeks straight, which is awesome. And, sometimes, if you go and travel, hotels now, they have those bikes. So, you can just hop on, log into your account, and use them.

4. Bespoke Shoes

I have many bespoke shoes and my foot is not that special that I desperately need bespoke shoes. But, I really enjoyed the process of working with a shoemaker very closely. I learned a lot about shoemaking because I was part of this project, from start to finish, for over two weeks, every day, and it was just very interesting.

Plus, I learned more than I already knew when just visiting a shoe factory. I was also able to really bring in all the details that I liked and create something special that I would not get off-the-rack or made-to-order.

5. Pinky Rings

I was always interested in going to antique markets and flea markets. My first pinky ring, the silver malachite one that I bought for, maybe, 10 or 12 Euros at a flea market in Berlin. Ever since I bought that first one, I definitely expanded my collection. And now, wherever I go, I find a piece because I like them and it’s fun wearing them.

6. A Tool Belt

You probably wouldn’t expect me to want a tool belt, but it’s actually a gift that I got from my in-laws and it’s fantastic because, sometimes, you know, you have to take care of stuff.

Maybe your light fixture is crooked and you want to hang a new one up or maybe there’s a woodpecker outside your bedroom and the next handyman can’t come for two weeks, so you have to get up to the ladder and take care of stuff.

So, with a tool belt, you just have everything at your disposal. The last time I used it was actually to mount some nest cameras. And then, you can have your screws in there, you can have your hammer, you can have your drill, and anything you need up there, and you can stay up on the ladder. Stuff gets done more quickly. I think it’s safer and it’s a wonderful thing.

7. Quilted Jackets

Again, I bought my first one at that same flea market I bought a pinky ring at in 2015 and it was just a used Barbour jacket. I still have it. It’s brown, it’s quilted. And, originally, these were made as horse warming blankets, and then, they just also made them for humans.

So, they’re very lightweight, they’re great for travel, they’re very insulating. They have snap buttons, so you can wear them unbuttoned. They’re slightly longer and wider in the sleeve, so you can wear them over a blazer, for example, or a sport coat or a suit. So, they’re quite versatile, in my opinion.

Of course, Barbour is the big name. There are other brands out there. I got this cool one with a houndstooth pattern that has green trim with side vents and got a lot of compliments for it.

8. Fish Sauce & Worcestershire Sauce

Again, I like good food. I like to cook. And fish sauce just has this umami flavor. In the US, I typically buy the Red Boat sauce because I find it’s really, really good. Even though it’s expensive for fish sauce, it’s overall quite inexpensive. It just adds that little something special to your meals. No matter if it’s lasagna or your meatballs or your salad dressing, it really goes with anything.

In the same vein, Worcestershire sauce also is based on anchovies just like the fish sauce, but it has elements of vinegar and burnt onions. It’s fermented, it has a lot less salt than soy sauce, for example. and you can also use it in many different ways.

I sometimes even use it for a steak marinade or a sauce. It has that mix of sweet-salty-sour and, if you know anything about food, it’s that if you combine fat, sweet, salt, and sour. Good things happen in your meal. 

9. Cardigans

Before having cardigans, I used to buy a lot of sweaters. But then, when you take them off, oftentimes, it messes up your hair. Versus the cardigan, you have the buttons. You can unbutton it. You can take it off completely and that’s an aspect I really enjoy.

Sometimes, you can also get these sleeveless cardigan vests, so you can wear them underneath a jacket, for example, instead of a vest. It gives you a more casual vibe and it’s just a cool way to dress a jacket down, in my opinion.

10. Woven Leather Shoes

The next thing I wish I bought earlier are woven leather shoes. By that, I don’t mean embossed weave patterns, but actually woven leather. I like them for the warmer months or the summertime because they’re more breathable than regular leather shoes.

They also have a much more casual flair. So, if you want to dress down an ensemble or make it distinctly summery and casual, it’s just a really great way to do that.

I have a pair of chocolate brown loafers from Scarosso that I like to wear a lot in the summer and I have a pair of Carmina Chelsea boots in that same woven leather; same color, very versatile, and just great all around.

11. A Home with A Real Fireplace

The 11th thing I wish I bought earlier was a home with a real fireplace. First, Teresa and I would live in a rental apartment. There was no fireplace. Then, we bought a condo and it would have been extremely expensive to put in a fireplace because it would have required commercial fireproofing. So, we got some of those gel fireplaces.

It created a nice ambiance, but it would smell a little bit and we didn’t know anything better, so we were fine. Then, we moved to this house, which has three fireplaces. They’re all wood-burning, all functioning.

We just realized, “Wow! This is so nice.” It’s the sound. It’s the heat. And having friends over after dinner and drinks. It’s just a wonderful experience, especially during the colder months of the year.

Personally, I’ve seen those faux wood-burning fireplaces. There are gas-operated. There are old school ones and very new looking ones. Personally, I like the look of the new ones. But, still, it’s not the same.

You get the heat and there’s fire, but you don’t get the crackling. You don’t get that whole aspect of it. I also like that, unlike a fire pit outside, it doesn’t smell. So, you don’t sit there in your clothes and your hair smells terrible, and everything has to air out afterwards.

12. Indirect Lighting

Typically, in a room, you have either a ceiling light fixture or you have some floor lights or maybe table lamps. We saw picture rails and we’re like, “Well, it would be great to have LED strips on those picture rails!”

So, the ceiling is white or lighter and the light shines onto the ceiling. It’s this indirect light. It’s just very pleasant and it’s much better than just a simple ceiling fixture. I feel so much better when I’m in the room and it’s just something I don’t want to miss again.

Lighting is just so important and having poor light in the wrong color temperature that is either too cool or too warm or insufficiently lit is just not something that reflects positively on your or anyone’s mood.

13. Lutron Caséta Light Switches

There are lots of smart light switches on the market. But, sometimes, they have to communicate to a remote server and then, if you tip the light off, it takes five seconds before they actually turn off.

With Lutron Caséta, it’s different. This is not sponsored or anything. I just bought these light switches. I also bought them for a new office. You can control it from your app. You can turn everything on and off. You have your schedules, your calendars, and, if you have more advanced automation, you can even build it in.

I’m not that much into those things. I just want to be able to control everything, have lights turn on at the right time, turn off altogether when I go to bed, and it also allows for stuff like motion sensors for example, or control of your shades. I really appreciate that. And before, we just wouldn’t open our shades much. 

If they’re automated on a schedule, it just happens and it’s a lot nicer. It also helps save on electricity cost because, rather than forgetting to turn off the light, you can set it so they just turn off automatically. Maybe in your staircase or in your hallway or wherever you want stuff.

14. A Home Alarm System

Another thing I wished about earlier was an alarm system. Well, first of all, the homeowner’s insurance pays me the amount of money I pay for the system back because they consider my house to be safer. So, at the end of the day, it doesn’t cost me anything.

It’s monitored, but it’s also hooked up to all the locks. So, I can have a keyless entry into my house. I don’t need keys anymore. I can open the garage doors. I can coordinate everything. I can let other people in and out of the house even when I’m not there. You can couple it with your camera, so you can see what’s going on. And it’s just a wonderful thing that I don’t want to miss anymore.

Mine is about $40 a month but, again, at the end of the day, it’s zero because I get that money all back from the insurance company. I had to invest upfront about $2,000 in getting all the sensors – glass break sensors, window sensors, door sensors, smoke sensors, and all that stuff. But, I think that, overall, it was a good investment.

15. A Player Piano

The 15th thing I wish I bought earlier is a player piano. Sadly, I don’t have a lot of time in my life leftover next to the business and my family for playing the piano. But, having a player piano just enables you to listen to it, to use it.

It could be background music when you have guests over. It can be just you sitting there, reading a book, or just intentionally listening to a cool piece. And there’s so much music out there that’s available, whether it’s, you know, ragtime or just bar music or classical music and you can just pick whatever you like.

You can even pick something like Elton John. When he sings, it’s a piano. It’s just cool, it’s relaxing, and it’s something I really enjoy. And the sound of a real piano is not comparable to something that is replicated on a speaker even though you may have good speakers.

16. Access To Peer Groups

No matter what you do, there are peer groups based on your hobby. There are peer groups based on your profession. There are peer groups based on the fact that, maybe, like me, you’re an entrepreneur or you are in e-commerce or, whatever it is, there are peer groups.

A lot of other people have done things that you are facing now. They did it before. They made mistakes before you. They learn things before you. There’s just a lot to learn from others, but also to connect and it can give you a sense of belonging. It definitely did for me and I really enjoyed it and I wish I opened myself up to these things earlier.

Before, what held me back was, maybe, that belief that, “Wow! It cost a lot of money.” And, instead of paying $2,000 a year to be part of this group, I could buy a couch instead or whatever. But, at the end of the day, the investment of, you know, two or ten thousand dollars into peer groups has paid back many folds for me.

The benefit is not just on a monetary level, but also on a personal level. I think I’m more self-reflective now than ever before. I learned a lot about me, others, family management, my weaknesses, and, overall, it’s just a great experience.

17. Business Coaching

The 17th thing I wished about sooner is business coaching and I came across it through one of my peer groups. A friend brought in his business coach, who is a former therapist. And the whole idea is that sometimes, when you want to grow, what’s holding you back is yourself.

It’s your belief system that, as a kid, was just injected into you and it’s not something that you actually had control over, and then, later in your life, the people you surround yourself with also have an impact on you. It all shapes our beliefs, our thoughts, and, sometimes, that’s what can really hold us back.

So, having someone to really work on these things and understand things, I thought, was really valuable, and I wish I’d started that earlier.

18. Isaia Jackets

Isaia jackets are relatively pricey if you buy them new. I would never buy them new, but I’ve picked up a few used jackets and they all seem to fit me quite well. I like the range of movement I get from them, I like the silhouette, and I like the price when I buy them secondhand on places like eBay.

We have a comprehensive guide that talks about how a suit should fit and we also have a post on suit brands I like and recommend to help you out. Ultimately, though, the best suit or jacket doesn’t help you much if it doesn’t fit. But, if you find something, where you like the cut, you like the fit, you like the materials, and you can pick it up inexpensively, well, then you hit the jackpot.

19. A Dining Room Mural

Both Teresa and I always liked somewhat unusual things – accent pieces, bold statement pieces in the place where we live. In our old condo, we actually watched a video by Leonardo Padrón, who did faux finishes, and then, we took corrugated cardboard, viridian green oil paint, and made a faux malachite wall. It was a lot of fun, it looked fantastic, and we still have pictures of that wall.

This was quite a project and it stank a lot. So, you have to open your windows when it’s cold outside. It’s a problem.

So, we moved to our house. At first, we were like, “Well, should we do this again?” But, then, we’re like, “Well, this is a new house. Let’s try something else.” And we weren’t quite sure. So, we took a color that was green, that was similar to that malachite. But it was just flat green, so we weren’t that excited about it.

Eventually, we decided to hire a local artist who does murals and just paints directly onto the wall. That way, you can get something very customized for the space. You can get exactly what you want, and it’s a cool conversation piece when you have people over.

Everyone likes it. I like it. Every time I walk into this room, I’m filled with joy. So, I wish we would have done that earlier.

20. A Quality Microphone

Originally, I bought a whole lot of video gear, including a microphone, from a guy who did it somewhere professionally, wanted to get out of it, and I just wanted to get started and wanted to get something at a great value.

It worked out. I thought it sounded good but, overall, I realized now when I bought a really quality microphone, how much I was missing out on and how much you were missing out on and that people just pay a lot of attention to good audio quality.

So, we’ll never make that mistake again. We’ll always invest in quality audio gear so you have a good experience watching our stuff.

21. Android Auto

Sometimes, you realize that you wish you had bought something earlier once you’ve actually bought it. I have two things on my list that I haven’t bought yet, and one is Android Auto.

Last year, Teresa was involved in an accident. Someone blew a stop sign and she T-boned them, and the car was totaled. So, we got a 2017 model year Porsche Cayenne and it didn’t have Android Auto.

We rented a car that had Android Auto and I was like, “Wow! I need this. Why haven’t I gotten that?” Luckily, you can retrofit your car. But it has been a few months now and I still haven’t installed it. And I’m slapping myself because that’s really fun to have.

22. A Proper Closet

Last but not least, item number 22 on the list that I wish I had bought sooner is a proper closet. As you know from the content here at the Gentleman’s Gazette, I’m really into clothes. I have a lot of accessories. I have a lot of clothes. I have a lot of shoes. I just have a lot of everything when it comes to men’s wardrobe.

The problem is I don’t have one space where you can keep it all. With a lot of space in our studio, some of the things are actually standing right next to me because having your overcoats in that space is really good for audio because it absorbs your sound.

I have some wardrobes down in a room. And, when we bought the house, it actually had a sitting room and a bedroom right next to each other and we were like, “We don’t need an extra sitting room. We need a closet.”

So, we talked to a closet company, and then, COVID hit (2020-2021) and they weren’t able to do it. So, we talked to a different carpenter. He was interested in a project but, then, he realized, “You know what? You have 9-foot ceilings. My workshop is too small. I can’t do it.”

Then, other projects have come up along the way. So, hopefully, I look forward to tackling it, maybe, in 2022. And we’ll make sure to give you a full tour of what my wardrobe and closet situation looks like before we redo it and then after we redo it, so you can see the transformation.

Outfit Rundown

I am wearing an outfit that is based on a navy blue blazer from Isaia. When I bought the blazer, it had ugly buttons, so I had this kind of cool pewter buttons put on. I’m wearing it with a blue and white striped shirt. It’s rather bold. I’m combining it with a tie, which is a knit tie, in model light blue from Fort Belvedere, which you can find in our shop, just like the blue and white linen pocket square with blue dots that picks up the color of the shirt. And then, the boutonniere is this kind of mini delphinium in a kind of dark blue with white. which picks up the color of the shirt and works with the theme.

My pants were part of a suit that was made for me, I think by Tom James. But, the jacket was really bad. It made me look like a football player. But, the pants I can still wear. They’re beltless, have two inward-facing pleats. They’re in a khaki color, but it’s kind of a pinpoint pattern with a light blue windowpane, which goes well with my tie. My socks are contrasting and are bold in royal blue and white. They’re two-tone solids from Fort Belvedere and they work well with my shirt.

You can find all Fort Belvedere accessories in our shop. My shoes are the pair of bespoke shoes that I had made because I thought, “Why not wear them when I talk about them in the video?” And then, I have a pinky ring because you know, I like pinky rings, which is my latest acquisition. It has this nice tiger’s eye and an interesting finish, which is called the Florentine finish. I’m pairing it with a pair of gold cufflinks from Fort Belvedere. They’re the monkey fist knot cufflinks, which have become my staple pair of cufflinks because they go with pretty much anything.

Which items belong on your own personal “bought sooner” list, and why? Share with us in the comments!