It never hit me how important non-crappy - they don't have to be super expensive the best ever - tools are until I switched out the crappy, who-knows-how-old frying pan that a previous tenant had left for a new one. It wasn't top of the line or anything - Tramontina from Costco, about $30 for a set of two. And oh man, the difference the new pan made! Eggs didn't stick! Food cooked evenly! Feeding myself was so much less of a chore with this one upgrade it was sort of ridiculous.

And oh yeah, I feel you on the frivolous thing. I wonder if it's yet another legacy of America's Puritan beginnings, that enjoyment and luxury and even ease is sinful and you're a Bad Bad Person for wanting nicer/prettier than the bare minimum, or not wanting to suffer needlessly.