Coco Chanel said that "The best things in life are free. The second best are very, very expensive." With all due respect to one of the greatest fashion entrepreneurs of all time, many of the best quality of life upgrades cost less than a sandwich.

Here are five of them.

Did you know that Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, uses pen and paper for most of his thinking?

Writing by hand forces you to think clearly and carefully. Physical to-do lists and written objectives also make your priorities harder to ignore and harder to forget.

As Brian Tracy says, “Always think on paper. Sit down and begin writing out your goals and creating your plan to achieve them. This exercise alone can make you a self-made millionaire.”

Non-fiction is a great way to deliberately learn about topics that interest you, while fiction allows you to accidentally discover new ideas you wouldn’t have encountered otherwise.

Amazon often runs Kindle sales where you can buy eBooks for $2–$3 each, but used physical books are also surprisingly inexpensive.

For example, many eBay sellers offer mass-market titles for under $5, including shipping.

Here are three books I recently purchased on eBay, with total costs:

You can build a strong personal library of business, history, and fiction books for very little money.

Instead of mindlessly scrolling Twitter or TikTok, you could be wasting time flying a simulator, running a digital theme park, or commanding pixelated armies in a classic strategy game.

Good Old Games (GOG.com) sells a number of classic PC titles for under $5. Current offerings include RollerCoaster Tycoon, Heroes of Might and Magic III, and IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946.

Video games may be a “waste of time,” but at least they engage your brain and develop strategic and critical thinking skills.

The same can’t be said for most social media.

Here’s a useful mindset technique I learned from a Dan Kennedy book: when you’re upset or frustrated, take a calculator and press a bunch of random buttons. Once the screen is full, try to solve an actual equation. You can’t.

Nothing gets accomplished until the calculator is cleared. Likewise, you can’t focus on your goals until you “clear the mental calculator.”

Beyond the mindset exercise, it’s also useful and enjoyable to calculate dividend yields and investment returns with a physical calculator. It puts you in the mindset of an old-school value investor.

Like video games, word searches and puzzle books are an alternative to mindless social media scrolling.

Unlike video games, they focus your attention away from a screen.

Solving puzzles strengthens your attention span, improves pattern recognition, and increases mental stamina. It’s a cheap brain training tool that develops the same skills required for solving problems and making good decisions.

Getting a 10× return on a penny stock is statistically unlikely.

Getting a 100× return from a book you read, a pen-and-paper plan you executed, or a mindset technique that improved your productivity is common.

Most people chase long-shot odds in penny stocks or crypto meme coins, when their highest ROI actually comes from daily habits. Thinking on paper, building pattern recognition, and clearing the mental calculator are all inexpensive but powerful ways to invest in yourself.

If you spend a good amount on Amazon, this card could easily be worth $100s in cash back every year. And — even better — you could get approved extremely fast. If approved, you’ll receive an insanely valuable welcome bonus deposited straight into your Amazon account, ready to use immediately.

You also don’t have to jump through any hoops to get this bonus. No extra work or special spending requirements. Get approved, and it’s yours.

This might be one of the most powerful cash back cards available, especially considering how much most people spend on Amazon each month. It gives you the chance to earn cash back on the purchases you’re already making, turning your routine shopping into something that actually pays you back.

If you shop at Amazon or Whole Foods, this card could help you earn meaningful cash back on every purchase you make. But this offer won’t last forever — and if you’re an Amazon Prime member, this card is as close to a no-brainer as it gets.

Amazon Prime members: See what you could get, no strings attached

Learn How To Apply

Disclaimer: This article is for entertainment purposes only. It is not financial advice, always do your own research.