Reddit reviews Hitachi WH18DGL 18V Li-Ion Impact Driver (Recon Grade C)

I agree with anyone else who's saying to just buy stuff as you need it rather than pre-buying stuff you may never need. When you do buy things, absolutely buy quality. There are some worthless brands that you'll usually regret owning, like Ryobi; there are brands that you will never regret owning (although you might regret overspending based on your usage) such as Milwaukee; and there are brands in the middle, such as Hitachi & Bosch.

The trick is that some tools are more important to buy quality than others. Most hand tools like hammers & screwdrivers are universally simple and it doesn't matter what brand they are. This is also true of select power tools, including angle grinders and bench grinders--go ahead an buy the cheapest option on those because I've never seen one fail. Other tools are literally garbage if you cheap out, such as cordless drills.

Apart from basic hand tools like hammer, tape measure, screwdrivers, etc, the only tool I'd consider indispensable is the cordless impact/drill driver. It's the most used tool in my house by far. I personally own this Hitachi model and it's bulletproof. Get a bit set to go with it.

Some other wisdom:

• Don't waste money on bleach-based cleaners. Buy bleach and mix with water in a spray bottle at 1:4-1:9, depending on how brutally you want to clean your shower/mold accumulator. (LPT: clean you showers & toilets every couple weeks before they start growing visible mold)
  
• Vinegar is also a cheap cleaner and substitutes for CLR in many cases, such as cleaning scale deposits on glassware & shower doors.
  
• Use white rags to clean surfaces instead of paper towels. Cheaper/less wasteful. Then use bleach when you wash a load of rags.
  
• Watering your lawn is a massive waste of resources. Don't get sucked into the perfect lawn contest that many neighbors seem to play. When I see a lush, green lawn during the dry heat of summer when sensible grass has gone dormant I mentally flag that person as an insecure douche who's a big contributor to the tragedy of the commons that is our water consumption and general treatment of natural resources.
  
• Fertilizing your lawn is even crazier to me. I see neighbors with fertilized lawns, with their "keep pets, children, & pregnant women away" signs, and I think of the excess nutrients running off into the storm water and polluting rivers and lakes. And for what, grass on steroids that you have to mow more often? If you're looking to waste more of your time on lawn care then I have a lawn you can come mow. Basically this is just another plea for you to not try to "keep up with the Joneses."
  
• Label your breakers, or double-check them if they're already labeled.
  
• Whenever you have something go wrong, search youtube for the problem first. You can save a boatload of money by DIY. Example: My clothes dryer stopped heating. Instead of a service call, I spent 10 minutes on youtube watching someone else fix my exact problem, then bought a $5 part on amazon, and spent another 30 minutes fixing the issue myself.
  
• Buy a clothes drying rack or hang up a clothes line in your laundry room. You can save a ton if you're not using the dryer all the time.
  
• If you're going to stay in your house long-term then go buy LED bulbs to replace any incandescents. Replace CFLs as they burn out. If you're not going to be there forever, just buy CFLs if you want to save a little money. The energy savings from incandescent (~60w) to CFL (~13w) often makes more sense than spending extra to get LED (~9w). However, do buy LED for all of your most-used fixtures, or if you have kids that always leave lights on. That extra efficiency pays off when you're talking about the kitchen or living room where a light is on much more than the guest bedroom, for example. Don't overlook outdoor fixtures, especially for things like motion-sensing lights, where an LED flood light can save a bunch over halogen.
  
• Make sure to clean things that circulate air, as clogged radiators reduce efficiency and increase wear/tear. Key places to keep clean include your furnace filter, central AC condenser (these collect a LOT of dust/debris), clothes dryer vent (and lint trap), and refrigerator.
  
• Use an app like Google Keep to keep a list of housework to-do. You can add to the list anytime you think of stuff so you don't forget what needs to be done around the house as you have time.
  
• Try to do one small project every night, or whatever schedule makes sense to stay ahead of the never-ending list. Don't let your to-do list build up. If you get behind on it, just pick something and get it done rather than stressing about how much housework you have to do.
  
• Don't put any food waste down your sink/toilet/drains. Don't use your garbage disposal to dispose of garbage (I know, such a misnomer). Especially anything containing fat because it congeals in your sewer line & causes problems. If you have food waste, put it in the trash (or compost). Better to take out the trash more often than to pay a plumber hundreds to unclog your sewer.
  
• Don't overload your washing machine. Also, wear clothes several times before washing if possible, especially jeans. You don't necessarily have to wear the same thing day after day, but most clothes don't get dirty enough to warrant washing after a regular day for many people. Obviously if they stink then wash them, but for example I rotate two pairs of jeans every other day for two weeks and then wash them. This saves you time & money.
  
• Key all your locks the same.
  
• Don't get too obsessed with DIY-ing everything that your quality of life suffers. Sometimes it's totally justifiable to pay a professional to do work so you can enjoy life or do other things.
  
  Edit: Formatting help lied about how to format a bullet list.

> I own the Hitachi DS 18DSAL, that takes the BSL1815X 18v, 1.5Ah battery.
>

I was considering this impact driver: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N3W7122/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER


I'm definitely a "regular sized folk" :-)