Best Lifestyle Purchases of 2025: My Top Picks

Grass Padrique | The Fabulous Scientist

As 2025 comes to a close, I like to look back at the things I’ve added to my lifestyle — those that didn’t just sit on a shelf, but that got real use, day in and day out. This year, a handful of purchases stood out for their practicality, value-for-money, and how much they actually improved my daily life. Here are my top four “best buys of 2025.”

1. Garmin vívosmart 5 — My Everyday Fitness & Wellness Band

If there’s one wearable that quietly held together my active lifestyle the last quarter of this year, it’s the Garmin vívosmart 5 which I got two months ago. As someone who moves a lot — dancing, running, playing badminton or pickleball — I needed something simple, unobtrusive, and reliable to keep track of my activities and health metrics. The vívosmart 5 delivered on all fronts, providing essential features without being distracting during my workouts. Most importantly, it syncs seamlessly with Strava on my phone, allowing me to monitor my progress effortlessly and share my achievements with friends. This integration has not only enhanced my motivation but has also made it easier to analyze my performance over time, helping me set and achieve new goals as I continue to embrace my passion for an active lifestyle.

What I love about it:

• It tracks everything: continuous wrist-based heart rate, blood oxygen (Pulse Ox), stress, respiration, “Body Battery” energy levels, hydration reminders — plus day-to-day activity metrics: steps, calories, intensity minutes. 
• Built-in support for a variety of activity types such as walking, running, cycling, swimming, strength training, yoga or pilates, which makes it perfect whether I’m doing a full-on workout or just stretching / going around town. 
• Sleep tracking with a sleep score and insights, which helps me see how well I recover after my busy, active days. And if you’ve known me a while, you’d know I like data analytics.
• Lightweight, comfortable design with an easy-to-read screen and swappable bands so I don’t feel like I’m wearing a bulky smartwatch. 
• Great battery life: up to 7 days in smartwatch mode, 4-5 days if notifications are turned on. This means I don’t have to charge it daily even with regular workouts. 

For me, the vívosmart 5 became more than just a “fitness tracker.” It’s the band on my wrist that helps me keep tabs on my energy, recover from workouts, and make sure I’m not overdoing it.

2. Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo — Capturing Life’s Moments

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If you’re curious about the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo and why I chose this one over the other Instax cameras, I wrote a blog about it, snippet below:

Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo (Brown Body) — My July Project’s New Star

3. Sailor TUZU Adjust Fountain Pen — Everyday Writing with Grace and Comfort

If I ever need to write, journal, sketch ideas, or just make everyday notes, I reach for my Sailor TUZU Adjust fountain pen the most since I got it, as it perfectly combines elegance with functionality, allowing ink to flow smoothly across the page. The balance and precision of this pen make every writing experience not just a task but a delightful ritual, whether I’m composing my thoughts in a personal diary or doodling abstract concepts during brainstorming sessions. The meticulous design and customizable features of the TUZU Adjust inspire creativity, making it my go-to instrument whenever inspiration strikes. The TUZU FP is:

• Sturdy build and smooth nib.
• Ergonomic grip makes long writing easier.
• Comes in variety of colors with some limited edition.

For someone who values both function and thoughtfulness in small tools, the TUZU pen stands out as a gem among everyday writers. If you want to read more about this awesome fountain pen, below is a snippet to my review of the pen:

Sailor TUZU Adjust Fountain Pen: A Beginner-Friendly Pen with Clever Engineering

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4. Huawei Band 9 — Budget-Friendly Smart Band

At the beginning of the year, I needed a simple way to track my activity without overspending, so I chose the Huawei Band 9. I bought it using reward money from my good habits after reading Atomic Habits by James Clear.

• It’s light, unobtrusive, and perfect for “casual tracking” — like walking around the city, doing errands, or quick activity bursts.
• For someone with a dynamic lifestyle that’s not always about intense workouts, a basic band like this makes sense: it’s more than enough to keep me aware of steps, movement, and simple health metrics.
• Starting with an affordable tracker taught me the value of consistency — and later, when I upgraded to something more comprehensive (like the vívosmart 5), I appreciated the seamless transition.

In a world of costly wearables, Band 9 showed that you don’t need to spend a lot to stay active. The only downside is that it doesn’t sync with Strava. When I got my Garmin watch, my youngest son was excited to take the Band 9 watch from me. He’s been using it to track his steps and heart rate, especially after playing pickleball and badminton. If you’re curious about the Band 9, I also wrote a blog about it, snippet below:

My Rewards System Inspired by Atomic Habits Works!

5. Rackets for Fitness

This year has been all about overall physical and mental wellness and financial health for me. Aside from improving my financial portfolio by investing in UITF and MP2 (more on this later) using the money I saved from public commuting instead of taking Grab to the office, I also invested in tools (I call them weapons) to keep me physically fit for the daily commute. My chosen weapons are pickleball and badminton rackets. Badminton was the first sport I seriously played back in high school, which is eons ago. Over the years after high school, I played it with colleagues and friends on and off. When the pandemic hit and I was out of a job, I stopped playing it altogether.

When I joined Prime Energy, one of the perks was access to fitness clubs. I became a member of the Run Club, Dance Club, and Rackets Club, which includes sports like tennis, badminton, and pickleball. I’ve played pickleball and badminton with my colleagues. Since there weren’t enough rackets for everyone, I bought my own with a cash gift from the company. It was a great decision! My son had fun playing pickleball and badminton with me, so I got him his own rackets to play together on weekends as our chosen bonding activity when we’re not painting together.

For the pickleball, I got the Joola Graf Champion Paddle from Pickle Lab, SM North EDSA, and generic beginner ones from Lazada for my son. I got a head-heavy racket from Victor in their Lazada store and a light Yonex racket for my son. We re-strung our badminton rackets to higher tension based on our play style.

How about you? What’s your best lifestyle purchase this year? Do share in the comments below. 🙂

xoxo,

Grass