Our January Purchases, Rated

The pants we won't shut up about and the dupe we'll never buy again

Is January the weirdest month of the year where stuff is concerned? At my house we did a toy purge and also a full toy room rearrange, our decorations are still in two giant bins in the living room waiting for a day warm enough to get them in the garage, I’m sick of buying things but also I’m seasonally depressed — it’s a lot. Not to mention this January bringing a more than usual amount of existential dread and GoFundMe requests that all feel vital.

If you’re overwhelmed by January 2025, at least know we’re getting stress-wrinkles alongside you. Cute!

Today is our first paid post, where we’ll each share and rate 5 things we bought this month. Moving forward we’ll have 3 free posts per month (about Stuff more generally) and one paid where you’ll get more curated and deeply vetted product recommendations.

Today’s includes a perfect pair of women’s pants that are worth the splurge, an under-$20 pair of pants for the cheap guy in your life, a buzzy pop culture audiobook, and an analog mental-load-lifter that proves the robots don’t run the world just yet.

We hope you’re surviving January and are so happy you’re here!