Instead of practicing good sleep hygiene, I spend my last hour in bed scrolling through my Instagram and Twitter feeds. Sometimes it turns into doomscrolling, but occasionally the internet coughs up a few gems. Last week, it came in the form of a Twitter thread from New Yorker writer and Twitter user Rachel Syme, who asked her followers to share "something that is under $40 that has made your life a little bit more exciting/sparkly/frivolous in an eccentric way." 

The answers were surprising and eclectic, and knowing the small affordable things that are bringing people joy during this weird and difficult time in turn brought me joy. It also turned into an incredible amount of products added to my many virtual carts. I combed through the nearly 500 replies and found the 40 best products under $40, curated from the contributions of the many Twitter users. Technically, these are products you could live without, but where's the fun in that?  So far, I have been convinced to buy a ceramic bodega-style coffee cup and some scented papers I literally have no idea how I'll use. 

Most Twitter users provided links or the exact information for their suggestions but there were a few that were more general and for which I made judgement calls — a handheld electric milk frother, a cabbage knife, a silk eye mask, a candle snuffer, and the aforementioned ceramic New York City bodega coffee cup. My personal contribution to this conversation are these satin hair scrunchies from The Hair Edit, which have replaced all my other hair bands which I've bought four packs of (so far). Shop my curated selection below.