You know that hobbies can be quite niche, ranging from things like collecting rare spirits to raising a garden inside your house. People enjoy different things for different reasons, and almost always there’s certain gear that just cannot be substituted for extremely in depth hobbies like painting needing palettes and oil paints or even baking requiring specific pans and ingredients.

But for most hobbies, there are a few things that can be substituted, and this usually allows you to have an array of supplies that can span across multiple hobbies. When versatility is allowed, it’s best to make the most of it so that you can save money, save space, and ultimately still get the job done without losing out on whatever supplies you needed in the first place.

One of my favorite hobbies as of late is camping. While I enjoy hiking and carrying my pack with me to set up camp somewhere in the wilderness, I also don’t ever shy away from trips with friends that involve packing up the truck and getting on the road to the nearest campgrounds for a weekend of fun.

Sometimes, though, we’re in need of basic supplies that we always end up forgetting. So instead of planning last minute what we need, I like to keep these common shipping supplies in my truck to be accessible whenever we actually need them.

Scissors.

Scissors may perhaps be the most useful thing to have when you’re out camping and most people don’t realize how useful they really are. From cutting twine to opening foods, you can’t go wrong have a pair of heavy duty scissors available on your camping trips. Heck, they’re even good for cutting, cleaning, and preparing tougher meat.

Tape.

While tape doesn’t work so well on anything that’s dirty or wet, it can still do well patching any holes you have in your tent, binding together broken stakes, and even sealing together food packages that you don’t want being broken into by raccoons. Out of all the shipping supplies on this list, tape is probably the most versatile at repairing.

Cardboard boxes.

You can use them for kindling, for storage, or even as makeshift “pads” for the hard ground you’ll be sleeping on. The best part is that you can break them down to save space when traveling with them so that they’re not all boxy and in the way while driving.

I’ve recently been trying to convince a friend to move to the city where I live, and I’ve had a rather tough time of it for reasons that are hard for me to explain. But basically, it boils down to him wanting to own a house here so he’s waiting a bit longer instead of getting an apartment here first to make sure he likes the area.

While we seemingly have differing opinions (and I know my own suggestion to him may not sit well with some of you out there who are advocates of pulling the trigger and buying a home), I’d like to think for someone his age at 26, he’s not ready to buy a house here considering he doesn’t even know if he’ll like it in whatever area he forecloses.

So, though not every item on this list is something you must stick to by the book, these are a few suggestions on when buying a home may make sense in your life.

When you’re getting married.

This one is fairly common among Americans. If you’re marrying someone soon and don’t yet have a house, it could make sense to do as the joint income will help with any expenses you may deem tougher to handle compared to being on your own. Just as well, married couples most likely lived in an apartment together prior to their marriage, so it’s only natural to make the step up to a home if you know that you live well together and are ready for your own place. All that’s required is a little sweat equity, some cheap moving boxes, and a trailer to move out of your old apartment and into your new home.

When you have a child.

While I’m fully aware that raising a child in an apartment can be a cost-effective way of handling child-rearing, I’m still of the mind that owning your own place can be safer for you and your child. Not to mention, you have much more space and privacy to yourself if you were to get your own home while raising your kid opposed to being sanctioned away in a smaller place connected to other tenants.

When it feels right.

Buying a home ultimately boils down to moving forward when you’re ready. There’s no one out there that can tell you you’re not ready or you should already be living in a house. It may never fit your agenda in life or it may only make sense for you to shop around from one home to the next rather than move into an apartment temporarily. Just trust your gut on when you should be looking to buy a home, but make sure it’s for the right reasons and you’re in good financial standing while you’re searching around.

There’s likely no worse feeling than moving into a place, looking at all your unpacked cheap moving boxes, and regretting what you just did if an apartment still makes more sense.

Today’s gold standard for shipping is getting tougher and tougher to refine simply because we’re maxing out the speed at which an item can be bought online, packaged, and shipped to that person’s front door. It doesn’t get much faster than 2 to 3 days without expecting someone to pay a ridiculous amount of money for one-day shipping.

Recently, my mom sent me a small parcel as a joke based on something we had just talked about a few days prior. I was so surprised that the package made it in two or three days time, simply because it wasn’t labeled as having been shipped on one or two days shipping but was merely priority mail through the post office. Yet still, here the package was in just a matter of two days. While the contents weren’t anything special or a must have for me, it was just funny how quickly it got to my doorstep without having extra postage on it for quicker shipping.

Much in the same way, I recently bought gifts for my girlfriend since her birthday is fast approaching, and those shipping boxes arrived at my doorstep two entire days before they were supposed to. Was I bothered by this? Not really at all, no. Sure, I had planned on them arriving two days later, so I wasn’t even looking for them on my doorstep in the snow this past weekend, but nonetheless, they made it to my door on a “non business day” and came as quite the surprise to me. I was pretty happy to have them safe and stored inside rather than having to worry about it sitting out in the open on my doorstep while I was at work two days later.

It ultimately surprises me how quickly items are shipped without paying extra for shipping these days. If we wanted things this fast just a decade or two ago, the price for shipping would’ve increased significantly. But again, today’s gold standard is just two or three days with hardly any extra cost, making online shopping seem as if it were on par with shopping at the mall.

Shipping boxes need merely a label and their contents to get out on the road and onto your doorstep nowadays, especially with streamlined shipping processes in bigger companies. If your shipping setup has a hitch in it or seems outdated by any means, customers will move on to other companies, because today’s era is one of demand and impatience.