3 gift recommendations from CNBC Make It staff that I actually bought for myself—and use every day

Before I buy a gift for someone, I always check to see what other people are saying about it. The folks at Wirecutter do an excellent job, but I’m much more likely to trust someone I know who bought the thing for themselves and loves it.

If you feel the same way, I’m here to help.

I write CNBC Make It’s money newsletterwhich means each week I get to field and publish a consumer recommendation from one of my coworkers. I ask them to contribute anything they’ve bought that they thought was well worth the money, which means I’ve gotten everything from toilet paper to major kitchen appliances as submissions.

Not everything is for me. But on a few occasions, I’ve found the recommendation so appealing that I’ve purchased the product for myself. So you can consider the three items below double-recommended. They’re each right around $100 — a price that says, thoughtful, but not over-the-top.

What they wrote:

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to spend less money at Starbucks, but as a self-admitted coffee snob, I was skeptical as to how I could recreate an Americano or latte made by my favorite barista at home.

Enter:Nespresso’s VertuoPlus coffee machine. It takes up minimal counter space, is easy to clean and maintain, and brews a strong espresso that’s just as smooth as the brand’s spokesperson, George Clooney. For less than a dollar per pod, I’d consider that a steal.

— Morgan Smith, Work Reporter

My take:

I am not a coffee snob. In fact, I’m more of a coffee utilitarian. And after switching to the Nespresso — we have one in red — I’m never going back.

It’s a breeze to choose the coffee you want on their website, and shipping is fast. Every morning, I put in a pod, press a button and have good coffee or espresso in a matter of seconds. No fuss, no cleanup.

And look, could I probably make better coffee if I ground my own beans and boiled water and poured it over some sort of contraption, or fiddled with a gigantic, chrome espresso machine? Maybe, but who has time for all that?

What they wrote:

I caught myself smiling at our newly purchased Roomba the other day, literally just watching it clean.

Until recently, my wife and I resisted buying an autonomous robot vacuum, mostly because it seemed extravagant for our small apartment. But it works so well! The suction on the Roomba ($104 on Amazon) was better than I expected, easily picking up stray bits of cat litter that our old plug-in vacuum sometimes misses.

And since it’s automated, we vacuum our place way more often than we used to. Between that and a portable Black + Decker handheld vacuum ($50 on Amazon) that we use for removing cat hair from the couch, it’s been much easier to keep the place clean. Saves us time, too.

—Mike Winters, Money Reporter

My take:

My boyfriend was also a Roomba skeptic. But we have a dog that sheds and neither of us like to vacuum, so I convinced him to give it a shot.

It’s been life-changing. You control your robot through an app that, delightfully, asks you to name your vacuum. (Ours is called Eugene.) Once you have everything set up, you can set your Roomba to vacuum via the app.

Whenever we take the dog for a long walk or to the park, we tell Eugene to get to work in our absence. He does such a good job that I have developed genuine fondness for him.

What they wrote:

Peeling yourself off the couch to brush and floss your teeth is hard enough, but brushing a SECOND set of teeth is just too much. For anyone who has rebranded their laziness to “efficiency seeker,” I highly recommend an ultrasonic dental pod for your Invisalign or retainer.

I was hesitant to purchase at first since it is a bit pricey (around $99) for something I could do myself with soap and a toothbrush, but the dread of cleaning my aligners began to interfere with my will to wear them at night. Not only am I now able to just drop them in the pod and walk away for five minutes, the aligners themselves are also more pristine than any manual cleaning I could perform.

A purchase with convenience and sanitation in mind. 10/10.

— MarisaForziati, Video Editor

My take:

I read this review from Marisa last year, followed the link and clicked “buy.” I had been using Invisalign for years and found it impossible to keep the aligners clean using the dentist’s prescribed methods.

This thing works like a charm. Just plop your aligners or retainer in there, walk away to do the rest of your routine and come back to clean, clear plastic. Plus, it’s an eligible medical expense, making it a terrific buy if you have some FSA money to blow before the end of the year.

CNBC Make It independently determines what we cover and recommend in the “Worth the Money” section. Opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any third party.

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