Check out this link - http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/p1_Heavy-Duty-Paper-Punches_204061_Business_Supplies_10051_SC1:CG821:CL160904

I like hard copies of the ebooks/docs that I use so I splurged on one of these last year and it rocks!  :Thmbsup:

I've never heard of gaffer's tape, but I have some Gorilla Tape that's actually holding a very large, heavy wood dresser together.

Gorilla Tape is amazing! *Many* applications. I repaired a downspout on some outdoor guttering two years ago and the repair is still good. I've even used it to repair a noisy Dell PC case. (By the way, check out Gorilla Glue as well.)

Some additional items:
Splurge: premium paint (Sherwin-Williams Duration), rechargeable AA & AAA batteries, Hitachi hard drives, computer books
Skimp: OS (mostly use Ubuntu 8.04 (supplemented rarely by WinXP Pro))

Possible future splurge: das keyboard  :-*

Here's a link to a huge portal of training tutorials/resources http://www.intelligentedu.com/