We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but it's time to file those taxes.
If you're getting a refund, that's a great opportunity to set aside some cash toward a home purchase or your retirement nest egg.
Then again...
It's an even better opportunity to blow that cash on a gorgeous home basketball game, a cocktail-making robot or a multisensory healing pod. So let's do that instead.
Below are some of the best, most ridiculous ways to spend your refund. Don't tell your accountant you heard this from us.
Home Court Arcade Basketball Game
The Home Court looks similar to the old pop-a-shot games from classic arcades, but wildly better. It comes from Reigning Champ — makers of extra-comfortable athleisure and training gear — and industrial designer Calen Knauf, and it's made from light woods, glass and metal. The two side-by-side rims are powder coated, with hand-knotted cotton and silk nets, and the lower tier holds 10 mini composite leather balls when not in use. A digital scoreboard keeps score as you play, but only you will know you dropped $50k on this luxe game.
Louis Vuitton x Tyler the Creator Chess Set
This new capsule collection with designs from Tyler, the Creator features an unexpected and quite gorgeous chess set. It's made from Damier Golf coated canvas with natural cowhide-leather trim, and the pieces are made from white beech wood and brown walnut wood.
Barsys 360
The Barsys 360 is a handsome cocktail-making robot with six slots to hold whatever liquors and mixers you want. Once you've added the ingredients, pull up the app, tell it what you added, and it will spin up a bunch of different recipes you can make with what's inside. Choose from one of the curated cocktails, or customize your own, and the contraption will get to work making your drink without ever pretending that it doesn't see you waiting at the bar.
Sava Sound Pod
Sava is a "multisensory healing experience" or, as we like to call it, a human-size sound pod that wants to improve your physical, mental and emotional health. The cocoon-shaped contraption mixes body vibrations with immersive music to transport users to a higher state of consciousness and hopefully heal what ails them.
Rocco the Super Smart Fridge
Rocco is a highly-technical, design-forward doohickey that keeps drinks cold in a way that befits our brave new world. The sleek Jetsons-meets-Midcentury design piece has a steel frame, reeded glass door, serving tray on top, and adjustable, reversible racks. Those fit up to 27 bottles of your most prized vintages and up to 88 cans of your weirdest-flavored sparkling water. All while looking great and staying fairly quiet on your loft floor or office carpet.
Unistellar Odyssey
The new Unistellar Odyssey is a smart, portable telescope that lets users observe nearby planets and deep-sky objects millions of lightyears away. And, best of all, it will help you locate those objects and then tell you what you're looking at. It's the first mirror telescope that doesn't require manual adjustments, something that's difficult for most amateur stargazers. Instead, it uses a smart algorithm and autofocus system to do that work for you. And the multi-depth technology lets you switch seamlessly between near and far objects, a feature you won't find in most telescopes.
Swarovski Optik AX Visio Binoculars
The AX Visio Binoculars are the world's first smart, AI-supported binoculars, and you don't need to be a trained ornithologist to use them. They house intelligent technology, including an impressive object recognition system and an extra-fast neural processing unit, that combine to provide real-time identification of more than 9,000 birds and other wildlife. And they do it all with a 1,000-yard field of view.
Sweat Tent
SweatTent is a portable, lightweight wood-burning sauna that goes from packed to ready in just three minutes, so you can start schvitzing on demand. The tent reaches temperatures of 200°F in less than 30 minutes. There's an air vent that continuously brings fresh air into the stove, and a chimney to funnel smoke out, so your tent stays clean, warm, and comfortable. When not in use, the sauna folds down and packs away into a duffle bag.
