Tool-less? These are the tools you absolutely need around the house
Last edited Sun Mar 20, 2022, 08:14 PM - Edit history (1)
1. Cordless drill. Absolutely essential even if you don't plan on doing any drilling.
2. Set of drill bits, screwdriver bits etc. Because you're going to be doing drilling whether you like it or not.
3. Circular saw.
4. At least three flashlights.
5. Good pair of scissors.
6. A good handsaw.
7. Hacksaw.
8. Set of wrenches to include combination (or "end" wrenches) and sockets. Make sure you get both a 3/8" drive and a 1/4" drive ratchet. Consider getting 1/2" drive sockets as well.
9. Three Phillips screwdrivers - #1, #2 and #3 tips
10. Three good flat-tip screwdrivers, and three cheap ones because you're not supposed to pry with a screwdriver but you'll do it anyway.
11. Set of allen wrenches.
12. Folding utility knife and pack of 100 blades.
13. Several pliers. Make sure a needle-nose is one of them.
14. Crescent wrench, at least 8" long. 12" is better.
15. Claw hammer, at least 16 ounce head.
16. Three-pound sledgehammer.
17. 25-foot tape measure.
18. Shovel.
19. Crowbar
20. At least two jackstands.
21. Carpenter's level
22. Random orbit sander
Added thanks to your responses:
23. At least one roll of duct tape
24. Locking pliers, aka Vise-grips
25. Large can WD-40
26. A half-dozen 2" spring clamps
27. Two sawhorses
28. Leather work gloves
29. Hearing and eye protection
After that, consider:
1. Oscillating multi-tool. The one you want is a Fein, but they're expensive as hell.
2. Drill press. You will use this more than you can imagine.
= new reply since forum marked as read
the handy man's secret weapon. Usually, if you can't fix something with a hammer and duct tape, you're not really trying. 
I have a corn on my foot that I acquired from walking about 8 to 10 miles a day while wearing steel-toed boots at a job.
I thought it was finally gone after I left that job and went through a daily routine of soaking, pumicing and applying skin softener to remove it, and the skin was indeed baby-smooth eventually. Yet it came back within just a few days after I started another job with far less walking, and the freedom to wear comfortable walking shoes (like nurses wear)!
Edit: It makes me wonder if I have an imperceptible deformity of my foot that's causing it, but it was never a problem for me in the past. I was also continuing to walk, while unemployed, just for the exercise. So the corn never came back for months until I resumed walking on concrete floors at a workplace again, with thickly-padded walking shoes this time. Then it was back just like before, very quickly! (It might be how I pivot on my feet? I do that more at a job than I ever would while walking for exercise.)
I can put a small piece of furniture together by reading the directions.
Right now I am trying to master a micro/ air fryer/ bake and Convection appliance!
But I am lucky, have an engineer in the family. 2 after graduation.
7 screwdrivers that I found over the years, I think I bought one of them about 10 years ago.
3 sets of channel locks that I found somewhere
1 claw hammer and 2 ball-peen hammers that I found somewhere
1 set of Allen wrenches that I got at a yard sale
1 metric socket set
1 set of US open end wrenches
1 roll of duct tape
1 roll of electrical tape.
A couple trail saws that are packable.
It's all I've ever needed since forever. Most of my tools were found alongside the road or out in the middle of nowhere.
Reminds me of a joke I heard long ago:
You know how men need to have the right tool for the job and they have a wide variety of tools, enough to fill a garage? Well, women can fix anything with a coffee cup, a butter-knife and a roll of duct tape.
Step 1: call expert
Step 2: pay expert
I once used them to open a bottle of Bordeaux. I felt like such a man...