my number one advice to anyone starting in the kitchen is to adopt the Alton Brown rule: "Avoid Uni-Taskers". don't buy things like garlic presses that only have one use. if you cant think of more than one use for the item its likely a gimmick and not needed.
I adopted this philosophy years ago and it began with throwing out a crapton of stuff like egg slicers, garlic presses, cherry pitters, all kinds of unneeded knives, etc. I always think twice before buying something i think i need.

For example, I used silicone spatulas for quite a few cooking tasks and don't use turner spatulas as much. I have a slotted turner for JIC moments but I rarely have needed it.
Wooden chopsticks are also my new hero in the kitchen. I use them to improvise a whisk, mix liquids in the pan, turn over breaded meats so I don't tear the breading off, etc.