Long, LONG ago I got a MicroSolutions 300 Megabyte External Hard drive, you could plug it in to a parallel printer port, boot the driver disk, and BAM... all of your tools were available.

A decade ago, I got my first SSD drives, those were game changers. Boot times dropped like a rock, and performance went through the roof.

I got a 32" HDMI monitor just before Covid hit... I'm VERY glad I did so. I've been stuck at home with Long Covid for almost 2 years now, it makes it so much easier to see what's going on. It was well worth the money.

As for software, GIT is the best thing since Turbo Pascal. I assume you use it already.

Oh, and consider getting a 3d printer of some form, along with a CNC router. Those might come in handy for home projects.