Somehow yesterday I dropped almost a thousand dollars on a variety of things. Mostly camping gear, but also some athletic equipment. I’m not really experiencing buyer’s remorse. But it is out of my character to spend that much money at once. So it had me thinking…what’s the more (seemingly) crazy things I’ve spent money on in my life. I guess my definition of crazy would be items that were bought somewhat spontaneously, somewhat expensive, and out of the ordinary (or at least out of the ordinary for you).
This year in addition to spending about $700 on camping gear for a five day canoe trip…I’ve also spent a large sum (maybe $3000) travelling to dance conventions, buying shoes, and taking lessons. I’m 31…it’s not like I’m going to be a pro dancer anytime soon. But it has been fun and I’ve made lots of friends.
I bid $80+ on a DVD a few years ago. Thankfully, I did not win the bid. A couple of years later it was remastered and re-released. My one and only bidding experience on eBay.
I bid like $5000 on a chance to watch a MLB baseball game with the ex-manager of said baseball team and his wife in their suite. And 5 of my friends. Since it was a charity auction, I managed to get my company to pay half of it, so I only spent $2500.
It was an amazing experience and I don’t regret it. But I do wish I was still a person in the position to drop $2500 on an amazing experience. Sigh.
Well, between airfare, rental car, and tickets to the actual match I’m spending about $1500 to go to Portland this week to watch Bayern Munich. I rationalized it by arguing to myself that it would be even more expensive to go see them in Germany.
I rarely go to concerts or sporting events but my big thing with them is that I see absolutely no point in going if I don’t have good seats. So I may only go to something once a year, but when I do go, I’m usually paying hundreds of dollars for ticket(s). Like, what’s the point of going to Cirque du Soleil if you’re at a bad angle or way high up and can’t fully see what’s going on? I don’t do bleacher seats. It’s my one snobbery.
About 10 years ago I was getting something or another at Best Buy and told my ex-wife that the next TV we got would be a widescreen (a big one)…we had a 50" plasma TV about 3 hours later. It was absolutely out of character for me not to spend days researching a purchase like that and I was lucky that it ended up being a good TV that worked great for many years.
However, I dropped an absolutely obscene amount of money on it since this type of TV was really just showing up on the market. Honestly, an obscene amount of money.
About two years ago I got another 50" plasma. At the same time I also replaced my TiVo, my DVD player and my (high end) receiver to bring everything up to HDMI. The receiver alone was probably about a grand, everything together (including the new TV) was less than half of the first TV.
Moved back to Brisbane. Spent an afternoon working in the yard on a Saturday. Weren’t used to the humidity. My wife and I had a few beers. And a few more.
That night we looked at travel deals. So we booked a trip to Russia. And Finland. And Sweden. And Denmark. And a few other small countries.
Did I mention that shortly thereafter Russia and Ukraine started fighting each other? And recently an airliner flying much the same route we expected coming home was shot down by a missile?
Yes- everything I have ever done at a happy hour etc pales into insignificance.
Amusement park employee shirts. For a couple parks that didn’t have any regular t-shirts I cared for, I have gone as far as $100 for the staff shirt (if it had a really cool design) off someones back. Literally.
I’ve done this maybe 10 times in the past 15 years and haven’t been arrested yet. Which either means I have a smooth as Hell line or kids working today will do anything for a buck.
I spent $650 on a bottle of 25 year old Macallan whisky a few years ago. Ms DrumBum doesn’t care for it and I only take it down for special occasions, so a fair bit remains of the original 75cl.
A painting/photo blend, nicely framed, of Michael Jackson leaning on a car hood while looking up adoringly at Elvis Presley, who is sitting on the hood and playing guitar.
:dubious: :o :smack: