I would imagine most of us try to keep an eye on finances, but wonder where our “weak link” is when it comes to splurging and spending top dollar for specific items.
Do you only buy name brand clothes?
Do you only buy high quality, name brand foods or drinks?
Did you buy a luxury car with bells and whistles?
Do you treat yourself to high-end tickets at concerts/shows?
Do you have the latest techno-toys?
Do you take vacations at distant, exotic locations?
I just figure there is nothing wrong with splurging occasionally on something that matters to you, and was wondering where you draw the line and say, “…screw it, I want the best and don’t care what it costs…”
I buy clothes exclusively from the clearance rack.
I buy most of my food at Costco and just eat out of the freezer for a couple of months. I like Canadian Club whiskey and Miller Lite.
I bought an 8-year-old used car.
I haven’t been to a concert at anything larger than a nightclub in at least a decade.
I’ve left the country only once, to go to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico for a friends’ wedding, but I didn’t pay for it.
As for splurging, I have a decent, fairly high-end phone, and I’ve got money set aside for whenever Apple drops the newest iMac. That’s about it.
For work I buy good quality clothes and shoes - not top dollar.
I do watch my finances, and try and squeeze every nickel for all it’s worth. I shop with coupons and use store brands for many items. When we do see a movie in the theatre most often it’s at a second-run theater, and a matinee at that ($3 each before 6:00pm).
Once in a while I’ll splurge and take my son to a movie at the currently being restored 1939 movie palace nearby. It’s a full screen, the popcorn is great, and it’s floor to ceiling architecture and design deliciousness. Recently they showed a series of films from 1939 to raise money for the restoration. We went to see Wizard of Oz on a big screen with a good sound system. My son isn’t exactly jaded but he is spoiled by CGI and he really enjoyed it anyway.
When the economy recovers and I have more disposable income I would like to buy as much locally grown/raised food as is manageable.
Most of my clothes come from Target or (if I need something FANCY) from Kohl’s.
Our main car is a 12-year old Xterra. The back gate is rusted so badly we’ve had to replace the lock.
I can’t remember the last time I went to a concert or show.
On the other hand…
I spend way too much money on food, wine, and beer. I’ve ordered in steaks from Lobel’s, had fresh seafood overnighted to me, and it’s not a big deal to have hundred-dollar bottles of wine or champagne a couple times a year on special occasions.
I’ve been to some of the best restaurants in the world, and tend to plan vacations around them.
So yeah, I splurge. But I make up for it by going bargain-basement on other things. 1 brand new car = a whole lotta really good restaurant meals, great wines, and high-end food.
I splurge on magazines and e-books for entertainment. I also splurge on mochas and deli salads for lunch at work maybe once a week. Sometimes I’ll buy a face mask or bath bomb at Lush, or a “fancy” cleaning product that smells nice, like Mrs. Meyers, but rarely.
Other than that I grocery shop at Aldi, clothes shop for the family at TJ Max and other discount chains. I’m really pretty frugal.
Oh, wait, I know what my real splurge is! I go to the Aveda Institute about once a month for a manicure or pedicure or facial. The manicures are $18, pedis are $23 and the real splurge is the facial for $45. Then $5 for a tip. However, even my fancy treat is discounted because it’s at a teaching school. I got a real salon pedicure last month, and the pedi and hand lotion I bought used a $75 gift certificate that I got for my birthday. That is way out of my usual splurge budget.
We try to shop smart, and buy the good food when its on sale. My wife is a thrift store warrior. Gets top-of-the-heap stuff (Macy’s, Nordstrom, high $$) new with tags for pennies on the dollar. A lot of it she re-sells online for huge profits. I get my Levi’s second-hand.
I will not buy new cars or motorcycles (with maybe one or two unlikely exceptions). Some may say I splurge on these, however, just due to sheer number. But I alway get a deal.
The only real “splurge” I can think of is Sushi every couple weeks/once a month, Season Ski passes for me and the kid and gas for the camper when we take a family trip. And animals for the wife, but I guess thats more of a “business expense”.
What feels like splurge to me is my weekly trip to the farmers’ market. I could get similar foods at the store for much less, but I like supporting local farmers.
I splurge mainly on entertainment, like movies, books, music, tickets, etc, and technology like gadgets, computers, sound/entertainment systems, iPhones, iPads, software and hardware.
Luckily there’s a lot of overlap between what I do/need for a living and what I like to do for fun/chilling out.
Every once in a while I’ll pay a little more for nice clothes, shoes and jackets, but nothing outrageous.
My husband and I take nice vacations. We’ve known each other for not quite four years now, and we’ve been to Bonaire, St. Thomas, and Florence. We’ve also done short jaunts to New Orleans and Miami. We don’t stay in fancy hotels but we do like good locations and good restaurants.
We’ve both just upgraded to smartphones, too. It’s awesome.
The only thing I’ll truly splurge on is whisky. And even then, rarely whisky that isn’t of the Islay kind. If it is Islay whisky (especially if it’s the peaty stuff) of the good sorts, I’ll pay through the nose for it. There are very few importers of Laphroaig in Denmark; the Ardbeg Supernova is an even rarer sight, so prices are sky-high. I’ve been known to pay upwards of 400$ for a particularly good bottling of the former.
I have an unusual philosophy about money but some other people here tend to share it. I save money automatically from my pay but the rest I spend. I don’t do ‘cheap’. My general goal is to make those dollars stretch the most they can for nice things that I care about. I have nice clothes but I only buy them on sale and carefully shop clearance racks every week for unusually good deals. I like nice cars like BMW’s but I buy them in the sweet used spot of 2 - 3 years old. I love to travel but wouldn’t dream of paying regular prices to go anywhere. I shop all the discount websites carefully to get the best offers and I think fancy hotels are the biggest waste of money there is unless it is a resort where you stay there all the time. In short, I try to get the most true bang for a given set of bucks based on my priorities.
I will spend money on experiences though. I just got back from a 1st date from Newport, RI that cost me about $300 for the two of us for the day. We did stuff I wanted to do anyway and she is a really good prospect who appreciated it so I think it was worth it. I actually prepaid everything and then selected the person who I wanted to do it with me. I have read studies that say it is much better to splurge on experiences rather than things so I will pay full price for those if is necessary. I even get good deals on those through things like Groupon or restaurant.com however.
My splurges tend to be food-related, but only when I have a craving. Even then, money is never a total non-factor. I will look for the cheapest I can get and still fulfill what I want. Indian buffet, Chinese place, sushi, etc. Other than food and the occasional yarn buy, I can’t even think of the last thing I bought that wasn’t eminently practical.
I make pretty good money, my house is paid off, if I want something I usually buy it. It doesn’t really feel like splurging. Having said that, I don’t have really expensive tastes, so I can’t think of too much that might fall into the splurge category.
I will spend more to save more. For instance, I’d rather buy an appliance for $200 that will last me 20 years, than have to spend $50 every couple of years for some cheap piece of shit that doesn’t even do what I want it to do.
At concerts and at the theater we splurge to get closer to the stage, which is well worth it. We’re taking our daughter on a cruise of Northern Europe this June, that may count. Sometime we decide to buy higher end cuts of meat.
When we redid out house we got good quality hardwood floors, windows and lights.
And I splurge on $1.99 jigsaw puzzles at ThriftTown - because at the moment I’m shorter of time than I am of money. Paying for installation for our new blinds is not really splurging because it trades off something we have enough of for something we don’t.
I agree with the several people who said that paying for experiences is better than paying more for things.
I’m not much of a splurger; there are a few things I’ll spend more money on because they’re worth it (shoes, for example). We take a driving vacation each year, and spend money on the road, but we economize a bit with that still, finding sales and coupons, eating breakfast in our hotel room, etc.
We go out for dinner every Friday night as a couple - I guess you could call that our splurge.
I splurged today - the wife and I went out to lunch, and I ordered bread pudding for dessert. I never order dessert, but I had an urge for bread pudding.
This was between our trip to Aldi and our weekly visit to Goodwill.
Really the only thing I splurge on is the $50 a month I pay for high speed internet. As long as I have access to the web I can get anything and I’m never bored, so really I consider it part of my “entertainment” budget.
