I’ll pay a lot extra for good quality or unusual clothes. I love presenting myself well, and clothes are a huge part of that - I’ll gladly eat McDonalds for a month to buy a pair of Bettina Liano jeans because food lasts maybe 10 minutes while quality clothes last for many years.
Well, I sure enjoy the thousand dollar a night escorts much more then the thirty-five dollar streetwalkers.
And I’ve rarely found cheap beer worth the savings.
My money weakness is fine food. Especially Mexican food. Real Mexican food. Not that Tex-Mex crap.
I’m living in Northern Utah right now. I’m gonna die. I would give somebody oral sex right now for a chile relleno.
-Ashley
Ice cream. I buy Ben & Jerry’s or Hagen Dazs in little pints for what you pay for a half gallon of the crap stuff.
My Andrew Lloyd Webber cast CD collection takes a lot of money. I will buy any ALW cast CD anywhere, any time, any price. I’m getting luck with Jesus Christ Superstar now: just got both the original and revival in German, and I’m suppose to be getting the 2000 Mexican live CD, the second Russian CD (in exchange for a copy of my 1st), plus Hungarian, Polish and Icelandic (and the Icelandic Evita). Am I obssessed?
Here’s what money is good for getting:
[ul]
[li] An Audi[/li][li] Nice slacks, nice shirts, good shoes[/li][li] A decent set of irons and woods[/li][li] A comfortable home[/li][li] Something good to make for dinner[/li][li] A good CD/DVD collection[/li][/ul]
Other than that, let it add up in some kind of interest/divident generating account. Money is overrated if it is spent on the wrong things.
Here are some of the nuggets of shopping wisdom I’ve heard from my Mom over the years, by which I still abide:
[list=1]
[li] If you love it, buy it.[/li][li] Don’t buy it unless you love it.[/li][li] Buy quality and cry once.[/li][/list=1]
Basically, I’m willing to pay extra for quality, since you usually wind up paying less in the long run for something that lasts rather than paying a mediocre price for something you have to replace. The first two items are corollaries to each other, and I usually apply them to clothes. If you find something of quality that you absolutely love, but you’re wary of the price, it’s usually worth it to suck it up and plunk your money down. On the flipside, you should never buy something on a “this will have to do for now” basis. It’s a waste of money, and you’ll find yourself in the realm of item 3 above later.
As far as having rich tastes…I admit to being a grocery snob. I rarely buy anything that’s prepackaged (except for things that are a serious pain to make yourself, like peanut butter and canned tuna). If it has an ingredient list, I most likely don’t want it. I also avoid frozen produce. If a vegetable is so out of season that my grocery store can’t ship it in from somewhere, then I don’t want it. I also eat low-carb, so this automatically eliminates most junk that involves refined sugar and flour.
[sup]Dreaming of a juicy ribeye steak on the grill, slathered in sauteed mushrooms and onions, with a side of brussels sprouts with butter…[/sup]
Single-malt scotch, as mentioned previously is always good to pick up. Kicked myself a couple weeks ago when I had to go to New Hampshire briefly that I didn’t bring along money for a bottle (could probably save $5 by buying there).
For martinis, I insist on good gin and vermouth. Bombay Sapphire and Noilly Pratt, respectively.
A cigar under $10 is a pretty questionable buy, and under $5 is only worth it if too drunk to care.
A place that calls a frappe a milkshake probably isn’t worth it.
For clothes, I try to go for Kennth Cole for as many items as possible.
Can’t agree on the coffee though. Dunkin Donuts is all I require. But tea I’ll spend a little money on. (fellow tea lovers, you may find http://www.tealuxe.com worthwhile, if pricey).
I like good quality everything, but some things are worth the money they cost, and some things are ridiculous:
Things that are worth paying more for the expensive versions (IMHO, of course) :
Champagne, Cristal or Dom only.
Meat and fish… cheap meat and fish TASTE cheap and nasty
Food in general, come to think of it.
Macintosh
Medical Care
Location
Architecture
Help, both domestic and executive
Parking (Valet)
Stuff where either the price is just silly for what you’re getting, or the product can really be very good at a lower price:
Clothes ( $795 for a cotten shirt? Hahahahahah)
Shoes ($500 strappy sandals? Ummm… are you insane?)
Cars
Jewelry (except for the investment aspect)
Fur (which is evil anyway)
First Class airfare ($3000 for six hours of legroom?)
First Class hotel suites in cities ($4500 a night for a bed and a shower? Who wants to hang out in a hotel room?)
If I was fantastically wealthy, there are many things I still could never justify spending my money on, such as the above.
I have learned something now that I’m a little more comfortable and on my way to being very much so: stuff blends into the scenery very quickly. What is worth paying for is experience, comfort, and convenience. Things bring very little joy unless you can touch, taste or smell them. Looking just doesn’t cut it.
stoid
On her way to having to make such choices very soon