… I’ll drop a fair chunk o’ change for a pair of tickets to a concert with a performer I really like ($160 for Derek Trucks, $80 for Andrew Bird) without a moment’s hesitation.
Given how much of a cheapskate I am in almost every element of my life, the biggest surprise is that it’s never occurred to me what an anomaly that is.
What are your splurges? (Genuine misers only, pls.)
My guilty pleasure is game worn hockey jerseys from our local hockey team. We’re not NHL, but I love going to the games and have a lot of fun. I got my first jersey in 2001 and now have a total of 14 gamers. I’ve got some “fun” jerseys, such as the Grateful Dead and Starfleet Academy, but I usually wear my gamers. The auctions start at $250 and go up - I think the record is about $3000. The most I’ve ever paid is $600.
I am a player sponsor through the Booster Club, and I have 6 of my players jerseys. When he retires in the next couple of years, I will give him one of his jerseys.
I don’t wear expensive clothes or shoes, don’t buy expensive jewelry. My jerseys are my vice.
In March of 2010 I ran out and bought a 58" Plasma Flat Screen TV. I’m the guy that was an early adopter of BillPay through the Credit Union to avoid postage costs. I later came up with all sorts of rationalizations… amazing sale, tax refund, cost the same as the TV it replaced that was 10 years old, helping the economy, etc.
Its so cool to watch movies on though! The blacks are so black. High Def rocks. In Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, I can see the stars on Knives’ pupils at the start of the movie.
I wouldn’t describe myself as a tightwad, but I’m sort of similar when it comes to music. Most of the concerts I go to aren’t particularly expensive–it’s rare that the tickets even cost as much as $25–but I will blow a bunch of money on merchandise when I’m there. A lot of the musicians I enjoy aren’t well known, so I feel like buying their merch when I’m there actually has a more signficant impact and I’ve definitely dropped over $200 at a single show buying CDs and shirts of the various acts.
I’m the same way with CDs too, and there have been times I would pick up 20-30 new CDs a month hitting around $250-300 (I get awesome discounts for buying so many :D).
I also collect authentic battle-ready weapons, often swords but many types, not the cheapish show weapons, and these are quite expensive as well.
Beyond that, though, I will either tend to buy inexpensive items or use them well past when most people would simply because things like clothes or whatever aren’t important to me.
Heinz ketchup. It really is better than the generic stuff.
Puffs kleenex. So thick, so soft!
Limited edition framed cougar prints. We have nine now, I think.
I’ll whine about paying $10 for a shirt, but don’t think twice about paying $25 for a 18" x 24" of fabric for embroidery.
I’m not really a concertgoer, but TheKid is. I’ll buy tix for pretty much any concert she wants, depending on the venue. Luckily, 99% of the bands she likes are not popular enough for the big venues (read: expensive tix).
Tickets to see the Detroit Tigers.
I can be pretty cheap but I’ll save for weeks so I can blow a couple hundred on a good dinner or a lobe of foi gras or a lb. of morrels or a dozen other things I want, but don’t need to eat.
Beer. I love trying different kinds of beer and will spend large sums of money to get them. I also throw a lot of money at my brewing hobby but, technically, it is cheaper than buying comparable craft beer.
I don’t collect jerseys, but I did buy one of our local team’s at their team store. It is the second most expensive item of clothing I’ve ever purchased, after my wedding dress.
Also, hockey tickets. There are very, very few musical acts or other shows I’d pay the same ticket price for.
When I got my first gamer, I took it to work to show it off. Someone asked me if I was going to have it framed. I said “Hell no, I’m goinna wear it! It’s the most expensive piece of clothing I own!”.
My mother is a real zinger - she’ll use margarine tubs and chinese takeout containers for her leftovers instead of buying tupperware or rubbermaid. She buys 10/$1 toothbrushes and all sorts of other things from the dollar store. She unplugs EVERYTHING that uses a trickle charge to keep it ready for a remote. She refuses to use her air conditioner or her clothes dryer.
But she’ll take the whole clan, including dates, out to eat at really nice restaurants and not blink at a bill over $1000. Heck, in January, she’s invited all of use to go on a cruise on her dime. Only 7 of us are able to go, but even at that, a 12-day cruise is not cheap.
Oh, and she won’t use her landline to make long distance calls. But she’ll stand outside on her cell, finding the few square inches where she gets reception, in order to call me. I guess I should be grateful - she’ll probably never be destitute in her old age…
Oops - wrong thread… ignore this
I’m the same way-- I’ll make bread from scratch and look for good ways to use cheap produce and meats, but I will splurge on craft beer. I drove out for an event at a brewery that was 4+ hours’ drive away in March, and we regularly go down to our local brewery for experimental batches, special releases, and good stuff on the guest taps. I find the availability of beer that has complex flavors and a “one will be good for the night” quality to be a very precious and affordable commodity. Plus, we hang out with friends and catch up while we’re there, so it’s a social thing.
Decent shoes are what I’ll spend good money on. I don’t mean crazy expensive- I don’t buy Prada and shit, but I definitely can’t shop at Payless or Target or anything like that for shoes. I don’t know if cheap shoes hurt other women’s feet, or just mine, but I’ve ended up with bloody gashes, blisters, and excrutiating pain from cheap shoes.
This is mine. I’ll turn the heat down to 64, but I gotta have jerseys.
I’ll buy the cheap generic bread and as many “store brands” as a I can, but like Cat Whisperer I’ve gotta have Heinz ketchup (I think they make you leave Pittsburgh if you get caught buying anything else…). I also splurge on Stadium brand brown mustard.
My big weakness is for vintage U.S. Army field jackets, M-43s & M-51s. They’re comfortable and keep me warm when it’s just cool to when it’s bitter cold. I picked one up last year that was made exactly 21 years to the day before I was born. Recently, I found a place that makes “to spec” reproductions. As almost 70 year old fabric doesn’t wear well, I’ll probably be spending near $100 for one in the next couple of months. Maybe not big money to most, but somewhat of a luxury to me.
Bri2k
I’m probably not cheap (easy maybe) but I will never compromise on buying quality steak.
Or books.
(I have never bought a cheap hooker but I doubt Twicks is interested in this 
)
I made a logical leap about steak recently; if you pay $25 plus for a steak at a restaurant, that $15 cut of filet mignon at Safeway that can feed two makes A LOT of economic sense; it just looks expensive compared to the shoe leather cuts.
I am the tightest tightwad imaginable. But since I discovered the wonder of cashmere sweaters, they are now my passion. So soft, so warm, so light! I never put one on until a couple of years ago and now those piles of wool/cotton/rayon/acrylic things in my closet are obsolete. I search them out in consignment shops, thrift stores, and buy myself one nice one a year (ok, after Christmas when it’s on sale). If they have a few moth holes, they’re fine to sleep in, or wear around the house. And…I buy myself a nice piece of fresh fish every so often. I try to buy as many different kinds as possible. What’s the big deal? Well, I just bought a chunk of grilled halibut for $8 (it was about $24 a pound), and that is a LOT of money for me to spend for one food item. But it’s for me, I love fish, there may not BE any more fish in my lifetime, and I’m not getting any younger. I want fish once a week or so instead of the same-old same-old - i DESERVE fish.