Butter, not margarine. Real cream in my coffee, not powder or even milk.
One of the few luxuries I allow myself is truly first-class sushi, prepared by a master chef and always in the form of an omakase tasting menu. Sadly, the best sushi restaurant in town – where I thought $600 for omakase for two was expensive – has more than doubled their prices, which are now well into four figures. I can’t justify that, especially since fortunately there are alternatives, including an established older sushi restaurant that’s been renowned for a long time.
Bicycles. Good quality bicycles that are built for a certain use. I have a good quality e-bike for commuting to work (I ride year round and I live near Canada so I put studded tires in the winter), a titanium road/touring bike, a full-suspension mountain bike, and just today bought a new carbon frame gravel bike (it will replace my old 1999 hardtail Gary Fisher Marlin). Can’t wait for it to show up! I ride pretty much every day. Tomorrow we are leaving for a 3-day weekend bike riding vacation.
I used to spend quite liberally on books, especially coffee table tomes with lots of photos and art inside. But I’ve cut back on that more recently as I don’t have the attention span to enjoy them anymore. I am still thrilled by the books I did buy, just to have them on the shelf makes me feel special, but they’re largely just collecting dust now. I’d never sell them either.
I prefer butter and real maple syrup so much that it feels odd to me that places that specialize in breakfast foods often default to margarine and usually don’t even have real maple syrup. I mean that’s their whole thing, making waffles and/or pancakes. So when I go to one of those places (because someone else chooses it for a meal), I skip the flat baked grain products entirely since consuming sugar and fat is worth it only if you get flavor in the bargain.
(However, thankfully these days it’s usually easy to find dairy products to put in your hot beverage, but for a time the default was fake creamer product. A couple times in the past I’ve even gotten creamer containers when I asked for half and half.)
My BMW.
Most of my life, for various reasons, I was content to drive hand me down company cars from my dad and just drive them into the ground. But when my last car started to go I decided to splurge a bit on a late model X3.
It’s so much fun to drive compared to my old shitbox Ford Taurus. Like one of my HS friends posted something or another on Facebook with some comment about “..,A-hole NY drivers changing lanes in his BMW 19 times…” I like "you don’t understand how awesome it feels to drive one of those things in and out of traffic!
Like we have this one stretch of two-lane highway where I can see for a couple miles (with the half-dash yellow line for passing). Perfect for passing some chump who can’t drive fast enough. My wife hates it but I explain to her it’s actually “safer” in this car because it can accelerate up to 90 so fast it’s like other cars are standing still!
And I bet that ad software could tell that I just wrote that because I just got a Reddit ad for one of those places in the category that I hadn’t thought of yet. I thought what the heck and googled it but no. Only fake maple syrup.
Not all publicity is good publicity. I am more determined to not eat there than I was before I saw the ad.
Chocolate Chip Cookies !
Me, too! In fact, I have a small package I bought last night waiting for me in the fridge.
Also, gawds help me: caviar.
I ordered from a new-to-me company that ships on dry ice ($$!) and it’s supposed to arrive tomorrow. { rubs hands in gleeful anticipation }
Otherwise I usually content myself with the rather Basic Bitch shelf-stable options on Amazon, but with prices going up, I made the rather irrational decision that if imma shell out anyway, I dunno, go big or go home?
Oh, and on very rare occasions: rare prime rib. I don’t eat a lot on one sitting, so I justify the cost by mentally dividing the $ over two or even three meals.
(Damn, I really wish this thread hadn’t popped up right when I gotta pay rent!)
I quite enjoy my pipes and tobaccos. Maybe that doesn’t sound luxurious, but let me explain.
My pipes are all handmade. Some are rather rare, in the sense that they carry serial numbers, much like an art print (think “63/100”) and come from limited editions that the maker never plans to make again. But all are also expensive, costing anywhere from $150 to $500 each. These are not the inexpensive pipes you see behind the counter at the corner store; they are typically only available at a tobacconist’s. Or from a tobacconist’s or manufacturer’s website.
Of course, a pipe is meant to be smoked, and once again, for me, only the best tobacco will do. Dunhill, Petersen’s, Samuel Gawith, Macbaren, Solani—they are among my favourites. You’d never find these tobaccos at a drugstore or corner store; heck, the people at those places likely never heard of them. They’re typically also only available at a tobacconist’s. And they’re expensive.
I skimp in other areas. I find grocery store house brands to be just fine, I drive a 13-year old car and I see no need to buy a new one (as long as I keep up maintenance, of course), and if I can find a “buy one get one free” deal on something I need, I’ll usually take it. But the one area in which I will not skimp is on my pipes and tobaccos. They are luxuries that I won’t skimp on.
It’s been quite some time since I’ve smoked my pipe. I think I paid $50+ 30 plus years ago. I would get my tobacco at the local cigar shop that has a lot of different types of pipe tobacco.
I smoke cigars now. I usually don’t pay more than $10-15 for each one. I’ve splurged a few times, but I’ve found the ones that are $20+ are about the same quality as the cheaper ones. I refuse to buy Cubans because they run $50-150 and are no better then a Dominican or Honduran cigar.
That would be in the luxuries that I do NOT enjoy thread. Not a big fan of prime rib. I won’t order it so the only place I’ll get it is something like a wedding or banquet where they come out en masse, which means I typically get it how I get it. We were at a banquet, another couple sitting at our table did get it, in theory they were in the same oven next to each other but the difference in that one was medium-well & one was rare when they cut into them was a bit surprising. Nope, not eating anything that’s still walking or mooing; I like my steak cooked, damnit!
Premium high-thread-count cotton sheets. 700tpi minimum. Not a tremendous expense, and makes the place you spend 1/3 of your life feel just a little bit decadent.
For a beach vacation, I’d rather book a beachfront hotel than save money by staying inland.
“A pipe gives a wise man time to think, and a fool something to stick in his mouth.” - CS Lewis
My boss at my first Big Boy Job was a pipe smoker, and I quoted Lewis to Al as he cupped the bowl of his pipe. He wasn’t sure if I was complimenting or insulting him!
Very rare steaks. It’s hard to justify paying current prices for beef, but once in a while I have to treat myself to a Porterhouse or 2 inch Ribeye cooked on charcoal and red in the center.
Art and jewelry.
I have always bought art since I was young. There’s something about buying a piece from the artist and knowing it is unique. If I’m on a trip somewhere that is what I typically will buy as a souvenir. There is a shop in Ojai that had a bronze scupture from a local artist named Ted Gall. I really wanted it, but my practical friends disuaded me. When I want something that badly it usually sticks with me. We were back about six months later (we have friends there), I went to that shop to see if, by chance, the still had “my” sculpture. They didn’t, but the shop owner said that Ted might make me on, so I ordered it, and it was even nicer than the original. My older sister teased me for years about “commissioning art.” Too bad. I love it.
Jewlery is something I like a lot of varieties of, but I prefer vintage. I’ve got some nice pieces. But I also have some older costume jewlery that I love as much as the expensive ones. I got hooked on Neiger brothers brooches and have a number of pieces – mostly 1920s – very sadly they were killed by the Nazis in Auschwitz in 1942.
I like good food, too, and periodically go to a really nice place. The winner on an old episode of Chopped had a restaurant in Venice, and it was superb. Best veal chop ever.
The last thing I want after a long drive or long flight (when I’m traveling alone) is to go to a restaurant; room service is something I will seek out and pay a premium for.
Another option is ordering for delivery, via Doordash, Uber Eats or another such service. Some hotels allow for the driver to deliver directly to your room, while others require them to go no further than the lobby.
There are lotsa people who’ve seemingly raised practicality to a religion.
IMO …
Unless one is utterly destitute there should be room for some luxury in your life. To be sure, what counts as “luxury” will be different depending on one’s circumstances. The struggling single Mom who treats herself to a better than Walmart’s cheapest brand of bubble bath once a week is utterly right to want that and enjoy it.
“Man does not live by bread alone” is a saying for a reason. A life devoted to doing or owning nothing that gives you joy just for its own sake is a desolate wasteland. And is unnecessary for the majority of folks who practice it.