I have done that too, and it usually works well.
That’s a good one. I overlooked it, but we are certainly in your camp. The last piece of art we bought cost more than I spent on my first house. Like you, we like to look at fine art during our travels, and sometimes pick up something nice. (our house is pretty full now, so I think we have to start being very selective)
This is probably the #1 luxury that I enjoy. I hate shopping, and am ecstatic to be able to put that time toward things I would rather be doing.
You should see my walls! Now, it’s one piece in? One piece out. Since there very few I’d be willing to part with, it usually means no piece in.
but is $1.50 or $2 for a good, fresh bagel a luxury? 
It happens I bought a fresh hot bagel just a weekish ago from a real deli selling lots of kosher products. First time in years.
$2.10 for a plain water bagel just cut, not toasted, and no topping. It was in fact luxuriously good.
Vacation rental homes. The last two times we ever stayed in hotels, we were treated to screaming or copulating noisy neighbors, and we ended up tired and crabby and disgusted. Not how we want to feel when we’re on vacation!
So we decided to spend the extra money and rent little vacation homes through VRBO. It’s well worth the extra cost for the comfort, privacy, and peace. Not to mention you can recoup some of the expense by preparing your own breakfast and coffee if you want. The pleasure of staying in a nice home is part of our vacation enjoyment, just like the pleasure of a good restaurant or a joyride around the area.
I’ll never stay in a hotel again.
Moderating:
Please stop demeaning the choices of others because you don’t care for them yourself. It’s really jerkish. As you yourself noted, this is not the thread to complain about luxuries you don’t enjoy.
The only knock on VRBOs et. al. is that they’re not just local people renting out their homes. It’s mostly investors buying up housing stock that’s at a premium already. I get your point, but I hate what has happened as a consequence.
A high electric bill. I grew up poor with shallow-puddle tepid baths, 3 minute showers, and thermostat never above 60 deg. Now, a toasty warm house without socks or sweaters, long hot showers, and bright lights are a standard of living I won’t scrimp on.
Yeah, I’ll always spend my money on location over about anything else.
My parents never smoked anything, very few family members did. But an uncle smoked a pipe occasionally and I rather liked the smell as a child. Very much more fragrant than cigarettes, which I didn’t like the smell of.
I DO like Michelin starred restaurants. I honestly don’t get the complaint that “the portions are small”. Of course each individual dish is small, because you get like 10 courses. You don’t want to fill up on the first couple. I like the fact that I get to try 10 different small courses rather than just a big plate of one thing. When I went to Ever in Chicago a few years ago I was starting to feel full by maybe the 8th course, so I also don’t get the complaint about not feeling “satisfied” at the end of the meal that someone made in the other thread.
International travel. Granted, I don’t do what you might call “luxury travel” – I’m fine with flying Economy, or I might upgrade to Premium Economy, and I’m fine staying in mid-range hotels. But I think a lot of people consider traveling overseas a luxury in and of itself, so I am counting it.
This is me, too. I don’t care all that much about the hotel’s amenities, but I will spend more money to stay close to my destination.
A nice shower head. When we upgraded our bathroom, we wanted a decent shower head. My wife found out that in California, you could not purchase a shower head that allowed a water flow above some gpm (gallons per minute) or somesuch (water conservation). Evidently, you cannot even order one and have it shipped to our CA address! However, our son was living out of state at the time and where he lived, there was no such restriction - so we ordered a nice shower head and had it sent to him, and he brought it to us on his next visit. It’s f-ing awesome, and altho it allows a nice, strong flow, showers are shorter now because you rinse-off faster, so not sure our water consumption has changed much. When the water water police come for that shower head, they’ll have to pry it from my cold, clean, dead hands.
Beachfront hotels are my 100% absolute senseless luxury. Because I don’t even like actually going to the beach. But if I’m going to be in a seaside town anyway, I will pay a premium for a beachfront hotel just so I can watch the beach from my balcony.
Actually I just figured out how they do make a tiny bit of logical sense. The beach provides some white noise during the night and that side of the hotel is otherwise completely quiet at night.
Sneakers. I’m a fat lady who walks a lot and I’ve never had knee problems, which I attribute to my commitment to New Balance sneakers. My stupid wide feet means I only fit in to one style, which never goes on sale, but it is well worth the $200 every couple years to have healthy feet and knees.
I mentioned Michelin tires and Stöckli skis upthread. The reason I consider them to be luxuries is because they are so much more expensive than their perfectly adequate competitors, but after trying them out I decided that the premium was worth it.
A couple of others for me:
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Very high-end steaks from a good steakhouse. We went to the Edge Steakhouse in Park City on a ski trip back on 2019, and I got an $80 steak. It was by far the best steak I’ve had in my life.
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On another occasion, I went to an open house at my girlfriend’s architectural firm, and the partners had put out a couple of bottles of Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon. I had no idea how much it cost at the time, but it was clear that it was one of the best wines I’ve ever had. Turns out it goes for about $80 per bottle, but IMHO it’s well worth the money for special occasions.
All of these examples were notable because I wouldn’t have actually thought beforehand that the price premium would be worth it.
I wear the sneakers, and before I retired I wore the plain black work shoes. I had bought cheap shoes and my feet were hurting badly. I gulped a little at the price but within a week my feet were well. And they last forever, so in the long run they are hardly more costly. I once saw one of those TV doctors say the best two things you could do for your general health were regular dental care, and high quality shoes.
We no longer have a convertible, but not because I didn’t like it. I LOVED it. Not the most practical vehicle, and we already have one impractical vehicle I like better, and no room to store another impractical vehicle. My wife was not so keen on it, for the hair issue. She gets wind-blown easily and doesn’t like the look. My hair is a lot shorter, and I’m at the age where I’m grateful that I have hair to be blown around, so it didn’t bother me one whit.
I enjoy pretty much all luxuries. But in terms of my personal experience, the thing I currently do not scrimp on is food. When I go to the grocery store, if I want beef, I buy it. Whatever the price. I buy high quality produce, too. Rainier cherries, kiwi fruit, the expensive apples. I probably spend around $300 a week on groceries (I’m always going back to buy something I forgot or ran out of).
Actually, now that I think of it, that budget includes the air fresheners and the home cleaners, too.
Basically, when I walk into a grocery store, I spend like I’m a Rockefeller.