The ones I’ve got now have been around for about two years.
– Clothing. I spent $10 for my MLA interview suit at the thrift store, and it looked damn nice if I do say so myself. I’m glad somebody shells out for clothing, because otherwise there wouldn’t be any in the thrift store, but it’s not gonna be me. The one exception is shoes, because comfortable women’s shoes are as rare as hen’s teeth.
– Hotels. I usually go for hostels, but will stay at Motel 6 in a pinch. It honestly blows my mind that people will drop hundreds of dollars a night on a hotel room.
– Hair care. I probably should do something with my hair other than letting it grow and occasionally putting it up, but I can’t be bothered.
– Coffee. The expensive stuff is damn good, so I’ve gone out of my way not to develop a taste for it, since I know I wouldn’t be able to go back.
– Wine. I honestly cannot tell the difference between the cheap stuff and the expensive stuff, and I’d prefer not to learn.
On the other hand, I’m addicted to good-quality beer and ice cream, and (especially) bread.
Furniture. Our house is pretty bare compared to most people. We don’t even have a couch! I know we’re supposed to have a decent set of furniture and it doesn’t have to cost thousands and thousands of dollars. We won’t buy crap or drag in stuff from a garage sale off the street. Even a living room or bedroom set in the low 4 figure or high 3 figure range has us cringing cause dammit, thats $$ we could spend on racing expenses and bike parts!
We’re hoping one day we’ll get that out of our system and decorating the house becomes our hobby of choice…
Toilet paper. Why would I spend more than I have to on something I’m using to wipe my ass? Honestly, though, I’ve found that it actually pays to buy the cheapest you can get. The super-cheap gargantuan roll of really thin paper, if doubled up, does the job and lasts much longer than a much pricier little roll of thick tissue.
That’s another thing I should have mentioned. I cut my own hair and have done so for years. People are always surprised when I tell them that. I mentioned to a friend recently that I should have it professionly cut just to even up anything I might be missing. She insists that I do such a good job myself, I’d just be throwing my money away.
I haven’t ever used any shampoo more expensive than $5 and usually I stick with good old Suave which is usually a buck or a buck fifty a bottle.
Oh, practically everything.
—Clothes. Like other people, I almost never buy new clothes, and when I do buy new stuff the chief criterion is durability. I would never buy clothing that needed to be dry cleaned. I refuse to pay more than $15 for a shirt (and it better be a DAMN nice shirt that I will wear a lot) and $20 for pants (unfortunately, I cannot find well-made pants cheaper than this). Shoes, it’s kind of the same thing… well, I usually wind up spending around $50 a pair since I don’t buy sweatshop shoes but I wear the hell out of them. One of my pairs is three years old. I totally do not get women who have a billion pairs of sweatshop shoes that they only wear once or twice. Jewelry… I just don’t get at all. I don’t like the look of it unless it is very simple, and the first thing I think of when I see diamonds is dead Africans.
—Haircuts. Sorry, I’m not paying $15 for someone to cut my hair when I can do it just as well myself for free. I especially don’t get women (and it’s usually women) who spend upwards of fifty bucks at the salon; I actually got really mad at my roommate the other day because she spends $60 to get her hair dyed and I was like “But you can just buy the box dye for $5! There are starving people in the world!” and she said she’d mess it up. Sorry, but I think it’s morally indefensible to spend so much on looking nice when you can look almost as nice for much cheaper. Of course, my box dye is just as indefensible really, so maybe I shouldn’t be talking. Nails are the same thing, but then I don’t like the look of painted nails in the first place.
—Non-generic food, household items, or really anything. I usually can’t tell the difference, and even if I could, I doubt if I’d care. I was raised on generics and I can still see myself reaching for the store brand even if I had a buttload of money. Non-generic food I can see, but what’s the difference between Hefty and store brand garbage bags? Tylenol and generic ibuprofin? (That one I really don’t get; they have the same chemical component, have to by law.) The difference in medicines is sometimes up to 4x; I don’t see how people justify that difference.
—DVD rental fees/Netflix. I get all my movies from the library, and a lot of my music too. Then again, I live in a city with one of the best library systems in the country, so I don’t begrudge people rental fees if they have to resort to renting. But if you live in a big city, come on! Your library probably has tons of the latest movies in stock. As for theater fees, I only see movies in the theater when I know they’re the kind of movie that HAS to be seen in a theater, like Sin City. And I only go to matinee showings.
—Books. Again, library! It’s the cheap bibliophile’s best friend.
—Weddings! This is a big one! When my cousin had a $10,000 wedding a few years ago it made me want to set off a dirty bomb in the middle of Pittsburgh to make a statement against wasteful rich Americans. And my family is not rich; that wedding probably cost her father a third of his salary. For one freaking day. And that is par for the course with weddings. It makes me physically ill that someone would waste all that money, so important to a couple just starting out, on a bunch of frippery. I have never seen a defense of weddings that made any sense to me whatsoever.
—Gym fees. I don’t need to spend money on a gym, the world is my track. If I want to ride a bike, I will ride a real one instead of a stationary one. I think things like tai bo and jazzercise look dumb and don’t exercise you any more than a good old-fashioned run. I know lots of people don’t have access to good running roads, or believe that having a gym membership forces them to exercise when they normally wouldn’t, but I’ve always been content with exercising in nature’s gym. And besides, it’s good to get out of the house, I spend 8.5 hours a day sitting under fluorescent lights, why would I want to do that to relax?
So yeah, basically I hardly ever spend money on anything. I’m the miser’s miser. But I’ll be retiring when I’m forty, so suck on that! (insert wink emoticon here)
TV. Last time I moved, the cheapest cable package was up to about $45 a month. That’s for basic. So that was the end of that. I have rabbit ears now. Of course, I spend $50 a month on cable internet, but I use that a LOT more.
Put me in the car camp as well. I don’t get dumping $50K+ into a car. I don’t care how “nice” it is, one day it will be not so nice and all that money is down the drain.
Hobby cars or restorations are a different animal. That I can see. It’s a hobby. But buying a new 50K+ car that will lose several thousand dollars in value the minute you own it doesn’t make any sense to me.
I’ve had several cars that have been hit and later totaled out by the insurance companies. The money I got didn’t even come close to replacement costs. What happens with the new 50k car? The insurance company pays out X amount and you still owe the bank for a smashed up car you can’t drive.
To hell with that. Give me a small, used, reliable, import anyday. 4-5k of cash goes a long way.
On the subject: I don’t get tricking out a 1980 Civic with several thousand dollars of extra crap. What am I missing here?
I haven’t paid for a haircut in four years, since the day I got my head shaved at SuperCuts. I have more hair now, but I’ve got an electric razor and I cut my own hair every 5 to 7 days. Ta-da.
I don’t spend much on shoes either. I’m due for a new pair soon, I guess, I’m just having trouble convincing myself to shell out for them. It’s easier to be cheap about shoes if you’re a guy, of course - I’ve got three or four pairs these days and I feel like that’s extravagant.
I haven’t paid for a haircut in four years, since the day I got my head shaved at SuperCuts. I have more hair now, but I’ve got an electric razor and I cut my own hair every 5 to 7 days. Ta-da.
I don’t spend much on shoes either. I’m due for a new pair soon, I guess, I’m just having trouble convincing myself to shell out for them. It’s easier to be cheap about shoes if you’re a guy, of course - I’ve got three or four pairs these days and I feel like that’s extravagant.
And although I spend more money than most people would spend on a message board, I squeeze extra mileage out of my $14.95 by double-posting whenever possible.
Clothing/purses/shoes - see above. Again, it doesn’t really matter that much to me. Occasionally, I’ll spend more for clothing (purses? I can’t even comprehend the desire to spend money on a purse.) if it’s something I really, really like. But generally, I just don’t spend money in that area.
Hotels. I’m sleeping there - if I’m on vacation, I’m not hanging out in the hotel. Warm room, warm water (and that has even been optional at some places), locks, and I’m happy.
Restaurants. I simply don’t like food that much. I’ll go with friends, and enjoy their company. But expensive meals are wasted on me.
On the other hand, I spend on books and the gym. I could probably do that much cheaper - but I find those expenditures worthwhile. I buy certain brand names because I find them reliable or better than generics. Theater tickets cost money - I try to get them as cheaply as possible (matinees, previews, rush, etc.) but when it comes to it, they’re worth it.
I desperately envy those of you who have hair that can be cut well on your own or very cheaply. My hair looks like crap - I would gladly pay dearly if someone could make it not look like crap. Every so often, someone swears they know what they’re doing. I plunk down money, and walk out - with crappy hair, much more than $15 poorer, and being told to come back in two weeks so they can do it again.
Me too for clothes, mine are second hand, factory cast offs, sale items etc.
Video games, my consoles are either gifts from family from when I was a teenager, or second hand from when I bought my own. Same with games, tenner or there abouts on EBay suits me. I can’t understand people who have to have a machine on import with all the extra doo dahs to get it to run in the UK :rolleyes:
Levis.
I know that lots of people spend mega-$ on Levis, because I can pick their brand-new pairs up at the Op-Shop for $1.50 each. I got a pair of 501’s and a pair of 558’s last weekend on a Thrift Shop Spree. 
I admire the spending habits of rich people…it trickles down to me. 
Cell phones and that spin-off industry. I hate the things and will do all I can not to own one during my life. So, I don’t have to buy ringtones, pay to download games, worry about a charger for the car, a case for the thing, belt clip, etc.
Clothes. I’m also one who’ll wear them until their rags. Same with shoes.
As with Shagnasty, sporting events. I won’t even go unless the tickets are free. Then while I’m there, I’m not eating or drinking their over priced beer.
I’m with all of the above on clothes, shoes, purses, motel rooms, cars…my one vice is game-worn hockey jerseys. From my local team only. At the last jersey auction I didn’t get one because all of them went for over $500 - and I won’t spend that much. Our coachs jersey went for $1700 - even if I had it, I wouldn’t spend it on a jersey.
Yup, I’ve picked up quite a few pairs on EBay for very little. Nice to see some of them coming back into fashion and on sale new for quite a bit more than I paid for them 
Computers. I buy on the previous cycle every 2-3 years. I still get just as much an improvement over my previous system, but save around $500. I also play the previous-cycle games, so I don’t need the latest and greatest just to play them.
That falls under the “hobby” category.
I have to draw the line at cheap hotel rooms. Hotels squick me out anyways. If I have to pay a little extra to stay in a place that doesn’t look like it’s crawling with germs, I will.
Haircuts? I wish I had the kind of hair which I could cut myself. Unfortunately, I have an unruly mop of curly hair which must be cut professionally. At least the ladies only charge about $30.
We spend almost nothing on travel (much to my dismay).
I spent a lot on furniture finally, and we’re both glad we got the good stuff instead of crap that has to be replaced every few years.
I spend a lot on shoes and jeans, but I don’t do it ofen, so it evens out in the end.
I spend a lot on my highlights. Nothing more pathetic than a bad dye job.
I usually do my own nails, but love to splurge on a manicure once in a while.