What Do You Willingly Pay For, That Others Think is Extravagant?

In My Humble Opinion
81

My general rule is that I don’t ask a friend to help me do anything that I wouldn’t want to help him/her do.

Which pretty much means moving. I hate to move. All the trudging back and forth with boxes full of dusty crap . . .

But I digress. Point is, we moved recently and, although we had plenty of help (20 people!) it was because SkipMagic, who is the Mighty Moving Day Helper Man for everyone he knows (so he was owed a lotta favors), did the asking.

I had a couple of friends ask me if they could help us move, but I didn’t wanna owe 'em any move-related favors.

Anyway, to answer the question in the OP, Massages. Worth every penny if you get a good one.

Oooh, and magazines. LOVE magazines. All kinds, from Allure to Utne (couldn’t think of one that began with “Z”).

I am also on the verge of buying a pair of jeans that probably cost about the same as my last six pairs of jeans combined (or, for that matter, about three massages or a gazillion magazines)–but in order to justify spending that much money on an item of clothing (I have a hard time even buying clothing full price, so full price and expensive is damn near impossible), I have decided to make the jeans a reward for something. That “something” is losing 10 lbs.

Unless, of course, I run across a burning building from which I can save a couple of babies in the meantime. Then I’ll figure I’ve earned the jeans without the 10 lbs.

At any rate, they do miraculous things for my butt, which in certain circles would be justification enough.

82

Hah, I can go you one better: My father had and still has a strict no air-conditioning rule. His house is not equipped with air-conditioning, nor is his car. And like you, I vowed, after sweating through many a summer as a kid, that I’d never do that again. When I went looking for a house, central air-conditioning was a requirement.

My contributions to the thread: We have a maid that comes in once every two weeks. Worth every penny. My parents would never be that “wasteful”.

My big screen, high definition TV. I have friends who scoff at HiDef, saying it’s just not that much better. They’re wrong.

83

I guess the main thing for me is movies. I go to the theatre a lot. I like the whole movie going experience, food and all. The key is, I experience it 2 times per week on average at, all told, $25 a shot.

I buy a lot of DVD’s too.

Regarding High Speed Internet, I always thought that was a necessity?!? I guess you can mark that in my column as well.

84

I used to scoff at surround sound, until we bought a set as our wedding gift from people who gave us money to buy ourselves a wedding gift. It is cool. Very, very cool.

85

Expensive wine, luckily I buy at auction so I get a good discount.

Salon haircuts and color (every few months. Feria takes care of the roots for a while)

Tools - more my husband’s doing, but I encourage him to buy the best for his projects.

I got the purple Dyson. I love the Dyson. With 2 dogs, I need the Dyson…otherwise it is a new vacuum every year. So it will pay for itself.

Cheese - got 1/2 lb of good Spanish Manchengo at Pike Place for 19.99 per pound.

Meat - never had a cheap cut of meat. Filets are my favs.

Pre-mix salads. I buy them every week. Usually 4.99 a pound loose, but iceberg makes me cringe and is bad for the bunny I share it with.

Good Toilet Paper. No see through 1000 sheet rolls for me. Same goes for paper towels and tissues. Only the best for my backside, spills and nose.

Any vet bills - as long as they are not suffering, the best of care for the dogs

Other than that, I am a cheapskate.

86

Adidas shoes. Yeah, I could buy the $14 Wal-Mart knockoffs that look vitrually identical. But I want the $75 real things! It’s offset by the fact that I also love to wear 2 dollar flipflops.

Books. I buy quite a few books from Amazon. And I can’t get most of the books I want from my crappy little library, and half the time I try to use interlibrary loan, they can’t find it either! And when they do get a book for me on interlibrary loan, it has to be returned in two weeks instead of the regular three weeks. I’m a very fast reader, but I just dont have a lot of spare time to read, and two weeks often isn’t long enough! So I just buy the damn book.

And my dad pitched a fit when I asked him if I could do a $10 Paypal to renew my Straight Dope subscription :). He couldn’t understand why the hell someone would pay money to post on a message board. Nevermind that he collects guns and thinks nothing of shelling out $700 or $800 for one that he never even shoots. Thankfully a generous Straight Dope patron footed my bill for me, otherwise I wouldn’t be posting!

87

I just know that this is going to sound harsher than I intend it to, but here goes: how can you manage to buy tons of books online and $75 shoes, yet you can’t pay for your own SDMB subscription? :confused:

88

Room Service. It may be $10 cheaper if I go downstairs to the restaurant, but they tend to look at me funny as I cross the lobby in my robe and bunny slippers.

Moving. I have lived with DeHusband for 11 years. This is the longest I have ever lived in 1 house in my entire life. Why? Because I will not move until we can pay for movers. Nuh Uh. No Way. No How. I have moved at least a hundred times in my life and I’m not packing another box unless it’s going to charity.

Books. We’re readers with no kids. We have disposable income. Want to know what to get us for Christmas? Books. We don’t care what kind; we’ll read them anyway.

And cable modem and Tivo are proof that God loves me and wants me to be happy.

89

Oh and one more thing.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. My mom thinks it’s obscene that I don’t butcher whole chickens. Go Figure.

90

Like others have mentioned, good hair cuts. It’s totally worth it and pay a little more and be happy with my hair than try to cheap it out and be miserable. Even when I was a student and working only part-time, I shelled out for a good cut.

In the same vein, fake nails. I know most people look down on them, but I’m happy everytime I see my nails. I also spring for a pedicure every month. My feet look nicer longer than when I do it myself.

I’ve dscovered that some expensive make-up really is better than drug stores brands. And since I’ll actually wear it (instead of stowing it in a drawer like I do the cheaper stuff), it’s actually winds up being cheaper.

I have fifty pairs of shoes. Yeah, it’s a lot and I probably don’t need that many. But I get lots of compliments on my taste in footwear.

Paying to park at the airport. It’s about the same as taking a cab (I’m never gone for more than five days) and I really like having my car there when I get home. Friends offer to take me but I hate inconveniencing them and also having to wait when I get back.

Books. I build $200 into my monthly budget for books and I’ll go over if I feel like it.

But my most extravagent habit is good food. I don’t really cook so I buy expensive prepared vegetables at the local Whole Foods. And I also get good tea, good chocolate, good cheese, good vinegar, gourmet mayo, etc. All these things have much cheaper analogues at the supermarket but I’d rather spend the money for higher end items.

91

Air conditioning. It gets really hot and humid here in the summer, and I’m not suffering when we have central AC. We keep the house cool. As in, “You could freaking store meat in here!” cool. Drives my mother crazy and my in-laws crazier. My in-laws are more of the same “No AC till July/the temp is over 100” kind of people. They also will set up this elaborate system of fans throughout their whole house. Box fans on the floor and down the hall, oscillating fans on tables, a couple of those Vornado fans in the center of each room - that’s just nuts. Same goes for the car. I’ll never own a car without AC.

Dog and Cat Food. I’m only buying Iams, so it’s not terribly expensive, but I just don’t get how people can feed store-brand crap to their pets, just because it’s cheaper.

Toilet Paper. I want something decent, yet soft. No cheap rough stuff.

Coffee and Tea. Life’s too short to drink crap. My mother thinks Lipton tea is “fine” and thinks I’m insane to pay more for Twinings, but yes, it’s really that much better. Same goes for coffee. Maxwell House just doesn’t do it for me.

Dry Cleaning. As mentioned in the other thread, I take my husband’s good shirts to the dry cleaners. It costs $1, and I get them back nice and clean, perfectly pressed and starched. When he sweats, it leaves a nasty ring on the neck and cuffs that I could never completely get out. I also hate ironing. My MIL thought it was just awful that I did this - she thought it was a horrible waste of money. I have a couple of silk blouses that I take there, too. I’d never try to wash those myself.

Which leads into Silk Blouses. God help me, I love 'em. I’m talking 100% real silk, not satin, not silky-feeling poly-blends. Of course, my MIL thought having silk shirts was a waste, when polyester was “just as good.” :rolleyes:

Pens. I’m addicted to rollerball gel pens, blue ink, medium point. I can get a box of 12 at Office Depot for $15 or so (depending on the brand), and then I hide them. They’re mine! Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with Bics, and they’re much, much cheaper, but I really like the rollerball gel.

92

I’ve heard that the good stuff will cut down on your litterbox and yard cleaning duties too. We also buy the expensive stuff. I don’t eat poorly, neither should my animals.

Lets see.

Tires. I replace mine when they are about half worn. I live where I need to have deep tread. Snow/ice 6 months out of the year up here. Not gonna sacrafice my safety. And getting stuck is just a pain.

Sun glasses. I wouldn’t buy cheap poorly ground corrective lenses. Same goes for sun glasses. But then, I manage to keep a pair for 3-4 years and wear them everyday.

Good tools. Buy it once. For power tools, it’s a safety thing too. I struggled with a hand me down circular saw for a few years, then bought a skilsaw worm drive. The difference is amazing.

93

Clarification please - do you really mean a necessity? Why would a sailboat be a necessity? Not taking potshots at you, just genuinely curious, as I’ve never heard anyone say something like that before. I’m imagining you needing it to entertain business clients, flee from ruthless druglords, or some other cool thing (I’ve already ruled out your living in Waterworld as a bit too imaginative).

94

My list:
Sunglasses give me Oakleys
Bikes, yes I have paid more that 2 kilobucks for a new bike, why do you ask? And no it isn’t just like what Walley World sells for a buck and half.
As long as we are on the subject, I just dropped $200 on shoes for said bike. Gotta have carbon fiber soles. :smiley:
Cable modem
Good scotch, and other spirits
Good tools for the tool box, Crapsman need not apply
Good tools for the kitchen Like a Miele dishwasher, Kitchen Aid mixer, Maytag refer.
Pans by Le Creuset, and All Clad
Knives by Wusthoff
Books

On the other hand, I do not mind doing airport duty, assuming it meshes with my schedule. I moved myself into this house, and I will only use pros in the future.

95

I think that’s pretty cool. :slight_smile: I might start doing that myself.

I don’t consider this extravagant, but my coworkers are baffled that I spend money on books. Their typical reaction is “why would you pay money for something you’ll only read once?” They’re always confused when I explain that I read my books many, many times.

96

Medical care. When I had no insurance last year for 7 months, I continued to get the same care I normally would have, only I paid for it myself.

(Thank God I had no major problems, but I didn’t skimp on the problems I did have.)

Good, thorough veterinary care for my pets.

Organic food.

97

Sounds like raz had the cash, but no credit card.

I’ll also spring for boneless, skinless chicken breasts and bagged vegetables and lettuces, over my mother’s objections. These days I have more money than time, and if it helps me eat better, I’ll pay for it.

Also ditto on fresh weekly flowers. No fat or calories!

Birkenstocks.

Good chocolate.

The extended on-site warranty for my computer. When it’s down and I can’t work, I don’t want to mess with it. I love having the guy show up, swap out the part, and be on his merry way so I can be on mine.

98

I don’t have a credit card, but my dad does. Credit card or PayPal is the only acceptable type of payment for SDMB subscriptions. I was going to pay him back, however, he wouldn’t let me use his account. I fully intended to pay the person back who bought my subscription, but she did not want me to. Instead, I donated $20 to a charity of my choice (local animal shelter).

Not that I couldn’t pay for it myself, I have money and all…I just don’t have a credit card.

99

One pair of boots… for $900.00

I spent three years looking at Bald Mountain Moccacins at a local Ren Faire before buying a custom pair of knee high boots. Made personally for me, using a cast of my feet and legs, they are so comfortable, putting them on is like having sex with my feet, literally. There is no other way to describe how good they feel. That was 4 years ago and I have never regretted a cent of the cost.

My family thinks I’m nuts, but they’re not the ones who get to wear them.

100

Even in college, when we were dirt poor, we bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts. We made them last as long as possible, but it was one expense we were more than happy to pay to avoid deboning a chicken.

My husband also buys good quality tools, because we’ve learned the value of them. He has a cordless drill (Ryobi, maybe?) that he would marry if it were legal.