How does one splurge on living alone? You either do or you don’t. From my experience with living alone, I don’t mind it, but it certainly doesn’t feel like splurging.
As for what I splurge on: books, writing pens, food, restaurants, and the occasional spa.
You skin em and I’ll knock em down to freezer size.
And again the thought crosses my mind — we haven’t met yet because??? 
Well fitting shoes made for my foot type.
Real chocolate and not chocolate-flavored.
Dang! You nailed all three of mine.
What’s the point of going to a show if you’re going to cheap out a few $$$ by getting crappy seats?
Maybe we won’t go first class, but definitely the upper end of premium seats. Plus, I ain’t going to pack a carry-on bag just to get through security, then hover at the top of the jetway to check it and save a few bucks. We always check a bag each and do it curbside (with a nice tip to the skycap).
Finally, I love the heck out of seeing someone’s face light up when they have good champagne. “Well, I’m not a big champagne drinker, but I’ll give it a try…DAMN, that is good!”
Guitars. And Elixir strings.
I can’t think of any other product with such a high correlation between quality and price. Unlike regular wines, I have never found a good cheap champagne. (maybe in France?) The cheap stuff is so bad, and the expensive stuff is so good. It really is a problem at our house. I’d say at least once a month we buy a bottle costing between $70.00 and $100.00.
(I haven’t found that the really expensive stuff–retailing over $200-- is worth the extra money.)
You know, if you’d hire someone to mow your lawn, and if you’d drink some coffee, you could change your username.
You splurge by living alone. Where I live (San Francisco), the choice to live alone means that you pay more than you otherwise would for accommodations, and therefore have less available to budget for other things.
That said, the #1 thing I splurge on is housecleaners. The joy of not having to do the cleaning myself is worth whatever I need to give up to afford it.
Books. Yes, you an wait until the public library has an available copy or get the more rare items through inter-library loan, but there is nothing like the satisfaction of finding a book you really, really want to dive into and being able to get your hands on it quick. It’s like finding gold or the foreplay before mind-blowing sex.
One thing I always recommend splurging on is garden hose. If it’s something you use a lot like me it’s well worth the extra money to get the best. Or at least better.
Yep. Well, at least the ski pass. It seems like a lot to the laymen when you pay at the start of the season, but each time you go it gets cheaper, and the piece of mind that you can leave half-day if it starts getting crowded and not worry about wasting money. Ski boots…
I do a lot of cycling and find that it is best to spend money on items that come between you and the bike: gloves, shoes, and shorts - especially shorts. Good ones are worth the extra price, and the cheap ones have to be replaced (either because they are crappy material or lose comfort quickly). You can go cheap on jerseys, and helmets (they all meet the same safety standards). Go by comfort the factor and you will enjoy more long rides more.
Okay, edumacate me: Why is any one cell phone any better than another?
Time.
Pay for someone to do your mowing/gardening, clean your house, etc., so you have time to do what you want to do.
Crazy ain’t it?? But a really good hose is worth every dime.
1st class airfare, great cookware & knives, and not going cheap when you vacation, get the waterfront room with balcony & Jacuzzi tub.
Beat me to it. All of the above.
Though I’ll qualify the “food”: I’ll buy cheap cuts of quality meat, eat at home, grow my own. But I’ll pay for food that’s been properly raised, is more nutritious, and/or tastes better (the three often go together IME.)
Good shoes/boots in particular, but to some extent other clothing, suited to the work one is doing are worth the money; they affect how well it’s possible to work and one’s mood, all day long.
Cheap tools are expensive; they break and need replacement. They also make it harder to do the job in the first place.
I expect the comparison is to sharing living quarters with roommates chosen not because you wanted to live with them otherwise, but just to save on the rent. It’s almost always cheaper to split the rent with somebody than to live alone in similar quarters.
Good shoes, good knives, good bra.
Interesting list.
Of them, I’d say bedsheets, living alone, cables with long cords are about the only things that IMO are worth splurging on. And long cables are only a few bucks on amazon.
I’ve tried $300 headphones with FLAC files, they really aren’t much better than the cheap headphones and MP3s (for me). However a good home surround sound system is better than the TVs built into speaker.
Store brand garbage bags are just as good in my experience. If you have a lot of stuff, I’d agree about movers but I don’t (it took me about an hour to get everything from the U-haul into the new apartment by myself). Cheap bourbon is about the same as expensive stuff (old crow is better than most mid range bourbons I’ve tried). My $30 winter jacket from Old navy has served me well in -30 weather.
Anyway, for my list I’d say:
Shoes and insoles. You don’t have to splurge, but $100 is better than a $20 pair.
Cars with safety features. Even if your old car works fine, newer cars have safety features that the older ones may not.
Housecleaners. totally worth it for me. Any labor you hate doing that you can hire someone (mow the lawn, home repairs, auto repairs, cleaning, etc) I say go for it if you can afford it.
Toilet paper. Give me charmin or give me death. or both.
Cola. Generic orange soda is fine, generic cola can’t compare to coke or pepsi.
Chairs. Both my office chairs cost an arm and a leg, but since I spend a fair amount of time in front of various computers (and have no ass) a quality chair is a necessity.
Pillows, knives, booze, fine dining.
Preach.
Garbage bags? Really? I’ve been using plastic grocery bags for that for years. It just means I have to take the bags out back to the big wheeled service can more often. My trash service doesn’t really care if bulky dry stuff like old clothes or small appliances aren’t in bags.
I do use lots of cheap paper plates and plastic silverware to limit the dirty dishes. Is that splurging?
The last four vehicles I bought were new ('08, '09, '13, '18), and I paid cash. Each was a step up in price and luxury compared to the previous one. I recommend doing this if you can afford it.