Recently I bought a pretty expensive kitchen garbage can. I was tired of the bag slipping out. Tired of having to nudge the lid off with my elbow, tired of losing a lid that was not connected. Tired of it looking like a remnant from the seventies.
I regard this hefty expenditure as well worth it. I am pleased every time I use that can or even look at it.
What will you spend money on?
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| From the map museum in La Jolla, well worth a visit. This is a tourist map but they have hundreds of legitimate maps from centuries ago. |
27 comments:
I can't think of anything that I can't afford - that is what you asked, right? - that I would buy. I've never cared about cars other than as good, safe transportation. Yes, we pay a lot for our apartment - but compared to other places in New York, it seems reasonable - but we can afford it. We no longer travel to England annually and we can certainly afford the travel we do.
Sorry, can't help you. We used to spend a lot for baseball games at Yankee Stadium, but no more. I guess we spend on electronics (computers and such) and DVDs.
Face it, we're dull. Or say I'm content with what we have these days and feel no need to spend more.
Jeff M.
I think she means not what can be afforded, but more than needs be spent, Jeff.
For me it would be gardening. I can't seem to get out of a nursery without buying an extra plant that's not needed so much as just bought in hopes a place for it will be found.
However, with property taxes here rising fast, our annual budget review shows we need to cut back, and books and gardening are the chief expenditures.
We call that "splurging" in our family. We splurge now and then on food (in restaurants and at the store), and I've been known to splurge on a hotel room, as I did at the Bouchercon in San Francisco when I took the Executive Suite, but usually it's just books and more books.
Yeah, what Rick said. Certainly we can afford some things, we don't buy. But since I have no desire for them, I don't. We splurge here in California a bit, perhaps renting a place for a bit longer than we should. And going out to dinner more.
And Phil is right there with you on plants. But these are the sorts of things that make life bearable.
They don't cost a lot individually, but the sheer number of plastic model kits I've bought over the past three years is appreciable. That, and restaurant meals, are the only things I spend money on that are luxuries. Oh, and the slot machines, but sometimes I win.
You have to have a hobby. I truly believe that.
Patti, other than books I would spend money on rare comics and stamps, and an antique chess set or two.
That sounds like a good investment, Prashant. Better than a love of a trash can.
The housing market crash left us underwater with a high mortgage that passed from the crooks at Countrywide to the bloodsuckers at B of A. I consider the monthly mortgage payment "rent" for a house that we enjoy immensely, and ignore the downside.
Against the advice of a realtor friend who recommends not putting more $$ into a house that is a financial loss, when we retired here full time, we hired a local landscaper and spent over 10K for more trees and flowering desert plants outside. I have never regretted that decision for a minute.
We continue to spend money on that, too. But our land is small (townhouse) and the house is sort of large (3 floors)so I know we have it backwards with doing that. We should be putting stuff inside and not out,
As a self-described "Goodwill Queen," all expenditures are thoroughly vetted--but because I love to cook, my splurges are for high-end cookware (Le Crueset and All Clad) and exotic ingredients (don't set me free in a Trader Joe's--I'll never pay off the credit card!).
I tend to buy things that are a little more expensive but are more reliable (for example, I drive Toyotas). Lately I have been spending more on furniture instead of having 10-year-old hand my downs or cheap junk. When we moved a cople of years ago I bought myself a big walnut desk from the 1950s.
Actually, you can get vintage (not quite antique) furniture at pretty reasonable prices, so I don't even know if that counts a a luxury.
Oh. And shoes. Nice shoes.
Patti, in socal, the outside is an extension of the inside; one blends into the other. A great plus.
Jackie says she spent money on a Bose system. In fact she took the railroad out to their outlet on Long Island and brought it home.
Jeff M.
We do splurge on DVDs from England. Yes the postage must be paid but for British shows they are usually so much cheaper than buying them here it is worth it.
Anyway, we follow the George Kelley maxim and consider it stimulating the economy.
Bill, we call it having "DI" - Disposable Income.
Jeff M.
"Splurge" might be the word, but if we're going to spend more than we have to, it's usually been on household infrastructure. I don;t like to revisit problems. The French drain in the basement will stop our water issues there. The sump pump wit the battery backup. Windows with a double lifetime guarantee and huge insulation rating. We're saving for the furnace now.
I am the child of children of the Depression, and I was once laid off for over a year after the dot com bust. If I spend more than I have to, it's almost always on something I need, not something I want, with small exceptions.
I recall a now distant past when I would rather spend money on cigarettes and booze than on food or anything else that was sensible. Then -- when I finally stumbled far enough into Stupidville -- I decided that was both an extravagant and stupid use of money. Now, step-by-step, day-by-day, my only intoxicating and excessive expenditure is books. Some habits are just too hard to break!
The only things I will splurge on: magazines, books, video and music/audio recordings in that order, with the last two nonetheless about as tied as the first two. A few foodstuffs in the course of food shopping (Alice hates supermarkets and feels incompetent as a cook...she isn't, but never likes her own efforts). I buy such trivia as clothes on an Well-After-They're-Needed basis.
I am sick at leaving socal. After three years here, it feels like my home.
Very worried about this drought however. Will weather ever be normal again?
Three years? Weeks?
Sadly, the weather is getting heavy, indeed. And footdragging on climate-friendly measures around the world doesn't help one scrap.
Each year we pick a room in our home and "re-do" it. Painting, new flooring, new furniture, etc. Back in November Diane convinced me to buy a new snow blower to replace our 25-year-old machine. And with over a 100 inches of snow so far, Big Orange has proved to be worth every cent of the $800 I paid for it!
Other than books, I will spend money on nice dinners out for Lana and I. And that's pretty much it. My money goes more to necessities, gas, electricity, car repairs, etc. And lately I haven't even been buying books because of expenses.
Hawaii. There are cheaper vacations, but I can't settle for anyplace else. And my trips have paid off in the form of a series character who is a detective with the Hawaii County Police.
Patti, I approve of your trash can. Anything that spares you aggravation is worth the money.
Al, I should certainly be counting this trip as a real splurge.
I assume $5000-a-night hookers are considered necessities.
Travel. Experience.
For me, it would be food and wine, for sure.
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