<p>I also grew up with Depression Era parents and this has affected my adult life. We live far below our means (although my mother thinks we live fancy schmancy!). I can afford much more than I purchase but that is not me. I am relatively frugal.</p>
<p>We can afford almost anything, but prefer to be wise with our money. H is more of a spender than I am, which I believe comes from having my dad’s business go under in the early 70s.</p>
<p>What I will splurge on:
- good plumbing fixtures. I hate cheap faucets and in the end they break.
- mattress. As the ad says, you spend 25-33% of your life on it.
- shoes, however they are functional for me - good running shoes or Munros. That’s it after 2 foot surgeries.
- bras. Just figured this out last year. Now love the Wacoal Awareness.<br>
- my gym membership and weekly session with a trainer. </p>
<p>What I won’t splurge on:
- designer labels, including purses. I just don’t get the allure.<br>
- eating out. Massive gluten- intolerance makes it not worth the risk or hassle explaining what I can/can’t eat.<br>
- expensive wine. There are so many great deals under $20, anything more is overpaying. </p>
<p>I’m with others that I don’t order anything but tap water when I’m dining. One great ting about NJ is many restaurants are BYOB, so you can eat much cheaper, as the $20 bottle of wine cost you $20, not $60. </p>
<p>We furnished our entire beach house from thrifts stores, craigs list or. Free cycle and spent under $1000 for 3 bedrooms, excluding mattresses. I just can’t buy new furniture anymore, as there’s so much out there really cheap. </p>
<p>My big splurge in huge past year was to buy a convertible, but I still went for a 3 yr old Lexus instead of buying new and saved at least 25% vs new. I could sell the car today for the same price as I paid a year ago.</p>
<p>Tell me NJ2011MOM, which mattress splurge was your best one? We are looking for a new mattress for our bed. We did splurge on the NJ beach house mattress and got a Simmons Beautyrest Legend Pillow top, which DH loves but it is not available in Florida. Just curious.</p>
<p>We also have a convertible splurge but in our case it’s a '74 Karmann Ghia so it was a pretty cheap thrill. ;)</p>
<p>Seican, I’m not NJ2011MOM, but I live in NJ and am a Dad, so I’ll put in my 2 cents. My wife and I love our Duxiana “sleep system.” Kids love their Therapedic mattresses, but they’re too warm in the summer for me (and that’s what makes horse races).</p>
<p>I’m an avid Boglehead (<a href=“http://www.boglehead.org%5B/url%5D”>www.boglehead.org</a>) and follow the investment style, live beneath our means, etc. </p>
<p>Every now and then a thread starts there where it becomes a contest of “more frugal than thou.” I think many of you would find a comfy home at the site. </p>
<p>For my family, we earn a lot and spend a fair bit of it, but save for retirement and college. My wife splurges on cars. We splurged on private high school for kids, vacations, help around the house. Otherwise, relatively sane.</p>
<p>Love a '74 Karmann Ghia–last time I was in one was…'74. We crammed 13 kids in…</p>
<p>Ixnay–I think I have a comfy home AND peace of mind because we just do and spend what we want and can afford and not what others expect of us. No “more frugal than thou” contest nor a “look what I did” contest either. This seems to be regional though–I have friends who seem to get pulled into that “spend because the country club set/prep school parents expect it” mindset depending on where they live (larger cities).</p>
<p>H is big on spending money on mattress. He got us a king size Shifman and a queen for D2. It is one of the best mattress I have ever slept on. When D1 came home and tried out the mattress, she got quite upset that she didn’t get one. I thought since she wasn’t living with us any more, we shouldn’t be paying for her mattress. Before I knew it, H had one on order for her. He even showed up at her apartment to wait for the delivery.</p>
<p>I have been drooling over smartwool socks for a couple of years, but refused to spend $20 a pair. I broke down and bought some this fall and I fear I have opened a floodgate. I think I now own 10 or 12 pair and I will never look back!</p>
<p>We have a Stearns and Foster king sized mattress that we’ve had for over 15 years. It may only have a few more years of life in it, but it’s been great. We got a regular mattress with a memory foam pillow top at the beach house (my biggest splurge ever) that I hate for all the reasons discussed on another thread. (Women over 45 should NEVER buy a memory foam mattress as it traps heat.)</p>
<p>I look at my spending and Know I will spend money on ‘capital goods’, but be very frugal on disposable items. I do buy store brands, but there are some name brands that I must have such as Heinz ketchup, Skippy peanut butter and Kleenex.</p>
<p>Haha…this summer we bought a top of the line memory foam Sleep Number. Thank goodness we got the split mattress to make the beds adjustable because my H loved the bed as much as I hated it. I swapped out my half for a more traditional pillow top Sleep Number and love it.</p>
<p>I am such a cheapskate! I don’t spend lots of money on cars or clothes or even the house. Travel looks like the one area where I will splurge.</p>
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<p>LOL.</p>
<p>For our 25th Anniversary, DH just surprised me with a very nice car. </p>
<p>Bizarre feature: I was driving back from our lake house very very early in the morning. I was SO sleepy and was slapping my face a bit to wake up. All of a sudden, the car went “DING DING.” “Attention Alert: Take a Break!” with a little coffee cup icon!</p>
<p>WTH???This car can tell when you are sleepy? :eek:</p>
<p>Kajon, you can usually get SmartWool from Sierra Trading Post (though it sounds like you are set for awhile). I have switched to Dahlgren alpaca socks (also at STP sometimes); I think they wear better and are so soft.</p>
<p>I knit my own. :D</p>
<p>I knew there was a reason I hang out here. Like many others, I don’t splurge on hair, meals, wine, cars, designer clothing…but I do buy quality for the best price. As DH says, it’s easy to get a great $100 bottle of wine, but it takes work to find a great bottle for $10.</p>
<p>I do pay for travel (but stay in cheaper hotels). And I finally upgraded to an expensive phone, which I have yet to pay for since my accumulated minutes from the pay-by-the-month brick are still being credited to the account. It’ll probably hurt when I get the first bill this month, but it’s so worth it for Candy Crush Saga. :)</p>
<p>I had a Kharmann Ghia too! </p>
<p>Overall we live below our means, but I WILL pay good money for a great meal. Most weeks it’s from Costco.</p>
<p>Another thing I won’t pay a lot for: formal dresses and gowns. There are so few such events nowadays - maybe two per year with the same people - so it is not worth it to spend a fortune for a dress I will wear only once in a year. I try to buy them on sale only.</p>
<p>This our second Karmann Ghia; we sold the first one when S1 was born. (Both two-seaters.) As midlife crises go, it could have been a lot worse. ;)</p>
<p>DH does have a beautifully tailored tux. He’ll have it forever.</p>