<p>oldfort, I have finally come to agree with your dad. When we moved into our “new” house 16 months ago, we did the kitchen and lots of decking, etc., in the back yard. Spared no expense. And we’re enjoying these things tremendously!</p>
<p>I look on-line for one that’s used, but it’s still above $2,000, and the authenticity can be in question. So I just continue to drool, and I’ll undoubtedly never own one.</p>
<p>I think most of us seem to have certain trigger points on what is overpriced and what we will pay for. When we needed to replace the faucet in our island over 10 years ago (which had been the repurposed main faucet prior to kitchen remodeling - see, cheap and won’t throw functioning things out,), we went to the nice bath/plumbing supply store and looked for the faucet that we liked without regard to price, as I knew I would look at it every day until we moved. We bought a $500 faucet, not a cheap $65 model from Home Depot, while a couple near us were complaining about the prices. Breaking that down, I’ve paid about $0.01/day to have my nice faucet instead of going cheap. That said, I never order fountain soda at a restaurant! </p>
<p>Same with my convertible last year. I could have paid $12,000 more and bought new, but was happy with the certified pre-owned model we found. It had 26,000 miles on it and I knew I would not be putting high miles on it, I was happy to save the $, but get a nice car. </p>
<p>With S1 still in high school and my former job sending me to all ends of the earth, we haven’t splurged yet on much travel. (The former job fulfilled my travel bug and helped me craft my travel bucket list). That said, I’ve got nearly 1.5 million FF miles that I’m ready to blow on business class seats to Hawaii and Southeast Asia when we can find the time.</p>
<p>I also did get a Nikkor 600mm F4. Looking back, I would probably just rent one for a couple of days. It is so heavy to carry and requires its own set of support system including carbon fiber tripod and expensive head. There are really only few places to use it. It is defintely too long for zoo.</p>
<p>VeryHappy - My good friend always wanted a Chanel suit. Her husband always kid around about how he’ll make sure she gets buried in one. Every time she is sick, her H would say, “Is it time for the suit?” :)</p>
<p>I think you should get the Chanel bag. It was the first bag I bought after my first meaningful bonus (25+ years ago). Every time I carried it, I felt happy. Few years ago, I passed it on to D1. She just had it refurbished recently and it still looks brand new.</p>
<p>Our retirement is set. We’ve been extremely fortunate financially and are able to buy whatever we want. We travel a lot, we have nice cars, a vacation home, no mortgages. I still check sales at the grocery store. Yesterday, I got a great deal on my favorite peanut butter and bought four jars! I saved eight dollars and brought it home in my car that cost six figures. Silly, I guess. </p>
<p>We have helped all of our kids, and often help extended family out financially. We generously donate to our favorite charities and community causes. But I always keep an eye out on gas prices, which often increase on Fridays here, so if I need gas, I get it on Thursday.</p>
<p>We have a lawn and garden service, that also looks after our snow removal. We pay extra for a personal trainer and private Pilates but I still wear my favorite L.L.Bean winter jacket that I’ve had for years and that probably cost less than $100. We stay in expensive hotels when we travel and always fly first class but I buy my favorite slippers for $7.99 at the outlet mall near our vacation home. </p>
<p>We are of the mind that we should enjoy our lives now, we should enjoy seeing our children and family having life a little easier with our help. They will still inherit a good amount when we’re gone but if we can make life a little easier for them, and for extended family now, why not.</p>
<p>oldfort, if I were going to buy the Chanel bag, I should have bought it years ago. Now I work from home (I’m still in my pjs right now) and I can’t even justify buying a new blazer to wear with jeans! I really would have no use for it, but if I had it I would probably make a future DIL very happy one day.</p>
<p>Our attorney is just the opposite. He wanted to know where the assets would go if the Thanksgiving turkey exploded and the entire family was wiped out.</p>
<p>We pay to have the lawn mowed, and the house cleaned. Time is money. We have a HUGE grassy section to our yard, and we want to enjoy it, not spend every weekend or summer evening mowing it. </p>
<p>I won’t overspend on some groceries. Generic sugar is just as good as Domino. But…for meat, I head to the butcher for a good cut (except for chicken).</p>
<p>When we got married, DH had no money. No diamond, no how no way. I/we could now pay cash for a big one today without batting an eye, but no desire on my part. I do have diamond necklace/earrings but for whatever reason, don’t care about having one on my finger. I wear a $500 Tiffany gold band which I bought as a replacement for the original band that DH made for me which I lost.</p>
<p>We have a minor art collection. When we were traveling I saw a beautiful painting. It was beautiful and done by a listed artist. But knowing how many artists have their art stolen by people who copy them I said no.</p>
<p>I loved the painting…but we said no. I don’t know (to this day_ whether it was kosher or not…didn’t want to take the risk.</p>
<p>I love my jewelry. I have seen, over the years, pieces that we didn’t buy…don’t feel sad, we have purchased more than not…but there are pieces out there that I still think about.</p>
<p>It pains me to pay list price for anything. But I’m one of the people who will spend a lot for some things (like meals in a restaurant), but will never pay for some cheap but overpriced things–like a soda from a hotel minibar.</p>
<p>I could afford to live in a nicer apartment, but I choose not to because rent somehow just seems overpriced to me in general (and I only pay $388/month) as a concept. I could easily afford spending 5x as much on rent (I know multiple people starting at the same company in the same role straight out of college spending ~1K for rent), but there’s something in me that can’t get over how expensive housing is. Just for a place to sleep and shower, it’s hard to bring myself to justify spending more than the minimum on rent. So long as the place has running water and electricity.</p>
<p>I also probably have a couple psychological barriers for food as well. A meal above $11 is immediately an expensive meal. A meal above $15 is immediately a very expensive meal. It’s hard to bring myself to pay $15 for a meal by myself, but I’d have absolutely no problem paying $11 for every meal every day.</p>
<p>Likely an inherited family trait, we avoid professional services. The only times I’ve ever been to the doctor since I was 5 or so was when I needed to go to a new school and they make you to enroll. I think my mom has only been to any sort of health professional once in her adult life. We don’t have any financial planners or anything like that, my dad does all his investments himself. I don’t think any of us have ever been to a dentist. No lawyers for anything, before legalzoom my parents just wrote up whatever legal documents they needed themselves (like will and stuff like that) and they filed it with some agency or something. Now they use legalzoom for all that. We could afford all that if we wanted, but it feels (to me at least - probably to them too) like too much of waste of money.</p>
<p>I REALLY hope that you all have medical/dental insurance. Save for your father doing investments (there are people who have a feel for investments) you guys are on a tightrope in the middle of the Grand Canyon without a net.</p>
<p>Have some fun…life is short…and without medical care it truly may be shorter…try the $13 meal…plus tip.</p>
<p>Hunt, it pains me, too, because “list prices” are overinflated expectations of manufacturers of what they think their products are worth and that some customers get baited into paying. Especially for seasonal items such as shoes… if my size sells out prior to 60-70% off sales, so be it. :)</p>
<p>On the topic of those hotel minibars, LOL, I wonder how stale some of the drinks and snacks are in those fridges, because I doubt too many want to pay for hem.</p>
<p>I’ll never forget this lesson - it was in a finance class, but could have easily been a psychology class. The topic was negotiating a real estate purchase. You offer 1,275,000 and they counter with 1,285,000. You say in your mind, ‘whats 10,000 on a million dollar house?’
and gladly accept. These are the same people who might later drive across town and sit in a 2 hour line because the gas station is offering 10 free gallons of gas. (or you can substitute your black friday lines here!)</p>
<p>^^jbourne, some people would point out that saving the money on the gas – and other similar activities – is what ultimately let them buy an almost-$1.3 million house.</p>
<p>oh, yes I agree, but the instructor’s point was that why would you just throw away ten thousand dollars like that. It doesn’t matter what the percentage is, its still ten thousand dollars. our family motto - take care of the cents and the dollars will take care of themselves. LOL - I keep an entertainment book in my car ‘just in case’.</p>