<p>1- My son! He is my very favorite indulgence - tuition, clothing, trips to visit him etc…
2- My hair! I can go without many things but I can not go without having my hair “done” (cut & color) every 8 weeks!
3- A Bosch dishwasher! I have renovated 4 homes. The first thing I always do is rip out whatever disaster of a dishwasher is in the kitchen and replace with a top of the line Bosch dishwasher. My H thinks it is crazy but to me it makes a huge difference in my life and gives me very clean dishes. It may be crazy but it makes me feel very sane!</p>
<p>On the topic of home renovations (since it was mentioned here in previous posts) - I like to live in the space for at least a year before renovating (except of course for the dishwasher replacement). I also spend time looking at other homes in the neighborhood to determine what is considered standard for the area and what is considered an upgrade. I then base my overall plan, including splurge items, on my neighborhood research (if the majority of homes have , for example, a Sub Zero then it is not exactly a splurge it is what the typical buyer would expect). This approach has helped me wrap my head around needs vs. wants when renovating because the costs can quickly get out of hand.</p>
<p>lots of things – good food, nice wine, books…but probably my favorite (and my family thinks I’m nuts) is ink. Fountain pen ink. I keep 5-6 fountain pens inked and in use at all times, and simply cannot resist sampling new colors/brands (and then surrendering to buying full bottles).</p>
<p>A painter. I am extremely fussy and used to do my own, but now it’s too hard on my back. It took me several years to find my current one, but when I heard he worked for one of my high maintenance patients, I knew he would be perfect.</p>
<p>I started him with one room in my house to see how it went. Perfect. I was happy to pay the bill and hired him to do my office. Ultimately, I’ll pay whatever he charges, he’s that good.</p>
<p>I really didn’t get the joke about the typo. I googled it and couldn’t find much because it kept correcting the spelling. Finally I found it on the Urban Dictionary.</p>
<p>A somewhat different question. For those who finished paying tuitions, do you change your life style? </p>
<p>We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel - 4 more quarters of tuition to pay. Most of our income goes to pay those bills and we are almost full pay right now.</p>
<p>Dad II – graduate school looms for our oldest. We aren’t paying but we anticipate helping around the edges. Then it’s also the time to get serious about retirement so we find we are shoveling as much as possible in that direction.</p>
<p>Face cream. I splurge on face cream. I’m horribly frugal about everything else. I remember back when nylons were essential. I used to buy a winter’s worth at one time of the cheapest pantyhose I could find and my H saw the sales slip and was shocked beyond belief how expensive they were. I giggle wondering what he would think if he ever saw the bill for a very tiny container of the face cream I use.</p>
<p>Splurged on buying more expensive synthetic motor oil for my car instead of using cheaper conventional oil which would have been adequate for my car’s engine.</p>
<p>We splurge on experiences–nice meal with kids at nice restaurant, vacations where we are all together enjoying different places, plane trips so we can be together. Most of the rest of the time, we are pretty practical and somewhat frugal, with ancient vehicles that we run until the mechanic tells us it really is time to get a newer vehicle. We fly coach (which sometimes gets upgraded), we eat at inexpensive ethnic restaurants, and we rarely hire household or other help around our home.</p>
<p>My kids education will end up being the most money we have ever spent and I am happy to do so. For myself, our weekly organic fruit & veggie delivery, monthly magazines and our several vacations (camping) each year.</p>
<p>Art and travel. We splurge on antique oils of a particular genre and time frame. And our three sons. They are a huge splurge. We buy them each a car as they graduate. ( or, I should say we make the down payment so they have a 100 car payment in order to build credit.</p>
<p>Travel. Don’t spend much on clothes. Don’t own a piece of jewelry worth more than $100. Drove the crappiest car in the neighborhood until recently when we donated it to NPR as a junker. But…just got back from a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia with the family. 11 yo child has been to over 30 countries and will soon need a new set of pages in her passport. We find being abroad together to be an amazing experience both in terms of educational opportunities and family togetherness.</p>
<p>Oops, I guess I have to admit our kids are our biggest splurges, especially their educations. Have NO regrets on that–sent them to private HS & private college. Both have benefitted from both and made wonderful friends and gotten great skills.</p>
<p>The rest, we do splurge on experiences and travel. We really are not much on “things,” but do like some tech. We have also recently splurged to get smart phones and Sprint unlimited data for the next two years, which we think will work well for all of us.</p>