What do you splurge on

[RetireBy90]

I was torn on posting this. I sure don't need any other splurges but I am curious if you have small items that you pamper yourself with if you are retired or close.



Once I retired from the military, I promised myself a regular barber. I still go on-base for a cut but I have a barber that knows what I want and I give her a bit more tip than I used to.



Now that I retired from working for the man, I splurge on a starbucks coffee every week or two. I also use a laptop that I like not the cheapest one that will work. Oh, and big time important for us, we get Wegmans strip steaks when we eat steak. Love the steaks from there.



How about others ? are there small items you treat yourself to if you are FI or close ?

 

[Dtail]

Godiva chocolate from time to time, even though it is $50+ per pound.

 

[kcowan]

Red wine: $25 versus $12
Car: Mercedes vs Ford
Air fare: Business class vs economy
NA Beer: The best available
iBooks: Amazon and Kobo
iTunes: All desirable tracks

 

[Red Badger]

No coach flights. Either biz or FC.

Hunting and fishing on weekdays!

 

[Car-Guy]

Hobbies

 

[jim584672]

$20 ssd.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

A 6 pack of premium ale, either an EPA or IPA.

If I'm really feeling special I'll grill up an elk steak along with it.

 

[pjm-7]

The fancy olive bar at the grocery store.

 

[mountainsoft]

Red wine: $25 versus $12

We UPGRADED to $10 red wines from the $5 bargain wines we used to drink.

Food items are probably our biggest splurges, either eating dinners out occasionally or buying groceries we don't really need (and our waistlines show it).

Our hobbies don't really cost that much on a regular basis. I may spring for a new woodworking tool every few years, but at this point I already have most everything I need and only need to buy when something breaks. Same with my computer equipment, cameras, and video gear.

Lately I've been splurging on retirement and investing ebooks for my Kindle, but I justify it as education.

 

[Fedup]

I spent 2-week in Switzerland last summer. That was a real splurge.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Cooking gadgets and music hobbies. Strip steaks--our sous vide then grilled steaks are better than steakhouse steaks.

 

[cathy63]

I spent 2-week in Switzerland last summer. That was a real splurge.

LOL, just got back from 2 weeks in Switzerland and 1 in Austria. I concur, Switzerland is a real splurge! It's probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen though.

 

[Fedup]

LOL, just got back from 2 weeks in Switzerland and 1 in Austria. I concur, Switzerland is a real splurge! It's probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen though.

I agree it’s beautiful. My husband wants to go back there again.

 

[footenote]

Like EastWest Gal, we think cap steaks in the sous vide are better than we can get in a restaurant. Well worth the splurge (especially when we can buy Prime at Costco).

 

[pacergal]

Coffee house coffee (Starbucks, Dutch Bros, etc) when out and about
Meals in restaurants more frequently
First/business class for air travel
Higher Quality hotels/resorts for trips

 

[Bestwifeever]

After scrimping our whole married life (and spending what we did have on our kids), we have moved into “If you want it, you get it” mode. I made DH spend $$ on a ton of new well-fitting clothes last month—he has a very nice bod at almost 70 and if you still got it, flaunt it! He had to burn some of those old clothes, though.

 

[REWahoo]

He had to burn some of those old clothes, though.

DW laments the fact men's clothing doesn't come with a "use by" date.

 

[Bestwifeever]

DW laments the fact men's clothing doesn't come with a "use by" date.

 

[kgtest]

Red wine: $25 versus $12
Car: Mercedes vs Ford
Air fare: Business class vs economy
NA Beer: The best available
iBooks: Amazon and Kobo
iTunes: All desirable tracks

Lol, is there a good NA beer? Been sober for about a decade and have yet to find one. Maybe I just liked the buzz and not the taste lol.

 

[Telly]

I... I don't have anything to contribute, and feel left out. I can't think of anything I want to "splurge" on, nor can I think of anything I've splurged on for so many years. If it's some tool, like maybe an extension-pole electric chainsaw pruner, I think "how often am I really going to use it... and where will I PUT it?" And for travel, I really want to sleep at night in my OWN bed, with my DW of 40+ years. And boats? Nope. Airplanes? Nope. RVs? Nope. Expensive cars? Nope and Nope, as I maintain everything myself.

I'm hopeless. Maybe I could get a large government grant to analyze my situation

 

[audreyh1]

We splurge on travel mostly. And have been flying first/business recently.

This year we upgraded most of our electronics, but that means we won’t be doing that again for a few years.

 

[skipro33]

We hire out the carpet cleaning now instead of renting a machine and doing it ourselves.

Bought a 70" TV. Wow! And a 5.1 sound system.

Upgraded faucets in the house that work without touching the knobs. Just put hands in front and the water turns on.

We use the clothes dryer more and the clothes line less.

Replace the car every 4 years. No more working on the family car, even changing oil is covered. The trade-in has lost maybe $10,000 off new price, making owning a new car $2,500 a year.

We buy better quality beef and eat seafood more often. I love shrimp and crab!

In the process of replacing my tools with higher quality stuff. Nothing makes a project more fun than good tools.

 

[braumeister]

We splurge on travel mostly. And have been flying first/business recently.

Same here. It's really my only luxury.

 

[brett]

Travel

 

[Bestwifeever]

We splurge on travel mostly. And have been flying first/business recently.

This year we upgraded most of our electronics, but that means we won’t be doing that again for a few years.

We just spent $60k plus on house reno which made me step back from an upgrade to premium economy from Spain last week (it was $700 for the two of us and I thought hmmm, that would buy some nice new bedding and towels). Will definitely upgrade in the future though.

DH needs a new phone and his MacBook Pro is nine years old—the Apple store is quite impressed that it is still humming along but he can’t upgrade some apps. So there’s a splurge coming.