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Old 05-28-2013, 09:00 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by ChocoKitty View Post
Oh, I agree completely. I'm on a yarn diet right now because I overdid it the past few months. I know, some people say sock yarn doesn't count as stash, but my overflowing bins beg to differ. And these days I only buy sock yatn because I love it that much.

Where do you buy yours and what do you like most?
Yes, this thread has been hijacked by knitters. ChocoKitty, I do a lot of charity knitting (scarves for the rape crisis center, blankets for Project Linus, pet snuggies for the animal shelters) so most of that yarn comes from Michaels/Joann/Hobby Lobby, using coupons or trolling the sales. I don't buy the cheapest stuff, but I am careful about costs (though I do keep track and take the deduction on taxes).

When I want to do nice stuff, I typically try to find the bargains on yarn.com, or KnitPicks, or occasionally from a local yarn shop. I love KnitPicks sock yarn and many of their other yarns - decent quality, reasonable prices. I have also used Cascade Heritage Paints sock yarn, which I loved a LOT. You can never go wrong with any Cascade yarns.
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Old 05-28-2013, 09:06 PM   #22
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And so as not to get thrown out by the OP, here is my splurge. Got it 3 months ago, even though I did NOT need a new car. I just wanted it.
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Old 05-28-2013, 09:07 PM   #23
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Wow, what a beautiful car! (The Jag, not the Crosstrek with the weird rims, though it is a nice car too.) Just went to Edmunds.com and they have good things to say about it too.

One thing I see financially is that there will be some extra cost for insurance, maintenance (probably), and speeding tickets (likely!).

Only you can say if this is worth it to you vs. spending on something else or having more of a safety buffer. I was kind of at that same point many years ago and had planned to get a new Honda S2000 when I hit a number, but when I got there I decided I'd be just as happy with a slightly used Miata for considerably less. 14 years later I still like driving the Miata, though it shakes a lot on the highway now. But some are bigger car enthusiasts than me, and appreciate a true sports car more.
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Old 05-28-2013, 09:17 PM   #24
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Okay I will fess up what I am thinking of.
it is a car but oh what a car--at least to us.

a 2014 Jaquar F-type--price range from about $65-100k depending on the model, etc.....
So we were going to get a new car--hadn't decided on what to get but this is easily $20-40k over that budget. I don't need a car like this but I do appreciate nice cars (love my BMW) and this just looks like a fun car.
That is NOT a splurge, that is an investment, and "only" $20 to $40 K more than you woud spend anyway, some of which you will get back when you sell it one day. Completely justified .
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Old 05-28-2013, 10:01 PM   #25
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Part of "are we ready to ER" for us was for me to buy a new car - a Prius. Although I was sad to give up the stickshift, I was not sad to trade up from a 2000 Ford Focus to a 2010 Prius!

Our ER splurge was two cruises in the first 9 months - a Panama Canal trip just after I ER'd, and an Alaska trip the following summer for our 25th anniversary. Both were terrific.

I'm intrigued by all the yarn posts as one of my ER activities is knitting - I mostly knit prayer shawls for my church (25+ in two years) but I've started on some other small projects. I may start looking for nicer yarns than whatever Michaels/Hobby Lobby/Joann's has on sale! Thanks for the tips!
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Old 05-28-2013, 10:08 PM   #26
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When DH retired and I semi-retired we sort of mentally set aside a sum of money that we felt that we could spend on sort of extra fun stuff. We spent some of it on a more expensive vacation than what we would usually spend. The rest of it we will spend at some point when the urge moves us.
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Old 05-28-2013, 10:09 PM   #27
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I'd definitely splurge. We already travel a lot, so I doubt there'll be any significant change in that once I officially do retire. I think my main splurge will be a gas free vehicle.
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Old 05-28-2013, 10:27 PM   #28
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I bought my Venza as I had planned to do for a long time. Other than that, I didn't really think of anything to splurge on. But you have, and if you can afford it, so why not?
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Old 05-28-2013, 11:02 PM   #29
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If you don't jeopardize your FIRE plan by buying this car, I say go ahead and splurge.
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Old 05-28-2013, 11:09 PM   #30
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Originally Posted by hakuna matata View Post
I love it--my thread has become a yarn thread!
Also a knitter here.

Don't be surprised if someone here knits this for your new car, not only hijacking your thread but also your car:
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Old 05-28-2013, 11:33 PM   #31
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We bought a big (for us) travel trailer, and ended up having to upgrade our truck to be able to handle it confidently. We had planned for the trailer for years, since we could not have one when we lived overseas. I had not planned on the truck upgrade so soon.

All of that said, if we had been living in the States, we would have had the TT some years ago, it would have been smaller, would not have needed the truck upgrade so soon, but probably would not have been ERd at 51.

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Old 05-29-2013, 01:26 AM   #32
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Retireing next month. Bought a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4-door in January as an early retirement present to me. I'll be moving to the middle of Colorado Off-Road country, so maybe that's a 'necessity'. A Harley will be comming soon. A friend who retired about a year ago is puting the finishing touches on a Miata with a Ford V8 stuffed into it. It will be in the same range of horsepower as the above sports cars. That was a major splurge for him.
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Old 05-29-2013, 04:24 AM   #33
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Although all were long-planned purchases, within six months we bought a brand-new house, a brand-new car for DW, and a brand-new 4WD pickup truck for me.

I'm pretty sure we'll never do that again.
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Old 05-29-2013, 04:47 AM   #34
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I'm coming to the realization I may have to w*rk one or two more years for the big splurge. I've been talking about a Porsche for 30 years. Not sure if it is worth that.
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Old 05-29-2013, 05:01 AM   #35
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"Big" is a relative term. Like Moemg, we always spend a bit less than our budget and toss the remainder in a "mad money" fund. We have splurged a bit at times but so far it hasn't caused us to exceed our budget for any year. Shortly after I ER'd we bought a Lexus SUV which was a nicer car than we had ever previously bought. In the last 12 months we have splurged more than usual. We had custom bikes built last fall and this year we have travelled to France, are heading to Prague and Vienna shortly, and are going to New Zealand and Australia next January. We blew a quarter of a million frequent flyer points to do the latter trip on a mix of business and first class - I guess that qualifies as a splurge.

Edit: getting business class award seats to New Zealand in January was no easy task. For the two of us they would cost $20,000 to $25,000 so, from that perspective, 250,000 points is not a big deal.
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Old 05-29-2013, 05:06 AM   #36
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My Tesla is by far the biggest splurge that I've have had since I retired. After rebate it is 56k. But that is only part of it, I also decide to get a PV system to charge it, which in turn meant a new roof. No reason to but a PV system that will last 20+ years on roof that only has 5 to 10 years left.

My electrical system was ancient, underpowered 70 AMP, and bit dangerous. So I also am in the process of upgrading the electrical system. The metal roof, PV, and electrical system add another 35K to the car so now it it 90K... On the other my gasoline and electrical bill should shrink to $15/month forever..
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Old 05-29-2013, 05:40 AM   #37
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My take is that you might consider splurging on something that makes you happy. Conspicuous consumption has been tested in many experiements against happiness. If you buy-in to those goofy psychologist's tests, buying something to show off always comes up short on the happiness scale, I'm afraid. If you can show-off and create a chunk of life you didn't have (like taking up RVing) I think that's a different story. If you want to "enjoy the doing as much as the done", then buying a car is all "done".
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Old 05-29-2013, 06:55 AM   #38
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The thing with some of these higher end cars, they may be an initial splurge, but you get to keep slurging on insurance, gas, tires/maintenance, and then the worry of some moron scratching or denting your beauty. Don't mean to be a buzzkill, but just some food for thought from an exotic car lover
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Old 05-29-2013, 08:43 AM   #39
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I am not too worried about the insurance, upkeep, etc on the F-type, it will be a consideration but the BMW wasn't cheap (although I didn't buy it new) but the upkeep on that isn't cheap either. Luckily both my wife tend to analyze purchases like this and then decide based on our discussion. We recently had designed a new deck and patio for our home that we had x amount budgeted for it--the lowest of the three bids was double that number and the highest bid was triple! Needless to say we opted to not move forward on that particular design! We are now building a revised deck design that fits our original budget. So we would never buy this car if either of us felt it would impact our retirement--but by the same token we worked and saved that money and want to enjoy it.

The reason I started the thread is that it seems after a lifetime of saving and not spending, I was wondering how difficult people were finding it to shift gears. I want to enjoy my retirement and the work I have done to get to that. Just not working and an early retirement isn't my goal but enjoying the fruits of that hard work is.

I have a very good friend who retired last year and he is struggling with that I think. I know his finances (we are good friends) and he could easily spend triple what he is spending and be below 2% on his withdrawal rate. But he finds it hard to spend money and that is fine -- to each their own. I don't anticipate "I" will have that issue
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Old 05-29-2013, 09:03 AM   #40
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Hakuna - I'm a car person, so my vote is to splurge, as long as it doesn't hurt your FI. That Jag is a pretty car, so enjoy if you get it!

Hermit - Saw your post about buying a Jeep and moving to Colorado. If you're free to say...where in Colorado? I lived there for a number of years, including in Teller County west of Colorado Springs. I loved Colorado and miss it terribly. If I'm able to FIRE in a couple years, I want to go back for a year or two and do all the outdoors things I enjoy without a j*b hanging over me. Would love to find a place somewhere around Summit County or Vail, as I'd want to live like a ski bum for one good ski season (bucket list item, LOL). Just be careful out there with all the drought and fires they've had. Makes me sad to read about all the fires Colorado has been having last few years. Lot different than when I lived there.
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