What do you splurge on

[Teacher Terry]

Travel and eating out. We are having a big party in our backyard on Saturday and I hired a live singer, people can dance, etc. That’s a first for us.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

We're not retired yet, but now that FIREcalc and Fido's tool say we're in very good shape to retire by 55, and would have money to burn if we worked until 65, I'm buying more and better craft beer and single malt scotch, mostly. We're still maxing out our retirement saving every year, plus putting money aside to buy our next new car for cash, so we've decided that it's time to let up off the gas pedal a bit, so to speak.

My partner does drink, but the beer and scotch are mostly for me. Don't worry, we also bought a horse, and that's DEFINITELY not for me.

 

[IBWino]

Eating out. Each week, I take my wife out to one of several nice restaurants in our area; the bill usually ranges between $150 and $300 depending on the location, food and wine selected, and whether or not we have a cocktail.

 

[Luvdogs]

I am traveling more often. But I still don't do first class, just the cheapie class. I guess the LBYB will never go away for me. I'm kind of petite so it really doesn't bother me, even to Europe--I suck it up for a few hours (have a couple glasses of wine on the flight so I wouldn't care anyway) in order to save $$ for nicer hotels, etc.

 

[davebarnes]

Meat.
We shop at our (new) local butcher and charcuterie.
Cheese.
From the local fromagerie.
Wine.
$20 instead of $12.

 

[MRG]

Eating out here, three times a week. We enjoy a little whole in the walk Mexican restaurant next to the gym. It's never over $50.00 with drinks and tip.

We also enjoy better meat.

 

[tb001]

Those "small" splurges seem to vary significantly--I think of upgrading to business as a big splurge!

But to answer your question, we are theoretically FI, but not yet retired, mainly because we want to be able to fund the splurges that we've gotten used to, as well as things like bus class upgrades and nicer hotels when we travel. Some of the things that are important to us--2x/mo housekeeper, the ability to eat out or eat well at home regularly, hobbies that we enjoy, etc...

Our RE budget includes a significant amount of discretionary income for those things and it's worth adding a few more years to be able to have them and still be reasonably sure we'll be safe. That said, we're also planning on a higher withdraw rate than many here (3.75-4%), knowing that we have room to pull back if needed.

 

[travelover]

Splurged on our forever retirement home. Given that we spend a lot of time here, it seems like a good return on investment.

 

[gayl]

Sbux every morning $2.05 (prefer my ceramic cup to paper taste)
Travel
Pay up charge for aisle seat in exit row, must admit I've done a few upper decks on 747-400 & A380

Edited to add: given today's market blimp : stocks

 

[dtbach]

Travel and dining out the main splurges. Also spend extra on better meat and seafood at grocery. No more cheap wine or beer either.

 

[ABQ2015]

I splurged on a nice car for road trips. Another splurge is staying in national park lodges which are expensive but I enjoy the convenience and the quiet once the crowds have left the park for the night. I also bought myself a few small antiques last month for my birthday. Electronics are not important to me.

What I would really like to splurge on is eating out. But I have a weight problem and am trying to lose so that is off limits.

 

[ivinsfan]

Our well puked out, now replacing the well in not a splurge, but we have a 100 year old farmhouse with a stone foundation...the old well is submerged in a pump house and that no longer legal to do in this state. The well guy said you can get a backhoe to punch the water line into your foundation, or you can pay a little more and get a drilling crew that will come up through the basement floor. Cause apparently there is a small chance the wall method might cause the foundation of the house to shift or even cause some rocks to fall out!!!

So I guess the driller that we instantly agreed to is sort of a splurge....

 

[aja8888]

Car hobby fetish.

Just bought a 2002 BMW convertible in mint condition. Park it next to my 1998 Ford F150 Lariat Edition with 47,000 miles on it.

 

[mystang52]

I find it interesting, yet I guess not surprising, that most of the replies mention relatively minor splurges. I'm in that camp as well. I go out for breakfast virtually every morning - it's just a bagel and coffee, but something that I enjoy. I also treat myself to small "toys" related to my cycling and running passions.
I also buy the occasional bigger and more expensive toy, like a recent GoPro, but in these cases I get permission first from DW.

 

[Dtail]

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.

Allagash beer from Maine. Great wheat beer, but they don't have it in FLA. It is now mainstream in parts of the Northeast.

 

[Dtail]

Travel and eating out. We are having a big party in our backyard on Saturday and I hired a live singer, people can dance, etc. That’s a first for us.

Sounds cool. Let us know how that turns out.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Allagash beer from Maine. Great wheat beer, but they don't have it in FLA. It is now mainstream in parts of the Northeast.

Allagash is great, but I think kgtest meant non-alcoholic, not North American or Northeastern.

I had a regular customer who would give my coworker and I St. Pauli NA when we were done helping them at their house, and it tasted pretty good for a pale lager.

HOLY CRAP, I just saw that Weihenstphaner makes an NA beer called Weihenstphaner Hefeweissbier Alkoholfrei that was very highly rated! I love their regular beer, so I'd recommend trying to find that one!

 

[braumeister]

I just saw that Weihenstphaner makes an NA beer called Weihenstphaner Hefeweissbier Alkoholfrei that was very highly rated! I love their regular beer, so I'd recommend trying to find that one!

Believe it or not, NA beer is very popular in Germany. What is the world coming to?

 

[Walt34]

We go out to lunch (rarely dinner) far more often than we used to and we're more inclined to order steaks instead of salads as a main course. We're also more inclined to buy steaks instead of chicken at the grocery store.

In the winter we splurge on heat, keeping the house at 78° or sometimes more. One of the attractions to buying this house is that it has natural gas heat, which is not common around here and is relatively cheap. We also paid extra for additional insulation in the attic and a house wrap when it was built. I figure what we spend on heat we save on A/C in the summer because we still keep it warmer than most people do.

Splurge on car maintenance now. I'm 68 and I'm done crawling around under vehicles. Also on lawn mowing and fertilizing, we hire that out.

 

[Dtail]

Allagash is great, but I think kgtest meant non-alcoholic, not North American or Northeastern.

I had a regular customer who would give my coworker and I St. Pauli NA when we were done helping them at their house, and it tasted pretty good for a pale lager.

HOLY CRAP, I just saw that Weihenstphaner makes an NA beer called Weihenstphaner Hefeweissbier Alkoholfrei that was very highly rated! I love their regular beer, so I'd recommend trying to find that one!

Yes, now that makes more sense. I do miss my Allagash though.

 

[RobbieB]

Everything but houses and cars. As long as I don't buy the million dollar house and the Maserati I can pretty much do what I please with everything else.

 

[Midpack]

There’ve been threads like this before, but it’s been a while.

• We spend well more than average on dining out.
• I play golf.
• We go to the latest theater/stage plays and concerts in Chicago some, very expensive, so we go less often now that I’m retired.
• We’ve only bought a used car once (1988) in 38 years, all have been new. But we do keep them for 8-11 years so it’s not that expensive long term.
• We have iPhones & iPads, don’t really need them. We keep them until they’re no longer functional (we both have iPhone 6 Plus, pretty old now).
• We buy quality items and don’t replace them until they’re unusable. e.g. our clothes washer is 26 yo and going strong. DW and I both have clothes and outerwear that’s 20-30 year old. I could go on forever about taking care of stuff and keeping it until it dies.

We spend a lot less on housing, and most other categories. We owned boats for 25 years, last three ranged from $130-150K. We gave up that indulgence. We don't spend much on travel, at least compared to many here judging by posts I've read over the years.

 

[Christine]

I'm not good at spending that dough! But I do enjoy minor splurges. I think the joy of a splurge wears off after a while. So several small ones spread out over the year give more joy than a large one.


Taking a taxi and not the bus when I'm not bringing the car.


Shopping for clothes I get everything I like. I don't like shopping though so not going berserk!


The same goes for books/music/kindle etc. And Netflix and similar.


I splurge on better quality items when buying food, wine, gadgets and computers.


I also enjoy planning to splurge. Right now it's the pros/cons of either upgrading my motorhome and go fulltime for some years. Or selling the motorhome and upgrading my house and my car.

 

[HillCountry]

Compared with 20 years ago, everything is a splurge. But I view this as life style improvement. There is about 50% inflation during the time, while our spending goes up about 10 times. If considering we have 4 people in the family vs 2, we are spending 3 times now.

 

[imoldernu]

Bought ten cassettes from the Goodwill store, 'cuz they marked them down to $.29. Randy Travis, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson etc.
Going back tomorrow to pick out some of the "books on tape", when I can spend some time and get the Ken Patterson and P.D. James books I haven't read. $1.00/book, so I have to be selective. You'd think at that price, they'd at least alphabetize the selections. Oh well...