What WILL you spend on?
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| Mon, 06-05-2006 - 4:09pm |
Studentforlife started a great post and it got me thinking what I DO spend on! And what I refuse to stop spending money on...
Haircuts. I go to Aveda and recently started using their shampoo and love it. I used to buy the cheap stuff but changed about 6 months ago. It lasts alot longer than normal shampoo and my hair is alot healthier. I've gotten so many bad, bad bad haircuts because my hair is baby fine and straight so I started going to Aveda a few years back. I don't color or highlight though.
Free range and meat and hormone free eggs. I was a vegetarian for 12 years until recently so I only buy chicken that is free range, hormone free and treated humanely from non-factory farms. Its pricey so I don't eat alot of chicken! The hormone free, cage free eggs I get more often and they are much healthier!
Those are my splurges. They make me happy and are in line with my beliefs. Oh, also I drive 5 hours each way once or twice a month to visit my parents and my grandmother in a nursing home. And I don't care how pricey the gas gets I will see my family because they are so important to me.
Yikes, I'm a bigger spender than I thought....


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This is a GREAT thread...
The #1 thing I spend on...anything that is a a memory builder or is something we can do as a family and broaden the girls horizons. Not just movies and junk like that. Trips, museums, theater,classes that interest them
Anything Dh wants....he makes me weak in the knees when he smiles at me like that;-) Thank goodness he doesn't want much
And from now on-FURNITURE we tried to buy something cheaper last time and now it is trashed 2 years later. JUNK
My gym membership...a splurge because I can workout at home for free, but love the women I've met at the gym, I also have to spend on fuel & wear & tear on my vehicle because the gym is 15 miles away from home.
Hair & hair products, color (to cover the gray) & trims every 6 weeks or so, I too have started using the Aveda hair products! I really like them, they make my hair look so healthy too.
Activities my DH & I can do together, such as bowling, boating, dinner out, a movie once in a while...keeps us closer together.
My two dogs (our babies!), we love them & I buy dog treats & rawhides for them all the time & make sure I get them to the vet when needed.
I guess that is about it...but plenty when I got to thinking about it.
cindylee
I see it as a good balance. Afterall, we go through life once and I don't want to be completely deprieved. I see it as choices and I think we are all making smart ones not crazy ones! I mean, our splurges some people consider drops in the bucket.
I hear you on the dog one! I rescued a dog years ago and paid for training (he was a 6 yr. old good boy but I wanted to make sure!) and he was eating top of the line Nutro and getting pet store compressed rawhide treats while I was eating top ramen. He needed a $2000 surgery so I took out a loan for it. I thought to myself "its not his fault I'm in debt!"
And the Aveda...so worth it!
Another great question!
lvhunnie2005
ITA about haircuts. I've been with the same stylist for 10 years now. I see her every 7 weeks for a haircut, and it is totally worth it to me.
Good shoes for my kids. I take them to Stride Rite every 4-5 months and get them fitted for good tennis shoes. I then know their size and can buy their dress shoes and sandals for cheap (Payless and resale shops). I have bought cheaper tennies the next size up when they grow too fast. My Grandma and my MIL both have had to have foot surgery, in part because they didn't have properly sized shoes growing up. It is worth it to me to have a real human being tell me the right size.
-Sarah
Sarah
Mom to Gina & Tony
Ok things I will spend $$ on...
Cable...we only get one channel if we dont have cable and I am not able to live without it.
I subscribe to people magazine for $54 a year
clothes for my kids. I tend to buy clearence items at good stores, name brands because they hold up well and my 2 youngest can wear hand me downs and since they are so close in age then they are still in style.
craft fair fees (beacuse they make me money in the long run, cost anywhere from 15-250 for a weekend)
my computer, but i am looking to find one cheaper. My computer is my lifeline for my business.
I am sure I can think of more..LOL
Great idea for a thread!
For me, I guess there aren't too many things, especially right now. The things that come to mind are:
**health care for the family (including pets)
**organic milk for ds ($5.99/gal vs. $1.99/gal I used to pay on sale)
**our dsl line ($14.99/mo)
**our cell phones (dh needs it to juggle all his part-time jobs and he and I share a plan where we talk to each other for free)
**our satellite tv (almost everything we watch is on "specialty" channels vs. the "Big 3" networks, so going without it would mean NO entertainment for us, since we don't go to movies, etc.)
**good furniture (as someone previously posted, the cheap stuff doesn't last! We're not buying any right now, but when we're in the market again ... only quality!!)
Amy
I think these a great posts!! It is interesting to see the rationale for the decisoions people make.
I will spend on:
Good quality work clothes, and shoes. I wear suits, and professional clothes as well, and buy good quality basic pieces (usually on sale/ or consignment) . I also pick up T-shirts, camisoles, blouses, socks etc at Walmart or someplace inexpensive.
Learning experiences for my kids, books, toys with good play value, trip to museums, reenactments, etc. This includes swimming lessons in the summer. We enjoy doing this as a family.
Cell phone, I live in a really rural area, and this is a lifesaver for me.
Gardening, I love to garden, so I am often picking up plant here and there. I figure I've spent about $ 70 on my garden this year
Used books, I couldn't live without my books.
My Tim Hortons habit, I buy coffee by the can $ 5.99, and I pick up a cup of coffee at least 3-4 times a week ($ 1.60 x 4) This corresponds to my DH Pepsi habit. These are are only true vice.
Our Cabin, we pay a montly lot lease fee, of $ 130 a month. However this is such a good get away for our family, it is worth it.
Clothes and trips for the kids are occasional expenses, these I find hard to predict. However, I spend about $ 10 a month on books, and about $ 50 a month on coffee + the cabin, and cell phones $ 60, this is $ 250 a month I don't HAVE to spend. However, they are all essential to my quality of life. My DH would also spend another $ 50-60 a month on pepsi, so add it all together and it is more than my car payment. Make you think, doesn't it!!
Another great thread! I'm enjoying all the responses.
Here are mine:
Activities and experiences for the kids (but I wish I could afford to spend more--so many great things for them to do)
A date twice a month for me and dh (our marriage is worth it! LOL)
Organic/free range meats, dairy, and eggs when I can swing it
High speed internet (the Internet serves so many functions in our personal and business lives, I can hardly imagine life without it--besides, dh and I both need a good connection for business purposes--and since we don't have a land line, dial-up is not an option)
Cell phone rather than land line (more expensive, sort of, but so much more functional--besides, long distance is included in the plan, so I think it's actually cheaper for us--I love not having to think twice before giving Mom a call to chat for half an hour)
Charity
Good quality furniture, clothes, etc.--but I mostly buy that stuff second hand, so it's still cheaper than inexpensive retail items.
This is a great question!!
Netflix - Since we only have CBS and half the time the reception is so bad, you can't watch it anyway. I love getting the movies and it is soooo much cheaper than blockbuster (oh and our bb charges late fees because they aren't a corp store, they do not have to follow corps policies!! A pain in the winter when the expressway is closed and the roads are bad!!)
Landline - I keep it because the cell doesn't work well in the house, only in a 2ft sq area in the living room also I can get my 9.95 internet. I miss my old 4.95 unlimited netzero bill but no netzero in my new area.
Bowling - we love it and it costs 11.40 for 2 games for my son and I in the next town over. Add another 2.50 if we bowl by my sister's house but still a cheap night for us and it gets my sister out of the house and stops her depression for a bit.
Healthy foods/grains - I won't by wonderbread since it is sooo bad for you. I get 7-9 full grain not enriched breads and whole grain pasta. We also eat elk, antelope, moose and buffalo but since my parents are hunters it is free. I try and stay away from beef again because it is so fatty and bad and my cholestrol isn't that great. Of course I still eat pork which probably is bad too but I love it way too much to give up (I just eat less)
Dried fruits - when I can make it to Costco (next state over) I stock up on dried fruit. It is great for traveling and my son will actually eat it (he loves dried mangos)
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