Bogleheads.org

by **VictoriaF** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:40 am

epilnk wrote:Travel. Definitely travel. We're embracing the philosophy of buying experiences, not things...

A complement to buying desired experiences is buying one's way out of undesired ones. I try to do both.

Victoria

by **The Wizard** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:53 am

semperlux wrote:
The Wizard wrote:Gotcha beat there, John: roughly 3000 sf (& 5 bedrooms) just for myself...

Just curious, do you use all the space? Or mainly have it just in case you get lots of guests visiting? Wife & I currently live in 2000 sf and we don't even use half the house. How do you keep heating / cooling costs down? We close the doors & vents to all the rooms we don't use so we're not heating / cooling those parts of the house.

There was a time when i was married with two kids, but they grew up and left, etc.
I've a buy&hold approach to more than mutual funds, it would seem.
So for me, it's not really a splurge, just more of a status quo.
I do have two wood stoves and get my wood for free, so to speak...

by **anakinskywalker** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:28 am

charitable donations.

by **travellight** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:56 am

lol, livesoft..... perfect response.

by **Mrs.Feeley** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:16 am

The hound dogs. They get whatever their slaphappy hearts desire. In fact, according to the household expenses spreadsheet, last year I spent nearly twice as much on Goughnuts and big fuzzy fur footballs as I did on shoes, socks, shoelaces, haircuts, Kleenex, and other personal care expenses for both myself and the rest of the family.

by **jimcrawford01** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:10 am

Airplane and Motorcycle.

Otherwise, I am a true BogleHead. That is how I can participate in the Airplane and Motorcycle activities.

by **mclvngr** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:35 am

The $5,000 watch, of course!

by **Neal** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:51 am

International travel. My wife and I were bitten by the travel bug while studying abroad in college and never recovered. It has been worth every penny. I don't mind having an old car.

My wife's aunt and uncle hardly traveled at all with plans to see the world when they retired, but unfortunately her uncle fell ill just before retirement and passed away not to long after that. We are doing our traveling now.

Also got a conical burr grinder for my coffee

by **leod** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:44 am

mclvngr wrote:The $5,000 watch, of course!

don't turn this into a 12 page thread

Vacation travels is what we splurge on. International being the biggest hit in my bank account :annoyed

by **ObliviousInvestor** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:56 am

Our biggest splurge these days is our spending on climbing. (The gym memberships aren't cheap, and there's some necessary gear that goes with it.) But, it's good exercise and we're having fun with it.

by **leo383** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:02 pm

Bass Guitars.

by **Random Musings** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:41 pm

Vacations. We do shop around for price, but make up on volume.

RM

by **covertfantom** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:46 pm

I spend $1100 a year for 2 roller hockey games a week when I could be playing for free in outdoor pickup...

by **XtremeSki2001** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:20 pm

Travel. Probably spend 10% of our gross on trips.

by **gkaplan** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:54 pm

I did go to the movies yesterday afternoon. It was a matinee, though.

by **Go Blue 99** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:57 pm

Travel. I am going to be out of town 8 out of the next 10 weekends.

Eating out. About 3-4 times a week.

by **epilnk** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:17 am

VictoriaF wrote:
epilnk wrote:Travel. Definitely travel. We're embracing the philosophy of buying experiences, not things...

A complement to buying desired experiences is buying one's way out of undesired ones. I try to do both.

Victoria

Ah yes. Known in our family as "throw money at the problem to make it go away".

by **LearningToSpend** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 8:18 pm

Very expensive clothing.
Highly depreciated luxury cars.

If you're going to be a miser, at least look good doing it!

by **Mrs.Feeley** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:30 am

VictoriaF wrote:
epilnk wrote:Travel. Definitely travel. We're embracing the philosophy of buying experiences, not things...

A complement to buying desired experiences is buying one's way out of undesired ones. I try to do both.

Victoria

A brilliant reply.

I think of all the times I've taken a cab to a Sheraton after relatives booked me into a bedbug motel with drunks in all surrounding rooms and 14-wheelers rumbling outside the window all night.

I think of the occasional hospital private room which has spared me from the snoring, moans, obnoxious relative visits and incessant TV of a roommate after waking from major surgery.

In every instance I'm accused of being a spendthrift after buying myself out of those awful situations. So be it. It's what money's for.

by **tetractys** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:56 am

I splurge on my retirement fund. Wow, just landed in a neat pension plan. It's like the G fund we hear about from the TSP folks, and then upon retirement it turns into an awesome COLA'd annuity for life; but I think at about 9/10th the cost of a SPIA. Oh, also used my own gas and car to take a friend grocery shopping (cool place with about 20 different kinds of fresh fish), and then bought her ice-cream.

interplanetjanet wrote:I'm slowly being convinced of the merits of Japanese-style heated toilet seats. Especially on cold mornings. I might have to splurge...

Just get yourself a styrofoam ring--works well to below freezing temperatures with the added benefits of softness, and not freezing to the seat. -- Tet

by **TheEternalVortex** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:35 am

Alcohol

by LH » Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:56 am

travel.

eating out at applebees level restaurants about 10 times a week.

by **prudent** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:04 am

About to splurge on a head unit for a new-to-me (in other words, used) car. Got a great deal on the car and knowing we'll have it for at least 6-7 years I'm going to put an Advent OGM-1 in it. In-dash nav, bluetooth, streaming audio, plays video, completely integrated with the factory steering wheel controls, OnStar and backup sensors.

by **Exuberent** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:33 am

Travel with my wife.
Thoroughbred race horses (50% lease in one, 50% and 25% ownership respectively in two others). Gets me up and out in the morning to help out at the racing yard and last October at the ripe age of 50 and change I got to ride a thoroughbred at the training grounds in company with some other thoroughbreds and their riders out for morning work. I was like a kid in a candy shop. And I do know the saying - want to make a small fortune in racing? - start with a big fortune.

by **VictoriaF** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:28 pm

deleted

by **Juniormint** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:44 pm

Concerts. Concerts and food probably. I don't eat out often, but when I do eat out, I don't skimp.

by **momar** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:49 pm

I just bought an olympic bar and some bumper plates for my garage.

Of course, I don't know if I count it as splurging. The ROI from quitting my gym is huge.

by **Atilla** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:02 pm

Vegas trips and guns.

Las Vegas trips we hire a limo to drag us from the airport & back ( I guess the limo is our way of buying our way out of the undesirable experience of getting long-hauled in a grungy cab); and we usually stay in the nicer places in town. This year it will be a mix of the Wynn Resort for a few days followed up with a stay at the Mandarin Oriental to check that place out.

Guns - got a Seecamp 32 being delivered next week that I ordered back in February. Already have the custom made carbon fiber grips for it. Man, that's gonna be a sweet little pocket gun.

by **HongKonger** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:07 pm

Bubbles and taking taxis. Life is too short.

by **C319** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 4:12 pm

Paid off the mortgage a few months ago. Don't know if it counts as a real splurge, but sure felt like one when I wrote the check.
No regrets.

by **mickeyd** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:16 pm

C319 wrote:Paid off the mortgage a few months ago. Don't know if it counts as a real splurge, but sure felt like one when I wrote the check.
No regrets.

When I paid off our mortgage 15 years ago, I thought is was a splurge. It was also one of the best financial decisions that I have ever made.

by **Dadarkar** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:35 pm

Cable
Three i phones

by **don1066** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:13 pm

Stonebr wrote:Early retirement.

Couldnt agree more!

by **wingnutty** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:25 pm

Hunting and fishing for sure...just spent $500 traveling out of state to hunt turkeys. I don't use a guide or outfitter as I prefer to do things myself. Ended up bringing home two nice gobblers and getting ready to put um in the smoker...those are some expensive turkeys, but I did get plenty of exercise hiking up and down mountains from sunrise to sunset 4 days in a row and logging ~15 miles per day. :beer

Nothing like sitting in the woods in the morning as the sun comes up and watching everything come alive, that is something everyone should experience from time to time. Heck, even had a chickadee land on the barrel of my gun while I sat motionless enjoying the beautiful morning, that isn't something you get to see everyday :sharebeer

by **gatorking** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:47 pm

U.S. Citizenship - $680 !!

by **ltuxl** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:28 pm

Scotch/Wine

by **BigD53** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:47 pm

Annual Expenditures

-Country Club Membership Dues and other golf expenditures- $3,800
-Massages- $500
-Other "beauty" or "relaxing" services- $1,500
-Fine Dining- $1,500
-House cleaning- $1,600
-Eating lunch out during work week- $2,300
-Brand label clothing, jewelry, etc- $2,500

Holy cow! I must live in the wrong Zipcode!!

Are all "Bogleheads" that rich??? :moneybag

(Gee, and all this time, I thought they were a bunch of cheap dudes...

)

I can't think of one thing that I "splurge" on, other than the occasional Green Tea Latte' at Starbucks. :happy

I was never into "self gratification"... I'd rather donate any extra cash I happen to have, to charities, the homeless, Veteran's groups, and people in need.

Forget "I Don't Know, and I Don't Care." The NEW Boglehead's motto should be: "If You Got It, SPEND IT!" :beer

by **mptfan** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:41 pm

1) Girlfriend
2) Travel
3) Pool guy
4) Yard guy

In that order.

by **Chaol** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:11 pm

Renting in San Francisco
Dining out
Community Supported Agricluture (CSA) membership/organic produce
Baseball: tickets, MLB package

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