Best non-frugal purchase you've ever made?

[ronb]

Does anyone have any secret luxuries they enjoy? How do you justify them?

[disneysteve]

The first thing that came to mind was good cookware. When we were first married, and even before that, I had cheap stuff and hand me downs. Every few years, we'd have to replace pieces that wore out. After the 3rd or 4th set, we decided to splurge and buy Calphalon. The set was around $400 if I remember correctly. We use it nearly every day and we've had it for many years now. It still looks brand new and performs every bit as well as the day we got it. I see no reason why it won't last us the rest of our lives. Long term, it actually saved us money because we no longer had to keep replacing our cookware every few years.

[FLA]

I think my brain is playing tricks on me because my first thought was a really nice breast pump that saved so much time, but my kids are 16 and 18, so why the heck would that leap to mind? lol

trips to Disney with my kids and when my brother came and my parents were well enough to travel. We did it as frugally as possible but it was still expensive. We have wonderful memories and I'm so glad we did it before my mom got too sick to travel again.

this is bad, while still married, I found at Cuddledown outlet a duvet that was originally $3500 (not kidding), it was so nice, so heavy, marked down to $700. I asked why they even had one that cost that much (I got their catalog, stuff like this was not in there)? They made it for some Russian man who was traveling to Siberia or something and would be camping in the freezing cold for months. After they made it, they were stuck with it because he never finished paying for it. I WANTED that, it would be the last one I would ever buy, it was gorgeous. My ex-husband and I were never gift crazy, so I told him, I really want this, what do you think? He was fine with it. Used it for close to 10 years, then one time I got it dry cleaned. Picked it up and it was incredibly heavy. Because they had washed it and it was full of water, mold all over it. Not dry cleaned at all, and apparently washed but never dried. I was so mad, I had the receipt saying dry clean. The owner did not care, would not stand behind their huge error. I had the receipt for the comforter, called some agency who regulates dry cleaners, I don't remember, but in the end, with their help, I got $175. I guess cost per year, it was still very expensive but I would have had it another ten years easily. So that was $500+ down the drain.

[scfr]

Does anyone have any secret luxuries they enjoy? How do you justify them?

We buy a few boxes of high-end chocolate each year. We wait until after a holiday when it goes on sale for 50% off, but it's still an indulgence. It's not secret and I don't feel a need to justify it - hah!

[FLA]

ok, totally missed the word "secret" so my post makes no sense as we did not go to Disney in disguises! SORRY!

the other two were kind of secret, I never told anyone about the cost of that comforter, lol

[disneysteve]

Well I don't think we have any "secret" luxuries if by secret you mean things we don't tell anyone about.

[ronb]

I think my brain is playing tricks on me because my first thought was a really nice breast pump that saved so much time, but my kids are 16 and 18, so why the heck would that leap to mind? lol

trips to Disney with my kids and when my brother came and my parents were well enough to travel. We did it as frugally as possible but it was still expensive. We have wonderful memories and I'm so glad we did it before my mom got too sick to travel again.

this is bad, while still married, I found at Cuddledown outlet a duvet that was originally $3500 (not kidding), it was so nice, so heavy, marked down to $700. I asked why they even had one that cost that much (I got their catalog, stuff like this was not in there)? They made it for some Russian man who was traveling to Siberia or something and would be camping in the freezing cold for months. After they made it, they were stuck with it because he never finished paying for it. I WANTED that, it would be the last one I would ever buy, it was gorgeous. My ex-husband and I were never gift crazy, so I told him, I really want this, what do you think? He was fine with it. Used it for close to 10 years, then one time I got it dry cleaned. Picked it up and it was incredibly heavy. Because they had washed it and it was full of water, mold all over it. Not dry cleaned at all, and apparently washed but never dried. I was so mad, I had the receipt saying dry clean. The owner did not care, would not stand behind their huge error. I had the receipt for the comforter, called some agency who regulates dry cleaners, I don't remember, but in the end, with their help, I got $175. I guess cost per year, it was still very expensive but I would have had it another ten years easily. So that was $500+ down the drain.

I'm not sure why but this post is so sad to me... dang shady dry cleaners.

[FLA]

thanks, can you grieve for a duvet? I think I did, lol

[disneysteve]

Another biggie for me - my iPhone. OMG, I have said many times that this is the single best piece of technology I have ever owned or worked with. I love it and use it constantly throughout the day, sometimes a little too much to be honest.

The one big saving grace is that I am still grandfathered into an unlimited data plan. Without that, I'm not sure what I'd do. I guess I'll figure it out someday when they decide to drop me from that but until then, I'm loving it.

I've told the story before, but the best thing was that after agonizing for months about whether or not the $30/month data fee was worth it, once I finally got the phone, soon after I was invited to join a professional survey panel that is strictly iPhone based and paid me $150/month. That was over 5 years ago. They just recently dropped the payment (and the work requirement) to $100/month but it still more than makes up for having the phone.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

thanks, can you grieve for a duvet? I think I did, lol

Well, I think I understand. A luxury I bought was a wool mattress topper. It is just a thin wool blanket that anchors under the mattress corners. It's organic wool, woven without dye or bleaching, and retaining its lanolin. It transformed my too-hot foam mattress, allowing it to feel cool in summer, warm in winter, like magic. Love it! It cost about $350. Funny that such a previously ordinary, everyday material as wool has become so expensive. But yeah, I would be very sad to lose it.

[Fishindude77]

Does anyone have any secret luxuries they enjoy? How do you justify them?

Yeah, my wife thinks all of my hunting trips run about $200 and every gun I've ever bought was $40.
I justify it by putting food on the table, wouldn't even hunt otherwise.

If you believe that, I've got a bridge for sale.

[John Doe]

Education. Whether it be college tuition or the mortgage to live in a better school district...my feeling is that it's hard to get too much or too good of an education. I see it as investment that lasts a lifetime. There are ways to cut corners and pinch pennies, but when it comes to education, I believe that it's worth reaching as deeply into your pockets as you can.

[FLA]

Another biggie for me - my iPhone. OMG, I have said many times that this is the single best piece of technology I have ever owned or worked with. I love it and use it constantly throughout the day, sometimes a little too much to be honest.

T I was invited to join a professional survey panel that is strictly iPhone based and paid me $150/month. That was over 5 years ago. They just recently dropped the payment (and the work requirement) to $100/month but it still more than makes up for having the phone.

I'm not a techie person by the 5s was free or maybe $50. I struggle with it for trying to read a forum like this. It's painful sentence by sentence. Yet my brother can do his whole job from his phone. Do you have trouble reading things like here or have any tips?

That study was lucky timing! Great!

[corn18]

Ethanol free gas for my push mower, weed whacker and chain saw. Wow, do they run so much better without the gooey gas. Cost about 2x gas from a gas station but so worth it.

[FrugalTexan75]

I'm not a techie person by the 5s was free or maybe $50. I struggle with it for trying to read a forum like this. It's painful sentence by sentence. Yet my brother can do his whole job from his phone. Do you have trouble reading things like here or have any tips?

That study was lucky timing! Great!

There's some kind of app for reading forums like this which makes it easier - tapatalk or something like that. I always read the forums (here and other places) on my desktop, so haven't bothered with getting the app.

But I'd agree with DS - my iPhone is probably my biggest non-frugal indulgence. Not so secret of course ... but oh so worth it!

I'm unfortunately on my 4th iPhone ... 1st one I had for 4 years. Second one I used as a phone for nearly 2 years, then when switching to Ting, had to get a Sprint based phone.

Lost that phone one week ago (got in December.) And am now waiting for the 4th iPhone in my life to show up (hopefully by Monday.) This one will hopefully last me at least 3 or 4 more years - I WILL not lose this one!!