What was the most outrageously indulgent item you ever bought.

[Nika]

When you told your "reasonable" part of the brain to shut up.

Has to be:

1). Expensive beyond reasonable
2). Completely unnecessary
3). But you really wanted it and bought it.

(Can't be something intangible, like a vacation).

[feh]

Restoration of a classic car.

It wasn't a single purchase - it was lots of purchases over the course of 2 years which added up to quite a bit of money.

[reedda]

An Amethyst ring for about $700. I was at a private event at the jeweler and I swear it CALLED to me. The cut is gorgeous and it just sparkled up at me "take me home, take me home". I tried it on and it was a perfect fit. It was fate, see?

It was priced at $999 I think and I got the discount because of the private event. So, I SAVED money, see? That's how I justified it. I put it on a credit card...(paid off now thankfully).

It does make me happy though. I wear it every day.

[theduc]

Thankfully nothing that I can think of at the moment. On the TV show "Bizarre Foods America" they showed a $750 cupcake in Las Vegas... I think I might try that in a couple of years after we finish paying off our mortgage (27 years early). They also had a $4K burger! I think that's pretty steep for me though... anyone want to split it?

[disneysteve]

1). Expensive beyond reasonable
2). Completely unnecessary
3). But you really wanted it and bought it.

I've definitely done 2) and 3). I'm not quite sure how to interpret 1). What do you mean by "expensive beyond reasonable"? The things that I've bought that fit 2) and 3) were reasonably priced for what they were. I probably wouldn't have bought them otherwise.

The things that come to mind are items in my Disney memorabilia collection. Spending hundreds of dollars for an animation cell, for example. Completely unnecessary but really wanted it. But was it expensive beyond reasonable? I don't think so. It is one of a kind artwork and was priced comparable to similar items and other dealers.

[Nika]

By expensive beyond reasonable I mean $800 Cartier sunglasses that really fit me well.

And they are not even prescription! And due to the curved lens design, they can't even be made prescription (not that I need them to be).

They fit me better than any sunglasses before, and if they were up to $500, I would have definitely bought them already. But I'm trouble justifying $800. But I'm still thinking about them.

My husband is telling me to buy them. He believes it is better than me buying a bunch of other sunglasses I don't really want in my search to "replace them.

But man, that is a lot of money! I can't help thinking that it would be better of in my 2 year old's college fund. (He does have 17K in there already.)

[phantom]

There's a chair at Restoration Hardware that I've been pining for for at least 3 years now. It would definitely fit the first two criteria, but I'm not sure it will ever fit the third, and if I could bring myself to buy it, I'm not sure I could still say it fit point #1. It is incredibly comfortable, and I know exactly where I would put it in my house. I could definitely spend hours lounging on it and reading. But, I've seen the price on it range from $1,800-$2,400, which, to me, is entirely too much money to spend on a chair.

My husband has promised that we can buy it the month after we pay off our mortgage, assuming they still sell it at that point. I'm not sure I'll be able to bring myself to buy it even then, but it's nice to have a goal set after which buying it would be okay.

[Esozh]

I spent $12K on MB's engagement ring. I had only planned on spending maybe $3-4K, but she picked out one that cost $26K... I ended up getting it at 50% off on Black Friday, and then talked the sales manager down some more, and got them to cover the sales tax out of their commission.

It was what she wanted, and we really don't spend much money outside of necessities.

[Nika]

Yes, Phanthom can buy a used car for a price of a chair and I could buy a brand new ipad for the price of sunglasses. That is why I call it "expensive beyond reasonable".

That is why we both did not buy it. But yet we did not stop wanting those items.

[KTP]

When you told your "reasonable" part of the brain to shut up.

Has to be:

1). Expensive beyond reasonable
2). Completely unnecessary
3). But you really wanted it and bought it.

(Can't be something intangible, like a vacation).

Everyone fess up...the answer should be wedding.

Costs about $100 to get married at the courthouse, and a pot luck picnic for your friends to celebrate would cost another $100. Send e-vites to the picnic requiring absolutely no gifts but please bring a dish of food to share.

$200, when most people spend $20,000 or more on the wedding and reception.

I think that covers 1,2, and 3

[feh]

Everyone fess up...the answer should be wedding.

We spent relatively little on our wedding (24 years ago). We didn't go the court house route, but it was modest. I shake my head when I see people spending 10s of thousands of dollars on weddings.

[phantom]

Yes, Phanthom can buy a used car for a price of a chair and I could buy a brand new ipad for the price of sunglasses. That is why I call it "expensive beyond reasonable".

That is why we both did not buy it. But yet we did not stop wanting those items.

Yes, that's the root of the problem. When you compare an item to other things that cost the same amount, and it doesn't provide the same value, it gets really hard to justify the purchase. It puts items into a weird unobtainable category, where you can totally afford them but you still can't buy them. If it was just a matter of not having the money, you could find places to cut back so you could save more, or you could find ways to earn more money. But, it's hard when you have the money sitting there but can come up with 20 other things you'd be better off spending it on. No matter how much you tell yourself that you don't want to pay the asking price, and no matter how well you can control your spending impulse, it's hard to change the fact that you still want the item.

[Redraidernurse]

A vitamix blender. it was refurbished so it was $350 but I'm still astounded that my husband and I purchased that expensive of a blender. We use it 3-4 times a week for some awesome smoothies.

[Baby_nurse]

A Coach purse for $250.00.

A truly stupid purchase because I never go anywhere nice and I'm too afraid of messing it up for every day use. I'd much rather have the $250 INSIDE my purse.

[JustBill]

Well, we had two children and that fits the criteria except the "bought" part.