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To me, shoes are one of those things you can't skimp on. If you wear cheap and bad shoes, that's going to hurt your feet, and that will spillover elsewhere.
I was a super saver during my working years. I only spent money on the essentials. I was very into investing and watching my money grow. After retirement, I went from accumulating to withdrawing. That was a difficult transition to make. I have to constantly remind myself not to stress over spending money. I don’t think a saver can ever become a spender.
Having said that, my home is the most important thing to me. I am a homebody and being in a beautiful environment is very important. I paid cash for the home I just bought, and being able to do that was a luxury.
I like dining out with friends and spending freely on quality groceries. But I am still cost conscious and that won’t change.
I am leaving my money to various charities, mainly animal shelters, which makes me happy.
Donna
So, to repeat the question, what things do YOU think are worth spending more on, and which splurges do you think are NOT worth it?
I think new automobiles, SUVs & trucks are WAY WAY overpriced. At the same time, I see the benefit of modern safety technology in a new or new-ish vehicle. Backup cameras, lane keeping assistance, adaptive cruise control, emergency crash mitigation braking systems and the like might just be worth it as we age -- after all, our eyesight, hearing, and reflexes are not as good as they were 40 years ago.
I just might upgrade my old Dodge Durango to something with more safety features, even though it has only 150K miles on it and is going strong.
Maybe next year. Or the year after that. Or the year after that...
Last edited by SportyandMisty; 06-30-2018 at 10:06 AM..
A $30 bottle of wine is not just a splurge it is a waste.
I am a notorious cheapskate with myself (not others), but a couple of $30 bottles have been well worth it. Of course, it helps to know a little about wine.
I can't stand bad coffee either. I roast my own. The irony is the coffee is both better than, say, Charbucks and half the price.
Do a youtube search for home coffee roasting & you'll see it is as easy as going to a thrift store to buy a $3 hot air popcorn popper. Unroasted coffee for hobbyists is typically the very best quality (there is only so much of it - not enough for a commercial roaster) and inexpensive on the interwebs.
I grew-up quite poor, but, my wife and I have always held good jobs and have only infrequently 'struggled financially' during our 50-year marriage.
However, prior to retirement, the poor years of my youth, translated into an uncertainty (and probably inner fear) about the future. Thus, we were always more cost/value conscious, if not frugal, over the years than we really had to be.
Once retired (10-years ago), the uncertainty of whether we would "have enough to retire" was resolved. We now have a good, balanced financial situation (guaranteed lifetime income, no mortgage or major expenses, plenty of savings). We travel, spend, eat, etc. whatever we want, with few qualms about extras or extravagant spending.
My point is, I'm not sure how much of life's 'financial struggle' is actually based on real-time circumstances, versus an inner fear based on another time in one's life. For example, it's not uncommon for relatively wealthy people to be extremely, unnecessarily frugal and fearful about spending ... as though their next purchase would send them to the poor house. On the other hand, many low income people, who have very little, often splurge and overspend their way through life ... as though they had all the money in the world (and then struggle later in life).
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