What were your 'Best Spent Monies'?

[Hisgirl]

I spent the better part of 25 years helping people reduce debt and live within their means, HOWEVER....sometimes you spend some extra or unexpected or really extravagent monies and it's totally worth it!

Here is my list:
2 tickets center loge to hear Joshua Bell, one of the world’s best violinist $400...they were the only two tickets left and literally the best seats in the house.
4 tickets to the Iron Bowl 2013 Auburn-Alabama football game that ended up being the best game in the history of sports due to the one second run back - $1600
Paying movers to move all my parents belongings out of their house instead of me $400
Garth brooks concert seats on row 10.. $ you don’t want to know
Paying our town's snake man to thoroughly check the Miata convertible, end to end for a snake, after something hit my arm while driving $50
Dinner at Victoria & Alberts at the Grand Florian $500
Boll & Branch sheets $275
Hosting and paying for a disney trip for our whole family, eleven folks, $11K.
And best of all…a doggie door. What are yours?

 

[citruscurtis]

1983 Ford escort hatchback..22 years the ex-wife got out of it..though her VW ghia had better resale

1981 backpack.. very expensive but made the PCT very easy

1999 ... eBay was a gold mine

 

[easyas123]

The big ones that come to mind:
Private (day)High School for our two boys $...A LOT, each year per boy the tuition was double what my boarding school tuition but it was the best spent money
Travel - $...I don't know how much, never counted it up but never regretted a penny spent on travel
Mattress - $10K splurge. 100% worth it
401K's & Roth IRA's

The little ones that come to mind:
Decent butter - I buy the three packs of Kerry Gold from Costco cause I can't stomach the cost in the grocery store, but I can't recall the $$$ at the moment
champagne when the occasion called for it - $50-70 a bottle, nothing terribly fancy, just Bollys
Rice Chex - a box is like $6 or 7 bucks!
I buy 1 bag of marshmallows per year (handful for s'mores, some for that damn sweet potato casserole stuff that you put them on at Thanksgiving) so I always splurge on the JetPuff
Chinet paper plates
Books, physical books.
Nat Geo magazine subscription

 

[tinkerjo]

Travel- that’s my big splurge. Even then, I pinch Pennies.
Rock n roller coaster Tshirt for my daughter. Boy was it hard laying out $50 for that thing. (15years ago) she wore it until it was a rag so very worth it.
I am very frugal so that sums it up. DH- that’s another story and we won’t go there

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Paying the professionals to install our above ground pool. The entire pool install lasted 17years! Worth every single penny.

 

[LuvOrlando]

All the Disney trips and Universal & Seaworld visits, they were $ but the memories that bind us as a family are priceless.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We too are frugal, though the following doesn't seem like it. Money IMO is a tool. We use it to enhance our lives. By making good choices DAILY, we have been able to use it on meaningful things and events rather than eating out all the time, having cable, etc.

Private prep school 8th-12th for our son equal to buying a new car each year. My Dad called it "finishing school". It was.

Helping with wedding costs and worth every cent. We kept the wedding small and elegant (but 3 days) and hosted DIL's international family. It was magical.

Buying an (almost) new RV and driving all over the US when our son was about 10 yo. Selling it for 99.9% of what we paid for it! Do it while you are young!

Travel. Who knows? Cash back and airline points...

2K for architect to help us with new home construction 2023. Will add another 1K 2025 to finish bonus room. We will reap the financial benefits when we sell and it is significant. This one is a sleeper and one I highly recommend.

Private car to get us to/from Paul McCartney concert in Orlando in 2022...tix were gift from son and DIL. We were able to enjoy 3 hours of joy while not worrying how we'd get back to BWV.

On generator #2 since late 1990's (sold first with a house). It got us through numerous power outages and one 9 day outage, saving our biggest investment. Would never be without one in NH!

DVC since 1996. Countless memories!

 

[barkley]

whole house standby generator piped to 1000 gallon propane tank. vital in the winter b/c if you are on well water you don't want frozen pipes, immensely vital in the summer in the event of wildfires in the event the utility company takes the power down (so you can continue to have access to water).

 

[Meriweather]

DVC.....having a lot of fun on trips
Travel.....besides all the Disney trips, we like to cruise
In ground pool and maintenance for it......more than I would have liked to spend, but the kids and grand kids love it.
Paid off house and cars

 

[georgina]

First thing that comes to mind is our current townhouse. It cost a lot more than we were initially looking to spend, but it was a good investment and based on nearby recent sales, has already appreciated 30% in 4 years. I love the area and living where I can walk to most things.

Travel in general, but also the cuckoo clock I bought at a Black Forest shop on our river cruise. I love that clock!

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Travel, any and all. From weekend getaways to cruises to 2 weeks in Europe. But travel to foreign countries and US National Parks are my absolute favorites.

Paying for the Comfort+ on our most recent flight to Europe. The few extra inches really did make a big difference!

A couple of major home remodels. Summer camps and other extracurriculars for kids. Good running and hiking shoes. Solar panels and backup battery. Expenses related to our pets. Any art we have ever purchased. Gym membership.

 

[ronandannette]

Sending DH's shirts out for wash and press.
Having the cars detailed a couple of times a year.
Having our taxes done professionally.

Of course I cherish the travel, entertainment and sports experiences we've had over the years and some of the fine things we own, but when it comes to things we could easily do without but they bring a great deal of value to daily life, those three are definitely tops! Honorable mention to $7/lb new potatoes from the farmer's market and other first-crop seasonal produce in early summer. I can't wait!

 

[ClaraOswald]

I'd say our only spending that's been more "frivolous" has just been vacations. And DVC. We don't go crazy with vacation spend though, by any means. We don't have a fancy house. We don't drive fancy cars. We're fairly responsible with money. Except for DVC, which is probably the least responsible things we've spent money on in the 20ish years we've been together.

 

[leebee]

DD's 2nd marriage- They put it on themselves, with a LOT of help from DH and me. Best money I spent was $500 for 2 "house elves." These women did everything on wedding day that I didn't have time to do (I was decorating the cake, among other things). They set up tents and tables, decorated, directed band and pizza delivery, set up hors d'oeuvres table, set up the guest book/gift area... all the things that I didn't have time to do. They came at 8am and stayed until the meal was served, and we wouldn't have had the wedding "ready" without them.

The $8K we've spent on DD's new house. In their price range, there weren't any "decent' homes for the money. If we'd given them the cash, it wouldn't have bought them anything different; whatever they bought would still have needed work. By paying for the repairs, appliances, etc., they have a much nicer home than they would have had if they just added that $8K on to their offer.

Our summer week (or 2) at a beach cottage. This is buying me peace of mind for the upcoming year. Not cheap ($2K+ per week), but what is the price of sanity?

Travel in general, although we are pretty frugal about it. We juggle credit cards (paid off in full each month) for the points, so as I type I am sitting in New Orleans; DH's flight was on points and I traveled as his companion, so all we paid in cash was $22.40 each, round trip, in taxes. Not bad for airfare!

 

[aam808]

Timeshares... forces us to take vacations and also have numerous affordable staycations with the kids & grandkids. Our eldest grand will be 15yo and is slowly declining staycations... but we know he is & will treasure those memories.

 

[HappyGal]

My splurge is well-made shoes. And I’m not talking about a closet full. Just a couple pairs that cost a bit more but fit well and are good for my knees.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

My training

 

[LoveDaisy]

My education, vacations and experiences, buying a house in my 20s, and the renovations/upkeep on my house.

 

[TippyThomas]

The time and money I've given to the animal shelter. Those animals pay me back with so much love. I'm getting a great deal for the money indeed.

 

[jo-jo]

I will patch clothes until the cows come home, but spending $800 ish on eyeglasses is well worth it. Spent too much time making do with glasses that are “ ok” and not seeing well.