Things that feel like splurges to me, but really just make sense. I value my time at $50/hr and I base my calculations on how much time it takes me, not the pros who are way faster. I am thankful I have the resources to buy nice things that last than cheap things that I have to replace sooner.

Lawn mowing and landscaping service
Bi-weekly cleaning service
Salon hair color
Harris Teeter online grocery ordering - $99/yr and it saves me an hour a week
We always fly direct unless there is no direct flight available
We fly out of DCA instead of Dulles because it’s easier to navigate a smaller airport with kids
We pay to park instead of driving around looking for street spots when we go downtown
I don’t make cutesy things for my kids’ teachers or BD parties - I buy them on Etsy. Don’t worry. I don’t pretend I made them myself.
I paid someone to hand address all of my wedding invites and thank you notes in calligraphy
We get professional family photos done a few times a year
I use services like LeTote and Rent the Runway to have fabulous new clothes without filling up thrift shops and landfills with barely worn trendy pieces
I buy nice cakes for my kids’ BD parties because I know my kids and most grownups would rather have a cake from Heidelberg or Pastries by Randolph than Safeway
I buy $25-50 bottles of wine for a weeknight dinner with my husband at home because I’d rather have no wine than cheap wine

I would say our twice monthly cleaning service. DH would say the boat (though the splurge on docking it nearby has been very worth it since it means we use the boat very regularly).

I'm a service/experience splurge person.

Fly first class.
Eat out great restaurants.
Lots of travel and travel well.
Cleaning service once a week.
Buy the best seats to concerts/shows.

I don't spend a lot of money on physical stuff - house, furniture, clothes, jewelry, cars. Just never been a stuff person.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:attached garage

I lived most of my life w/o one, so didn't get it. But now that I have one? It's a beautiful thing.

I didn’t splurge on this because it came standard with my new construction house, but I live in Chicago and the quality of life difference between ‘attached garage’ and ‘third floor walk up with street parking’ is immeasurable.

DH just got a big raise, and we're hiring a lawn service. I'm really excited about it! We have cleaners too.

Most of the money will go towards savings, but that's our splurge.

Anonymous wrote:^^I know, right?

I never paid for IVF or therapy or anxiolytics. Wow, good for you! Some people don't have an option, at least if they want a shot at the life they want to live or even to be reasonably functional in society (re: therapy and meds).

Talk about a compassion-free post.

She's also contradictory. Annual big vacation is on the splurge side, but then talks about how frugal the airfaire, never a resort. What's the splurge. Also, always getting a deal, using connections to get a deal, haggling. People run when they see you coming.

could you please just not with the kids in cages and the foil blankets--my kids can barely grasp the remote control for the Vornado aimed at their bassinets, it's heart-wrenching

Land O Lakes butter instead of margarine--oops, I'm sorry, I thought this was a 1950's radio call-in show...2018 MONTHLY BUTTHOLE BLEACHING FOR EVERYONE AMIRITE

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:a 100k African safari

I need more details please!

And boy do I feel small potatoes with my once a month cleaning service (amazing!) and regular takeout

We went 7 years ago, I think. The two of us, our four adult children (college aged through late 20s) and our SIL. A four week trip. Landed in Cairo during the height of the Arab Spring (the pyramids were so deserted we felt like it was a private tour); from there to the Masai Mara in Kenya, then Rwanda to see the mountain guerrillas, followed by five or six days high-end camping in Botswana (think chandelier over a beautiful dining room table serving a gourmet meal with a private bartender in a tent in the middle of bush country), then Zimbabwe and the Victoria Falls Hotel for a few days, then four days in Cape Town in a luxury hotel. No expense spared. Best money we ever spent.

You saw guerillas?

yes. Insurgent guerillas surrounded her Land Rover--she nearly spilled her tea.

Anonymous wrote:Love reading this. We don't outsource anything. Our major splurge is a beach house, which we use a lot. I never regret that money. I also belong to two gyms so I can pretty much go whenever I want (well when I have time). I think the gyms are like $175 a month. Last major splurge are kid activities. We spend like $25k or more a year.

lol, NBD, just 27k on kid's activities and gym memberships? This is why the Taliban wants to murder us in our beds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:a 100k African safari

I need more details please!

And boy do I feel small potatoes with my once a month cleaning service (amazing!) and regular takeout

We went 7 years ago, I think. The two of us, our four adult children (college aged through late 20s) and our SIL. A four week trip. Landed in Cairo during the height of the Arab Spring (the pyramids were so deserted we felt like it was a private tour); from there to the Masai Mara in Kenya, then Rwanda to see the mountain guerrillas, followed by five or six days high-end camping in Botswana (think chandelier over a beautiful dining room table serving a gourmet meal with a private bartender in a tent in the middle of bush country), then Zimbabwe and the Victoria Falls Hotel for a few days, then four days in Cape Town in a luxury hotel. No expense spared. Best money we ever spent.

Was it humid in Kenya? Because if it's humid like DC was today, you couldn't pay me 100k to go there although I have been nursing a Baroness Von Blixen/Redford fantasy since 1980.

Anonymous wrote:Personal trainer twice a week. Costs about $560/month but I feel/am so much healthier.

SAME + YOGA=LOOKING AWESOME AT 60

No IVF she justs hits and Irish bar in St Pattys day and after a few daisy chains those guys could get a corpse pregnant

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^I know, right?

I never paid for IVF or therapy or anxiolytics. Wow, good for you! Some people don't have an option, at least if they want a shot at the life they want to live or even to be reasonably functional in society (re: therapy and meds).

Talk about a compassion-free post.

LOL!! Talk about having blinders on!! Your own privilege is showing.

Some people do not have the option to pay for IVF, therapy and formula because they are that poor. Get some perspective. When you have the money and the means and when these things are in your realm of possibilities - then it does not matter if they are affordable or a splurge. If you want it, you can make it happen.

Middle class people needs to understand that there are others who are "poorer" than them and to them these are signs of privileges.

Do you know people who just cannot afford to go to college not because they cannot afford the tuition but because they have to earn enough daily to feed their families first? Do you know of people who are too poor to divorce? Do you know of people who are too poor to go to work because they cannot pay the bus-fare? Do you know people who will never buy bottled water because it is too expensive? I know people like these.

Hey, have y'all seen the poor kids in cages separated from parents with aluminium foil blankets? That's compassion-free circumstances. Being able to pay for IVF, therapy, baby formula - these are all splurges to people who are struggling to survive.

Children in cages? WTF?! Your reading comprehension is severely lacking. No wonder you wrote what you did about being frugal. Being frugal is to willingly live below your means. Splurge- is to treat yourself once in a while, experience a little unnecessary luxury that brings you joy. Being poor is not being frugal since you don’t have the means. Also, you don’t wake up one day and say: I am going to spoil myself with some IVF today just to lift my spirits up. Get it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^I know, right?

I never paid for IVF or therapy or anxiolytics. Wow, good for you! Some people don't have an option, at least if they want a shot at the life they want to live or even to be reasonably functional in society (re: therapy and meds).

Talk about a compassion-free post.

LOL!! Talk about having blinders on!! Your own privilege is showing.

Some people do not have the option to pay for IVF, therapy and formula because they are that poor. Get some perspective. When you have the money and the means and when these things are in your realm of possibilities - then it does not matter if they are affordable or a splurge. If you want it, you can make it happen.

Middle class people needs to understand that there are others who are "poorer" than them and to them these are signs of privileges.

Do you know people who just cannot afford to go to college not because they cannot afford the tuition but because they have to earn enough daily to feed their families first? Do you know of people who are too poor to divorce? Do you know of people who are too poor to go to work because they cannot pay the bus-fare? Do you know people who will never buy bottled water because it is too expensive? I know people like these.

Hey, have y'all seen the poor kids in cages separated from parents with aluminium foil blankets? That's compassion-free circumstances. Being able to pay for IVF, therapy, baby formula - these are all splurges to people who are struggling to survive.

DO NOT presume to know my circumstances or the people that I know. You have no f*cking clue.

This post was not about children in cages and you damn well know it. That poster showed a staggering lack of empathy. If you want a thread on poverty, start one. I'm well aware of my own privilege, and what others do without. My calling out someone clueless has no bearing on that.