Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

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Bankai
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Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:28 am

Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by Bankai »

My current top 3 are:

- Wilkinson Sword Hydro 5 blades - at ~£1.5 per blade lasting about 2 months, it's hardly the cheapest way to shave. However, speed, convenience and almost never cutting myself make them worth it.

- Groceries delivered to my kitchen for £2 every 2-3 weeks - this beats spending 20 minutes in the store and then carrying 30kg back home for a mile.

- New clothes - yes, I could get them for close to nothing in charity shops, but they'd not fit well and be ugly. So yeah, it's full price for me. Average monthly spend over the last 6 years is £30 - a lot but I can live with that.

EdithKeeler
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by EdithKeeler »

My house. I could live in a small house--have, in fact, for the last several years. I need a need a little more room and a few more amenities and am willing to pay.

My car. Yeah, we talk about biking and walking on this board a lot, but I need my car. I like not being subject to the bus schedule (terrible in Memphis), and being able to tote stuff around, etc. My car is old and wasn't luxurious to begin with, but just having a car is a luxury I appreciate.

Frita
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by Frita »

Chocolate—no waxy junk for me, I want the good stuff (high cacao dark chocolate).

Beer—ditto though I do enjoy a PBR on occasion.

Travel—I like taking a nice month long trip as soon as school gets out. We could probably stick around, hike, bike, camp, and do other local things and enjoy it just as much.

Bras—after a certain age, wearing cheap bras is asking for trouble.

Jason

Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by Jason »

Any product that can be purchased and delivered without me leaving the couch. This includes vitamins which is both ironic and explanatory.

Cheeseburgers. Occasionally with onion rings.

Pilates machine. I have never stepped inside a gym. I signed up for physical therapy but couldn't get myself to do it. People in gym wear frighten me but those who's job requires that they wear gym wear especially frighten me. If I see a guy who works in gym wear I think either their plan to become a totalitarian ruler didn't work out or their plan never having to work didn't work out. If I see women in gym wear, I just avoid her because women in gym wear, whether they are being paid to wear gym wear or not, find me repulsive. It's not that I am out of shape, it's just that I look completely ridiculous in gym wear and even if I'm not wearing gym wear at that moment, I know that when they picture me in gym wear I look completely ridiculous in their minds. My personality is not suited for gym wear. I'm not jock-douche. I'm street clothes-douche. So when I'm in gym wear, it's like I lose my douche power. It's emasculating. It's like I'm de-douched. So now I have to act like I'm not a street-clothes douche which is like Donald Trump saying he's not the type of guy who would cheat a child in a golf game and expecting to be believed. I on the other hand would come out and say I would cheat a child in a golf game but people would laugh at me for thinking they would believe for one second I actually play golf. I guess this explains why I never had a girlfriend that even had a modicum of athletic ability.

DVD/TV - Now that we have disconnected streaming, it is more of a conscious choice and there are no commercials.

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Just got to Colorado for a work trip, and the first place I stopped on my way from the airport was a dispensary 0_o

7Wannabe5
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Flower seeds.

jacob
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by jacob »

These days/months I'm seriously tempted to buy this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BDBZ55L ... but such things are pretty much the end of it unless you count things like patreon support, kickstarters, and the likes.

Jason

Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by Jason »

"This is the classiest tariff t-shirt around, believe me."

I have to believe this is a startling, world class display of irony otherwise I will assume current Oval Office economic policy is but mere propaganda in order to benefit a covert silk screen operation embedded in the basement of the White House because the latter just makes too much sense.

chenda
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by chenda »

Streaming services, boxing lessons, alcohol.

And gym gear obviously.

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Seppia
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by Seppia »

In the long run, watches. I have a budget line for them.
It’s small only because it was rather large a few years ago, and I have developed very good purchasing and selling skills with time.

Other than that, scuba diving.
Travel comes pretty cheap to me because I can add a week on the back of a work trip and save the flight costs, buy my wife’s ticket with miles and the hotel with points i accrue via work, but scuba diving is a joy and a passion I would not give up under (almost) any circumstances.

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unemployable
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by unemployable »

Seppia wrote:
Sun May 12, 2019 3:49 pm
I have developed very good purchasing and selling skills with time.
Ha ha.

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Seppia
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by Seppia »

With experience and patience, buying second hand can render the hobby an almost free endeavor, it wasn’t a joke.

Jason

Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by Jason »

I guess its a nice thing to do when you have extra time on your hands.

take2
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by take2 »

Certain things that save time - metro to work in 30 min instead of walking 90 min. Don’t think most ppl would count that though.

Travel is one category that I generally don’t skimp on - but again I think the frugality mentality is still ingrained. For example if I get an invite to attend a wedding or event in a far away place I generally say yes immediately. However, I still use social connections, airBnB, miles, etc and it doesn’t leave me any worse for the wear. Still a luxury though - I could just stay home.

Fancy condiments - I’m a sucker for high quality antipasti. My wine spending has increased, but more like from £5 to £12.

Also, compromises. If it were up to me we would cook and eat home every weekend, but on occasion the SO likes restaurants. I try to balance by picking dishes that I generally wouldn’t/can’t cook myself.

BookLoverL
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by BookLoverL »

Cinema, but only for films that are directly in the genre I enjoy most and I've been looking forward to before they come out. Otherwise I'll wait until they appear in other places.

I'm not currently paying for a house, but I'd like to own a house in my local area. I'm going to save up to avoid having a big mortgage though, and maybe take on a lodger or something to help cover the cost afterwards.

I have a car because I'm in a rural location, with steep hills that make it a bit off-putting for me to cycle places if I want to be not sweaty at the other end, and if I walk places it's a minimum of half an hour to get anywhere interesting. So while I still walk to the places I can, even up to an hour, for work I generally drive. It's a second-hand car, and it's small and fuel-efficient, at least.

Those are the main things, I think.

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Lemur
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by Lemur »

Gym Membership - I have an entire warehouse much larger than my house that stores all of my multi-thousand dollar gym equipment. There is also people that maintain it everyday and I barely pay them anything. I share the gym with others too because I'm nice like that and it only costs me $8.99 a month :). At a 4% withdrawal rate, I only need $2,697 to cover this for life...

Energy Drinks - Okay I'm going to quit this one eventually...but those 0 calorie rockstars are the bomb. I do need to break this habit though. Every now and then I stick with caffeine pills + water or homemade coffee.

Vacation / Gifts - Happy wife happy life.

Kids activities - Debatable whether kids need all these activities to keep them busy but my son seems to benefit immensely from instruction and being able to socialize with other kids (we've no family / neighbors with kids around us).

The ere answer to all of these:

(1) Exercise is free...run outside, learn bodyweight exercises, perhaps invest in a few kettlebells.
(2) Just quit. Water is free or stick to homemade coffee which comes out to something like $0.27 a cup
(3) Let go of this desire...its the thought that counts?, find ways to travel very cheap if you must..
(4) Don't have kids (lol semi-joking here but I have noticed this trend on FIRE forums lately...) but if you do have kids remember that a lot of activities are free such as libraries, parks, outdoor activities, etc and you don't have to pay for this.

SustainableHappiness
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by SustainableHappiness »

As of last couple years, anything small (<50$) that causes me more stress than perceived $ value after accumulating a bunch of money.

Examples -
Being stuck somewhere for longer than expected and DW and DS need/want food. Don't argue or talk about how some people volunteer to intermittently fast, just buy.

Presents - Family member or friend group asks me to go in on a group present for someone for X reason. Almost always just say yes and participate, instead of worrying about consequences of saying no. Give intelligently without expectation and with awareness.

Car Trips to see family and friends - reduce car usage wherever possible, but if asked to drive 1-2 hours for an unexpected day with friends/family, don't agonize over costs (environmental or financial), quit pushing back and enjoy it

Networking expenses - ALWAYS buy the other person their coffee or meal (or at least offer) when meeting someone for the first time if I set up the meeting. If they ask to set up the meeting it's more ambiguous to expect them to do the same. Help students out, by buying them coffee too and/or accepting their offer if they ask to buy it.

Family spending - DWs financial decisions. Instilling confidence and trust way more important than buying oranges when they are not on sale. Plus nagging doesn't work anyways.

Presents from others - Expense in the form of space and time to deal with. Smile, accept, hug happily. Stop bitching after the fact and wasting energy (this non-ere payment is very tough for me and still internalizing).

After reading these a trend is, I am happy to pay for minor externally imposed expenses that taking control of causes emotional turmoil.

prognastat
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by prognastat »

Chocolate - I definitely agree with Frita that quality chocolate is worth the premium though it does mean I get to enjoy it less frequently than I would like. However this is probably good for my waistline too.

Gaming - though I do have strategies to reduce costs here it definitely is one of my costlier hobbies.

Archery - Expensive up front, though maintenance of the hobby afterwards doesn't have to be that expensive.

Trips to visiting family back in the motherland. Unfortunately travelling from Texas to Europe isn't that cheap. It's mitigated somewhat by alternating, them visiting one year and me visiting them the other. Still comes out to over $500 a year though.
Last edited by prognastat on Mon May 13, 2019 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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C40
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by C40 »

photography gear

ice cream

Kriegsspiel
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Re: Non-ere things you are happy to pay for

Post by Kriegsspiel »

I like shooting guns and playing golf.

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