Embarrassing Expenses

[Ralphy]

I just did my monthly personal finance review a few days ago, so this topic is still fresh in my head. What items on your expense list, while normal-looking to your normal friends, would you be embarrassed to reveal to your ERE peers? Or maybe a better way to say it, which expenses seem out of synch with your ERE goals?
Personal examples that come to mind -
- even though GF and I live in a 4-bdr apt, I pay rent each month for a garage at the apartment complex I work at.
- I have a long-time soda-drinking habit that I haven't kicked yet. Just dropped $15 this weekend when Mountain Dew went on sale at the grocery store.

[HSpencer]

@ Ralphy
On the ERE side, considering the garage rental, what percentage of your take home monthly income does "housing" represent? If the garage does not bump the percentage out of sync, then consider it in the housing column. Most people I know consider a garage as part of housing. I think a pure "storage building" would be considered out of sync.
I actually think buying the "Dew" on sale was a good move. Instead of thinking you splurged, think how much you may have saved. Makes for a better gut feeling.
I was at World*Mart (WalMart) this weekend and found George Killian Irish Red on sale by the case. I have two cases in my fridge right now!!!! I have wet some mugs and they are chillin' in the freezer as we speak(type rather).

[George the original one]

Not so embarrassing... but the expenses are just not compatible with ERE: automobiles and auto racing and traveling a couple hundred miles to go fishing for the day (or weekend).
At least with traveling to fish, I can justify it by considering it to be a sampling of desired potential retirement locations. The trips also serve to provide plenty of exercise since I hike a fair amount along smaller streams rather than sit in a boat and fish a big lake or river.

[Mo]

For me, it's cable. I enjoy watching college football. The games are played all over the country, and I don't live in the region that most interests me. So, I pay a three digit monthly cable bill during fb season to have access to as many games as possible. I rationalize it by saying that it costs far less than attending the games in person.

[Mo]

@george, oh yeah, I do the fishing thing too. I rationalize that by comparing the cost of a fishing trip to the cost of boat ownership, and the trip seems like a screaming bargain..

[Ralphy]

@ HSpencer
For now, 'housing' is still a pretty low portion of income, since GF job is covering the rent. Rent/utilities/garage is probably less than 5% of take-home in a normal month.
As far as the garage's use, I'd be much less inclined to rent it if it was just storage (there's plenty of room for that in the apt ). It's where I keep my work tools, my workbench, camping gear, and where I do 'dirty' work that I can't do at home - woodworking, car maintenance, spray painting, etc.

[Ralphy]

Mo, do you have a team in particular that you root for? I get pretty pumped for college football, too. This year especially, since our Hawkeyes have some pretty big expectations.

[aquadump]

I would rather call them ERE vices. Mine are running, cycling, social excursions to restaurants/bars, alcohol, coffee, meat, local fruits and veggies, traveling, gifts, and expenses for learning.

[AlexOliver]

@rePete: How is running a vice? or cycling? Unless you buy expensive equipment? Because you could do each of those with one piece each: good shoes (or not, if you're into barefoot running) and a bike.

[aquadump]

@AlexOliver I should clarify that racing is expensive. Racing is the Trojan horse of group running/cycling. It is also a luxury, with stopped traffic, aide station support, commemorative race shirt, and so on.

[jacob]

@rePete - I always wondered what made racing cost so much money. It seems that it should not cost that to set up a few tents with some gatorade or water---maybe $40 total for the entire race.

[aquadump]

@jacob In 2002 to 2004, my friends and I put on a $25 triathlon. This is a little dated, but equivalent distance triathlons were going for $50 to $100. I think this is due economics; it's what race directors can charge. I think it's a shame. Our largest fee for the $25 was a police officer to stop traffic on a busy intersection.
I recently helped set the cost for a trail 50k, which was $125 for each racer. Here, the RD lost money. I was encouraging her to reduce the amount of stuff she included in the race -- medal, shirt, and A LOT OF CRAP. However, she started from a $65 base, due to permits in that forest.
Kinda weird that the socialistic parts are getting expensed back to consumers, again.

[Cashflow]

I used a spreadsheet to figure out my Financial Freedom Number (which is a concept I learned from reading Tharp's book "Safe Strategies for Financial Freedom").
I no longer have embarrassing expenses. Instead, I have expenses that push my Financial Freedom Number farther into the future, along with expense reductions that pull my Financial Freedom Number closer to the present.
All of my expenses are a personal choice rather than being an embarrassment. I'm in charge of my money, rather than having my money be in charge of me.

[Ralphy]

I suppose 'embarrassing' was the wrong choice of words. My expenses are conscious decisions, and I would assume the same for anyone else on this board.
What I was getting at is that there are certain things I spend money on that others here would never consider because they seem out of whack with a typical ERE lifestyle, but happen to fit with my situation.

[Cashflow]

@ Ralphy - they seem out of whack with a typical ERE lifestyle, but happen to fit with my situation
One of the joys of financial freedom and ERE is that you can live life on your own terms (i.e., lifestyle freedom) -- you just have to make sure that whatever you do, your monthly expenses are way below your investment incomes.
There is no right or wrong answer in general; only right or wrong for your specific situation (which you get to define).
Like a true value investor, achieving ERE means you can ignore the crowd (rather than follow the crowd or go in the opposite direction of the crowd). What others do becomes irrelevant (unless you want to scoop up undervalued assets that others have abandoned or sell overvalued assets that others are eager to buy).
I gave my old analog TV to e-cyclers a couple of years ago, for example, because it was about to become obsolete and I hadn't watched it in years anyway. The last time I went to the movies was 20 years ago (and only because the company where I was working at the time had a "team building" afternoon of going to the movies). I've never used a cellphone or smartphone in my life.
I don't care what others think of my purchasing habits; I only care what my personal spreadsheet tells me in terms of my investment and earned incomes versus my monthly expenses.

[jacob]

My most embarrassing expense is definitely my 50% interest in our car. When we moved together, DW (then GF) had her own beater, which was used to drive the <2 miles to work AND occasionally do the 12 hour drive back to her parents. It was on one such trip that it decided to die spectacularly by blowing the timing belt half way through the trip. We were stuck with a non-functional car in b**f@ck city on a Friday night. Figuring that the car was still worth something despite it not going anywhere (and me needing to get back by Tuesday for a conference) we decided to go car-shopping. I figured since I was deriving 50% usage and I already had substantial savings, I could afford to support a new car until it "expired". Long story short, only a few dealerships were open on that Saturday and somehow we ended up with a new car while getting $100 for the old car. Not something I'm proud of today. Since I didn't have ready cash on a friday night, we even had to get a loan. We paid it off in three months for <$100 in interest.
We still have that car. It's convenient to have a car but we could technically do without it. Why haven't we sold it. I blame DW for "needing" it, that is, not being willing to take the bus and sometimes using it for work (even though the work place has trucks). Personally, I use it 2-3 times a month to get to the marina. From a budget perspective, I consider it my safety buffer. I'm wasting $50-100 per month on it and I can afford that. The price of domestic peace

[Matthew]

I agree with the ERE vices and desired potential retirement places as my downfall: Alcohol and Travel
I just got back from a long weekend that included a flight to Colorado and a night out on the town to spend the next few nights with a friend hiking in the mountains. If I were to die tomorrow, I would say it was definitely worth it!:) However, we all know $500 spent on a long weekend does not look good on any spreadsheet!

[S]

I eat out way too much. I try to blame this on DH, but sometimes I'm just too lazy to hunt down the grocery store in whatever town we're in and / or drag cooking equip out of the box. I can cook and am generally happy with the results, so I'm embarrassed by my laziness at not doing enough of it. Even if I don't cook, it's easy to eat at the grocery store for $2 or less. The temptation of going past an Indian place when hungry is something I'm still working on. I also occasionally (maybe 3x per year) get beauty treatments like waxing and spend too much on my hair.

[George the original one]

I think The Dude has me beat on expenses for the weekend... my costs were only $120 for fuel and we brought 6 trout home to be shared with 3 people. That works out to be a $40 per plate dinner plus a pair of 8 hour exercise sessions.
[The late night entertainment of rodents running around in the dark and leaping at our tent was just a free bonus floor show.]

[il-besa]

Hi guys,

my embarrassing expense is that 160e/month (2000euro/year!) that I've to pay in TAXES to own my Van... which I absolutely love (the Van, not the tax) but I seldom drive around
But I'd rather work few months longer that give it away