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Things I Spend Money On That I Know I Shouldn’t But I Do Anyway!
By JLP | March 26, 2007
How’s that for a title?
Here’s a list of some of the things I spend money on that I consider frivolous:
1. CDs. I have nearly 1,000 music CDs and yet I keep buying more. At $10 per CD, I have spent at least $10,000 on music CDs! OUCH!
2. Books. I probably have 20 – 30 books that I have bought that I need to read and yet I still buy more books. They are all business/personal finance – related books, so they I don’t consider them as bad purchases. I just need to read them once I buy them.
3. Beer. I like to try different kinds of beer. The problem with that is beer isn’t cheap. I bet I spend $30 – $40 per month on beer.
4. Gourmet food items purchased at the grocery store. I have gotten myself hooked on stuff like Delallo Hot Pepper Garlic Sauce, at $6 per jar. After you start eating stuff like this it is hard to go back to your standard everyday foods.
5. Eating out. We eat out too much as a family. We upped the family budget in this area but we still blow it, which means we simply need to exercise some self-control.
Before you misunderstand me, I think it is important to enjoy things in life. However, I think it is also important to recognize that some things in life aren’t necessary and if need be can be cut out. And, although 1,000 CDs is a lot, I REALLY enjoy music. It is a passion of mine and I have fun collecting music.
Those are my main vices. What are your’s?
Topics: Budgeting | 22 Comments »
March 26th, 2007 at 11:04 am
For me it’s traveling. We spent a lot on international travel the last three years, and now we’re cutting it out for a while.
We also like good food, and I love to cook, but when you go to Whole Foods every weekend, it’s probably just as bad as going out!
As for the beer thing, JLP, my husband is the same. Lucky for him, I work for a major beer importer, so the beer is all free at our house!
March 26th, 2007 at 11:22 am
I’m with you there on a few of those. My biggest one is in the grocery department. I love to cook, and I make dinner every night so having fresh food is a must. You can do pretty good if you time the sales, but I’m a sucker for high quality food.
And while I don’t spend as much on beer I do have a taste for fine irish whiskey. I try to keep it to a minimum but once a month or so I treat myself to a bottle of Jameson, Redbreast or Midleton. At $20-$30 a bottle that can add up.
March 26th, 2007 at 11:23 am
JLP, I’m training myself NOT to be a book buyer — I occasionally still break down and buy books though. One of the things that’s curbed me is my periodic exercise of selling off books or giving them to the library. At least I’m usually more discriminating now about what I buy.
I had to laugh re your CDs — almost everybody I know couldn’t live without their CDs, and I’m the opposite. I have 20 CDs right now, and I keep trying to part with some more of them. As you can imagine these must be 20 really loved CDs. My favorite music of choice has always been silence.
Not to be a downer! I spend far too much money on food, and I still can’t stop myself from eating out more than I should. Some of my favorite luxury food items are deli Black Forest ham at $7.99 a lb (I go through a lb a week), deli provolone at $7.99 a lib (another lb a week), kalamata olives and these big tubs of feta cheese both add another $6 each to my food tab each trip.
db
March 26th, 2007 at 11:28 am
I do that a lot too, purchase books, but they never get read.
March 26th, 2007 at 11:35 am
I haven’t bought cds in forever though I have a lot of music via online sources. However I remember putting my cds together right around when I first started college and I had over 600 – and I was 19 years old! I probably have at least 1000 now but my vice is books these days.
March 26th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Ugh. On Saturday, my boyfriend and I met up with a couple of old friends of mine. It made me remember why I don’t hang out with them anymore! For all the drinks and dinner (we hung out with them from 5 pm until about 10:30 pm), we spent a total of $170.
And, for our year and a half anniversary (boy, what is our 2 year celebration going to look like?!!), I took him out to dinner and spent $270 – on ONE dinner.
It makes our weekly movie outing look like an incredible bargain.
March 26th, 2007 at 11:56 am
Eating out. Sigh, and maybe traveling.
March 26th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
My wife and I both buy too many books. I have a stack of about 10 to read, and the rate of inflow exceeds the out-flow.
I have 7 bikes and 14 pairs of skis. I guess those both count as vices. Though to be fair, only about 7 pairs of skis are in “active” use (at least a couple times per season). I just hate to throw out old pairs (I plan to make a bench out of them someday), and I have a couple new unmounted pairs that I got for a steal.
Back when DVDs were sold online for about $5 each, I used to buy tons of them. I have a lot of movies on DVD that I’ve never watched and really, have no desire to watch. Fortunately we’ve mostly stopped both our DVD and CD buying habits. We buy maybe a couple movies and 5-10 CDs per year now.
My wife *loves* sushi. That’s an expensive habit!
March 26th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Ok, you had to ask.
CDs, DVDs, books, and LP records. But these days I generally buy them used for less money, although the prices for used LPs seem to be going up. Oh, and audio equipment.
Wine and wine-making kits. Eating out.
Spoiling the grandkids.
March 26th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
We share some of the same vices:
1) Books – I can’t walk into a book store without walking out with a book. Right now have about 5 unread recently purchased books. Mostly finance & business related.
2) Beer & Wine – Love trying new imported & microbrew beers. Big wine fanatic. Generally won’t spend more than $15/bttle, up to $35.
3) Clothes – I don’t shop very often, but when I do, will drop big dollars on suits & ties. Wife also loves cashmere stuff. At least we buy quality and wear what we buy for many years.
4) Food – We spend a lot of money on eating out. Living in NYC, eating out is as natural as breathing. Also, I dropped $15 today for a sandwich/soda/chips (a record). I really pay more attention to the little daily things.
5) Housing – We have way more house than we need (though it has been a good “investment”). Plus, we’ve spent a lot on furnishings, renovation, etc.
March 26th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Correction: “I really SHOULD pay more attention to the little daily things.”
March 26th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Were all those CDs really $10 each, or have you gotten some through Columbia House or BMG? You get like 5000 cds for free from those sites, but only have to pay $15 per CD for shipping and handling.
March 26th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
I used to be that way some with books. I have a pretty large collection of fantasy books. Every time I’ve moved, I’ve gone through and donated a shopping bag full of books to the library; basically anything I won’t read again.
That’s now my criterion for buying most books. I still buy the stray fantasy novel, but for anything else I want to know if I’ll read it more than one time. If not, I get it from the library. As a faculty member, I have very easy access to interlibrary loan at work. I loan a book a week probably and some are good, but they don’t go on my wishlist unless I think they’ll get read again (even if they are good).
If you like to buy music, you might check out Calabash Music, http://calabashmusic.com/ . I haven’t ordered anything from them, but they make it easy to sample, and they don’t DRM your tracks, so it is easy to play them on your computer or Ipod clone or whatever. It’s been the most tempting online music site I have encountered.
March 26th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
I havent’ bought a CD in years. I just load up Pandora in my browser and set it up for a Quick Mix and am in heaven while I work! http://www.pandora.com
I buy a few books per year that I need to keep as references. But I do visit my cool local library and always have books out on them…which reminds me, I need to return the latest I am reading, Titan, the Rockfeller biography..I am only half way through it, darn tax returns and 700 pages of it!!
I hate beer! I may buy a few wine bottles per year, no more.
So what do I splurge on?
Every once in a while I like to blow some $$ on those iced coffess from Panera or Barnes & Noble…Calories galore but they are too darn good, can’t help it! When I feel guilty about how much they cost, I go and get me one from Tim Horton’s, costs much less and quality not as bad:-)
I must admit that I did splurge on a 50 inch Panasonic plasma HD TV that I hung on the wall, with the whole surround home theater setup. We love it, watching the 2006 World Cup Soccer was amazing! Had my eyes on that setup for years and finally pulled the trigger!
March 26th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
o We have a massive collection of CDs bought in China. They were cheap, and I can’t guarantee that they aren’t pirated, but I always buy them in “real” shops and always get receipts.
Other than being real cheap – can’t deny that this wasn’t an attraction – they have Chinese subtitles that my wife likes to have on occasionally.
o I’m also a big book buyer, although I tend to be more into histories or science fiction.
o I’m another fan of good beer and (relatively) expensive ice cream. We eat ice cream about once every two weeks, so we always get “good stuff”.
o We like good electronics, although we replace it slowly and haven’t gone LCD/plasma yet.
March 27th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Oops – typo in my above message: CDs -> DVDs…
March 27th, 2007 at 3:02 am
My #1 would be Star Trek DVD’s.
March 27th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Food, books, books, food. And when I travel (which I wish I could do more of), I usually spend more money buying…food and books!
March 28th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Oh Zachary, I’m glad I’m not the only one with a doubtful need for Star Trek DVDs.
db
March 29th, 2007 at 10:13 am
I suppose beer and eating out (I eat out for lunch a lot, but it’s also how I network).
If I buy books, movies, or CDs I aim used (especially college textbooks!).
I keep an eye open for any bargains when there is something I want – I got my 36″ CRTV for $200 a couple years ago (with free cabinet), and my surround sound stereo was a refurb from woot.com.
My wife can usually get me to spend money on anything she wants – spent a ton on maternity stuff, baby stuff, and an assortment of other items I’m still debating if it was a ‘need’ vs. a ‘want’ for her (but she always wins that argument
)
March 29th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
We have a bad habit of eating out. We love food and spend freely on it. Still I’m trying to curb um… my appetite for nice restaurants.
I’ve added a record of my monthly eating out expense on my blog. You should too… the public humiliation will force you to adjust your habits.
March 30th, 2007 at 10:55 am
i’m a watch, fountain pen, and stereo geek. we too like to cook. i have way too many kitchen gadgets than i should have, but we enjoy it…as do our friends. i’m not a whole foods fan, b/c it is expensive…silly me, i use proscuitto di parma and winter truffles like it goes out of style though. we also travel a lot.