What don't you do because of the price even though you can afford it?

Buy KFC.

If it is something you love, something you miss and something you can afford, and you have been scrupulously frugal all your adult life, why would you not do it?

Sometimes you can justify some luxurious expenditures by swapping them out for others… making a bargain with the god of fungible money. “I will eat out less, maybe once every two weeks rather than twice a week in order to 1) take a ballet class 2) buy some new expensive running shoes, 3) go to the opera 4) buy a lb. of wild smoked salmon.”

If you are saving for a rainy day, when do you decide it has arrived, or at least if there are some splashes on the window panes and puddles on the driveway? Treat yourself to a new umbrella occasionally

I dunno… I’m pretty sure that if I could afford it I’d be weaving with angora and silk instead of this $2 a skein acrylic.

Something I can/t afford these days. Travel.
sigh Life is too short to deprive yourself, unless deprivation calls for deprivation, which is the case for me this last couple years now.
From Taipei City to Top Ramen. Bah.

But myself new clothes every year. I can afford it, but I always feel guilty and am more likely to wear what I have until it falls apart.

Ah, the problems of the 1%.

A car payment. I’ve had mine paid off for several years now and it’s beat up, but every time I see something shiny I just keep thinking of all the things I could do with that cash instead.

@dappled_leaves – come on

After the financial crisis I stopped being duped by designer labels. I spend a lot less on my clothes than I used to.

I could pay cash for a new high priced Mercedes, BMW or such but I choose to drive a strip-down 2007 Ford Ranger ½ ton pick up truck.

Replace worn-out clothes.
Buy a car less than 20 years old.
Eat every day.
Eat more than once a day on the days I do eat.

It seems that every time I get ahead, I get dragged back down by something (layoff, major medical crisis, blown-up car….), so I’m afraid to get used to the lifestyle that a median income can afford simply because reality happens, making it so that I cannot always afford things like food, clothes, or a way to get to work.

@dappled_leaves Yep.

@gailcalled I have been thinking along those lines. It just bothered me so much that they were charging so much more than my old ballet school. It’s not just paying the money, it’s reinforcing business that rips people off. It triggers those same feelings I get with doctors double dipping because I have insurance or hospitals sending out a bill just to see if it gets paid, but will cut it down if the patient is savvy enough. It bother me so much on so many levels.

I haven’t looked at prices where I live now, but the little research I did there don’t seem to be many adult classes. In Boca Raton it just happened to be done in an ideal way. Adults just bought a card for 20 classes, and they punched the card when you used it. The expiration date was something like a year out and they had about 12 adult classes a week, I think 8 were classical ballet, the others, modern, jazz, and Pilates. Most other places you buy classes either for a very inflated pay by the class or buy a season like the children do, but for adults that is impractical because things come up, we travel, etc.

@dappled_leaves Why is that necessary? No one below the top 1% has discretionary income? Give me a break.

@cookieman I could stand to buy more new clothes too. My husband calls me retrato, which means portrait/photograph, because I wear the same clothes over and over.

Take some dance classes. Forget your issues with doctors. Have some fun. One class at the price you mentioned is the cost of one t-shirt.

The t-shirt lasts me years, the class is one hour. I’ll probably do some research in the area though and see what exactly is available here.

I do Zumba, which works out for me to be about 16 classes a month for $29.99 and it has been a reasonable substitute. It’s such a huge difference.

I could buy more expensive clothes, shoes, handbags but I do like a sale and a bargain.

Shirts get worn looking after a while, so whether it’s a $20 shirt or a $100 shirt, it will still only last so long.

I feel with handbags like no matter how expensive they are, I still like a change of style and they get worn looking so better to get a $100 one on sale for $40 than to get a $300 one on sale for $150.

I could afford a lot of stuff but always appreciate a good price.

I could afford an Accord but am happy with my Civic.

I don’t get my hair done professionally anymore. I don’t go out or pay for babysitters. I haven’t taken a holiday in three years. It is a matter of priorities. I finally have enough money, regularly, for groceries because I qualify for some public assistance so I’m enjoying that little ‘luxury’ right now. I need to go back to school so I can get a better job that doesn’t regularly kick my ass physically. As much as I love looking after the babies, the pay is crap and it is killing my neck and back.

Take taxis. I just can’t bring myself to spend money on them unless I have to. It’s the subway or a bus.

@janbb When my grandma told me about when my mother was born my grandma said, “...I actually treated myself to a taxi to get to the hospital…”