What is something you allow yourself to splurge on?

These days, it’s all about the cigarettes. I did switch to a cheaper brand, but I’m not giving them up.

There are very few things that our family gets to splurge on these days. We even drink cheap beer now. if you know my husband that is a big deal. he loves his beer

We will not skimp on ice cream though. Store brands are just terrible! We usually buy Breyers or Edy’s.

DirecTV, but not much longer.

I take myself out to TCBY about once a month, and I enjoy every bite. Maybe someday when I have a freezer again, I’ll indulge in Breyers like @jonsblond and feel guilty about my waistline instead of my wallet like I’m used to.

I don’t know if “splurge” is the right word, but some people seem to think the amount of crap I’m getting for my dorm room seems ridiculous, but my parents are just kind of getting whatever I think of. I think they’re just excited (and so am I). :)

I don’t think I ever really “splurge”. We do seem to get whatever when we grocery shop as a family though. Luckily it’s usually just my mom and I doing the grocery shopping.

None of this has anything to do with the crisis; my family just doesn’t seem to do that in general.

I still get my eyebrows waxed and my hair done regularly. I also dye my hair. I budget for those things, though, so I don’t know that they count as “splurging”. I’ll occasionally buy myself a delicious coffee drink, but that is pretty rare. During the summer, I splurged on Ranier Cherries. Those are too delicious to pass up, even for $6 a pound (man, I wish I lived in Washington state!)

Food. I am gonna go splurge on a bedset for my bed tomorrow even though i already have a nice one.

Make-up and skin care. It is shameful how much I have spent on a single moisturizer.

@Judi, what is it about make-up and skin care that makes you splurge? I’m not trying to be rude, but, for instance, I like to splurge on skin/hair care when I find something that’s not too expensive and made with great all-natural ingredients from a small company.

So…what’s your reason?

I said in a thread about this a while ago that I wouldn’t give up pedicures… but my feet are pretty damn gnarly right now. I’m still drinking a skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks pretty regularly though, so I’m going with that. And new music.

Also, like @Judi, I splurge on skin care a little. My face wash of choice isn’t too obscene, but I could easily get a decent one for about ½ of what I pay. But mine leaves my skin looking great. It’s my face, I’d rather be poor and glowing than have the extra few bucks and broken out and ashy.

@evegrimm ; I think I have something in common with Ponce DeLeon. I’m looking for the magic elixir of youth? Don’t know but I’m loving my new Chanel moisturizer :-)
Makes me feel pretty.

Philosophy bath products, I love Cinnamon Bun because that.s what it smells like in your morning shower but you just smell non-perfumy fresh the rest of the day.

Travel. I don’t travel extravagently but with a grandson in Paris, I do try to get over. In fact, I’m here now. I love being in new places anyway although paradoxically, I hate leaving home.

My kids.

Food! Every 3 years I’ll shop for clothes and let myself splurge a little…...as in if I find something I really like, I’ll look for coupons and codes to buy it. If I don’t find any discounts, I’ll still buy it because I really like it.

High quality chocolate and pricey coffee. We don’t travel, or vacation, but we do enjoy a nice cup of Sumatran Dark Roast every day.

Books. I cannot live without books. The local library has some of what I want, but so many books that I want to read they don’t have on the shelf.

I am on my feet all day at work, so I think it’s worth it to pay top dollar for great shoes.

Shoes and Bras, both of which I cannot buy in regular stores because they don’t carry my size.

I save money on food and clothes and cd’s and going out and subscriptions to papers and what not, to be able to buy myself tickets to fly to my girlfriend, as many times as possible.

Jacques Torres. He’s got the good chocolate and he’s right down the street.

Lots of sex, and why not, it’s free….well for some of us it is!!!

I’m not feeling any recession effects, so things are normal here in my world (in Canada of course).

I don’t tend to buy things a lot. When I do buy things I research them and make a purchase that will last me a long time, or that has good value for the money I pay. Of course, I try to buy things on sale if I can (I just added another Henkel knife to my cooking collection, they were 25% off today only!) and I mend and reuse as much as I can as well.

I buy Starbucks coffee, I prefer the taste of it versus other coffee beans one can get. I’ve been going to Dairy Queen a few times this summer, so that’s a bit of a splurge.

Have just splurged on a MacBook air…..........

And I can’t stop touching it ;-)

Recession or no recession, the one thing that I’ve always allowed myself to splurge on is perfume. If I fall in love with a perfume, I buy it, generally regardless of the cost. The last stuff I bought was $95.00. It’s definitely a lot for stinky liquid goodness, but it lasts so long that I don’t worry about it, because all in all, I don’t need to buy perfume all the time.

I wouldn’t call it splurging but I do forfeit some things in order to maintain:
pedicure
excellent-condition-at-all-times knickers
favored handbags and shoes

@DrasticDreamer, what kinds of perfumes do you like? (I, for instance, like perfumes like what BPAL makes, which are more of a perfume oil and tend to not be that pricey.)

So what kind of perfumes do it for you?

@evegrimm Oh man, I’m all over the place. Sometimes I like things from Bath and Body, other times I like pricey designer stuff. I don’t really go out of my way looking for anything specific. I kind of just let my nose lead me. Heh. :)

My iPhone and the service from AT&T. And my gym membership… it costs double what smaller gyms cost, but there’s so much more to do there – especially the pools.

@jonsblond Ice cream is the one thing we won’t skimp on either – I just wait for the grocery store to have a sale on Breyers, and then I buy up 4 or 5 cartons to last us several weeks!

I’m usually really bad about splurging on books, too, but I’m being very good and not going anywhere near the bookstore until I finish the giant stack of unread books I already have. I think it’s been three months since I bought myself a book – I’m very proud of myself!

@jonsblond You can’t splurge on books any more than you splurge on air. What would happen if you ran out? You could die!

Books!

@galileogirl I totally agree, but I’m in no danger of running out anytime soon. My stack of unread books is as tall as I am – it’ll take me months to finish them!

Yoga is very expensive where I live but very important to me…and something I have refused to give up! I won’t do it on my own even though I could – I need the special place and time and guidance to do it…and I’m a healthier person for continuing. Maybe it’s helping me deal w/ the stress of being so darn broke! :)

The one thing I splurge on, and it isn’t negotiable(lol) is my hair. The prices are a bit steep, but as I hate to do my hair, this hairstylest is the only one I found who does my hair in such a way that I don’t have to fuss with it. It is also a full hair salon and spa so I treat myself to a spa treatment every couple of months. In this stressfull time you need something to help relax or rejuvinate you

Pedicures and the best for my pets! :-)