all this recent talk about spending on things we dont need and living a "better" life prompt the question what are the things in life you think money is well spent on? many will say home and everyone ought to say s2000. but what are the things that truly make life better/more meaningful and what are the things we get a temporary high from and forget in 2 weeks?

 

I can tell you what consumer goods are a waste of money. Things like motor homes and expensive hand bags are my two pet peeves I can't stand seeing people buy. Why buy a motor home you pay for like a home mortgage, use maybe use 2X a year, depreciates like a car and unlike a house, and you need to constantly maintain? If you want to take a vacation, just spend it in a nice hotel. I bet it would cost less overall and have more amenities. Hand bags are such a waste. I see all these wanabee millionaires walking in to the Burberry store at a mall near here. Why buy hand bags that are well beyond your means? 90% of the time people think you bought a knock off anyway. I can't stand bad consumerism. To me buying realestate is the only way to a better life.

Sam

 

good start.

as bad as LV handbags are though, I was wondering about expensive cars. the difference between a 911 and s2000 can buy you hundreds if not thousands of bags and high heels. but does the 911 bring that much more satisfaction, etc?

 

i tend to agree with sam on the hand bags. they are really silly esp. since there's so many knock offs out there. i have an LV knock-off that my mom brought me back from the Phillipines, it's actually a pretty nice knock off. i went to the bank one day and the teller says "i LOVE your purse. i have the exact same one!" and without thinking i just said "Hah! well it's totally fake..." she looked at me funny like she was embaressed and then just went back to depositing my money. i didn't realize until later that i had said something really rude... for all i know she had gotten the purse as a present under the premise that it was real.

i do have a few coach purses though. but the most i've ever paid is $250, i usually get them on sale and i justify that cause they're well made purses and i use them really often.

i spend a lot of money eating out. we have a lot of good places to eat in eugene and i love going out and discovering new places to eat. esp. a good thai or italian restaurant.

 

I eat out a lot as well. To me I'm not just paying for the food, I'm paying for the experience as well. It's worth it to me.

I think spending a ton of money on clothes is pretty worthless. I buy polo shirts at Old Navy for a fraction of the price I could get somewhere much more expensive. All this coming from someone who just bought a Lacoste polo on Rodeo Dr. for 60 bucks But that was just to say I bought something there....

 

$60 on rodeo drive...was it on sale or something? the cheapest one ive seen in a lacoste store is $72 for me...i dont think buying new clothes is pointless...it depends how much you buy and if you buy things that just sit in your closet 364 days a year...and real estate is not always a way to better your life...in fact if you do not know what you are doing real estate can be one of the worst purchases you could ever make...plus what one person thinks is worth while another would think is crazy...to some people having a 300 dollar purse that they use everyday is much more important than having a 30k car they use everyday...its all a matter of preference...and its not necessarily what you buy with your money but if you can truly honestly afford what you buy...

 

Yes, all the polo shirts were on sale. At least the monochrome ones were. I could have gotten a striped one for around 85....

 

I spend a lot of my money in Las Vegas and trips to AZ to visit my friends. Other than that, I would have to say poker and of course...my girlfriend. We eat out a lot, like 4 times a week, and it's not at fast food restaurants. We usually eat at Yard House, Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, etc...It makes me...and her happy. I do what makes me happy and therefore, it's money well spent.

 

how about larger purchases besides food?

 

I live very cheaply. To give you an example, for lunch, I bought a bunch of boxed stuff (like Pastas, Mac and Cheese, bunch of potates, etc), all less than $1 and eat one of those for a meal. I only go out for lunch about once every two weeks. I always buy clotches on clearance (not on sale). Don't spend more than $15-20 on pants, shirts I prefer to get free from conventions, but if I have to buy I don't spend more than $10. Shoes I like to buy for less than $30. Yeah, you get the idea.

Oh, and RVs are such a waste. With the price of gas, the amount of gas you can save by driving a 30 mpg sedan instead of an 8 mpg RV will pay for your hotel.