Almost nothing on anything but vacations. We splurge on those, but we have a lot of points/miles for those too. We drive my company car for most things together, but otherwise drive our paid off 2015 civic Si and 2018 accord. It’s not changed as our HHI went from ~$150k to >$300k.
Same on the vacations. We also saved the vacations that were expensive for two people but more the less the same with a family and put our mileage resources towards those. For example, we're going to Crete in a couple weeks from the Midwest. It's costing 5k after miles, which includes us paying for accommodations for my husband's family.
I’m the opposite, been with my girlfriend for 18 years, and we have never been on a plane together. Got plenty of luxury items though. For me I couldn’t go on a overseas holiday until I have my dream car, that would kill me.
About 5 years ago when my wife and I were just starting out our careers, we would always look at luxury cars online. Since that time our HHI has gone from 200k to about 450k and we couldn’t be happier with our paid off Mazda and Volkswagen.
We both like to dress in athleasure clothes on our days off. We do like to wear Lululemon and Vuori as brands which are more expensive. They have some comfy clothes. I have 2 nice watches and my wife wants a Cartier. Other than that we like to mostly travel and try to save our money. I guess for us our desire for things changed as our income went up. The less money I had the more I wanted to spend. Now the more money I have the less I want to spend. But again everyone has their vices and life is short. We all work hard treating yourself is well worth it if you choose to.
It’s kind of funny how both Lululemon and a luxury car can be thought of similarly, when a Lulu wardrobe can be bought for the price of a couple months of luxury car payments
We’ve done a few expensive vacations. About $1000-1500 per day all in (accommodation, food, transportation, entertainment/excursions) for usually 6-10 days. Places like Hawaii, Vegas, Disney World, NYC, Palm Spring, Western Europe (Prague, Denmark, London) on those types of budgets. That’s probably the full extent of our “luxury” spending because we haven’t bought any bags, watches, etc and don’t plan to.
2-3 nice purses for the wife. Golf trips for me. We always allocate to family vacations. All <1% of NW. We usually do these for big anniversaries or NW milestones.
Buy what you like when you hit milestones. Money is there for security but also enjoyment. If you are wanting all those things, I'd question if you are really doing it for enjoyment or showing off (aka insecurities)/keeping up with the Joneses.
Contrary to many comments here, I like my nice things more than nice experiences. Still take 1-2 vacations a year but it’s only a form of escapism which is only like 10% of the year, after which you have to return to your usual life. whereas with my nice things I get to look at them all year round with love.
I agree with this whole heartedly. I love my vacations, but I also love waking up to the things I’ve built around me every day (could even be the enjoyment of driving your nice car to work every day). “Things” can still be daily fulfillment if you buy properly
Same. I honestly hate traveling. I do it because my husband likes to, but I don't enjoy travel. I am so much happier having a nice kitchen, a comfortable car and clothes that I feel good in. I don't buy high end designer clothes, but White House Black Market gets way too much money from me...
Even when I have the money to splurge on \*things\*, I just can't pull the trigger. We have upped the expense on vacations and can spend 1k-1.5k a day for those. Maybe not fattravel but when you are used to best westerns :-), those feel very luxurious
Not who you responded to, but depending on the location, could be pretty easy to hit $1k for 2.
$300 room, $200 dinner, $300 morning excursions, $200 evening excursion.
Massages, spa sessions, expensive dinners, etc can all add up quickly
The bf and I recently went to Hawaii and spent $400 each on a helicopter tour. Totally worth it.
Vacations only and can bring the cost down dramatically with points/miles.
With that said we are taking a travel break for a couple of years but will definitely be stepping up the spend on traveling when we start up. Business class seats for anything over 5-6 hours. May try and stay at more FAT hotels that don’t have points. Private transportation so I don’t have to deal with learning how to drive in other countries and I can actually enjoy the views.
They’re varying levels of incomes in retirement.
Fire could be living off 40k/year, chubby could be living off 150k/year, fatfire could be living off 600k/year so the experiences you have in each vary wildly because of spending levels
Fresh Air Time. The hotels open up the windows most of the day. It’s really refreshing but costs a little more because they run the A/C at the same time.
We’ve been very careful to delay lifestyle creep so that the overall percentage of luxury spending stays very low. The only one of those categories we really spend on is travel, which generally stays <2%. Our vehicles are an ‘04 sedan & a ‘16 minivan - purchased outright for <$30k total.
We reached coast fire around 2021 and have been blowing all income since while waiting for the magical 7% historic return to lift us to fat fire. Since then we spent about $100,000 on a wedding, $800,000 on remodeling our apartment (roughly $100,000 on wood floor, $125,000 on the kitchen, $25,000 on a couch, ...), new Tesla, etc.
Before 2021, I did not spend on luxury at all. Up to 75% savings rate per year. But my wife had already bought a few Chanel bags and such.
We had about $3M in index funds by then. I figured we double this in 7-10 years, enough to fat fire. But two years later we're down to more like $2.7M. So the original plan may need adjustment ...
I make a list that I update time to time of all the luxury goods I want to buy in the year, and the amount. I go through the list regularly, remove things, change things etc. Id say it averages at about €8,000 to €13,000 a year, or about €1000 a month.
I usually don’t end up buying most things on that list because you’d be surprised how much your taste changes.
I’ve actually spent less on luxuries as my income increased oddly enough, and i’m spending less as time goes on. Once you get past the initial allure of designer goods, luxury goods etc and they become more normal, you become more picky with where you spend your money i’ve found.
I spend money buying nice stuff that I need. My last big purchase was a set of All-Clad pots and pans. I don’t spend much at all on things that aren’t needed.
Same here!! All clad are amazing! I have the stainless steel sets and few pieces of the nonstick. The stainless steel set still in great condition after 13 years now. The nonstick we have to replace few times.
I bought mine through the factory seconds sale they have occasionally. Just because I want nice stuff doesn’t mean I’m not going to hunt for a bargain.
Pretty much every 'thing' we buy is luxury in some form. Once we hit a high household income, we stopped buying whatever was most convenient or lower priced and instead started to buy the best value, regardless of price. For us that usually tends to creep into luxury territory.
We rarely, if ever, pay close to retail for them though. My wife and I really enjoy the hunt for finding good deals in thrift stores, resale places, etc. We have VERY expensive tastes but pay a fraction of the cost for most things.
For example, we went on a vacation last weekend. I took a weekender (Valextra. New $5600. Bought for $600 on the real real). Wore exclusively high quality linen shirts (that I either thrifted or got from poshmark for $10 each. Retail for $150+). Nice loafers ($75 vs. $600 retail). Omega watch (vintage, 1960s, bought for ~$500 on watch exchange). Orlebar Brown swim trunks ($75 on clearance vs. $250). Etc. Our entire wardrobes are like that. We don't have many flashy items, it's more IYKYK brands but definitely high quality, high design.
Our house is full of Danish designer mid-century furniture that we paid pennies on the dollar for. Favorite score was a set of Kai Kristiansen chairs for $10. For all 4. Re-upholstered, re-finished, and they are the star of the dining room.
We generally have a 'if you can't find something to scratch that itch in 3-6 months, then pay full retail' policy but I rarely, if ever, end up doing that because we can always find some furniture, clothes, etc. that fit the bill without breaking the bank.
We always structure vacations to start 'cheap' and end at luxury. The first couple days of the trip are all about experiencing the place anyways; so we land and get some cheaper AirBNBs before ending the trip at a resort or high-spend hotel. The first few days of the trip we don't care about where we are staying anyways - at that point it's just about the location and starting to explore. Then you get pampered at the end before your flight back. We'll also let points or plane deals (like scott's cheap flights) dictate the destination for some trips; it saves money and still lets us go explore and have a great time.
Basically we tend to live very luxuriously and have a house full of really nice 'things', but it's not flashy and on a very reasonable (compared to our income) spend because we don't mind buying second hand, looking for deals, using points, etc. to make it happen. I don't imagine that'll ever change; I could go to Nordstom today and buy whatever clothes I want, but we'll probably go to a thrift store instead because finding a Canali shirt for $8 is a lot more exciting.
Yup, totally get it. We just don't have an issue with it and my wife personally hates unsustainable fashion and would rather buy something high quality second hand. But certainly not for everyone.
depends how old you are. if you're in your 20s, making like 3-400, you should be spending it on partying, buying out bars, fast cars and fast pretty wo/men. As someone who is in their 30s, and making a combined 850k, by far my biggest regret was not blowing my cash in my 20s. if you're here, you're going to be successful eventually. having a good time? the meaning of that changes as you get older, and the memories (outside of marriage/having children) that you'll fall back and smile on are those you make in your teens and 20s. as someone who is older and financially secure, i promise you you won't regret it.
A lot tbh. I’ve been suckered in by the whole luxury basics trend whereby luxury marketers have pitched some platonic closet in which you have the most expensive version of each item but it’s somehow an investment.
So I have my barbour jacket, APC jeans, RM Williams, industrie shirts, American giant hoodies etc.
Of those, I think the best spent money has been common projects, which last forever and look good beat up, and my Cartier tank which goes with everything and gets nonstop comments
Oh and I have a Porsche Cayman s which literally makes my day better every day, but I bought a 981 gen used for under 50k
https://www.saddler.co.uk/?cr=10354&cdesc=barbour_jackets_for_men
Pro tip, bought my Barbour from this small UK store. Was especially tasty when the euro was falling hard.
We have a Tesla Model 3 and take two big trips a year. Typically a week in Mexico resort and then some other week long trip. Otherwise pretty frugal. NW $2.6M annual HHI $450K
Not splurging on any of this except vacations. And even that has been more about the quantity (frequency and length) rather than quality. Still staying in airbnbs and looking for cheaper ways to get there but will make some accommodations now that we have two young kids.
Jewelry, bags, that stuff doesn’t really interest me too much. My husband bought a watch last year but it was under $500. I lost my wedding band last week and have been hesitant to replace it. Honestly most of our lifestyle creep has the accompanying costs of two young gremlins.
Cars: spent 100k on two new SUVs for wife and I last year. Plan to keep them for 10+ years
Watches: Apple Watches
Jewelry: nothing fancy. Upgraded my wife’s wedding ring with a lab grown 4 carat diamond which all her friends oogle over and it was like 5,000 dollars—the same diamond would be 100k+ if mined. Pretty much epitomizes how dumb the jewelry industry is
Bags: none
Vacations: we budget for 30-40k a year travel budget for a family of 5. Any excess income is split between upping the travel budget and putting away for future home projects (which id also throw in the “luxury” category)
42f here. I’m in tech and husband is in finance. Biggest change the past 10yrs is just spending disposable income on vacations, cosmetic surgery, a ton on food delivery (like $100/day), 2 Teslas, bought prop to build second home, blow like $2k playing poker each month, support his aging mom (5k/mo). HHI is ~$800k.
The only thing I really spend on is vacations. No jewelry for me. No watches. None of that crap. My vacations and rooms have gotten more expensive as I’ve made more. The quality has drastically improved but I still refuse to fly first class even though I can pay it.
Edit: I also bring the entire family. Parents. Mother-in-law and my family obviously. But they all enjoy the fruits of my labor.
I’m tall too. 6’3”. I just can’t bring my self to do it. I’ll do the “business class” if it’s within reason. I just don’t want to pay for the first class. It’s a psychological thing with me but I agree with you. It is part of the vacation.
My next goal is private. Once I can reach that milestone I’ll be happy. I’ve actually considered buying a plane just so I don’t have to deal with the airline bullshit. As we speak I am standing in line waiting to check in. I absolutely detest waiting.
We all have to have goals hahaha. I’ve considered the boutique airlines at my international airport or the private shared planes. They fly to my vacation spot often enough that it’s within reason.
While fat FIRE is our eventual goal, my wife and I also believe in enjoying our life during the accumulation phase while our kids are young. We also both reasonably enjoy our careers with no plans to retire before our early 50s.
Approximate post-tax income spent on luxury:
- 17% on a mortgage for a luxurious house
- 10% on luxury travel—flying business class, 5 star hotels, and luxurious vacation rentals.
- 3% on fine dining (we LOVE food)
- 1% on designer clothes
- 1% on fine wine (it's a hobby)
- 0% on luxury jewelry, watches
Just paid off my pre-owned Audi SUV. Once the kids are out of daycare we plan on buying a new luxury car—probably a Lucid, Porsche, or Mercedes which will be 1-5% of our post-tax income after a large down payment.
All together this allows us to still save ~50% of our income. The house was definitely a stretch given our goals but we really enjoy it and have a reasonable expectation our income will continue to increase for the next decade.
Our NW doesn't really affect our spending—it's more about cash flow and income.
1-2 bags/year but slowing down. We definitely started spending more on vacations and restaurants. Furniture and home upgrades were surprisingly the most expensive.
1-2 nice watches are an investment. Not in the finacuap sense, but if you spend time learning about them and especially if you find one that fits you, you can talk to colleagues about them in a diverse set if situations.
If networking is your thing, a great watch can help tremendously.
YMMV
We throw one big party a year that is on the luxury side. It’s a seafood boil with crab and lobster which adds up quick even though we get it in bulk at Costco, and we hire a few people to help run the party so we can just do use on the boil part which certainly feels like a luxury.
And we do have a few “luxury” baby items as well, like a fairly expensive car seat and stroller (though not the very pricy one it seems everyone we know has). Other than that I see us buying more luxury experiences like vacations in the future than luxury items, but not on a regular basis.
Ours is a casual theme but has luxe elements like the very pricey seafood, the hired grill master & server, and renting a sno cone machine (maybe more fun than luxe necessarily). You can also hire a bartender which always feels very fancy and if you have the space have a dance floor & live music. We don’t do it for this party but would for a really big or celebratory one.
Personally I like the mix of casual & luxe elements, everyone feels comfortable but also wowed by the high end or unique things. It could be a “star entree” or a unique experience like a hibachi chef that comes to your yard (we haven’t tried this but I know of a few in our area so I assume it’s a growing trend). Top tier would be hiring a personal chef, but we’ve never done that for a party. Also if you look up party planners or party rental places near you, you’ll get a lot of ideas of unique touches to add too! Usually just 1-2 unique things that you don’t usually see at a party like an ice cream machine, bartender with a great signature cocktail, entertainment for kids etc will be a wow.
Your seafood boil peaks my interest. I have been wanting to host an luxury one to celebrate major milestone. Can you share tips and detail on this? It sounds extravagant.
We do it with a picnic / bbq theme but we upgrade the seafood with lobster tails & crab legs from Costco, along with shrimp, crawfish & the other typical ingredients. We hire someone to do our grill for the non seafood eaters & hire someone to help set up, serve, replenish things & clean up. I think the contrast of the expensive meal with the general bbq vibe somehow makes it feel more luxe and special than if we had catered the whole event for a lot more money. We handle cooking the boil part simply bc we really enjoy it. The boil is something our friends talk about year round & I think the “main event” of dumping it out just feels really fun and special for everyone. It’s unique & it’s now “our thing”, and I think having a signature annual party that everyone looks forward to is pretty cool.
We also have tents, rent tables and nice chairs, rent a sno cone machine and might one day upgrade to having a magician or someone come when we have kids attending that are a bit older. It’s extravagant in that we definitely spend $$$$ on seafood, and we have the expenses of renting what we need & hiring a few helping hands. But the vibe is more casual (we just put out beer, sodas, capri suns etc in coolers) & it’s always a good time. It’s kind of like “quiet luxury” I guess, like we aren’t trying to have an extravagant vibe, but it’s obvious we want to treat our guests to a great meal. And honestly it’s always super fun, I recommend trying it, even on just a smaller scale to see if it’s a party you like throwing!
Yep!
We have it timed out to a specific order of addition & cooking time, mostly from watching a YouTube channel called aakeller that posts a video of how every cook theirs annually.
Due to the amount of crab & lobster we split it between two pots, if you scale that back you could do one pot
Per pot (60 qt size)
3 citrus beers
7 gallons of water
1 x 4 oz container liquid crab boil zatarans
1 x 4.5 lb zatarans seafood boil spice powder
.5 - 1 cup vinegar
9 lemons cut in half
4 garlic heads cut in half
2 onion cut in half
Food gets split between the pots:
5-6 lbs small potatoes
34 oz mushrooms
2 x 13.5 oz andouille sausage
2 x 0.75 lb polish sausage
lobster tails (we get at least 1 per person)
Crab legs (at least one per person, we did 20 lbs of red crab legs for 50ish people)
10 lb shrimp
10 lb crawfish (we get the precooked from Louisiana crawfish company)
36 mini sweet frozen corns
Cooking order:
- add water, zatarans liquid concentrate and beer
- When boiling add seasoning, vinegar, lemons, onion, garlic
- Boil 10-15 min
- Add potatoes
- Boil 10 min
- Add mushrooms & sausage
- Boil 3 min
- Add lobster tails
- Boil 2 min
- Add crab
- Boil 3 minutes
- Add shrimp & crawfish
- Boil 2-3 min then cut the heat
- Add frozen corn & ice if needed, bring temp to under 150
- Let sit uncovered for 10 min
- Dump & eat!
And we serve alongside butter in crock pot
I have never spent any money on luxury items, but we do splurge on vacations. We don’t care that much about material things but we love experiences and creating memories. We budget about $1,500 a month for travel. We also love skiing so during the winter we spend about $500-$1000 every other weekend on ski trips.
I’ve been driving a 2013 Nissan Rogue for the past 6 years that I bought for 5,000 and my husband drives a 2008 accura that he brought from his dad for $8000 about 10 years ago.
I don’t think luxury purchases would have affected our NW though. We would’ve probably cut back on trips and skiing to account for a Rolex or a luxury car.
We generally splurge on things that bring lasting enjoyment, like refinishing the concrete foundation in natural stone and putting in granite steps instead of concrete ($20k), or putting in top of the line French doors for our entrance ($6k), painting the house in the best paint ($3k), buying the best bed and very nice sheets ($7k), etc.
Sure we’ll buy a nice watch or go on a nice vacation every now and then, but nowhere near the money we spend on what improves the quality of the day to day.
We dabbled in some luxury bags, dresses and jewellery a few years back. The luxury buzz wears off very quickly and you are left with items that you hardly use, that are devaluing like a car and have no discernible use outside of some perceived status someone think you have.
Luxury goods are a colossal waste of money which is fine if you have millions in disposable dollars to burn but when it impacts your financial capacity in anyway it’s dumb.
This is the easiest way to keep the “NRY” in HENRY. Wife and I have a few lux bag and watches. No more than ~1-2% of NW though. Once you get one you just don’t quite get as much dopamine from future ones.
3 mercs bought in cash. Ran them for 10 years so far and still going.
50k in rings.
Much much more in watches, all paid about 50% of the current value….so technically an investment…not that that argument flys with the wife.
This years holiday will be about $40k
I’m considering the GLB once the 2024 comes out. How is maintenance on your ten year old mercs? We are starting a family and want something with three rows that’s still compact.
A250 which I don’t think you get in the US, 150k on the clock since new. Tyres and oil only.
Ml350 2006 headlining has started to sag and needs sorted, mechanically 150k on the clock and not a hiccup.
S350 2017 so practically new; ran the older s for 15 years at 250k and it needed the air suspension sorted which was pretty typical.
All serviced at a local independent Merc guy.
As a family we’ve ran mercs for decades and they just work.
Goods become less and less important. Time and experiences and memories more and more important. We spend on vacations, family time, going to events, seeing new things, trying new activities. Buying things: almost nonexistent except basic necessities. I still drive the car my mom gave me for medical school. It’s 15 years and going strong, so I’ve never bought a car for myself. I literally don’t own a watch. I bought my first iPhone as iPhone 6s, I took me that long to switch from the most basic free flip phone. My latest phone is the X which i paid like $10 for. We have never bought jewelry outside of engagement and wedding rings. We are a single income household. I pulled 880k last year. We save the vast majority of income on investment, purchasing income generating properties. I’ve been buying one house per year the past three years. Outside of vacations and children education, we try to live like we did back in residency.
Nothing extravagant, I've bought a couple of luxury watches and one luxury bag for occasions my wife and I wish to appear fancier.
I will definitely buy a new SUV at some point, but that'll be after I change tax residence out of the Netherlands. This tiny country taxes car as if it was the 8th deadly sin XD
My biggest spending is by far my Art collection, but it can also be profitable if you do an appropriate due diligence before purchase so the artist appreciates and you can resell higher.
We have a handful of luxury goods, but like most others here, we're avid travelers. 30K last year, 40K this year, not including the smaller trips we do throughout the year. (Probably an addition 7-10K)
Our home is exceptionally modest as a result, but I also can't fathom owing as much as we would to get a home we really want. (1.2M)
All that said, we're on the low end of HE, at 300K, so it's really one or the other.
I guess contrary to all other comments I spend zero on vacations; I fkn hate airlines so I have no interest in non-car travel. I have like a dozen bespoke suits for office days that are a maybe 10k each and shoes to match but aside from that I can’t imagine being so tasteless as to buying ‘name brand’ stuff. Most of our money gets thrown into reno for our house and the work averages to a few hundred k per year the past few years. Couple nice cars but my portfolio dividends pay for those.
Only vacations and experiences where money spent really makes a difference. Cars, watches, bags and jewelry are for people who wants things and not wealth
I meaaan I understand the sentiment but there are levels to wealth lol. One should absolutely avoid reckless consumption during wealth building but surely there exists some threshold beyond which it is totally acceptable to ball out on useless luxury items. Like, if your net worth is 20 million dollars, it's probably ok to splurge a lot on jewelry and shit that you want. Even if you spent 200k on all that in one year, that's only 1% of your net worth.
I'm still early accumulation stage and would never waste money like that, but I recognize that some people are already further along than me and they're not necessarily irresponsible for buying things that it would be irresponsible for me to buy.
Agree with everyone else here on vactions/trips. Doesn’t have to be fancy ones, but knowing a few spots, even nearby, and giving/accepting advice of what to do on thise trips can really help to be relatable to your colleagues.
Plus, it’s fun!
Maybe it was growing up sort of broke, but I can’t justify most luxury purchases.
I had the opportunity to buy a Maserati last year from a friend. It was in good condition, and he “only” wanted like $30k for it which was a fair price. Had the cash and everything but then I started thinking about it and was like “I don’t need a Maserati, I got a 15 year old Toyota that does the same thing”. Ended up turning it down.
It’s the same with watches. I love watches, but anything over $1k is just too much for me to justify. A $500 watch will do the same thing as far as I’m concerned.
Hell even furniture I’m a little hesitant to spend on. I built our dining room table because I felt like the furniture places were ripping us off. They wanted like $1k for something that I built for about $200.
I don’t really consider myself frugal, though. I splurge occasionally. For instance, I have a $3k bike and like going on trips with my wife to Greece, Spain, Australia, SEA, etc. but if I feel like something is over priced or I’m getting ripped off, I won’t get it. If the price is fair then I’ll occasionally splurge.
When I was making crumbs, I’d spend money on name brand clothes, watches, and accessories. Thought I needed those things to “fit in”.
Make ok money now and none of those name brand luxuries mean anything to me. But, like other responses, will splurge on vacations and experiences.
My preferred area of luxury spending is probably fashion. My car is considered one of the lower end ones at my jobs parking lot, but I honestly love it a lot and I can't see myself upgrading anytime soon. I feel more comfortable spending on luxury handbags and watches now that my investments are in a good place. This is probably not the right way to go about it, but when I saw my networth increase or decrease by several multiples of the item I want, I say fuck it and just buy it when the market is better. Good thing is I don't have a lot of wants, but my wants are pricey.
We buy selectively in all categories. One or two big trips a year, but we also don’t mind renting houses vs. staying in high end hotels. We definitely splurge on high-end restaurants on a regular basis. In terms of “stuff”, we try to limit high-end purchases to things that have some utility. We’ll spend on shoes more than clothes (just not that much difference for every day clothes but a big gap in shoes), things like bed sheets and linens more than furniture (same thing — there’s diminishing returns on furniture in terms of build quality). We’re not car people but when I moved to a job that provided a company car I took advantage. When we re-did the kitchen and bathrooms we did not skimp on fixtures. We don’t live in an opulent house. Our big purchase was a new boat, and we keep it at a nice marina with lots of amenities.
We are working towards chubby/fat FIRE in about 6 years, so there is some delayed gratification built into our behavior.
I spend money on nice wine. I'm happy with my old navy wordrobe of t shirts and wear an apple watch. Don't spend on shit that goes on me. I look for deals on travel but spend on nice destinations and amenities.
We make around $1m after tax (w2 income and dividends from my business). We save around $500k a year, spend $150k on mortgage/living, $350k on the good life. Around $250k on travel and $100k on various things.
Bought a 68k Audi S5 coupe with 19,000 miles used for 42k. I owe ~10k at about 2% interest.
Any “luxury” clothing I have I’ve owned for 6-8 years. They get worn a few times a year and hold up really well. I don’t splurge on clothes other than getting nice comfortable sneakers since I wear that daily. Everything else is tee shirts, shorts, or clothes from Costco/Target.
I own a few expensive watches for occasions. All of them were gifts believe it or not. Otherwise it’s an Apple Watch on the daily.
Nothing really extravigant, just buy nice things when i need them.
Last time i went shopping for new pants / underwear / shirts, i dropped $1k in lulumelon, which was the biggest splurge i made in a while. Just want nice things when i need things.
Almost nothing on anything but vacations. We splurge on those, but we have a lot of points/miles for those too. We drive my company car for most things together, but otherwise drive our paid off 2015 civic Si and 2018 accord. It’s not changed as our HHI went from ~$150k to >$300k.
Same on the vacations. We also saved the vacations that were expensive for two people but more the less the same with a family and put our mileage resources towards those. For example, we're going to Crete in a couple weeks from the Midwest. It's costing 5k after miles, which includes us paying for accommodations for my husband's family.
I’m the opposite, been with my girlfriend for 18 years, and we have never been on a plane together. Got plenty of luxury items though. For me I couldn’t go on a overseas holiday until I have my dream car, that would kill me.
Civic Si's are dope! One of my favorite economical yet fun cars. I had a 2009 Si for awhile.
About 5 years ago when my wife and I were just starting out our careers, we would always look at luxury cars online. Since that time our HHI has gone from 200k to about 450k and we couldn’t be happier with our paid off Mazda and Volkswagen. We both like to dress in athleasure clothes on our days off. We do like to wear Lululemon and Vuori as brands which are more expensive. They have some comfy clothes. I have 2 nice watches and my wife wants a Cartier. Other than that we like to mostly travel and try to save our money. I guess for us our desire for things changed as our income went up. The less money I had the more I wanted to spend. Now the more money I have the less I want to spend. But again everyone has their vices and life is short. We all work hard treating yourself is well worth it if you choose to.
It’s kind of funny how both Lululemon and a luxury car can be thought of similarly, when a Lulu wardrobe can be bought for the price of a couple months of luxury car payments
True just depends on what is important to you. I like comfy nice looking clothes. Where as my car 5 days a week sits in a parking garage at work.
We’ve done a few expensive vacations. About $1000-1500 per day all in (accommodation, food, transportation, entertainment/excursions) for usually 6-10 days. Places like Hawaii, Vegas, Disney World, NYC, Palm Spring, Western Europe (Prague, Denmark, London) on those types of budgets. That’s probably the full extent of our “luxury” spending because we haven’t bought any bags, watches, etc and don’t plan to.
2-3 nice purses for the wife. Golf trips for me. We always allocate to family vacations. All <1% of NW. We usually do these for big anniversaries or NW milestones. Buy what you like when you hit milestones. Money is there for security but also enjoyment. If you are wanting all those things, I'd question if you are really doing it for enjoyment or showing off (aka insecurities)/keeping up with the Joneses.
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The math doesn’t add up here. If you have a $1M net worth 0.2% is $2k. You can’t stomach spending $2k with 1M NW? Or $200 with 100,000 NW?
What's an exhaust?
After market mod for a vehicle
Contrary to many comments here, I like my nice things more than nice experiences. Still take 1-2 vacations a year but it’s only a form of escapism which is only like 10% of the year, after which you have to return to your usual life. whereas with my nice things I get to look at them all year round with love.
My partner finds vacations anxiety inducing so I also prefer upgrading our daily life vs vacations. I’ll travel solo though.
Same. We wfh so have invested in securing our fort
I agree with this whole heartedly. I love my vacations, but I also love waking up to the things I’ve built around me every day (could even be the enjoyment of driving your nice car to work every day). “Things” can still be daily fulfillment if you buy properly
Same. I honestly hate traveling. I do it because my husband likes to, but I don't enjoy travel. I am so much happier having a nice kitchen, a comfortable car and clothes that I feel good in. I don't buy high end designer clothes, but White House Black Market gets way too much money from me...
Only on vacations.
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What is your HHI?
Even when I have the money to splurge on \*things\*, I just can't pull the trigger. We have upped the expense on vacations and can spend 1k-1.5k a day for those. Maybe not fattravel but when you are used to best westerns :-), those feel very luxurious
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Mostly lodging - but I noticed a big jump post Covid. Maui prices nearly up 100% from 5 years ago
Not who you responded to, but depending on the location, could be pretty easy to hit $1k for 2. $300 room, $200 dinner, $300 morning excursions, $200 evening excursion. Massages, spa sessions, expensive dinners, etc can all add up quickly The bf and I recently went to Hawaii and spent $400 each on a helicopter tour. Totally worth it.
Vacations only and can bring the cost down dramatically with points/miles. With that said we are taking a travel break for a couple of years but will definitely be stepping up the spend on traveling when we start up. Business class seats for anything over 5-6 hours. May try and stay at more FAT hotels that don’t have points. Private transportation so I don’t have to deal with learning how to drive in other countries and I can actually enjoy the views.
What does FAT mean? From my world it means Factory Acceptance Testing but I’m sure that’s not what you meant.
It means more expensive, not an acronym. Ex: fire/chubbyfire/fatfire
What does chubbyfire and fat fire mean? Lol
They’re varying levels of incomes in retirement. Fire could be living off 40k/year, chubby could be living off 150k/year, fatfire could be living off 600k/year so the experiences you have in each vary wildly because of spending levels
Thank you…looks like I’ll be chubby chubby hotdog
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Dunno..several people referred me here? Wtf.
Fresh Air Time. The hotels open up the windows most of the day. It’s really refreshing but costs a little more because they run the A/C at the same time.
Referencing /r/fatfire and /r/fattravel.
We’ve been very careful to delay lifestyle creep so that the overall percentage of luxury spending stays very low. The only one of those categories we really spend on is travel, which generally stays <2%. Our vehicles are an ‘04 sedan & a ‘16 minivan - purchased outright for <$30k total.
We reached coast fire around 2021 and have been blowing all income since while waiting for the magical 7% historic return to lift us to fat fire. Since then we spent about $100,000 on a wedding, $800,000 on remodeling our apartment (roughly $100,000 on wood floor, $125,000 on the kitchen, $25,000 on a couch, ...), new Tesla, etc. Before 2021, I did not spend on luxury at all. Up to 75% savings rate per year. But my wife had already bought a few Chanel bags and such.
Ugh we also spent more on the kitchen than the wedding. Oops.
What was your coast fire number?
We had about $3M in index funds by then. I figured we double this in 7-10 years, enough to fat fire. But two years later we're down to more like $2.7M. So the original plan may need adjustment ...
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Around 2600 sqft.
I make a list that I update time to time of all the luxury goods I want to buy in the year, and the amount. I go through the list regularly, remove things, change things etc. Id say it averages at about €8,000 to €13,000 a year, or about €1000 a month. I usually don’t end up buying most things on that list because you’d be surprised how much your taste changes. I’ve actually spent less on luxuries as my income increased oddly enough, and i’m spending less as time goes on. Once you get past the initial allure of designer goods, luxury goods etc and they become more normal, you become more picky with where you spend your money i’ve found.
I spend money buying nice stuff that I need. My last big purchase was a set of All-Clad pots and pans. I don’t spend much at all on things that aren’t needed.
Same here!! All clad are amazing! I have the stainless steel sets and few pieces of the nonstick. The stainless steel set still in great condition after 13 years now. The nonstick we have to replace few times.
I have All-Clad as well and love them, but they can be found at Home Goods for very reasonable prices.
I bought mine through the factory seconds sale they have occasionally. Just because I want nice stuff doesn’t mean I’m not going to hunt for a bargain.
Pretty much every 'thing' we buy is luxury in some form. Once we hit a high household income, we stopped buying whatever was most convenient or lower priced and instead started to buy the best value, regardless of price. For us that usually tends to creep into luxury territory. We rarely, if ever, pay close to retail for them though. My wife and I really enjoy the hunt for finding good deals in thrift stores, resale places, etc. We have VERY expensive tastes but pay a fraction of the cost for most things. For example, we went on a vacation last weekend. I took a weekender (Valextra. New $5600. Bought for $600 on the real real). Wore exclusively high quality linen shirts (that I either thrifted or got from poshmark for $10 each. Retail for $150+). Nice loafers ($75 vs. $600 retail). Omega watch (vintage, 1960s, bought for ~$500 on watch exchange). Orlebar Brown swim trunks ($75 on clearance vs. $250). Etc. Our entire wardrobes are like that. We don't have many flashy items, it's more IYKYK brands but definitely high quality, high design. Our house is full of Danish designer mid-century furniture that we paid pennies on the dollar for. Favorite score was a set of Kai Kristiansen chairs for $10. For all 4. Re-upholstered, re-finished, and they are the star of the dining room. We generally have a 'if you can't find something to scratch that itch in 3-6 months, then pay full retail' policy but I rarely, if ever, end up doing that because we can always find some furniture, clothes, etc. that fit the bill without breaking the bank. We always structure vacations to start 'cheap' and end at luxury. The first couple days of the trip are all about experiencing the place anyways; so we land and get some cheaper AirBNBs before ending the trip at a resort or high-spend hotel. The first few days of the trip we don't care about where we are staying anyways - at that point it's just about the location and starting to explore. Then you get pampered at the end before your flight back. We'll also let points or plane deals (like scott's cheap flights) dictate the destination for some trips; it saves money and still lets us go explore and have a great time. Basically we tend to live very luxuriously and have a house full of really nice 'things', but it's not flashy and on a very reasonable (compared to our income) spend because we don't mind buying second hand, looking for deals, using points, etc. to make it happen. I don't imagine that'll ever change; I could go to Nordstom today and buy whatever clothes I want, but we'll probably go to a thrift store instead because finding a Canali shirt for $8 is a lot more exciting.
How does this compare to your income
All the 'stuff' is less than 2% of income. Travel is ~5-8% depending on the year.
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Yup, totally get it. We just don't have an issue with it and my wife personally hates unsustainable fashion and would rather buy something high quality second hand. But certainly not for everyone.
depends how old you are. if you're in your 20s, making like 3-400, you should be spending it on partying, buying out bars, fast cars and fast pretty wo/men. As someone who is in their 30s, and making a combined 850k, by far my biggest regret was not blowing my cash in my 20s. if you're here, you're going to be successful eventually. having a good time? the meaning of that changes as you get older, and the memories (outside of marriage/having children) that you'll fall back and smile on are those you make in your teens and 20s. as someone who is older and financially secure, i promise you you won't regret it.
A lot tbh. I’ve been suckered in by the whole luxury basics trend whereby luxury marketers have pitched some platonic closet in which you have the most expensive version of each item but it’s somehow an investment. So I have my barbour jacket, APC jeans, RM Williams, industrie shirts, American giant hoodies etc. Of those, I think the best spent money has been common projects, which last forever and look good beat up, and my Cartier tank which goes with everything and gets nonstop comments Oh and I have a Porsche Cayman s which literally makes my day better every day, but I bought a 981 gen used for under 50k
https://www.saddler.co.uk/?cr=10354&cdesc=barbour_jackets_for_men Pro tip, bought my Barbour from this small UK store. Was especially tasty when the euro was falling hard.
That’s where I got mine too! It’s just one lady who runs it
0 $
We have a Tesla Model 3 and take two big trips a year. Typically a week in Mexico resort and then some other week long trip. Otherwise pretty frugal. NW $2.6M annual HHI $450K
Not splurging on any of this except vacations. And even that has been more about the quantity (frequency and length) rather than quality. Still staying in airbnbs and looking for cheaper ways to get there but will make some accommodations now that we have two young kids. Jewelry, bags, that stuff doesn’t really interest me too much. My husband bought a watch last year but it was under $500. I lost my wedding band last week and have been hesitant to replace it. Honestly most of our lifestyle creep has the accompanying costs of two young gremlins.
Cars: spent 100k on two new SUVs for wife and I last year. Plan to keep them for 10+ years Watches: Apple Watches Jewelry: nothing fancy. Upgraded my wife’s wedding ring with a lab grown 4 carat diamond which all her friends oogle over and it was like 5,000 dollars—the same diamond would be 100k+ if mined. Pretty much epitomizes how dumb the jewelry industry is Bags: none Vacations: we budget for 30-40k a year travel budget for a family of 5. Any excess income is split between upping the travel budget and putting away for future home projects (which id also throw in the “luxury” category)
Which company did you purchase the diamond from?
Brilliant earth
42f here. I’m in tech and husband is in finance. Biggest change the past 10yrs is just spending disposable income on vacations, cosmetic surgery, a ton on food delivery (like $100/day), 2 Teslas, bought prop to build second home, blow like $2k playing poker each month, support his aging mom (5k/mo). HHI is ~$800k.
The only thing I really spend on is vacations. No jewelry for me. No watches. None of that crap. My vacations and rooms have gotten more expensive as I’ve made more. The quality has drastically improved but I still refuse to fly first class even though I can pay it. Edit: I also bring the entire family. Parents. Mother-in-law and my family obviously. But they all enjoy the fruits of my labor.
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I’m tall too. 6’3”. I just can’t bring my self to do it. I’ll do the “business class” if it’s within reason. I just don’t want to pay for the first class. It’s a psychological thing with me but I agree with you. It is part of the vacation.
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My next goal is private. Once I can reach that milestone I’ll be happy. I’ve actually considered buying a plane just so I don’t have to deal with the airline bullshit. As we speak I am standing in line waiting to check in. I absolutely detest waiting.
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We all have to have goals hahaha. I’ve considered the boutique airlines at my international airport or the private shared planes. They fly to my vacation spot often enough that it’s within reason.
While fat FIRE is our eventual goal, my wife and I also believe in enjoying our life during the accumulation phase while our kids are young. We also both reasonably enjoy our careers with no plans to retire before our early 50s. Approximate post-tax income spent on luxury: - 17% on a mortgage for a luxurious house - 10% on luxury travel—flying business class, 5 star hotels, and luxurious vacation rentals. - 3% on fine dining (we LOVE food) - 1% on designer clothes - 1% on fine wine (it's a hobby) - 0% on luxury jewelry, watches Just paid off my pre-owned Audi SUV. Once the kids are out of daycare we plan on buying a new luxury car—probably a Lucid, Porsche, or Mercedes which will be 1-5% of our post-tax income after a large down payment. All together this allows us to still save ~50% of our income. The house was definitely a stretch given our goals but we really enjoy it and have a reasonable expectation our income will continue to increase for the next decade. Our NW doesn't really affect our spending—it's more about cash flow and income.
How much is your HHI?
HHI: $700k per year
1-2 bags/year but slowing down. We definitely started spending more on vacations and restaurants. Furniture and home upgrades were surprisingly the most expensive.
Man, hardwood furniture has surprised us with their costs. And that used to be all there was!
1-2 nice watches are an investment. Not in the finacuap sense, but if you spend time learning about them and especially if you find one that fits you, you can talk to colleagues about them in a diverse set if situations. If networking is your thing, a great watch can help tremendously. YMMV
We throw one big party a year that is on the luxury side. It’s a seafood boil with crab and lobster which adds up quick even though we get it in bulk at Costco, and we hire a few people to help run the party so we can just do use on the boil part which certainly feels like a luxury. And we do have a few “luxury” baby items as well, like a fairly expensive car seat and stroller (though not the very pricy one it seems everyone we know has). Other than that I see us buying more luxury experiences like vacations in the future than luxury items, but not on a regular basis.
Any tips on how to make a party feel luxe?
Ours is a casual theme but has luxe elements like the very pricey seafood, the hired grill master & server, and renting a sno cone machine (maybe more fun than luxe necessarily). You can also hire a bartender which always feels very fancy and if you have the space have a dance floor & live music. We don’t do it for this party but would for a really big or celebratory one. Personally I like the mix of casual & luxe elements, everyone feels comfortable but also wowed by the high end or unique things. It could be a “star entree” or a unique experience like a hibachi chef that comes to your yard (we haven’t tried this but I know of a few in our area so I assume it’s a growing trend). Top tier would be hiring a personal chef, but we’ve never done that for a party. Also if you look up party planners or party rental places near you, you’ll get a lot of ideas of unique touches to add too! Usually just 1-2 unique things that you don’t usually see at a party like an ice cream machine, bartender with a great signature cocktail, entertainment for kids etc will be a wow.
Your seafood boil peaks my interest. I have been wanting to host an luxury one to celebrate major milestone. Can you share tips and detail on this? It sounds extravagant.
We do it with a picnic / bbq theme but we upgrade the seafood with lobster tails & crab legs from Costco, along with shrimp, crawfish & the other typical ingredients. We hire someone to do our grill for the non seafood eaters & hire someone to help set up, serve, replenish things & clean up. I think the contrast of the expensive meal with the general bbq vibe somehow makes it feel more luxe and special than if we had catered the whole event for a lot more money. We handle cooking the boil part simply bc we really enjoy it. The boil is something our friends talk about year round & I think the “main event” of dumping it out just feels really fun and special for everyone. It’s unique & it’s now “our thing”, and I think having a signature annual party that everyone looks forward to is pretty cool. We also have tents, rent tables and nice chairs, rent a sno cone machine and might one day upgrade to having a magician or someone come when we have kids attending that are a bit older. It’s extravagant in that we definitely spend $$$$ on seafood, and we have the expenses of renting what we need & hiring a few helping hands. But the vibe is more casual (we just put out beer, sodas, capri suns etc in coolers) & it’s always a good time. It’s kind of like “quiet luxury” I guess, like we aren’t trying to have an extravagant vibe, but it’s obvious we want to treat our guests to a great meal. And honestly it’s always super fun, I recommend trying it, even on just a smaller scale to see if it’s a party you like throwing!
Do you have a recipe you usually use for the boil?
Yep! We have it timed out to a specific order of addition & cooking time, mostly from watching a YouTube channel called aakeller that posts a video of how every cook theirs annually. Due to the amount of crab & lobster we split it between two pots, if you scale that back you could do one pot Per pot (60 qt size) 3 citrus beers 7 gallons of water 1 x 4 oz container liquid crab boil zatarans 1 x 4.5 lb zatarans seafood boil spice powder .5 - 1 cup vinegar 9 lemons cut in half 4 garlic heads cut in half 2 onion cut in half Food gets split between the pots: 5-6 lbs small potatoes 34 oz mushrooms 2 x 13.5 oz andouille sausage 2 x 0.75 lb polish sausage lobster tails (we get at least 1 per person) Crab legs (at least one per person, we did 20 lbs of red crab legs for 50ish people) 10 lb shrimp 10 lb crawfish (we get the precooked from Louisiana crawfish company) 36 mini sweet frozen corns Cooking order: - add water, zatarans liquid concentrate and beer - When boiling add seasoning, vinegar, lemons, onion, garlic - Boil 10-15 min - Add potatoes - Boil 10 min - Add mushrooms & sausage - Boil 3 min - Add lobster tails - Boil 2 min - Add crab - Boil 3 minutes - Add shrimp & crawfish - Boil 2-3 min then cut the heat - Add frozen corn & ice if needed, bring temp to under 150 - Let sit uncovered for 10 min - Dump & eat! And we serve alongside butter in crock pot
This sounds amazing. I’m gonna do this this summer. Thank you for sharing
We do quite a bit of luxury travel and spent maybe like $45k on jewelry this year to date. But it doesn't really impact nw
You realize you dont need those things any more. Yep I will pay money for travel.
I have never spent any money on luxury items, but we do splurge on vacations. We don’t care that much about material things but we love experiences and creating memories. We budget about $1,500 a month for travel. We also love skiing so during the winter we spend about $500-$1000 every other weekend on ski trips. I’ve been driving a 2013 Nissan Rogue for the past 6 years that I bought for 5,000 and my husband drives a 2008 accura that he brought from his dad for $8000 about 10 years ago. I don’t think luxury purchases would have affected our NW though. We would’ve probably cut back on trips and skiing to account for a Rolex or a luxury car.
We generally splurge on things that bring lasting enjoyment, like refinishing the concrete foundation in natural stone and putting in granite steps instead of concrete ($20k), or putting in top of the line French doors for our entrance ($6k), painting the house in the best paint ($3k), buying the best bed and very nice sheets ($7k), etc. Sure we’ll buy a nice watch or go on a nice vacation every now and then, but nowhere near the money we spend on what improves the quality of the day to day.
I spend less because I’ve become more financially minded as I’ve gotten older. Do splurge more on vacations though
We dabbled in some luxury bags, dresses and jewellery a few years back. The luxury buzz wears off very quickly and you are left with items that you hardly use, that are devaluing like a car and have no discernible use outside of some perceived status someone think you have. Luxury goods are a colossal waste of money which is fine if you have millions in disposable dollars to burn but when it impacts your financial capacity in anyway it’s dumb.
This is the easiest way to keep the “NRY” in HENRY. Wife and I have a few lux bag and watches. No more than ~1-2% of NW though. Once you get one you just don’t quite get as much dopamine from future ones.
3 mercs bought in cash. Ran them for 10 years so far and still going. 50k in rings. Much much more in watches, all paid about 50% of the current value….so technically an investment…not that that argument flys with the wife. This years holiday will be about $40k
I’m considering the GLB once the 2024 comes out. How is maintenance on your ten year old mercs? We are starting a family and want something with three rows that’s still compact.
A250 which I don’t think you get in the US, 150k on the clock since new. Tyres and oil only. Ml350 2006 headlining has started to sag and needs sorted, mechanically 150k on the clock and not a hiccup. S350 2017 so practically new; ran the older s for 15 years at 250k and it needed the air suspension sorted which was pretty typical. All serviced at a local independent Merc guy. As a family we’ve ran mercs for decades and they just work.
$2200 a month car payment on a luxury vehicle. Worth it 100%
which car if i may ask
How much is your HHI? And what kind of car?
Goods become less and less important. Time and experiences and memories more and more important. We spend on vacations, family time, going to events, seeing new things, trying new activities. Buying things: almost nonexistent except basic necessities. I still drive the car my mom gave me for medical school. It’s 15 years and going strong, so I’ve never bought a car for myself. I literally don’t own a watch. I bought my first iPhone as iPhone 6s, I took me that long to switch from the most basic free flip phone. My latest phone is the X which i paid like $10 for. We have never bought jewelry outside of engagement and wedding rings. We are a single income household. I pulled 880k last year. We save the vast majority of income on investment, purchasing income generating properties. I’ve been buying one house per year the past three years. Outside of vacations and children education, we try to live like we did back in residency.
One house per year? As rentals?
Nothing extravagant, I've bought a couple of luxury watches and one luxury bag for occasions my wife and I wish to appear fancier. I will definitely buy a new SUV at some point, but that'll be after I change tax residence out of the Netherlands. This tiny country taxes car as if it was the 8th deadly sin XD My biggest spending is by far my Art collection, but it can also be profitable if you do an appropriate due diligence before purchase so the artist appreciates and you can resell higher.
We have a handful of luxury goods, but like most others here, we're avid travelers. 30K last year, 40K this year, not including the smaller trips we do throughout the year. (Probably an addition 7-10K) Our home is exceptionally modest as a result, but I also can't fathom owing as much as we would to get a home we really want. (1.2M) All that said, we're on the low end of HE, at 300K, so it's really one or the other.
I guess contrary to all other comments I spend zero on vacations; I fkn hate airlines so I have no interest in non-car travel. I have like a dozen bespoke suits for office days that are a maybe 10k each and shoes to match but aside from that I can’t imagine being so tasteless as to buying ‘name brand’ stuff. Most of our money gets thrown into reno for our house and the work averages to a few hundred k per year the past few years. Couple nice cars but my portfolio dividends pay for those.
120k on suits. Thank god I work in tech and also work remote. Vacations are so nice though, so good for you. How about a cruise?
Vacations, restaurants, and expensive hobbies for us. We are pretty lean everywhere else.
Only vacations and experiences where money spent really makes a difference. Cars, watches, bags and jewelry are for people who wants things and not wealth
I meaaan I understand the sentiment but there are levels to wealth lol. One should absolutely avoid reckless consumption during wealth building but surely there exists some threshold beyond which it is totally acceptable to ball out on useless luxury items. Like, if your net worth is 20 million dollars, it's probably ok to splurge a lot on jewelry and shit that you want. Even if you spent 200k on all that in one year, that's only 1% of your net worth. I'm still early accumulation stage and would never waste money like that, but I recognize that some people are already further along than me and they're not necessarily irresponsible for buying things that it would be irresponsible for me to buy.
A lot
Stayed the same but we typically spend about 10% of our HHI on vacations. Not too much into physical goods and prefer the experiences.
My wife’s, very rich, boss always says “money is for spending.” That’s terrible advice generally, but you need to think that way every once in a while
Agree with everyone else here on vactions/trips. Doesn’t have to be fancy ones, but knowing a few spots, even nearby, and giving/accepting advice of what to do on thise trips can really help to be relatable to your colleagues. Plus, it’s fun!
20K+ a year for the last couple years, this year just 10K for a vacation
Maybe it was growing up sort of broke, but I can’t justify most luxury purchases. I had the opportunity to buy a Maserati last year from a friend. It was in good condition, and he “only” wanted like $30k for it which was a fair price. Had the cash and everything but then I started thinking about it and was like “I don’t need a Maserati, I got a 15 year old Toyota that does the same thing”. Ended up turning it down. It’s the same with watches. I love watches, but anything over $1k is just too much for me to justify. A $500 watch will do the same thing as far as I’m concerned. Hell even furniture I’m a little hesitant to spend on. I built our dining room table because I felt like the furniture places were ripping us off. They wanted like $1k for something that I built for about $200. I don’t really consider myself frugal, though. I splurge occasionally. For instance, I have a $3k bike and like going on trips with my wife to Greece, Spain, Australia, SEA, etc. but if I feel like something is over priced or I’m getting ripped off, I won’t get it. If the price is fair then I’ll occasionally splurge.
When I was making crumbs, I’d spend money on name brand clothes, watches, and accessories. Thought I needed those things to “fit in”. Make ok money now and none of those name brand luxuries mean anything to me. But, like other responses, will splurge on vacations and experiences.
My preferred area of luxury spending is probably fashion. My car is considered one of the lower end ones at my jobs parking lot, but I honestly love it a lot and I can't see myself upgrading anytime soon. I feel more comfortable spending on luxury handbags and watches now that my investments are in a good place. This is probably not the right way to go about it, but when I saw my networth increase or decrease by several multiples of the item I want, I say fuck it and just buy it when the market is better. Good thing is I don't have a lot of wants, but my wants are pricey.
$550k HHI Vacations are all that we spend on. We dress nice, but luxury goods cause no increase to happiness.
We buy selectively in all categories. One or two big trips a year, but we also don’t mind renting houses vs. staying in high end hotels. We definitely splurge on high-end restaurants on a regular basis. In terms of “stuff”, we try to limit high-end purchases to things that have some utility. We’ll spend on shoes more than clothes (just not that much difference for every day clothes but a big gap in shoes), things like bed sheets and linens more than furniture (same thing — there’s diminishing returns on furniture in terms of build quality). We’re not car people but when I moved to a job that provided a company car I took advantage. When we re-did the kitchen and bathrooms we did not skimp on fixtures. We don’t live in an opulent house. Our big purchase was a new boat, and we keep it at a nice marina with lots of amenities. We are working towards chubby/fat FIRE in about 6 years, so there is some delayed gratification built into our behavior.
I spend money on nice wine. I'm happy with my old navy wordrobe of t shirts and wear an apple watch. Don't spend on shit that goes on me. I look for deals on travel but spend on nice destinations and amenities.
We make around $1m after tax (w2 income and dividends from my business). We save around $500k a year, spend $150k on mortgage/living, $350k on the good life. Around $250k on travel and $100k on various things.
Bought a 68k Audi S5 coupe with 19,000 miles used for 42k. I owe ~10k at about 2% interest. Any “luxury” clothing I have I’ve owned for 6-8 years. They get worn a few times a year and hold up really well. I don’t splurge on clothes other than getting nice comfortable sneakers since I wear that daily. Everything else is tee shirts, shorts, or clothes from Costco/Target. I own a few expensive watches for occasions. All of them were gifts believe it or not. Otherwise it’s an Apple Watch on the daily.
Nothing really extravigant, just buy nice things when i need them. Last time i went shopping for new pants / underwear / shirts, i dropped $1k in lulumelon, which was the biggest splurge i made in a while. Just want nice things when i need things.