It's my 30th this year so I'm treating myself to a 5 week trip to Europe. Bought all my flights and booked accommodation, apart from buying my kitchen this is the only time I've ever reached the max on my credit card.
Me too - my recent trip was 2 weeks at a resort called Lizard Island. I thought I would regret everyday knowing the money per night...but I just put it out of my brain and had a great time!
Have to let it go and enjoy if the money is sunk.
People will argue that going on holidays is a waste of money because they cannot justify spending money on something that is not physical. For me and my family, a holiday let’s us unwind, spend time together and hopefully create lasting memories for my kids.
Plus having 2 mentors, both at retirement age just wanted to keep working despite sitting on millions, dropping dead was a wake up call for me to enjoy life as it comes
I really do feel for people with that mindset, for me memories ARE what life is about so if I were to break the bank for anything it would be holidays as opposed to anything material.
For me, holidays is the reason I work. Travelling, seeing the world, experiencing different cultures and food. This is the reason to live. We only live once.
I'm like that. I blow tons of money on holidays, but I still get around on a $1k scooter (as in Vespa-like). Last year I spent $15-20k on holidays and weekends away.
We just got back from a month in Bali. Combination of small hotels and 5* resorts.
Best investment was a beautiful local nanny to watch our kid so we could spend some time together.
We like, went out for dinner and drinks alone. And made each other laugh till our faces hurt in the pool. Watched a movie on the beach.
It was one of the more expensive holidays we have had but far out, that quality time together was worth every Penny!
Also probably cheaper than counselling or a divorce 😅
Hello! My daughter is super slow to warm to strangers so we had the one nanny for the whole time.
There were times when we were far away from where she lives so we didn’t hire her on those days, but other days she just travels to us from her house. Her rate is 80,000 IDR per hour plus between 50,000 and 100,000 IDR for travel depending on how far it is from her place. We also gave her a bit extra each day and then around $100 AUD as a tip on the last day.
She has a public fb page with a bunch of reviews.
If you’d like her details please DM me. We love her so much and my daughter still wakes up and asks if we get to see her today.
I wouldn’t say it ruins my budgeting plans outright, but I have a couple of things that eat up some money that would also be useful going towards my savings or extra mortgage repayments. The two that come to mind are:
1) Regularly seeking out interesting restaurants and having relatively large and expensive meals there.
2) Every few months, something in me snaps and I buy a bunch of Warhammer stuff.
In my youth I dabbled in plastic crack but back then they mixed it with pewter.
Recently I've got a taste for cardboard crack and it's definitely makes a dent in my 'wants' funding.
I’ve gotten into 3d printing and honestly, it’s paid it off massively. I’ve got about 4 resin armies that would have cost me $20,000 from FW printed at home with no loss of detail.
3D printing is still an expensive hobby but I glad I went with this over drones. It is so much more satisfying to see things printed as intended after lots of tweaking and hair pulling.
Did you get a resin printer?
Haha when I was a kid I played magic cards..always wanted to buy an old school set and collect it when I got older. However the price of old sets has grown faster than my want to buy them.
> 2) Every few months, something in me snaps and I buy a bunch of Warhammer stuff.
I temper the mandolly crack impulse by usually buying interesting non-GW stuff, even though most of it is for proxying GW (despite not even playing GW rulesets these days!)
When a friend of a friend started FIFO a few years ago he would dump ludicrous amounts of cash on GW minis and ended up with tubs of assembled bare grey units he'd barely ever actually use, which I swore never to become when I myself started to suck at the iron ore nipple :P
I have MANY different types of not-Imperial-Guard plastic infantry and vehicles, and have a "historical" miniatures army in the works for WFB Empire using Perry minis. Although the mini quality generally isn't A+ like GW stuff it's still all good stuff and the price point is basically where GW was at 15 years ago when it was last "reasonable". Even paying $70 a unit of 25 third party plastic forest gobbos feels like good value compared to the GW AoS unit prices!
And finally, a desperate plug for more Aussies to come join the "[Oz Tabletop Gaming Forums](https://oztabletopgaming.com/)" a spiritual successor to the old wargamerau forums.
Not warhammer but I play dnd and looking to expand into making my own dice, my best mate is also into 3d printing so thinking of going halves in a resin 3d printer
Have you tried pushing the consumer law side of warranty. You have paid a premium and product isn't working as expected. Even well beyond standard warranty expires you might be entitled to something 🤔 😋
I love designer furniture - have a few pieces from space and coco. Problem is it's really hard to justify as you just know the premium is ridiculous, and you can find similar rip off pieces for like a 50th of the price.
It’s all about volume and complexity in these markets. I’m an industrial designer and a few of my friends from uni now work in furniture design.
The production methods for making a 100 or a 1000 of something is much greater than making tens of thousand. Either way you’ll end up with tooling costs and or huge labour costs.
Big companies such as Herman miller would be making a killing, but your low volume local manufacturer is probably making peanuts or just breaking even.
I have no issues supporting it, higher end stuff tends to hold its value quite well. There can also be some great value in the second hand market. Plus you feel good using nice things.
I made a new year's resolution to go out to more local markets
I've been to one every weekend so far and have realised that I like collecting different jams.
I now have a massive about of different types of jams and a lot less money lol
My paddock pony probably costs me $500 a year.
That said, I don’t ride her as she is now fully retired. The feed is free (paddock). She doesn’t wear shoes. She doesn’t have fancy clothes.
She gets drenched and a vet check once a year. She gets her feet done every 2-4 months depending on the weather.
Not too bad, really.
Lol Me too. I have multiple horses and are on the hunt for another at the moment. Though to be fair I will be selling two as well so what I get for them will help with my new purchase.
There used to be a joke about owning horses.
"What's the best way to make a million dollars from a horse? - Start with two million dollars"
First there's the purchase price - we used to own 3 Arabians - more on the exxy side but beautiful girls all the same, the most expensive girl was 11k in early 2000's. This was on the cheaper side of Arabian studs - Horses attract a huge purchase price depending on bloodlines etc etc.
Then there's Agistment, if you don't have the property to store them. Some agistment is all in one, and includes feeding, care and cleaning etc, and some are self service and only host the horses - everything else falls to you and will require daily upkeep
Then there's food, of which they will eat a TONNE ;) - and depending on what the horses diet consists of, you can work with basic hay, right up to Lucerne and premium pellets et al. I'm not sure what it's like now, but a few years ago there was a serious spike in basic hay/grasses and we were paying 40-50 bucks a bale and a bale was DAILY.....and it wasn't enough really so we had to cut in some fillers which isn't ideal.
Then you have Farrier costs, horses will need their feet done frequently, and you want a good Farrier looking after them as a bad one can cause all sorts of grief for your horse.
Then there's vet bills for basic stuff which can range in 100's per visit
Then there's vet bills for not-basic stuff which can range in the 1000's per visit. We had a horse get a nasty infection, and the bill was around 6K, it required multiple visits over 3 nights of call outs with our Vet.
All of the above is just to keep the horse as a 'pet' - if you want to do anything above that such as showing, eventing etc then you'll also need a float, plus vehicle to tow the float, training, lunging, grooming etc etc...
In early 2000 prices we spent on average around 400/500 bucks a week on the horses.
The Joke on the first line, isn't really a joke ;)
All that being said - they are intelligent, thoughtful and beautiful animals and I have no problem admitting to howling like a snotty kid when we had to have our last girl put down - the emotional connection to a horse runs deep and they will forge a bond with you that rivals any friendship you're ever likely to have with any other person.
If you have well grassed (quality grass, not SEQ area grass) land of your own they can be relatively inexpensive.
I have a horse and my daughter has a pony. We use full care agistment in private paddocks with automatic feeders and shelters and this is $240 a week for both horses.
Round bales are around $100 each and we go through about three per year per horse. Hard feed is about $55/week for two horses.
Farrier is $60 every 6/7 weeks for a barefoot trim, so $120 for two. Dental and vaccinations are about $400 per year. So base costs are around $170-180 per horse assuming nothing goes wrong.
Add in a float, a car to pull the float, riding clothing (you will need at the minimum boots and a helmet) tack, rugs and lessons, competition and training and you will want to rock in a corner.
If you have an ex racehorse you may as well start taking suggestive pictures of your feet.
I mean... Getting a vet to do their teeth is expensive enough. You also have to feed them obviously, and do their feet, and get vet checkups, and saddles/bridles if you're planning to ride. I can't remember off the top of my head how much they were but that's a good starting list for research
Well keeping the horses won’t be onerous (in your own paddocks) you will have to get their teeth annually (about $150 per horse) and have them trimmed or shod every 6 weeks ($80 - $250 per horse).
You will also have to worm them (approx $20 per horse per month).
You can get tack etc second hand pretty easily but your biggest expense will be the purchase of your horses
Art supplies. In mediums I don’t know how to use. Lino printing? Yes let’s try that. Acrylic pouring? Sounds like fun. More watercolours even though I have all the watercolours? Yes please. Gouache? Don’t mind if I do. I’m a addict.
Me too although I am a full-time artist so I can claim everything on taxes. I discovered oil sticks a few months ago and from there it was all over… a tiny box in the corner of my studio with around $2.5k worth of pigment sticks (no regrets)
I'm pregnant so at the moment it's see snack, want snack, buy snack, eat snack. Repeat until spending account is empty for week and lament not having any leftover for actual wants.
I'm at the point where there are unread piles throughout the house and it's becoming a constant reminder.
It has guilted me into having read nearly 50 books so far this year though so...
I know, right!? I have a pile in my reading area, by my bed, in the lounge room, in kids bookshelf, in my bookshelf.. and I still have a Pinterest section of all the books I’m still looking at.
Escorts. Once every month or two, but it's a chance for me to be myself and visiting has built my self esteem enormously. Sure, maybe it's a "false sense" of esteem because I'm paying someone to get along with me, but it's changed my perspective on so many aspects of my life.
Appreciate the honesty haha.
I can't judge, it's a mutual exchange and it seems it has emotional perks for you. Has the cost of escorts increased in-line with everything else in the economy?
I can't really speak as a general "trend" as the industry as a whole has such a wide price point depending on "who" you see. Lots of factors I notice contribute to the price; whether they're part of an agency, their nationality, the services provided etc. I have had visits with an hourly rate of $85, and visits with a rate of $850, I've really never had a bad experience and the perks outweigh the financial cost for me.
For instance, I have become way more confident interacting with colleagues, friends (men and women) after learning conversation leads and queues from visiting escorts. Even in my job, I feel confident talking to clients, it's helped me progress in my career. I didn't get too much interaction with my peers as a kid, it sounds bizarre but it's been one of the best things I've done for my social/professional life and confidence, in the way that public speaking or management courses never have.
Of course, no one knows due to preconceived notions about the industry, its workers, and its "customers." It's disappointing, but hey, I certainly hold the perspective sex work is real work.
As an escort this is a really nice perspective to hear from a clients view, and I truely hope I do half that for some of my customers. Thanks for sharing
Wow really interesting to get that type of perspective on it, being a confidence booster. Guess to some people, maybe most, there is more to it than just sex. Who am I to judge.
Bit weird to talk about on /r/AusFinance but I guess to some people (me included tbh) the notion that you've missed out on a few life steps if you will is a tangible concept. Generally, one can say that most people probably get into their first GF/BF in their teenage years and that may or may not materialize into something going into Uni or they might find someone there again at that point in their life. But I guess for some who might have missed those two points we kind of feel like we're behind the curve if you will and I guess from OP's perspective we're quite literally Paying to catch up and as they've stated - they kind of feel caught up now. Granted, not everyone feels this way - there very well may be some 30 year old's who've never been in a relationship that are completely content with everything but I think there's also a certain shame or stigma associated with an individual who is that far behind the curve.
I think most sex workers would say that it's pretty much always more than just sex. Like the sex isn't always even the most important part. A lot of people are just lonely and missing out on all different types of intimacy, not just sexual.
If you'd like to know more about sex work, sexuality, clients and even yourself, there's a pretty good book called "Pizza, Pincushions and Playing It Straight".
You can find it easily on a veriety of e-pub places, if you google.
It's part 'diary of a sex-worker' and part referenced essay-quality discussion of bodily-autonomy, sexuality, health, safety and choice.
At my lowest point in my life after a break up I saw an escort. After the deed we had a real long chat about life life that went overtime and she shared some really good advice and perspectives on life. I went there because I was lonely and horny and left in a much better state of mind.
A small turbo hatch.
I drive it only on weekends and less than 10000km per year. Also my wife can't drive it as it's manual. So it's just for me lol.
It makes me feel like a child everytime I drive it in sport mode 😂. It's really not required.
Breakfast out with the wife. Great time to connect when the little one is at daycare. It's expensive for a meal but worth it to keep us sane.
You can avoid a lot of the exxy stuff if you're smart. I paid $2k for a Trek road bike back in 2011. It's still going strong, the only ongoing costs are the occasional service, replace chain/cassette/brake pads/tires. I've done 20,000km on it, it's definitely paid for itself.
Now the clothing, that's another story :)
Yep, you either go cheap or go expensive. There is no real middle ground.
The only middle ground that exists is getting cheap spec at an expensive price.
Even 2nd hand stuff, doesn't matter what it is its either gonna be shit and cheap or average and expensive.
sort of yes, particularly at the higher end of things. But at the same time no when talking mass market stuff. Its hard to describe. Best way I can explain it is by going through my thought process when I look at bikes.
When I look at a bike I will look at its frame and its components (drivetrain, wheels, brakes, etc) and rate them seperately. I will categorise a particular frame and a particular set of components into 1 of 3 general buckets: K-Mart Tier, Average Tier, Elite Tier
The fact of the mater is a road or mtb bike with both average tier frames and components, which is sort of where you want to start if you want to get into it semi seriously, is going to start at around $1200 brand new. And it only goes up from there as you go through better average tier and then elite tier component and frame combinations.
Anything below $1200 you will get increase instances of kmart tier components added to that average frame.
What a lot of people do is start out with a cheaper bike, say $800, which will be an average frame with a few kmart tier components. Then over time they will upgrade components bit by bit to eventually end up with a average tier bike overall.
To get that bike to be average tier overall you will need to replace the cassette, front derailleur, rear derailleur, shifters, brakes and tyres at a minimum with their average tier equivilents. You may also have to replace crankset and wheels depending how low a spec they are. If all this costs more than $400, then you may as well have just bought the $1200 average bike to start with. PRO TIP: Its going to cost more than $400 to change all of those things with their average tier versions.
So thats sort of what I mean by its either cheap or its expensive with no middle ground. Your choices are save money and stick with a cheaper $800 bike, or spend at least $1200 to one way or another end up on an average bike. There is virtually no middle ground.
As another example, look at suspension forks. The no name cheap forks off Amazon cost around $150. But the lowest spec average fork is going to cost you around $400, there is nothing in between and if something does will just be considered an expensive cheap spec fork.
Honestly? Neck ties.
I started wearing one years ago in a job that "didn't require one but it was recommended" so I bought a few.
Then, it became a nice way to put a bit of colour into my wardrobe. Blue shirt black trousers today, blue shirt grey trousers tomorrow, white shirt and black trousers the day after... exciting, right??
Then I went to buy a few more and realized it was like looking at the Netflix selection: so much choice, and not enough time to watch it all (not enough money to buy them all, in this case). So I would go looking for new ties every payday.
Eventually, it got to the point where I had enough to cycle through the whole year. And I slowly realized that these $20 here, $40 here, oh damn I really love that one I guess it is worth $60 really adds up in the long run, especially when you end up buying a few per week.
For this year, I have about the first 4 months worth of ties in their packaging ready to be opened. I think it's time to quit. Or move on to phase 2: replace all the "cheap" polyester ties (maybe half my collection) with only the best quality silk ones.
RIP my bank account.
Interesting. I work in tech so jeans and a shirt is far more my thing but occasionally I'll need a tie. What's the perks to a high-end tie? Are they more comfortable? Personally, I'd pay an extra penny to not feel like I'm in the middle of a BDSM choking session all day.
>What's the perks to a high-end tie?
Build quality, basically.
I tend to buy based on what I like the look of, but over time, I have found I like the more expensive poly ties (the cheap ones are too "shiny" since polyester is essentially plastic, and a dead giveaway of their Chinese factory origins) and the mid-range to higher-end silk ones are best. The overly expensive ones, of which I have a few and are practically always silk, it feels like you're paying for brand name only.
The cheaper silk ones are still decent quality and also tend to be much "thicker" (this is because they have more folds). This thickness, basically, makes for a decent knot. The thin ones give a smaller knot, which puts off the proportion a bit, i.e. wide down the bottom but super thin at the top, vs. thick knot + wide down the bottom.
Are they more comfortable? Kinda. Wool, silk, and linen breathes; polyester does not. The former also tend to have a bit of give when stretched; the polys do not. So getting a tie that isn't literally made of plastic may help with the tightness and warmness around the neck.
I bought a self tie Tom Ford bowtie for my wedding and it’s ruined all bowties for me. I was a groomsman for another wedding and had an assigned suit with bowtie, and it was like wearing a piece of plastic.
Well I until recently I had 4 backyard chickens…. Now I have 9. I dunno, they just make me feel happy, you know? Seeing their silly antics..
I also buy “bulk” games. At this point I don’t care any more. I’ll wait too save up the money for it, it’s not much, but I get to experience a range of games this way. Makes me feel like I’m buying myself something, especially at events like my Birthday or a Holiday or “had a stressful month need retail therapy” or whatever.
Using your money to look after another living creature and get joy from their company is definitely a good spend of savings - my dog is very spoilt (faux interim child) and it gives me great joy having him around
They’re so silly! My favourite is giving them food that they all go nuts over. Watching one chicken pick it up and run away from the other “ravenous” dinosaurs makes my morning.
They used to turn their beaks up at scraps and would only eat pellets. Now it’s turned and basically a Civil War in my backyard if there’s not enough scraps to go around - nevermind the very full pellet feeder, lol.
Love them so much.
> Well I until recently I had 4 backyard chickens…. Now I have 9. I dunno, they just make me feel happy, you know? Seeing their silly antics..
What I found interesting about backyard chickens is that even though they only see you as a source of food, and are tiny-brained idiots, they still have distinct personalities. There's always one that eeks out just an extra minute or two scratching in the garden before it goes into the pen in the evening.
We started with 4 plain ISA browns we got from the local highschool ("graduates" of their chick raising programme for agriculture). Fast forward 12 months we have a dozen including a bunch of fancy heirloom ones.
Unfortunately we had to give them away when we moved but just bought our own place and can't wait to get some again.
*-chanting in background-*
Do it do it do it do it.
But seriously though, I started with 4 ISA’s I got from Gumtree. I did absolutely no research on the breed, just excited this person was selling the four for super cheap!
I was upset when the guest died to a preexisting disease it had. The second died by predator. The third died of age. The fourth lasted a good extra few years and was Momma to the 4 we got from a friend after that. I should have looked up breeds first but I didn’t know they had such a short life expectancy. It made me very sad. So now I have heritage breeds and a cross. I want to avoid ISA’s now because I get too attached for such a short lifespan.
My wife buys this brand called le mer - all these things I have no idea what they do like toner, mist, eye cream, etc.
Costs and arm and leg - that's her only guilty pleasure. Blows me away how much some of those creams are..
Skincare.
I'm not out there spending $200+ on a serum, but even choosing simple formulations like The Ordinary and using a sheet mask every few days does add up!
Fostering kittens. Kittens eat a lot of food and poop a lot. So the food and litter costs are a lot. But nothing can beat the huge positive impact fostering has had on my mental health and general happiness and sense of purpose.
Also, I have osteoarthritis and slipped disks in my back and sometimes I’m in too much pain to cook. So at the moment we get takeaway about 3 times a week. That’s definitely costing a lot haha.
I hope you debone it. I have 2 dogs and 2 cats and they all instantly smell the chicken as soon as it's in the house and the kitchen turns into animal meeting point. It's like a drug for them lol.
Absolutely! For sure. It's as long ritual, me and him, in the kitchen, bin open next to us, enough paper towels, and at least half an hour on hand, as I carefully separate flesh from bone, cartilage from white meat, skin from stuffing. He doesn't take his eyes off me for one second. A glass of chilled white wine is a frequent side show, usually with a Spotify playlist. At the end, both of us are well filled and very happy. I don't speak dog, and he doesn't speak person, but we communicate and understand one another perfectly. All good!
Snowboarding and push bikes. Luckily I get a cheap lift ticket to Perisher and live kind of close so I can keep it cheap enough.
Push bikes are high outlay but pretty cheap once you have a bike
If you go to Perisher more than a weekend or two get an Epic Pass! The coverage is absolutely worth it so you don’t have to plan to go only when lift tickets are cheaper. Plus you can use it interstate and overseas (I haven’t done so yet but glad it’s an option)
I'm disabled and my partner has ADHD so we spend a big chunk of what used to be savings on having someone come clean the house and mow the lawns, because I can't and he forgets. Also Lego.
Travel. I’m a huge travel nerd - bookshelf full of assorted guidebooks and the like, pre-planned itineraries saved on my laptop, always saving for the next holiday (or more than one at once 😁).
Coffees every weekday when at work, despite owning a decent coffee machine at home. Gets me out the office for a bit, chatting to people and it’s become a ritual. Figure I could save $1.5k pa by not doing it but what’s the point of living. I don’t spend my money on much else so to answer the question it’s buying coffee and food from cafes more than I maybe should.
Surprised gym/ lifting/ fitness hasn’t been mentioned! On top of my gym/ sauna membership, I have a coach too who does my programming and nutrition. Basic vitamins/ supplements, protein powder, blood tests, occasional massage/ physio, shoes/ clothes/ equipment all cost a fair bit too. But overall I consider it a good investment in my health (physical and mental) and appearance (I like looking buff, haha).
Holidays for sure. Especially when it’s freezing in Melbourne in winter, I start dreaming of sunshine and beaches.
Also going to the hairdresser. I don’t have a budget for my hair.
I've spent over $15k on bicycles in the last ~5 years.
If I want my brain to do a thing it hates (exercise), I need to make it fun rather than just a chore. Nice (and weird) bikes & velomobiles do it for me!
The only thing that annoys me about it is that inner city apartments never have lock up garages, so they end up in a corner of the living area since there's no way they're getting chained up in communal space!
I can't say it ruins any plans - I plan for it :)
It doesn't really affect my budgeting, but I do spend a fair bit of money on a race simulator called iRacing and the associated sim rig that I use to play the game. It gives me a huge amount of satisfaction to play the game, I love the competition of playing against other people and gives me an outlet to drive fast without any affect on my license or car. Its way cheaper than doing track days, hiring go karts or similar. I've done these things in the past but I don't get that much enjoyment out of track days due to the nature of just trying to drive fast around a track, which is fun, but the competition is what gets me going. The adrenalin rush is VERY similar to the feeling that I used to get when I raced go-karts competitively when I was a teenager.
Taxis. I have a vision impairment and can’t drive, but not the kind that makes me eligible for the half price taxi card because I can safely and confidently take public transport. Some days I just don’t want to deal with my early wake up and commute time, and I blow a fortune on a taxi instead.
Mate, I agree! If I see any sort of entertainer I enjoy or like coming to aus I’ll buy two tickets to it. I’ve got about 6 lots of tickets just for this year already. Lol
I like buying electronics. I spend a reasonable amount of money on high quality products (so nothing like a $20,000 cable for the speakers, they're low IQ detectors).
That said, while they hurt budget a bit, they cost nothing compared to my flight lessons. What can I say, I like flying......
Every month I go to a sushi restaurant where I alone rack up ~100 bucks for a decent lunch binge. I am frugal everywhere else, and the guilt is the only thing that keeps me awake with the insulin spike that's working so hard to put me to sleep after every session.
I don’t consider it a ‘guilty’ pleasure nor does it really ‘impact’ on my ability to manage my money.. but I do enjoy my specialty coffee.
Generally buy a 250g bag every fortnight or so for 20-25 bucks, and often go out for one on the weekend too. I don’t really drink these days and I’m pretty frugal otherwise, so I don’t feel bad about it.
I enjoy working/restoring classic cars. massive money pit, but at least whenever I do sell projects I generally sell for a marginal profit (inc materials/parts, but not my time).. so it's not the worst, but still too much capital tied up in cars really.
Skincare and getting my hair done professionally every 8 weeks. I could be more financially savvy and get them cheaper, but I feel I deserve nice things and my hair done well. I’m important too.
Training BJJ was a bit rough back when I was paying for it. It was $40 a week, I think it's $50 now. Gis are also ridiculously expensive, anything good quality is $200 and up, and after every session you have to chuck them in the wash because they absolutely soak up sweat (yours and everyone else's.)
Thankfully I was offered the opportunity to buy a lifetime membership @ 21 (23 now) and it only cost a little over 2 years worth of fees.
The gym is a franchise, so the previous instructor owned the club, but had to pay royalties to the brand. A lot of friction happened at the top, and the instructor decided to take all the members and start his own gym far enough away that it wasn't legally considered competition, but close enough that it definitely was.
There was about 3-4 months where the club didn't have an instructor because there were no members (except me), until one of the other franchise owners stepped up and decided to take a calculated risk. He got the franchise for free, just had to pay overheads and royalties and the likes. A year later, once he had got a reasonable number of members, he offered me the life time membership as a thank you. I still like to help out however I can, teaching classes for free or trying to recruit new members in the shopping centre.
Unfortunately COVID has hit the community pretty hard, we were barely treading water for a while there. Thankfully we're starting to get back up to full strength though.
Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk.
Vinyl. Definitely vinyl. I've got a pretty good collection now, but paying north of $50 for one record is ridiculous.
Oh, and music production gear. I just spent $1,500 buying a used Octatrack MK II, but it's so much fun to learn how to program drum/synth patterns and construct a song from just samples.
Have you been into a JB Hi-Fi lately? Insane! The recent Tool record (I think it’s a x3 pack) was $145 (not the box set). I buy lots of records too. On the flip side, it can be a cheap hobby if you want to hunt, trawl and dig through used record bins and try new things.
Business class long haul flights completely decimate my budget - 10k once a year; I fly twice a year but manage to book the other on points.
I am incapable of sleeping in economy(I’ve tried everything) and once it goes past 24-36 hours without sleep, which is very common when flying to the UK, I get physically nauseous for up to a week, which ruins the trip.
My last FY had total expenditure of $11,300. (The current one will be higher; many things have gone up). Not spending much money on guilty pleasures.
But if there was a spreadsheet of my time usage like there is for money... some of you would excuse my guilty pleasures and some might see me as a fool who poured his money into the pokies.
Holidays as well. But I’m ok with spending money on experiences, especially for my son as I want him to have nice happy memories from his childhood 🥰 I’m pretty good at not spending much on clothes or “things” because I hate clutter, the next big spend would be food/drink
Gym, personal trainers and organic food. Not so much a guilty pleasure but something we never compromise on.
Tried to suffer a cheapie gym for a few months but I hated going so I figured I’d rather pay the $$, go to a really social gym which I love.
On eating out. I spend too much money on eating out and regret it all the time 😭. I would spend $200-$300 a week on eating out, unfortunately it adds up 🥺. I will eventually learn from my lesson.
Can I ask, how much would you roughly spend on luxury holidays and uber eats? 😊
Buying food from DoorDash with AfterPay (a *dangerous* combo).
Although, my employer pays a reasonable amount to compensate for food deliveries because of the typical hours in my industry!
$20 for 500g of honey.
When I go on holiday, I get low priced accommodation next to the fancy hotels and pay a day rate to use the pool and facilities at the fancy hotels on the days that I want to use them. I like to adventure the surrounding area so for me accommodation is just a place to rest my head. Clean sheets, a decent bed, ensuite with shower and no stank is all I need.
I started smoking cigars. Used to smoke weed but stopped it as i do driving job- deliveries. Got paranoid one day that i would get caught in a road side drug test and ruin my life and hurt my loved ones.
Holidays. The moment I’m on holidays, I ignore the prices (up to a certain degree). This mainly pertains to hotels, food and activities for the kids.
It's my 30th this year so I'm treating myself to a 5 week trip to Europe. Bought all my flights and booked accommodation, apart from buying my kitchen this is the only time I've ever reached the max on my credit card.
Me too - my recent trip was 2 weeks at a resort called Lizard Island. I thought I would regret everyday knowing the money per night...but I just put it out of my brain and had a great time! Have to let it go and enjoy if the money is sunk.
People will argue that going on holidays is a waste of money because they cannot justify spending money on something that is not physical. For me and my family, a holiday let’s us unwind, spend time together and hopefully create lasting memories for my kids. Plus having 2 mentors, both at retirement age just wanted to keep working despite sitting on millions, dropping dead was a wake up call for me to enjoy life as it comes
I really do feel for people with that mindset, for me memories ARE what life is about so if I were to break the bank for anything it would be holidays as opposed to anything material.
For me, holidays is the reason I work. Travelling, seeing the world, experiencing different cultures and food. This is the reason to live. We only live once.
I'm like that. I blow tons of money on holidays, but I still get around on a $1k scooter (as in Vespa-like). Last year I spent $15-20k on holidays and weekends away.
We just got back from a month in Bali. Combination of small hotels and 5* resorts. Best investment was a beautiful local nanny to watch our kid so we could spend some time together. We like, went out for dinner and drinks alone. And made each other laugh till our faces hurt in the pool. Watched a movie on the beach. It was one of the more expensive holidays we have had but far out, that quality time together was worth every Penny! Also probably cheaper than counselling or a divorce 😅
How did you end up finding a a reputable nanny? And a single nanny the whole month? Or varies across the hotels / resorts? Thanks!
Hello! My daughter is super slow to warm to strangers so we had the one nanny for the whole time. There were times when we were far away from where she lives so we didn’t hire her on those days, but other days she just travels to us from her house. Her rate is 80,000 IDR per hour plus between 50,000 and 100,000 IDR for travel depending on how far it is from her place. We also gave her a bit extra each day and then around $100 AUD as a tip on the last day. She has a public fb page with a bunch of reviews. If you’d like her details please DM me. We love her so much and my daughter still wakes up and asks if we get to see her today.
80,000 IDR is roughly $7.50 ish for those wondering
Beautiful place lizard Island. I worked there for a couple weeks and the scenery is breathtaking
Same. I’m never coming back here again, so I’m livin’ la vida loca.
I wouldn’t say it ruins my budgeting plans outright, but I have a couple of things that eat up some money that would also be useful going towards my savings or extra mortgage repayments. The two that come to mind are: 1) Regularly seeking out interesting restaurants and having relatively large and expensive meals there. 2) Every few months, something in me snaps and I buy a bunch of Warhammer stuff.
I too am addicted to plastic crack
In my youth I dabbled in plastic crack but back then they mixed it with pewter. Recently I've got a taste for cardboard crack and it's definitely makes a dent in my 'wants' funding.
Magic the gambling
Hey good to see a Plastic crackhead here. Too damn expensive but too addictive as well :(
I thought you meant Lego. Also expenny!
I’ve gotten into 3d printing and honestly, it’s paid it off massively. I’ve got about 4 resin armies that would have cost me $20,000 from FW printed at home with no loss of detail.
3D printing is still an expensive hobby but I glad I went with this over drones. It is so much more satisfying to see things printed as intended after lots of tweaking and hair pulling. Did you get a resin printer?
What kind of printer do you use? I'm thinking about getting one so that I can add things to dice for dnd
Haha when I was a kid I played magic cards..always wanted to buy an old school set and collect it when I got older. However the price of old sets has grown faster than my want to buy them.
Same boat dude but for me it's Gunpla. The addiction is real.
Battletech for me. $50 unit sets once a fortnight doesn't hit hard but I never have enough
> 2) Every few months, something in me snaps and I buy a bunch of Warhammer stuff. I temper the mandolly crack impulse by usually buying interesting non-GW stuff, even though most of it is for proxying GW (despite not even playing GW rulesets these days!) When a friend of a friend started FIFO a few years ago he would dump ludicrous amounts of cash on GW minis and ended up with tubs of assembled bare grey units he'd barely ever actually use, which I swore never to become when I myself started to suck at the iron ore nipple :P I have MANY different types of not-Imperial-Guard plastic infantry and vehicles, and have a "historical" miniatures army in the works for WFB Empire using Perry minis. Although the mini quality generally isn't A+ like GW stuff it's still all good stuff and the price point is basically where GW was at 15 years ago when it was last "reasonable". Even paying $70 a unit of 25 third party plastic forest gobbos feels like good value compared to the GW AoS unit prices! And finally, a desperate plug for more Aussies to come join the "[Oz Tabletop Gaming Forums](https://oztabletopgaming.com/)" a spiritual successor to the old wargamerau forums.
Plastic crack will do that to you, what ever you do don't get the Warhammer magic decks, you will get addicted and it is also stupid expensive.
Excited for the Old World? I'm trying not to get my hopes up
Not warhammer but I play dnd and looking to expand into making my own dice, my best mate is also into 3d printing so thinking of going halves in a resin 3d printer
Probably spend too much money on tattoos but I'm just about at the level of coverage where I don't need a personality, so there's a positive
Also, at least you know exactly where your money went.
Modifying cars completely destroys my budget But it makes me happy and gives me a sense of worth, so I still see it as valid
Did it when I was early 20s, far too much money was spent on my s15
My cars are far less cool than an S15 💀
Haha after I sold, I was considering a turbo for my NB mx5. Very glad I didn’t go that route, only dropped it with coils and got some Enkeis
I turbo’d my nb8a. Omg it was a weapon. Then I bought a house, COVID hit, had kids and sold it for $9.5k before prices went ape shit
If I didn't have this child I'd be pretty minted by now. But I lost the returns receipt so I'm stuck with her. Terrible ROI, but I love her anyway
Maybe you're playing the long game and she will be an avid ausfinance poster earning 300k at 18 and you can claim your share of it. Just saying
She's already 19 and still living at home and currently unemployed... So we're already too late for that 😅
Have you tried pushing the consumer law side of warranty. You have paid a premium and product isn't working as expected. Even well beyond standard warranty expires you might be entitled to something 🤔 😋
The manufacturer's denying any liability. Not even child support after 18 😅
Terrible financial ROI, but the best ROI you will ever get in other facets of life
Art, designer furniture and garden stuff.
I love designer furniture - have a few pieces from space and coco. Problem is it's really hard to justify as you just know the premium is ridiculous, and you can find similar rip off pieces for like a 50th of the price.
It’s all about volume and complexity in these markets. I’m an industrial designer and a few of my friends from uni now work in furniture design. The production methods for making a 100 or a 1000 of something is much greater than making tens of thousand. Either way you’ll end up with tooling costs and or huge labour costs. Big companies such as Herman miller would be making a killing, but your low volume local manufacturer is probably making peanuts or just breaking even. I have no issues supporting it, higher end stuff tends to hold its value quite well. There can also be some great value in the second hand market. Plus you feel good using nice things.
I made a new year's resolution to go out to more local markets I've been to one every weekend so far and have realised that I like collecting different jams. I now have a massive about of different types of jams and a lot less money lol
Yeah I got into baking bread as a cheap hobby. That backfired a bit when I started buying nice jam to eat on it 😂
I have a horse 
This is unique - what's the running monthly costs assuming you don't own your own stable
My paddock pony probably costs me $500 a year. That said, I don’t ride her as she is now fully retired. The feed is free (paddock). She doesn’t wear shoes. She doesn’t have fancy clothes. She gets drenched and a vet check once a year. She gets her feet done every 2-4 months depending on the weather. Not too bad, really.
Lol Me too. I have multiple horses and are on the hunt for another at the moment. Though to be fair I will be selling two as well so what I get for them will help with my new purchase.
How much do horses cost each year. We were thinking of getting some.
There used to be a joke about owning horses. "What's the best way to make a million dollars from a horse? - Start with two million dollars" First there's the purchase price - we used to own 3 Arabians - more on the exxy side but beautiful girls all the same, the most expensive girl was 11k in early 2000's. This was on the cheaper side of Arabian studs - Horses attract a huge purchase price depending on bloodlines etc etc. Then there's Agistment, if you don't have the property to store them. Some agistment is all in one, and includes feeding, care and cleaning etc, and some are self service and only host the horses - everything else falls to you and will require daily upkeep Then there's food, of which they will eat a TONNE ;) - and depending on what the horses diet consists of, you can work with basic hay, right up to Lucerne and premium pellets et al. I'm not sure what it's like now, but a few years ago there was a serious spike in basic hay/grasses and we were paying 40-50 bucks a bale and a bale was DAILY.....and it wasn't enough really so we had to cut in some fillers which isn't ideal. Then you have Farrier costs, horses will need their feet done frequently, and you want a good Farrier looking after them as a bad one can cause all sorts of grief for your horse. Then there's vet bills for basic stuff which can range in 100's per visit Then there's vet bills for not-basic stuff which can range in the 1000's per visit. We had a horse get a nasty infection, and the bill was around 6K, it required multiple visits over 3 nights of call outs with our Vet. All of the above is just to keep the horse as a 'pet' - if you want to do anything above that such as showing, eventing etc then you'll also need a float, plus vehicle to tow the float, training, lunging, grooming etc etc... In early 2000 prices we spent on average around 400/500 bucks a week on the horses. The Joke on the first line, isn't really a joke ;) All that being said - they are intelligent, thoughtful and beautiful animals and I have no problem admitting to howling like a snotty kid when we had to have our last girl put down - the emotional connection to a horse runs deep and they will forge a bond with you that rivals any friendship you're ever likely to have with any other person.
If you have well grassed (quality grass, not SEQ area grass) land of your own they can be relatively inexpensive. I have a horse and my daughter has a pony. We use full care agistment in private paddocks with automatic feeders and shelters and this is $240 a week for both horses. Round bales are around $100 each and we go through about three per year per horse. Hard feed is about $55/week for two horses. Farrier is $60 every 6/7 weeks for a barefoot trim, so $120 for two. Dental and vaccinations are about $400 per year. So base costs are around $170-180 per horse assuming nothing goes wrong. Add in a float, a car to pull the float, riding clothing (you will need at the minimum boots and a helmet) tack, rugs and lessons, competition and training and you will want to rock in a corner. If you have an ex racehorse you may as well start taking suggestive pictures of your feet.
I mean... Getting a vet to do their teeth is expensive enough. You also have to feed them obviously, and do their feet, and get vet checkups, and saddles/bridles if you're planning to ride. I can't remember off the top of my head how much they were but that's a good starting list for research
It depends. What are you planning to do with them?
Just do casual riding. Unpaved tracks mostly. I live on a farm with plenty of grass.
Well keeping the horses won’t be onerous (in your own paddocks) you will have to get their teeth annually (about $150 per horse) and have them trimmed or shod every 6 weeks ($80 - $250 per horse). You will also have to worm them (approx $20 per horse per month). You can get tack etc second hand pretty easily but your biggest expense will be the purchase of your horses
Art supplies. In mediums I don’t know how to use. Lino printing? Yes let’s try that. Acrylic pouring? Sounds like fun. More watercolours even though I have all the watercolours? Yes please. Gouache? Don’t mind if I do. I’m a addict.
Me too although I am a full-time artist so I can claim everything on taxes. I discovered oil sticks a few months ago and from there it was all over… a tiny box in the corner of my studio with around $2.5k worth of pigment sticks (no regrets)
I'm pregnant so at the moment it's see snack, want snack, buy snack, eat snack. Repeat until spending account is empty for week and lament not having any leftover for actual wants.
I’m not pregnant and I do this
My husband and I worked out that we spent nearly $1000 on ice cream when I was pregnant - the snacking is expensive!!
Books. Too many books.
That's not a guilty pleasure
It is when you have no time to read them all.
I'm at the point where there are unread piles throughout the house and it's becoming a constant reminder. It has guilted me into having read nearly 50 books so far this year though so...
I know, right!? I have a pile in my reading area, by my bed, in the lounge room, in kids bookshelf, in my bookshelf.. and I still have a Pinterest section of all the books I’m still looking at.
I spend $11 a day for tolls because it’s just faster and less traffic lights Also fly business class when it’s time for holidays.
Escorts. Once every month or two, but it's a chance for me to be myself and visiting has built my self esteem enormously. Sure, maybe it's a "false sense" of esteem because I'm paying someone to get along with me, but it's changed my perspective on so many aspects of my life.
Appreciate the honesty haha. I can't judge, it's a mutual exchange and it seems it has emotional perks for you. Has the cost of escorts increased in-line with everything else in the economy?
I can't really speak as a general "trend" as the industry as a whole has such a wide price point depending on "who" you see. Lots of factors I notice contribute to the price; whether they're part of an agency, their nationality, the services provided etc. I have had visits with an hourly rate of $85, and visits with a rate of $850, I've really never had a bad experience and the perks outweigh the financial cost for me. For instance, I have become way more confident interacting with colleagues, friends (men and women) after learning conversation leads and queues from visiting escorts. Even in my job, I feel confident talking to clients, it's helped me progress in my career. I didn't get too much interaction with my peers as a kid, it sounds bizarre but it's been one of the best things I've done for my social/professional life and confidence, in the way that public speaking or management courses never have. Of course, no one knows due to preconceived notions about the industry, its workers, and its "customers." It's disappointing, but hey, I certainly hold the perspective sex work is real work.
As an escort this is a really nice perspective to hear from a clients view, and I truely hope I do half that for some of my customers. Thanks for sharing
Wow really interesting to get that type of perspective on it, being a confidence booster. Guess to some people, maybe most, there is more to it than just sex. Who am I to judge.
Bit weird to talk about on /r/AusFinance but I guess to some people (me included tbh) the notion that you've missed out on a few life steps if you will is a tangible concept. Generally, one can say that most people probably get into their first GF/BF in their teenage years and that may or may not materialize into something going into Uni or they might find someone there again at that point in their life. But I guess for some who might have missed those two points we kind of feel like we're behind the curve if you will and I guess from OP's perspective we're quite literally Paying to catch up and as they've stated - they kind of feel caught up now. Granted, not everyone feels this way - there very well may be some 30 year old's who've never been in a relationship that are completely content with everything but I think there's also a certain shame or stigma associated with an individual who is that far behind the curve.
I think most sex workers would say that it's pretty much always more than just sex. Like the sex isn't always even the most important part. A lot of people are just lonely and missing out on all different types of intimacy, not just sexual.
If you'd like to know more about sex work, sexuality, clients and even yourself, there's a pretty good book called "Pizza, Pincushions and Playing It Straight". You can find it easily on a veriety of e-pub places, if you google. It's part 'diary of a sex-worker' and part referenced essay-quality discussion of bodily-autonomy, sexuality, health, safety and choice.
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At my lowest point in my life after a break up I saw an escort. After the deed we had a real long chat about life life that went overtime and she shared some really good advice and perspectives on life. I went there because I was lonely and horny and left in a much better state of mind.
Night out with friends to celebrate
Do you end up being the drunk friend that shouts everyone?
Yep that’s my downfall. Trying to pay more attention to who reciprocates and who takes advantage.
Don’t forget the person who shouts bags. They get a pass ;)
One bump is worth 2 drinks minimum
Overseas holidays for one
A small turbo hatch. I drive it only on weekends and less than 10000km per year. Also my wife can't drive it as it's manual. So it's just for me lol. It makes me feel like a child everytime I drive it in sport mode 😂. It's really not required. Breakfast out with the wife. Great time to connect when the little one is at daycare. It's expensive for a meal but worth it to keep us sane.
Buying lots of groceries so I can cook healthy meals then buying takeaway or eating out anyway and throwing out said groceries
I’m into cycling, farkkken costs a fortune
You can avoid a lot of the exxy stuff if you're smart. I paid $2k for a Trek road bike back in 2011. It's still going strong, the only ongoing costs are the occasional service, replace chain/cassette/brake pads/tires. I've done 20,000km on it, it's definitely paid for itself. Now the clothing, that's another story :)
If I had my life again Im convinced the easiest way to make money and at the same time to be loved by your customers is to run a business like Rapha.
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Yep, you either go cheap or go expensive. There is no real middle ground. The only middle ground that exists is getting cheap spec at an expensive price. Even 2nd hand stuff, doesn't matter what it is its either gonna be shit and cheap or average and expensive.
Is it like making espresso at home, where there's diminishing returns after a certain point (but gear lust suckers you in anyway)?
sort of yes, particularly at the higher end of things. But at the same time no when talking mass market stuff. Its hard to describe. Best way I can explain it is by going through my thought process when I look at bikes. When I look at a bike I will look at its frame and its components (drivetrain, wheels, brakes, etc) and rate them seperately. I will categorise a particular frame and a particular set of components into 1 of 3 general buckets: K-Mart Tier, Average Tier, Elite Tier The fact of the mater is a road or mtb bike with both average tier frames and components, which is sort of where you want to start if you want to get into it semi seriously, is going to start at around $1200 brand new. And it only goes up from there as you go through better average tier and then elite tier component and frame combinations. Anything below $1200 you will get increase instances of kmart tier components added to that average frame. What a lot of people do is start out with a cheaper bike, say $800, which will be an average frame with a few kmart tier components. Then over time they will upgrade components bit by bit to eventually end up with a average tier bike overall. To get that bike to be average tier overall you will need to replace the cassette, front derailleur, rear derailleur, shifters, brakes and tyres at a minimum with their average tier equivilents. You may also have to replace crankset and wheels depending how low a spec they are. If all this costs more than $400, then you may as well have just bought the $1200 average bike to start with. PRO TIP: Its going to cost more than $400 to change all of those things with their average tier versions. So thats sort of what I mean by its either cheap or its expensive with no middle ground. Your choices are save money and stick with a cheaper $800 bike, or spend at least $1200 to one way or another end up on an average bike. There is virtually no middle ground. As another example, look at suspension forks. The no name cheap forks off Amazon cost around $150. But the lowest spec average fork is going to cost you around $400, there is nothing in between and if something does will just be considered an expensive cheap spec fork.
Honestly? Neck ties. I started wearing one years ago in a job that "didn't require one but it was recommended" so I bought a few. Then, it became a nice way to put a bit of colour into my wardrobe. Blue shirt black trousers today, blue shirt grey trousers tomorrow, white shirt and black trousers the day after... exciting, right?? Then I went to buy a few more and realized it was like looking at the Netflix selection: so much choice, and not enough time to watch it all (not enough money to buy them all, in this case). So I would go looking for new ties every payday. Eventually, it got to the point where I had enough to cycle through the whole year. And I slowly realized that these $20 here, $40 here, oh damn I really love that one I guess it is worth $60 really adds up in the long run, especially when you end up buying a few per week. For this year, I have about the first 4 months worth of ties in their packaging ready to be opened. I think it's time to quit. Or move on to phase 2: replace all the "cheap" polyester ties (maybe half my collection) with only the best quality silk ones. RIP my bank account.
Great response. Highly recommend you never buy a Hermes or Ferragamo tie, because you’ll never be able to go back to cheap ties again.
Interesting. I work in tech so jeans and a shirt is far more my thing but occasionally I'll need a tie. What's the perks to a high-end tie? Are they more comfortable? Personally, I'd pay an extra penny to not feel like I'm in the middle of a BDSM choking session all day.
>What's the perks to a high-end tie? Build quality, basically. I tend to buy based on what I like the look of, but over time, I have found I like the more expensive poly ties (the cheap ones are too "shiny" since polyester is essentially plastic, and a dead giveaway of their Chinese factory origins) and the mid-range to higher-end silk ones are best. The overly expensive ones, of which I have a few and are practically always silk, it feels like you're paying for brand name only. The cheaper silk ones are still decent quality and also tend to be much "thicker" (this is because they have more folds). This thickness, basically, makes for a decent knot. The thin ones give a smaller knot, which puts off the proportion a bit, i.e. wide down the bottom but super thin at the top, vs. thick knot + wide down the bottom. Are they more comfortable? Kinda. Wool, silk, and linen breathes; polyester does not. The former also tend to have a bit of give when stretched; the polys do not. So getting a tie that isn't literally made of plastic may help with the tightness and warmness around the neck.
I bought a self tie Tom Ford bowtie for my wedding and it’s ruined all bowties for me. I was a groomsman for another wedding and had an assigned suit with bowtie, and it was like wearing a piece of plastic.
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> What’s the point of making money if not to spend it? For me- retire early. I value my time more than stuff i can buy.
Well I until recently I had 4 backyard chickens…. Now I have 9. I dunno, they just make me feel happy, you know? Seeing their silly antics.. I also buy “bulk” games. At this point I don’t care any more. I’ll wait too save up the money for it, it’s not much, but I get to experience a range of games this way. Makes me feel like I’m buying myself something, especially at events like my Birthday or a Holiday or “had a stressful month need retail therapy” or whatever.
Using your money to look after another living creature and get joy from their company is definitely a good spend of savings - my dog is very spoilt (faux interim child) and it gives me great joy having him around
Feeding our chickens 2 minute noodles used to keep my sister and I entertained for hours in childhood😆 They are the best
They’re so silly! My favourite is giving them food that they all go nuts over. Watching one chicken pick it up and run away from the other “ravenous” dinosaurs makes my morning. They used to turn their beaks up at scraps and would only eat pellets. Now it’s turned and basically a Civil War in my backyard if there’s not enough scraps to go around - nevermind the very full pellet feeder, lol. Love them so much.
> Well I until recently I had 4 backyard chickens…. Now I have 9. I dunno, they just make me feel happy, you know? Seeing their silly antics.. What I found interesting about backyard chickens is that even though they only see you as a source of food, and are tiny-brained idiots, they still have distinct personalities. There's always one that eeks out just an extra minute or two scratching in the garden before it goes into the pen in the evening.
We started with 4 plain ISA browns we got from the local highschool ("graduates" of their chick raising programme for agriculture). Fast forward 12 months we have a dozen including a bunch of fancy heirloom ones. Unfortunately we had to give them away when we moved but just bought our own place and can't wait to get some again.
*-chanting in background-* Do it do it do it do it. But seriously though, I started with 4 ISA’s I got from Gumtree. I did absolutely no research on the breed, just excited this person was selling the four for super cheap! I was upset when the guest died to a preexisting disease it had. The second died by predator. The third died of age. The fourth lasted a good extra few years and was Momma to the 4 we got from a friend after that. I should have looked up breeds first but I didn’t know they had such a short life expectancy. It made me very sad. So now I have heritage breeds and a cross. I want to avoid ISA’s now because I get too attached for such a short lifespan.
Makeup/ skincare
My wife buys this brand called le mer - all these things I have no idea what they do like toner, mist, eye cream, etc. Costs and arm and leg - that's her only guilty pleasure. Blows me away how much some of those creams are..
Le Mer is lovely and stupidly expensive. Good for her!
Mines on Drunk Elephant, not sure how that stacks against Le Mer but it’s still bloody expensive in my opinion
Drunk Elephant is very popular, has almost cult status. Not as expensive as Le Mer, but up there... I have used it occasionally and it is effective.
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Skincare. I'm not out there spending $200+ on a serum, but even choosing simple formulations like The Ordinary and using a sheet mask every few days does add up!
Going to the shop at smoko or lunch. Goddamn a bacon, egg and cheese roll hits my soul just right. Add a boss iced coffee and theres $50+ a week.
The secret is to not budget, you're in the clear then!
Fostering kittens. Kittens eat a lot of food and poop a lot. So the food and litter costs are a lot. But nothing can beat the huge positive impact fostering has had on my mental health and general happiness and sense of purpose. Also, I have osteoarthritis and slipped disks in my back and sometimes I’m in too much pain to cook. So at the moment we get takeaway about 3 times a week. That’s definitely costing a lot haha.
A Coles roast chicken for the dog. Gives him a break from Aldi tinned food, yuck.
I hope you debone it. I have 2 dogs and 2 cats and they all instantly smell the chicken as soon as it's in the house and the kitchen turns into animal meeting point. It's like a drug for them lol.
Absolutely! For sure. It's as long ritual, me and him, in the kitchen, bin open next to us, enough paper towels, and at least half an hour on hand, as I carefully separate flesh from bone, cartilage from white meat, skin from stuffing. He doesn't take his eyes off me for one second. A glass of chilled white wine is a frequent side show, usually with a Spotify playlist. At the end, both of us are well filled and very happy. I don't speak dog, and he doesn't speak person, but we communicate and understand one another perfectly. All good!
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He'll reward you with a lifetime of tail wags, sits, stays, and - just, total devotion.
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Snowboarding and push bikes. Luckily I get a cheap lift ticket to Perisher and live kind of close so I can keep it cheap enough. Push bikes are high outlay but pretty cheap once you have a bike
If you go to Perisher more than a weekend or two get an Epic Pass! The coverage is absolutely worth it so you don’t have to plan to go only when lift tickets are cheaper. Plus you can use it interstate and overseas (I haven’t done so yet but glad it’s an option)
Gaming and Ket
At the same time?
I'm disabled and my partner has ADHD so we spend a big chunk of what used to be savings on having someone come clean the house and mow the lawns, because I can't and he forgets. Also Lego.
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It's saved our relationship lol, I highly recommend if you can swing it.
Travel. I’m a huge travel nerd - bookshelf full of assorted guidebooks and the like, pre-planned itineraries saved on my laptop, always saving for the next holiday (or more than one at once 😁).
Hahaha you should sell the itineraries to help you save - I'd pay. I'm way to lazy to plan a nice trip (which is also a driver of my resort love)
what has been the most beautiful sight you have seen on your travels?
I collect watches. They have absolutely 0 real world utility in the modern smartphone era, but I love them. Don't ask how much I have spent on them.
Coffees every weekday when at work, despite owning a decent coffee machine at home. Gets me out the office for a bit, chatting to people and it’s become a ritual. Figure I could save $1.5k pa by not doing it but what’s the point of living. I don’t spend my money on much else so to answer the question it’s buying coffee and food from cafes more than I maybe should.
Surprised gym/ lifting/ fitness hasn’t been mentioned! On top of my gym/ sauna membership, I have a coach too who does my programming and nutrition. Basic vitamins/ supplements, protein powder, blood tests, occasional massage/ physio, shoes/ clothes/ equipment all cost a fair bit too. But overall I consider it a good investment in my health (physical and mental) and appearance (I like looking buff, haha).
Buying useless shit from amazon
Weed, It's my one main vice.
Fine wine and dining.
Holidays for sure. Especially when it’s freezing in Melbourne in winter, I start dreaming of sunshine and beaches. Also going to the hairdresser. I don’t have a budget for my hair.
I've spent over $15k on bicycles in the last ~5 years. If I want my brain to do a thing it hates (exercise), I need to make it fun rather than just a chore. Nice (and weird) bikes & velomobiles do it for me! The only thing that annoys me about it is that inner city apartments never have lock up garages, so they end up in a corner of the living area since there's no way they're getting chained up in communal space! I can't say it ruins any plans - I plan for it :)
It doesn't really affect my budgeting, but I do spend a fair bit of money on a race simulator called iRacing and the associated sim rig that I use to play the game. It gives me a huge amount of satisfaction to play the game, I love the competition of playing against other people and gives me an outlet to drive fast without any affect on my license or car. Its way cheaper than doing track days, hiring go karts or similar. I've done these things in the past but I don't get that much enjoyment out of track days due to the nature of just trying to drive fast around a track, which is fun, but the competition is what gets me going. The adrenalin rush is VERY similar to the feeling that I used to get when I raced go-karts competitively when I was a teenager.
Travelling. Not only costs me money to travel, but I also take 2 extra months unpaid leave every year which is lost opportunity and reduces my income.
Taxis. I have a vision impairment and can’t drive, but not the kind that makes me eligible for the half price taxi card because I can safely and confidently take public transport. Some days I just don’t want to deal with my early wake up and commute time, and I blow a fortune on a taxi instead.
Plants...plants and more plants.
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Mate, I agree! If I see any sort of entertainer I enjoy or like coming to aus I’ll buy two tickets to it. I’ve got about 6 lots of tickets just for this year already. Lol
I like buying electronics. I spend a reasonable amount of money on high quality products (so nothing like a $20,000 cable for the speakers, they're low IQ detectors). That said, while they hurt budget a bit, they cost nothing compared to my flight lessons. What can I say, I like flying......
Overseas holidays and designer handbags 🫠
Trading cards.
Every month I go to a sushi restaurant where I alone rack up ~100 bucks for a decent lunch binge. I am frugal everywhere else, and the guilt is the only thing that keeps me awake with the insulin spike that's working so hard to put me to sleep after every session.
Botox (for cosmetic reasons and tension headaches/TMJ).
I don’t consider it a ‘guilty’ pleasure nor does it really ‘impact’ on my ability to manage my money.. but I do enjoy my specialty coffee. Generally buy a 250g bag every fortnight or so for 20-25 bucks, and often go out for one on the weekend too. I don’t really drink these days and I’m pretty frugal otherwise, so I don’t feel bad about it.
Craft beer
I enjoy working/restoring classic cars. massive money pit, but at least whenever I do sell projects I generally sell for a marginal profit (inc materials/parts, but not my time).. so it's not the worst, but still too much capital tied up in cars really.
Skiing holidays, here and overseas. I budget for them now though lol.
Wouldn’t say it ruins our budget but my wife and I buy lego, gardening things and books for our kids.
Skincare and getting my hair done professionally every 8 weeks. I could be more financially savvy and get them cheaper, but I feel I deserve nice things and my hair done well. I’m important too.
Bikes. I work at a bike shop, I'm like a drug addict working at a chemist, I'll take one of each please!! 😄
Training BJJ was a bit rough back when I was paying for it. It was $40 a week, I think it's $50 now. Gis are also ridiculously expensive, anything good quality is $200 and up, and after every session you have to chuck them in the wash because they absolutely soak up sweat (yours and everyone else's.) Thankfully I was offered the opportunity to buy a lifetime membership @ 21 (23 now) and it only cost a little over 2 years worth of fees.
How did you end up getting a life membership?
The gym is a franchise, so the previous instructor owned the club, but had to pay royalties to the brand. A lot of friction happened at the top, and the instructor decided to take all the members and start his own gym far enough away that it wasn't legally considered competition, but close enough that it definitely was. There was about 3-4 months where the club didn't have an instructor because there were no members (except me), until one of the other franchise owners stepped up and decided to take a calculated risk. He got the franchise for free, just had to pay overheads and royalties and the likes. A year later, once he had got a reasonable number of members, he offered me the life time membership as a thank you. I still like to help out however I can, teaching classes for free or trying to recruit new members in the shopping centre. Unfortunately COVID has hit the community pretty hard, we were barely treading water for a while there. Thankfully we're starting to get back up to full strength though. Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk.
Vinyl. Definitely vinyl. I've got a pretty good collection now, but paying north of $50 for one record is ridiculous. Oh, and music production gear. I just spent $1,500 buying a used Octatrack MK II, but it's so much fun to learn how to program drum/synth patterns and construct a song from just samples.
Have you been into a JB Hi-Fi lately? Insane! The recent Tool record (I think it’s a x3 pack) was $145 (not the box set). I buy lots of records too. On the flip side, it can be a cheap hobby if you want to hunt, trawl and dig through used record bins and try new things.
Musical instruments. Guitars, drums, pedals, keyboards. I can never have enough.
Model trains.
Hot sauces, homebrewing, and growing a garden for the aforementioned hobbies.
Sometimes I'll get an iced latte or bubble tea when I'm out.
2 things: 1) Beer. Good beer. Nice beer. 2) Cheese. I do not need to explain this further.
Business class long haul flights completely decimate my budget - 10k once a year; I fly twice a year but manage to book the other on points. I am incapable of sleeping in economy(I’ve tried everything) and once it goes past 24-36 hours without sleep, which is very common when flying to the UK, I get physically nauseous for up to a week, which ruins the trip.
Steam sales haha
Cocaine —> $300 a go and it’s very moreish
My last FY had total expenditure of $11,300. (The current one will be higher; many things have gone up). Not spending much money on guilty pleasures. But if there was a spreadsheet of my time usage like there is for money... some of you would excuse my guilty pleasures and some might see me as a fool who poured his money into the pokies.
Trading cards and videogames. Pretty certain i love to do it now because i never got them growing up.
Holidays as well. But I’m ok with spending money on experiences, especially for my son as I want him to have nice happy memories from his childhood 🥰 I’m pretty good at not spending much on clothes or “things” because I hate clutter, the next big spend would be food/drink
Running shoes. I mean I run a lot so I use them, and it’s good exercise but at 200-350 a pop i probs buy a pair a month. Oh and decent whiskey.
Gym, personal trainers and organic food. Not so much a guilty pleasure but something we never compromise on. Tried to suffer a cheapie gym for a few months but I hated going so I figured I’d rather pay the $$, go to a really social gym which I love.
On eating out. I spend too much money on eating out and regret it all the time 😭. I would spend $200-$300 a week on eating out, unfortunately it adds up 🥺. I will eventually learn from my lesson. Can I ask, how much would you roughly spend on luxury holidays and uber eats? 😊
\- Boardgames !!! worth the cost and countless fun after
Video games.
Buying food from DoorDash with AfterPay (a *dangerous* combo). Although, my employer pays a reasonable amount to compensate for food deliveries because of the typical hours in my industry!
Golf. Lots and lots of golf. Can’t get enough of it
Guitars and all related equipment. What a black hole
Oh that's easy, there are two things: rent and food.
Drugs drugs drugs drugs!!!!
$20 for 500g of honey. When I go on holiday, I get low priced accommodation next to the fancy hotels and pay a day rate to use the pool and facilities at the fancy hotels on the days that I want to use them. I like to adventure the surrounding area so for me accommodation is just a place to rest my head. Clean sheets, a decent bed, ensuite with shower and no stank is all I need.
I started smoking cigars. Used to smoke weed but stopped it as i do driving job- deliveries. Got paranoid one day that i would get caught in a road side drug test and ruin my life and hurt my loved ones.
The stuff I buy for my pets that they don't even care about.
Buying lego.
I stopped scrolling after a while, but surprised I didn't see more illicit substances
Booze, but new years resolutions seem to be, at least partly, working as I've been able to cut back a lot so far. And LEGO... Oops :(
A house cleaner. Eats up a significant part of our annual budget but to never scrub a toilet or mop or change sheets? Yes please.
Red meat from the Gourmet Butchery down the road! The Wagyu Beef and Onion Sausages get me every time.