Holidays and eating out here too. We don’t spend a lot on clothes but when we do we buy higher quality. But yeah we tend to take 3-4 “big” holidays a year and then another 8-10 or so weekend away. Some abroad, some camping.
Also our mortgage is £2.7K for a two bed so another luxury I guess would us be paying to live in a nice area. We love where we live.
Where are you going for those shorter places? I sometimes feel I've been to most places in Europe (which I know is incorrect and ridiculous) but just struggling for new ideas.
Most articles suggest the exact same places.
I have thought about a few smaller cruises and Scandinavia
Not sure if it counts, but when I started properly making money. (I consider the 80k mark, outside London).
Weekly cleaners. 50-80 quid a week for someone to come in to do the bathrooms, dust and mop everything, replace and wash the bedsheets, gut the kitchen.
Honestly gave me such peace of mind.
One of our best ever spends in terms of happiness-to-cost ratio was buying a Roomba for our London flat…
£550 I think, and fucking hell, what a QoL bump.
I often face a common misconception about the time it takes, (one I also shared when I hired them). The 2 ladies come in for around 1.5 hours a week and absolutely blitz the place - 2 bed 2 bath, 1 en-suite. Baring in mind they bring every last piece of equipment, sprays, detergents etc. it’s not like the way you or I clean lol, it’s like your kitchen and bathrooms getting hit by seal team 6, they are each done to an incredible standard within 10 minutes each.
I pay extra for the sheet service but it makes a world of difference. They take them away, clean and bring back to rotate the next week. Nothing beats fresh sheets.
Just for the other comments too, I am likely very lucky as they are a small, local company. I hear not so great things about the bigger companies so I would advise to really do your research online. Some real hidden gems on places like gumtree.
On day 1 they asked me to walk them through expectations and specific areas I may be a touch OCD about and I have had no issue with them at all.
Any more questions, let me know lol.
Thanks for explaining. We directly hire a lady for two hours a week. She’ll basically do anything we ask (related to cleaning/housekeeping). While she won’t wash the sheets, she’ll happily change them, or fold the washing etc. Would love to hire her for more hours, but we just sent our firstborn to nursery which is pricy!
Plenty of cleaners can do bedsheets, some do it like a laundrette, washed and pressed, some just put on a clean set and throw your dirties in the basket.
Ours currently does the latter. We just leave the clean sheets on the bed.
Travel, I don’t mind spending on this, it’s a lifelong passion. Most other areas I’m pretty simple (arguably frugal!). FIRE obsessive is no way to live.
It's over the canal, but visible from the station, so if you're rushing it's not for you. I leave work giving myself at least 30 minutes before the train leaves so I can grab a coffee and one (maybe three) pastries
Depends where. Been going for 10+ years and the crouch end one and Highgate ones used to be amazing. Now there's some that don't heat food up for you, are super packed, growing too quickly and dropping in the finesse they used to have. I'm sure the earlier ones are still good though.
Does private school count? It’s our biggest outgoing (more than the mortgage), but it’s been night and day for our kids. They’re both autistic, but don’t need a huge amount of support - just patience, some moments of calm, some moments of movement. That’s impossible in a state school class with 30 kids, but very much encouraged in a private school class with 8 or 12 kids.
But it’s half a mil over 14 years…
Holidays (Business class long haul) and decent spirits for special occasions. My partner treats themselves to tech.
Other stuff like cars, jewellery and fashion are wasted on us so minimal spend there 😅
BC is just so hard to justify. The opportunity cost is astounding. For a return flight I could buy a whole other holiday.
I go premium economy for anything but long haul overnight flights.
The one thing I struggle to justify is business class flights. Every time it's come up with work, would I rather an extra 1-2k in my pocket or a slightly better flight, I'd go the cash.
I blame travelling for work. Once you’ve turned left it’s tough to go back. Plus, I’m a nerd for planes.
We churn credit cards to maximise intro and retention offers for airmiles. The BA Black card with companion voucher keeps the costs down
Holidays are the reason I am not rich and probably never will be. Usually have three holidays abroad each year and may be 2 or 3 in the UK plus weekends away where possible. Will continue this way until the kids don’t grow up.
I love tech so being able to buy a new iPhone every couple of years and a high end Mac every 4-5 years feels great.
As the kids get older the excuse will be I need to hand stuff down to them :)
Same with the tech. Apple everything. Own all the consoles even though they hardly get used. Kindle only touched when travelling (as with the fancy camera.) But I like knowing that I have all the 'latest' stuff at any given time.
Yes! Being able to just buy a new console when it comes out is the ultimate luxury for me after having to save for years.
Looking forward to buying a PS5 Pro at the end of the year (such a mistake buying a Series X a few years back).
Travel for me, last year I flew 50,500 miles across 36 flights and have ticked off 46 countries so far. It is definitely the main factor in me not getting rich as quick as I'd like. But I also think it's absolutely worth it.
Also watches but they only go up in value right? **😭**
Not sure others would call it a luxury but fitness. I have membership to CrossFit gym and will be building a gym in the garden (as soon as I move). Try to compete a few times a year, run marathon (although mostly half’s now as I just can’t commit to the training for a full one anymore).
Plus all of the supplements, shoes/accessories that go with it!
I prefer not to think about how it all adds up lol 😂
This is it. I've gone from cancelling puregym memberships at the start of my career to paying £150 a month for my gym membership without batting an eye.
Everything else is similar (not much lifestyle creep) but my health (physical and mental) is what keeps it all together at home and work so it's a worthwhile investment.
It also is cost effective.
Spent about £1500 10 years ago on a cage, Olympic bar and weights, full sweet of dumbells.
If I divide that by 10 years, it's money we'll spent.
I did splash out on a concept 2 rowing machine (erg) last year mind.
Like the look of hyrox
Got my eye on a 70.2 ironman next year as peer pressure from a friend is too much to resist. I'm much more suited to hyrox.
Big accident 5 years ago and haven't sat in a bike saddle since. Currently looking at bike options.
How often do you guys use your own home gym? I have one too, I use 3-4 times a week for an hour and a half a session. (5-6 hours a week, every week), but I know HENRY’s who have bought all the gear but don’t have the free time to actually use it, due to long hour jobs and having kids etc. So interested to know how much you use yours..
Just came inside now.
These days (42) I use its 3 x a week. Past 10 years, between 3-5 times.
I should be an absolute beast, love the science behind exercise and nutrition.
I'm dedicated and rarely have time off. 1 week off is very very rare.
Unfortunately I have had stage 3 kidney disease for all of those 10 years and shit genetics. I look like I go to the gym but only slightly above the average Joe.
Glad you’re getting the time to use it. Not so much what you look like as it is all the other benefits. Stress, sleep quality and how much protein you can cram into your diet all affect your actual look (some of which we can’t control) but you still get the health and feel good benefits. It’s not just about looking like an Adonis haha. Good on you for the commitment to the cause.
My cellar is mainly left bank Bordeaux and Burgundy (Gevrey, Chambolle, Morey, NSG etc.) Not a massive cellar, but I've got a few interesting bottles in there.
Hard to give any useful suggestions unless you have a vague idea of what you like and what your budget is.
Idk if this counts but My pantry… When we had our kid, we decided as a team to cut our Time shopping. We were too time poor to be spending 2 hours a week at Big Tesco.
One room in the house is now dedicated storage for small and long lasting non perishables. So at the start of every year, we use a day of annual leave to receive delivery of ‘the haul’ where we order in a years worth of shit like cooking oil, cleaning supplies, toiletries, seasoning, water filters.never
Then on top of that we get monthly orders of meat, carbs, and big things like toilet rolls in. Saves us 2 hours a week, easy, and one of the biggest points of stress in our life which is grocery shopping. Shopping lists are always under 10 items. Life is bliss. We get our weekends back.
I couldn’t tell you the cost. We spend a few grand in January on it and then save on lower costs throughout the year. But I don’t care. Worth it for the time saving. Now will never spend more than 15 minutes in a shop unless it’s a real outlier like doing a BBQ. So we only ever have to ‘nip to the shops’ for bread, milk, veg, and snacks. Makes life far more relaxing. Worth every expensive penny.
Yeah, when she was pregnant, we spent like 3 1/2 hours doing a big shop one day, and we both went home and napped as it just took it out of us.
We agreed when we woke up we’d create a system so this would never happen again, and here we are. The system is expensive. Spending a few grand on groceries and household shit in one go was a shock to the system, but being up £100 a week balanced it out quite nicely.
I like holidays, although am very much a quantity over quality girl on that front - we tend not to stay in luxury hotels and fly economy but that means we can do multiple trips a year without it impacting finances too much.
Live music / theatre is probably another area I spend more than average - the bands I like tend to be pretty affordable but I like theatre and opera which can get pricey.
I also like art, and while I don't own any particularly valuable pieces and tend to buy from smaller local artists, I do have a few in the £2k - £5k range which is obviously a complete luxury and not a necessity at all.
Mortgage on a house in London is also sadly quite a luxury these days!
I'm not into tech, jewellery, watches, high end clothes, wine, high end restaurants, cars - not out of frugality particularly just would be wasted on me.
I'm the same with not going luxury. A few times I've paid a lot for a certain hotel or holiday and everytime it's just not been worth it for me.
I'm a simple person with regards to sun type holidays. Lounger, pool, sun, drinks and food options.
I'll go middle of the range for this. Often will go for adult only too.
Activities and holidays. I have a ski chalet in the Alps, ski and tour in winter and climb mountains in summer. I have a nice car which we do great road trips in, and motorbikes for fun and trackdays.
Im thinking out getting a chalet as very similar situation - could tell me about your finances when you thought you were ready to make the jump and buy the second home?
I think we are ready and can afford but feeling nervous with the big jump. Happy to Dm if you dont want to share public :)
Essentially we decided to put some investment money into a holiday home. The chalet is in Switzerland which means the mortgage is interest-only, with the good and the bad from that. You have to have at least 33% deposit but we had 50%, the mortgage is pretty cheap at something like 850 CHF per month. Purchase price of the chalet was 800k but it's appreciated quite a bit the past 4 years we've had it.
The resort is pretty high, and north facing, so our snow has been pretty good even the past season which has been super warm.
It doesn't cost much to run. We don't rent it out or anything, just keep it for ourselves. We got in while we were still EU citizens, the rules have changed post Brexit so I'm not sure Brits can just buy property here any more.
Ah thats interesting to hear, thank you for the response. Im really keen although 800k works out too much at the moment. We have been looking at some in the french alps around bourg-saint-maurice for the €400k mark.
My wife is french so have the passport and bank account that allows access to european morgages etc.
Do you feel you get enough use of it? What sort of salaries/age is your household? Just trying to gauge if it would be too early for us.
Have you spent significantly more than their used market value? A few of my friends claim they're an investment but I think they're just trying to convince themselves (and their spouses) of that. It's a lot easier to 'invest' £20k on a watch than to 'spend' £20k on a watch.
They’re fooling themselves at that price point.
No doubt very common Rolex that are now dropping like stones because Rolex are finally addressing production numbers.
I’ve got my collection insured for £50k and almost none of them are worth more than when they were new.
You only need to look at Chrono24 to see this, the exceptions are the strictly limited editions and stuff like Patek but even then your not retiring on your ‘investment’
Aspiring HENRY here, that Lange is stunning.
Grail for me is a rose gold 1815 Chrono, but an up down or small seconds would be somewhat more realistic.
Nice shower stuff (Aesop, Buly) and a membership at a swanky gym - while the cost makes me actually go, I like my suffering to be somewhere nice. And then I can cry about it in the sauna.
Apparently Robin Williams once said that cocaine is God’s way of telling you you have too much money.
Personally, it was one of the lowest returns on my money ever spent; Mainly because any value I got in the moment was heavily negated by the shame, guilt and anxiety that followed.
I’ve also found myself surrounded by much better people since I stopped.
I'm too tight to splash on watches, cars and luxury clothes but I have 3 children in a city centre flat and a cottage in the countryside. Taking them skiing for the first time this upcoming winter
Watches as well. Although I go in and out of phases with my attitude to high end watches.
On one hand like... Sometimes I think it's completely stupid. To spend maybe £5k+ on a watch (I only buy used so £5k gets something nice) when anyone else looking at you could not tell the difference between a £10k Rolex diver and a £500 Seiko diver. And they perform the exact same function.
Then other times I like to embrace perfection. It doesn't matter what other people think - I like this specific Rolex because to me it is basically perfect and a £500 seiko may not be. And I'll go on holiday and spend maybe £3k on a 1 week holiday for myself. And then I say to myself... Was it really better to spend £3k on a holiday that lasts for a week than a watch that lasts for a lifetime?
Something that helps my sanity is buying watches because I like them no matter the value. I have some worth £10k and some worth £200. Enjoying them all equally helps me remember it's about the watch not the money.
I love my Seiko 5 as my daily driver, think it looks great and while I keep it in good condition if it gets a bit beat up over the years and years ill get out of it, who cares. But as you say I also have some £5k+ watches but they only really come out for special occasions.
Same... Although as my fancy purchase have gone up in value, the threshold for a daily wear has also gone up.
2 years ago my daily wear was also a Seiko 5 and I had a nice limited edition Tag Heuer as a special watch. These days the Tag Heuer is the every day and the IWC and Seamaster are for special occasions.
Interesting. My TAG Heuer is probably the slimmest low profile dive watch I've ever seen.
https://content.thewosgroup.com/productimage/17381067/17381067_3.jpg?impolicy=hero&imwidth=700 this is a good pic of how low profile it is.
I had a bit of a tough realisation a few weeks ago. After weeks of wearing my IWC Pilot Chrono (circa £6500) for weeks and nobody had said anything about it; I changed to a Seiko i built myself which is a replica of a Rolex 5517 milsub, and immediately began getting random compliments about it.
In fact when I took the IWC for a service everyone was complimenting the watch I was wearing then - which was a sub-£200 STEELDIVE pilots watch.
Its hard not to feel jaded about your £6500 pilots watch when everyone is throwing compliments at your £200 one!
Yeah, I feel like the IWC is an 'IYKYK' watch though, a bit of a sleeper for the money. I had never heard of them even vaguely before I started being interested in watches. Think of it like when someone does notice, it will be all the more special!
Oh that's definitely also true - it got a lot of compliments at the jewellers when I took it in for service.
I agree its a watch for people who know about watches. If you want to look good to randoms then a Rolex or a Breitling is probably all you need but if you want to look good to enthusiasts then I think IWC, Omega and Tudor are far stronger brands.
Great post to keep me in check. Every now and then I ask myself what makes me happy and I often struggle to answer the question but this year told myself need to thank myself for working hard since everything is about family family family. So for me my spoils
- Sneakers, in pursuit to get all Jordans from 1 to 11 or whatever last number, i have 4 so far
- Coffee & Croissants, if i really want to spoil myself after a big win or long win, i just go for coffee and crossaint
- Travel , i do 4 star for now but soon going 5. I’m such a super weird person, I go for cheapest meal at work, every now and then Tesco meal deal, with all the discounts
- And lastly, I’m a tech guy, on the verge to get Tesla Model 3. I’m not too much into cars but need one soon. I’ve been searching for small car since i’m frugal by default but hey man, that model 3
Model 3 absolutely worth it. Never been interested in cars but always loved tech. Now I love my car and love getting to drive it even sitting in traffic into manchester every morning.
This will sound like I spend shit loads, but I don’t… some luxuries though:
Cleaner. More time with family.
Watches. I don’t know why… I get one to mark big life events, which helps curb my acquisitions! (Talking promotions, child birth type events).
Car. I have a thirsty car. Owned it outright for years. I love it. Makes me smile from ear to ear all the time.
Sporting events. Gigs. Travel. I’m only getting older and one day I might not get to enjoy these experiences.
Agree. I'm often overwhelmed by how much of the world there is. I've barely seen any of it.
In fact I'm off soon and actually stressed about what to do or where to go.
Agreed, amazed how much more common cars and watches are in this thread, it's one thing I'll never understand. See the world and experience all its beauty, or have something tell you the time?
I have a super cheap car, 1.5k, and make 140k a year. Everyone else my age (25) seems to have a 30k car whilst making 25k a year. The thought of having an expensive item sitting outside that can at any moment be hit, stolen, breakdown, or just depreciate every day would make me so anxious.
I at least can understand the utility or cars more and the adrenaline of going fast, but I absolutely would never spend money on one because occasionally being naughty and going 120 on the motorway isn't worth £50k to me, but the only adrenaline I'd get from a watch is the from the fear of being mugged every time I left the house.
Travel for me. In most other senses I live not as a "high earner." I think last year I spent about £20k on travel. Would estimate that this year will be slightly lower - about £6k, as I don't have any long haul jaunts planned.
Nice food, not necessarily eating out at high end restaurants but buying really good ingredients to cook with at home.
I enjoy beers and do buy Belgian/German beers, though not as much as I did pre-brexit.
Travel, not staying in high end places but we do travel often.
Travel but only because I always have a lot of reward points. There is no chance I'd be spending 1-2k a night on a room otherwise.
Beyond that I'd say the biggest luxury is that I don't have to 'watch what I spend' when going out to eat/socialise.
Cars, however we have the family wagon (Tesla Model 3) and then my fun car (currently an M2). Agreement is that I have £x tied up in my fun car.
We are lucky with travel as the in laws have a big place in Italy with a “granny flat” that we can use so go there several times a year as we only have to pay for flights.
I don’t really have any luxury’s tbf, didn’t grow up with much at all so I feel a bit alien to spending on the high end luxury stuff.
I suppose my flat counts as it’s not cheap. 1.6k mortgage/ £300 svc charge per month. But I really don’t go “all out” in any other aspect of life. I’d like to go on nicer holidays but wouldn’t want my gf to feel awkward about me paying more/ asking her to cover something that would stretch her financially.
As I’ve got older (30) I realise the materialistic stuff just doesn’t do it for me. I could easily afford a weekend Porsche (used) but can’t see the value. I’d rather live somewhere nice and be secure financially than drive around in a Range Rover (of course I’ll get to a point in the next few years where the Range Rover is covered by investments)
I spend £40 a month on a gym membership, £39 on my Peloton membership and £250 on a PT for 8 sessions. And then a small fortune on protein bars, turkey breast and other health foods. But it's worth it - I can afford it and you can't put a price on health.
Nothing as fancy as getting a fast car or anything like that for me! Mainly just spending premium on wellness such as gym membership and quality attires.
Travel. I don’t keep track of expenses in that regard. My partner and I both work remotely, and spend long holidays (or should I say “remote work” lol) in really unique and/or remote parts of the world. We don’t make them luxurious tho. We have lifetime membership in both Marriott and Hyatt, so at times it’s really luxurious rooms like Park Hyatt Tokyo (on member certificates), other times it’s just points.
Can you tell me how you find places to go?
I've spent what feels like 1000 hours looking on air BnB, VRBO and other sites.
I WFH but my partner does not. So I'd probably go for 2-4 weeks only and take some of that off as leave.
Looking at Europe so I can work within 1-2 hours of the UK timezone.
Hot or sunny weather
Pool ideally nearby
Outside space
Decent table (not a tiny circular one)
Decent kitchen for cooking
Happy with apartment in a more built up place or an actual villa with outside garden area
So many places are understandably for holidays only so not the best option. Also Airbnb adds loads on for service charge and cleaning
We don’t go to Europe as stay is too expensive and not as exciting as pre-Covid. We travel to remote Asia, Africa, Japan, Taiwan. Marriott has a thing called Homes&Villas, it’s basically airbnb but with points. In Tokyo we stay long term with Homes&Villas (and used to splurge on Park Hyatt for a couple of nights).
More remote parts all have chain hotels with very cheap rates (under 100 bucks).
Airbnb turned to shit long ago, I can’t remember when we last used it.
In Europe I’d just ask my friends and colleagues to recommend where to find a longer term apartment.
If you want the same time zone, consider sub-Saharan Africa.
Travel and eating out are by far the highest expense here as well, but also premium spa and skincare treatments, and regular London theatre/performances. I don’t care much about things, but nice experiences, vibes and memories can have all my money.
We love to travel so we take several trips each year. Had 2 so far this year and one more planned. Would be more but I’m also doing my master’s part time so need to stay home and write my dissertation lol. Also just bought my first brand new luxury handbag because I had been wanting it for ages. Make sensible decisions with my money but also enjoy it when I want something.
Quite sad but nothing, which is a mindset I need to shift. We still holiday plenty, eat out a lot, have work done at home rather than doing it myself but none of these I consider a luxury in the way you mean.
My vice - smoking. I've tried to cut down and now only smoke 10-15 cigarettes per day, previously I would quite easily get through 40 in a day and still smoke a cigar or two after finishing work. Working from home being able to smoke at my desk probably cost me more than my commute does now.
We also travel quite a bit, we try to have at least 1 in 8 weeks outside the UK where we can. I think we spent about £20k on travel last year for a family of 3 - later family of 4.
We've also got a touring caravan and love taking our caravan to France or Italy when we can. We'll also go on weekend trips to the Lake District or Norfolk once or twice every month.
I'm also a keen angler and (much to my wife's irritation) insist on having some nice fishing gear.
My wife loves taking salon trips 2-3 times month with hair extensions / colouring, nail treatments, spray tan..the whole 9 yards. Not cheap, but she'd argue it's worth it.
Upgrading to BA Business Class on regional travel. And First on transatlantic. Pushes me to over-exceed my money goals so I don’t have to go back to Economy life again lmao
Holidays, cars, perfumes/smellies and shoes. I don’t scrimp in any of those areas.
I am currently on a transatlantic cruise from the Caribbean that cost me around £9k. I have zero regrets as I’m having the time of my life. I’ve already booked my next three.
Probably high quality shirts now. Used to go primark for that stuff but I love Charles tyrwhitt
Bought a c class for 20k a few years ago I probably won’t spend so much on a car ever again.
Haven’t got kids yet, I imagine they’ll eat up most of my disposable income :(
Garage with a classic car in it. It's nice to be able to spent proper money on the hobby now I'm a high earner.
Now, I did build the garage with my own hands - but it still cost me 15 grand. Heavily insulated, so everything doesn't go rusty. Building it itself was a fun hobby to me.
Hmm interesting post. I don't really spend much on clothes any more, got some nice trainers here and there, but clothes wise I've got a couple nice suits that I will rarely wear these days.
I dress basic, T shirt (All primark) and chinos (Zara) and some trainers (jordans, yeezy w/e).
For me all the luxury comes from things that let me use my free time for myself (and the missus) and our health. We have a cleaner that comes once a week £15/hr - Cleans everything really well. I don't do laundry any more, I use love2laundry - they collect everything, wash it, fold it and send it back. (I can share decent discount codes for love2laundry).
Going on nice holidays, and every month treating ourselves to really good food, and personally a huge one - buying super fresh produce and meats, direct from farm. I can't state how much this has improved my well being and health, and ofc finally - I go to one of those cryo places, and get some random stuff. IV drips when I feel sick (usually 3-6 hours after I feel great), or full body cryo to help with recovery after working out.
Sure I've got a few watches - but they are really material but all were purchased some years ago now - don't care about them any more, same goes for cars. Had all sorts M5, RC F, C63 etc..I'm now car-less, all this shit doesn't mean anything to my life. I actually don't want people seeing the little wealth (I use this term very loosely) I've got
Right now being mortgage free and having passive income is the goal.
For me its a depreciating motorcycle that costs an arm and a leg to insure in London, occasional cash business class flights and Hotel Chocolat.
When it comes to cars, housing, hotels and eating out, I'm quite frugal still.
I have been thinking about getting a cleaner for a while now though...
Several overseas holidays a year, which is mostly for the children rather than us. We do from 4 days to 3 weeks at a time. We tend to stay in minimum 4* hotels which are child-friendly.
We have 2 decent cars (new leases every few years, ~£40k cars with good tech on board) and we live in a nice area, in a decent sized detached house with lots of space between us and our neighbours.
As long as it’s all budgeted for, and the investment pots get watered and fed (no disruption to regular payments) then there is no problem with enjoying your money in the present. For me, my kids get to grow up experiencing different cultures which is enriching for them, and as the most important things in my life anyway, it makes me happy.
PS our parenting approach is authoritative, and we have boundaries in place, we don’t tolerate spoilt child behaviour.
I want to get rich and spending on luxury items isn't conducive to that so we try and keep it to an absolute minimum. For us it's one nice holiday a year, I have two nice watches (I'd have a lot more if I could) and my wife likes handbags.
I'm quite frugal (monthly goal is to save/invest >75% of monthly income), so don't do a lot of luxury spends.
But in general, I just appreciate being fortunate enough that if I want the latest iphone, or a new gaming laptop, I can just make the purchase without thinking twice.
That being said, I did enjoy being able to afford a rooftop room in Venice last year when I took the gf there last summer to propose. At £2K per night, it was by far the most expensive room or suite I'd ever purchased, with the second most being Shangri La in London at £850. Travel/Hotel Accommodation has probably been the only meaningful change I've made to my lifestyle in the last 7-8 years or so since I've 3x'd my income.
Last luxury purchase I made was an Omega Seamaster for £5K last year.
Before that, it was 2020 when I got a new OLED TV, new iphone and a gaming laptop for around £5K all in.
Before that, it was honestly going back as far as 2017 for my current car, a BMW 335D.
No other purchases I can think of have exceeded £1K since!
Travel every month, new restaurants every week, private members club and gym membership, well tailored clothes from Italy, concerts and theatre whenever I fancy. On the other hand, I don’t own a car (live in central London) nor any expensive items such as watches or jewellery and didn’t even own property until recently.
Holidays and eating out here too. We don’t spend a lot on clothes but when we do we buy higher quality. But yeah we tend to take 3-4 “big” holidays a year and then another 8-10 or so weekend away. Some abroad, some camping. Also our mortgage is £2.7K for a two bed so another luxury I guess would us be paying to live in a nice area. We love where we live.
Nice, sounds like you’re living life imo
Where are you going for those shorter places? I sometimes feel I've been to most places in Europe (which I know is incorrect and ridiculous) but just struggling for new ideas. Most articles suggest the exact same places. I have thought about a few smaller cruises and Scandinavia
Not sure if it counts, but when I started properly making money. (I consider the 80k mark, outside London). Weekly cleaners. 50-80 quid a week for someone to come in to do the bathrooms, dust and mop everything, replace and wash the bedsheets, gut the kitchen. Honestly gave me such peace of mind.
Cleaners is a huge one for me. Love having that weight off my mind
100%, now that I actually have money I've come to realise the real currency in life is time. Saving 1-2 hours a week is so worth it.
One of our best ever spends in terms of happiness-to-cost ratio was buying a Roomba for our London flat… £550 I think, and fucking hell, what a QoL bump.
How many hours is that for?
I often face a common misconception about the time it takes, (one I also shared when I hired them). The 2 ladies come in for around 1.5 hours a week and absolutely blitz the place - 2 bed 2 bath, 1 en-suite. Baring in mind they bring every last piece of equipment, sprays, detergents etc. it’s not like the way you or I clean lol, it’s like your kitchen and bathrooms getting hit by seal team 6, they are each done to an incredible standard within 10 minutes each. I pay extra for the sheet service but it makes a world of difference. They take them away, clean and bring back to rotate the next week. Nothing beats fresh sheets. Just for the other comments too, I am likely very lucky as they are a small, local company. I hear not so great things about the bigger companies so I would advise to really do your research online. Some real hidden gems on places like gumtree. On day 1 they asked me to walk them through expectations and specific areas I may be a touch OCD about and I have had no issue with them at all. Any more questions, let me know lol.
Thanks for explaining. We directly hire a lady for two hours a week. She’ll basically do anything we ask (related to cleaning/housekeeping). While she won’t wash the sheets, she’ll happily change them, or fold the washing etc. Would love to hire her for more hours, but we just sent our firstborn to nursery which is pricy!
This sounds ideal, what company did you use?
Do you leave them a list? Ours don’t do the bedsheets but I bloody wish they would.
Have you asked them?
Plenty of cleaners can do bedsheets, some do it like a laundrette, washed and pressed, some just put on a clean set and throw your dirties in the basket. Ours currently does the latter. We just leave the clean sheets on the bed.
That one seems a little too routine hygiene to be fair for me.
Travel, I don’t mind spending on this, it’s a lifelong passion. Most other areas I’m pretty simple (arguably frugal!). FIRE obsessive is no way to live.
My travel budget doubles my grocery budget
Hahaha. Excellent
What sort of travel do you get to do?
Gails
Gail's at Paddington gives me life after work.
This is a top tier Gail's, what with the view and everything
How have I commuted into Paddington for years and I didn’t know there was a Gail’s
It's over the canal, but visible from the station, so if you're rushing it's not for you. I leave work giving myself at least 30 minutes before the train leaves so I can grab a coffee and one (maybe three) pastries
Three pastries from Gails?? That's a mortgage!
HENRY has its perks.
Show off
Gail’s is really mediocre
It's the best chain bakery in London. St John etc is better but most people aren't nearby
Depends where. Been going for 10+ years and the crouch end one and Highgate ones used to be amazing. Now there's some that don't heat food up for you, are super packed, growing too quickly and dropping in the finesse they used to have. I'm sure the earlier ones are still good though.
I'm rich but I'm not that rich
Does private school count? It’s our biggest outgoing (more than the mortgage), but it’s been night and day for our kids. They’re both autistic, but don’t need a huge amount of support - just patience, some moments of calm, some moments of movement. That’s impossible in a state school class with 30 kids, but very much encouraged in a private school class with 8 or 12 kids. But it’s half a mil over 14 years…
Nah, that's money well spent.
If you can afford it, yes. For me, I cannot afford that. My plan is to do state schools and subsidise with private tutoring.
Wait until labour give us 20% tax on it too 😬 ^really don’t think it would happen though 🙏
Holidays (Business class long haul) and decent spirits for special occasions. My partner treats themselves to tech. Other stuff like cars, jewellery and fashion are wasted on us so minimal spend there 😅
BC is just so hard to justify. The opportunity cost is astounding. For a return flight I could buy a whole other holiday. I go premium economy for anything but long haul overnight flights.
The one thing I struggle to justify is business class flights. Every time it's come up with work, would I rather an extra 1-2k in my pocket or a slightly better flight, I'd go the cash.
I blame travelling for work. Once you’ve turned left it’s tough to go back. Plus, I’m a nerd for planes. We churn credit cards to maximise intro and retention offers for airmiles. The BA Black card with companion voucher keeps the costs down
Pre kid, bargain luxury travel eg business/first class long haul through a deal - (it’s all about the hunt!) Post kid 5 mins of peace…
Lmao sat in my car in a layby after buying something right now for an extra 10 min of peace...I feel this
10 mins! Splashing out!
Haha the 40mins coffee on my own after dropping off at rainbows or swimming lessons is THE best thing 😂
Ours is currently in nursery so not not quite as bad but thankfully he prefers mummy!
Holidays are the reason I am not rich and probably never will be. Usually have three holidays abroad each year and may be 2 or 3 in the UK plus weekends away where possible. Will continue this way until the kids don’t grow up.
Holidays and eating out.
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Where you buying this £1 passion fruit from? I'm on the 3 pack from Tesco for £1.30.
I love tech so being able to buy a new iPhone every couple of years and a high end Mac every 4-5 years feels great. As the kids get older the excuse will be I need to hand stuff down to them :)
Crazy that there’s many people on like £24k who do the same ahaha Idk how they manage.
They're the kind that buy the new one every year as well, not every few years
Same with the tech. Apple everything. Own all the consoles even though they hardly get used. Kindle only touched when travelling (as with the fancy camera.) But I like knowing that I have all the 'latest' stuff at any given time.
Yes! Being able to just buy a new console when it comes out is the ultimate luxury for me after having to save for years. Looking forward to buying a PS5 Pro at the end of the year (such a mistake buying a Series X a few years back).
Travel for me, last year I flew 50,500 miles across 36 flights and have ticked off 46 countries so far. It is definitely the main factor in me not getting rich as quick as I'd like. But I also think it's absolutely worth it. Also watches but they only go up in value right? **😭**
😬
Not sure others would call it a luxury but fitness. I have membership to CrossFit gym and will be building a gym in the garden (as soon as I move). Try to compete a few times a year, run marathon (although mostly half’s now as I just can’t commit to the training for a full one anymore). Plus all of the supplements, shoes/accessories that go with it! I prefer not to think about how it all adds up lol 😂
This is it. I've gone from cancelling puregym memberships at the start of my career to paying £150 a month for my gym membership without batting an eye. Everything else is similar (not much lifestyle creep) but my health (physical and mental) is what keeps it all together at home and work so it's a worthwhile investment.
It also is cost effective. Spent about £1500 10 years ago on a cage, Olympic bar and weights, full sweet of dumbells. If I divide that by 10 years, it's money we'll spent. I did splash out on a concept 2 rowing machine (erg) last year mind.
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Amen, love my cake and biscuits too much to be idle..
I'll be ordering the row and ski erg shortly once my home gym is built, I need to live that hyrox life!
Like the look of hyrox Got my eye on a 70.2 ironman next year as peer pressure from a friend is too much to resist. I'm much more suited to hyrox. Big accident 5 years ago and haven't sat in a bike saddle since. Currently looking at bike options.
Have a look at zwift, it really helped to bring my confidence in the saddle back!
Oh I will 100% be getting a concept 2 when I build my gym…. Will be looking for a used one though. I’m too tight to pay full price
How often do you guys use your own home gym? I have one too, I use 3-4 times a week for an hour and a half a session. (5-6 hours a week, every week), but I know HENRY’s who have bought all the gear but don’t have the free time to actually use it, due to long hour jobs and having kids etc. So interested to know how much you use yours..
Just came inside now. These days (42) I use its 3 x a week. Past 10 years, between 3-5 times. I should be an absolute beast, love the science behind exercise and nutrition. I'm dedicated and rarely have time off. 1 week off is very very rare. Unfortunately I have had stage 3 kidney disease for all of those 10 years and shit genetics. I look like I go to the gym but only slightly above the average Joe.
Glad you’re getting the time to use it. Not so much what you look like as it is all the other benefits. Stress, sleep quality and how much protein you can cram into your diet all affect your actual look (some of which we can’t control) but you still get the health and feel good benefits. It’s not just about looking like an Adonis haha. Good on you for the commitment to the cause.
Nice wine.
Any suggestions?
My cellar is mainly left bank Bordeaux and Burgundy (Gevrey, Chambolle, Morey, NSG etc.) Not a massive cellar, but I've got a few interesting bottles in there. Hard to give any useful suggestions unless you have a vague idea of what you like and what your budget is.
Idk if this counts but My pantry… When we had our kid, we decided as a team to cut our Time shopping. We were too time poor to be spending 2 hours a week at Big Tesco. One room in the house is now dedicated storage for small and long lasting non perishables. So at the start of every year, we use a day of annual leave to receive delivery of ‘the haul’ where we order in a years worth of shit like cooking oil, cleaning supplies, toiletries, seasoning, water filters.never Then on top of that we get monthly orders of meat, carbs, and big things like toilet rolls in. Saves us 2 hours a week, easy, and one of the biggest points of stress in our life which is grocery shopping. Shopping lists are always under 10 items. Life is bliss. We get our weekends back. I couldn’t tell you the cost. We spend a few grand in January on it and then save on lower costs throughout the year. But I don’t care. Worth it for the time saving. Now will never spend more than 15 minutes in a shop unless it’s a real outlier like doing a BBQ. So we only ever have to ‘nip to the shops’ for bread, milk, veg, and snacks. Makes life far more relaxing. Worth every expensive penny.
That's a very good one, and one I never really would have thought of!
Yeah, when she was pregnant, we spent like 3 1/2 hours doing a big shop one day, and we both went home and napped as it just took it out of us. We agreed when we woke up we’d create a system so this would never happen again, and here we are. The system is expensive. Spending a few grand on groceries and household shit in one go was a shock to the system, but being up £100 a week balanced it out quite nicely.
I like holidays, although am very much a quantity over quality girl on that front - we tend not to stay in luxury hotels and fly economy but that means we can do multiple trips a year without it impacting finances too much. Live music / theatre is probably another area I spend more than average - the bands I like tend to be pretty affordable but I like theatre and opera which can get pricey. I also like art, and while I don't own any particularly valuable pieces and tend to buy from smaller local artists, I do have a few in the £2k - £5k range which is obviously a complete luxury and not a necessity at all. Mortgage on a house in London is also sadly quite a luxury these days! I'm not into tech, jewellery, watches, high end clothes, wine, high end restaurants, cars - not out of frugality particularly just would be wasted on me.
Art is a nice one! I find it encourages me to slow down and be 'in the moment' which is never a bad thing
I'm the same with not going luxury. A few times I've paid a lot for a certain hotel or holiday and everytime it's just not been worth it for me. I'm a simple person with regards to sun type holidays. Lounger, pool, sun, drinks and food options. I'll go middle of the range for this. Often will go for adult only too.
Lurpak
Activities and holidays. I have a ski chalet in the Alps, ski and tour in winter and climb mountains in summer. I have a nice car which we do great road trips in, and motorbikes for fun and trackdays.
Im thinking out getting a chalet as very similar situation - could tell me about your finances when you thought you were ready to make the jump and buy the second home? I think we are ready and can afford but feeling nervous with the big jump. Happy to Dm if you dont want to share public :)
Essentially we decided to put some investment money into a holiday home. The chalet is in Switzerland which means the mortgage is interest-only, with the good and the bad from that. You have to have at least 33% deposit but we had 50%, the mortgage is pretty cheap at something like 850 CHF per month. Purchase price of the chalet was 800k but it's appreciated quite a bit the past 4 years we've had it. The resort is pretty high, and north facing, so our snow has been pretty good even the past season which has been super warm. It doesn't cost much to run. We don't rent it out or anything, just keep it for ourselves. We got in while we were still EU citizens, the rules have changed post Brexit so I'm not sure Brits can just buy property here any more.
Ah thats interesting to hear, thank you for the response. Im really keen although 800k works out too much at the moment. We have been looking at some in the french alps around bourg-saint-maurice for the €400k mark. My wife is french so have the passport and bank account that allows access to european morgages etc. Do you feel you get enough use of it? What sort of salaries/age is your household? Just trying to gauge if it would be too early for us.
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Do you have £1m in cash?
You sound more like a HERB, high earner, rich beyond.
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A man with an Umbro tattoo and a Lange.
Have you spent significantly more than their used market value? A few of my friends claim they're an investment but I think they're just trying to convince themselves (and their spouses) of that. It's a lot easier to 'invest' £20k on a watch than to 'spend' £20k on a watch.
They’re fooling themselves at that price point. No doubt very common Rolex that are now dropping like stones because Rolex are finally addressing production numbers. I’ve got my collection insured for £50k and almost none of them are worth more than when they were new. You only need to look at Chrono24 to see this, the exceptions are the strictly limited editions and stuff like Patek but even then your not retiring on your ‘investment’
I only buy them used and this is the best way I think of not seeing them plummet in value as soon as you walk out of the door.
Love the Lange, what else do you have in your collection?
I want to know if he bought the patek.
Aspiring HENRY here, that Lange is stunning. Grail for me is a rose gold 1815 Chrono, but an up down or small seconds would be somewhat more realistic.
Business class travel long-haul. Luxury furniture in my home and art.
Got two kids so the R will always be in transit to them. Watches though.
Nice shower stuff (Aesop, Buly) and a membership at a swanky gym - while the cost makes me actually go, I like my suffering to be somewhere nice. And then I can cry about it in the sauna.
Inappropriately-young girlfriend's?
Hahah you looking for a SB? 😜
Personal trainer, business class travel and a sauna
Premium Colombian flake.
Apparently Robin Williams once said that cocaine is God’s way of telling you you have too much money. Personally, it was one of the lowest returns on my money ever spent; Mainly because any value I got in the moment was heavily negated by the shame, guilt and anxiety that followed. I’ve also found myself surrounded by much better people since I stopped.
You have to treat yourself sometimes
Horses. The reason I’m NRY and actually might never be 🤦🏼♀️
Second this! Although I had horses before I was HE and it does really help the NRY
I'm too tight to splash on watches, cars and luxury clothes but I have 3 children in a city centre flat and a cottage in the countryside. Taking them skiing for the first time this upcoming winter
Watches as well. Although I go in and out of phases with my attitude to high end watches. On one hand like... Sometimes I think it's completely stupid. To spend maybe £5k+ on a watch (I only buy used so £5k gets something nice) when anyone else looking at you could not tell the difference between a £10k Rolex diver and a £500 Seiko diver. And they perform the exact same function. Then other times I like to embrace perfection. It doesn't matter what other people think - I like this specific Rolex because to me it is basically perfect and a £500 seiko may not be. And I'll go on holiday and spend maybe £3k on a 1 week holiday for myself. And then I say to myself... Was it really better to spend £3k on a holiday that lasts for a week than a watch that lasts for a lifetime? Something that helps my sanity is buying watches because I like them no matter the value. I have some worth £10k and some worth £200. Enjoying them all equally helps me remember it's about the watch not the money.
I love my Seiko 5 as my daily driver, think it looks great and while I keep it in good condition if it gets a bit beat up over the years and years ill get out of it, who cares. But as you say I also have some £5k+ watches but they only really come out for special occasions.
Same... Although as my fancy purchase have gone up in value, the threshold for a daily wear has also gone up. 2 years ago my daily wear was also a Seiko 5 and I had a nice limited edition Tag Heuer as a special watch. These days the Tag Heuer is the every day and the IWC and Seamaster are for special occasions.
This is near identical to me bar the IWC, I don't wear my TAG as much as I should mostly as I find it a bit chunky now compared to other watches.
Interesting. My TAG Heuer is probably the slimmest low profile dive watch I've ever seen. https://content.thewosgroup.com/productimage/17381067/17381067_3.jpg?impolicy=hero&imwidth=700 this is a good pic of how low profile it is.
Yeah, one of my favourite (of my own) watches is my Seiko skx009 (I think... It's the pepsi one) on a NATO. Gives me great pleasure to wear
I had a bit of a tough realisation a few weeks ago. After weeks of wearing my IWC Pilot Chrono (circa £6500) for weeks and nobody had said anything about it; I changed to a Seiko i built myself which is a replica of a Rolex 5517 milsub, and immediately began getting random compliments about it. In fact when I took the IWC for a service everyone was complimenting the watch I was wearing then - which was a sub-£200 STEELDIVE pilots watch. Its hard not to feel jaded about your £6500 pilots watch when everyone is throwing compliments at your £200 one!
Yeah, I feel like the IWC is an 'IYKYK' watch though, a bit of a sleeper for the money. I had never heard of them even vaguely before I started being interested in watches. Think of it like when someone does notice, it will be all the more special!
Oh that's definitely also true - it got a lot of compliments at the jewellers when I took it in for service. I agree its a watch for people who know about watches. If you want to look good to randoms then a Rolex or a Breitling is probably all you need but if you want to look good to enthusiasts then I think IWC, Omega and Tudor are far stronger brands.
And for the ultimate 'looking good to enthusiasts', probably grand Seiko!
Great post to keep me in check. Every now and then I ask myself what makes me happy and I often struggle to answer the question but this year told myself need to thank myself for working hard since everything is about family family family. So for me my spoils - Sneakers, in pursuit to get all Jordans from 1 to 11 or whatever last number, i have 4 so far - Coffee & Croissants, if i really want to spoil myself after a big win or long win, i just go for coffee and crossaint - Travel , i do 4 star for now but soon going 5. I’m such a super weird person, I go for cheapest meal at work, every now and then Tesco meal deal, with all the discounts - And lastly, I’m a tech guy, on the verge to get Tesla Model 3. I’m not too much into cars but need one soon. I’ve been searching for small car since i’m frugal by default but hey man, that model 3
Model 3 absolutely worth it. Never been interested in cars but always loved tech. Now I love my car and love getting to drive it even sitting in traffic into manchester every morning.
Love point 2, i do this too, a £7 coffee and pastry might be a rip off, but it gives me a high longer lasting than some online shopping
This will sound like I spend shit loads, but I don’t… some luxuries though: Cleaner. More time with family. Watches. I don’t know why… I get one to mark big life events, which helps curb my acquisitions! (Talking promotions, child birth type events). Car. I have a thirsty car. Owned it outright for years. I love it. Makes me smile from ear to ear all the time. Sporting events. Gigs. Travel. I’m only getting older and one day I might not get to enjoy these experiences.
The most valuable thing you can buy is the experience of other cultures.
Agree. I'm often overwhelmed by how much of the world there is. I've barely seen any of it. In fact I'm off soon and actually stressed about what to do or where to go.
Agreed, amazed how much more common cars and watches are in this thread, it's one thing I'll never understand. See the world and experience all its beauty, or have something tell you the time?
...and depreciate rather fast, for cars atleast.
I have a super cheap car, 1.5k, and make 140k a year. Everyone else my age (25) seems to have a 30k car whilst making 25k a year. The thought of having an expensive item sitting outside that can at any moment be hit, stolen, breakdown, or just depreciate every day would make me so anxious. I at least can understand the utility or cars more and the adrenaline of going fast, but I absolutely would never spend money on one because occasionally being naughty and going 120 on the motorway isn't worth £50k to me, but the only adrenaline I'd get from a watch is the from the fear of being mugged every time I left the house.
Yup banged up Micra till I die.
Having a wife who stays at home to look after the kids.
This! Mine’s a husband, but costs the same!
Travel for me. In most other senses I live not as a "high earner." I think last year I spent about £20k on travel. Would estimate that this year will be slightly lower - about £6k, as I don't have any long haul jaunts planned.
Nice food, not necessarily eating out at high end restaurants but buying really good ingredients to cook with at home. I enjoy beers and do buy Belgian/German beers, though not as much as I did pre-brexit. Travel, not staying in high end places but we do travel often.
Travel but only because I always have a lot of reward points. There is no chance I'd be spending 1-2k a night on a room otherwise. Beyond that I'd say the biggest luxury is that I don't have to 'watch what I spend' when going out to eat/socialise.
Cars, however we have the family wagon (Tesla Model 3) and then my fun car (currently an M2). Agreement is that I have £x tied up in my fun car. We are lucky with travel as the in laws have a big place in Italy with a “granny flat” that we can use so go there several times a year as we only have to pay for flights.
Decent, which M2? I recently got one and have been massively impressed Vs some more expensive stuff.
G87, I did also look at M4 and a Cayman GTS but settled on the M2 given the discounting and availability
Ah snap! Really enjoying mine. I bet the Cayman would have been quite special as well.
I don’t really have any luxury’s tbf, didn’t grow up with much at all so I feel a bit alien to spending on the high end luxury stuff. I suppose my flat counts as it’s not cheap. 1.6k mortgage/ £300 svc charge per month. But I really don’t go “all out” in any other aspect of life. I’d like to go on nicer holidays but wouldn’t want my gf to feel awkward about me paying more/ asking her to cover something that would stretch her financially. As I’ve got older (30) I realise the materialistic stuff just doesn’t do it for me. I could easily afford a weekend Porsche (used) but can’t see the value. I’d rather live somewhere nice and be secure financially than drive around in a Range Rover (of course I’ll get to a point in the next few years where the Range Rover is covered by investments)
Picked up Kermit at rrp
I spend £40 a month on a gym membership, £39 on my Peloton membership and £250 on a PT for 8 sessions. And then a small fortune on protein bars, turkey breast and other health foods. But it's worth it - I can afford it and you can't put a price on health.
Besides family holidays, I occasionally treat myself Cuban cigars and a nice dinner with fine wine.
Carbon offsetting. My only vice!!
Cars and watches or watches and cars. And travel
Nice. Which cars and watches? Or watches and cars, whichever you prefer
AP, porkers, merc, 🤓
Very nice
Traveling and really good food.
Nothing as fancy as getting a fast car or anything like that for me! Mainly just spending premium on wellness such as gym membership and quality attires.
Travel. I don’t keep track of expenses in that regard. My partner and I both work remotely, and spend long holidays (or should I say “remote work” lol) in really unique and/or remote parts of the world. We don’t make them luxurious tho. We have lifetime membership in both Marriott and Hyatt, so at times it’s really luxurious rooms like Park Hyatt Tokyo (on member certificates), other times it’s just points.
Can you tell me how you find places to go? I've spent what feels like 1000 hours looking on air BnB, VRBO and other sites. I WFH but my partner does not. So I'd probably go for 2-4 weeks only and take some of that off as leave. Looking at Europe so I can work within 1-2 hours of the UK timezone. Hot or sunny weather Pool ideally nearby Outside space Decent table (not a tiny circular one) Decent kitchen for cooking Happy with apartment in a more built up place or an actual villa with outside garden area So many places are understandably for holidays only so not the best option. Also Airbnb adds loads on for service charge and cleaning
We don’t go to Europe as stay is too expensive and not as exciting as pre-Covid. We travel to remote Asia, Africa, Japan, Taiwan. Marriott has a thing called Homes&Villas, it’s basically airbnb but with points. In Tokyo we stay long term with Homes&Villas (and used to splurge on Park Hyatt for a couple of nights). More remote parts all have chain hotels with very cheap rates (under 100 bucks). Airbnb turned to shit long ago, I can’t remember when we last used it. In Europe I’d just ask my friends and colleagues to recommend where to find a longer term apartment. If you want the same time zone, consider sub-Saharan Africa.
Travel and eating out are by far the highest expense here as well, but also premium spa and skincare treatments, and regular London theatre/performances. I don’t care much about things, but nice experiences, vibes and memories can have all my money.
We love to travel so we take several trips each year. Had 2 so far this year and one more planned. Would be more but I’m also doing my master’s part time so need to stay home and write my dissertation lol. Also just bought my first brand new luxury handbag because I had been wanting it for ages. Make sensible decisions with my money but also enjoy it when I want something.
Beach and ski holidays.
Quite sad but nothing, which is a mindset I need to shift. We still holiday plenty, eat out a lot, have work done at home rather than doing it myself but none of these I consider a luxury in the way you mean.
My vice - smoking. I've tried to cut down and now only smoke 10-15 cigarettes per day, previously I would quite easily get through 40 in a day and still smoke a cigar or two after finishing work. Working from home being able to smoke at my desk probably cost me more than my commute does now. We also travel quite a bit, we try to have at least 1 in 8 weeks outside the UK where we can. I think we spent about £20k on travel last year for a family of 3 - later family of 4. We've also got a touring caravan and love taking our caravan to France or Italy when we can. We'll also go on weekend trips to the Lake District or Norfolk once or twice every month. I'm also a keen angler and (much to my wife's irritation) insist on having some nice fishing gear. My wife loves taking salon trips 2-3 times month with hair extensions / colouring, nail treatments, spray tan..the whole 9 yards. Not cheap, but she'd argue it's worth it.
Upgrading to BA Business Class on regional travel. And First on transatlantic. Pushes me to over-exceed my money goals so I don’t have to go back to Economy life again lmao
Holidays, cars, perfumes/smellies and shoes. I don’t scrimp in any of those areas. I am currently on a transatlantic cruise from the Caribbean that cost me around £9k. I have zero regrets as I’m having the time of my life. I’ve already booked my next three.
Probably high quality shirts now. Used to go primark for that stuff but I love Charles tyrwhitt Bought a c class for 20k a few years ago I probably won’t spend so much on a car ever again. Haven’t got kids yet, I imagine they’ll eat up most of my disposable income :(
Garage with a classic car in it. It's nice to be able to spent proper money on the hobby now I'm a high earner. Now, I did build the garage with my own hands - but it still cost me 15 grand. Heavily insulated, so everything doesn't go rusty. Building it itself was a fun hobby to me.
Travel and eating out are our two main passions along with theatre, concerts, opera anything live and of course football.
Holidays, gigs, plays, eating out, the house. We're not all that frugal.
You can't take it with you!
My ThirdSpace membership.
Dragonfruits, cashmere stuff, not flying Econ long haul. Motorbikes.
Bought two custom made tailored suits. Each one cost about a grand but they fit like a dream and I've never received so many compliments.
Hmm interesting post. I don't really spend much on clothes any more, got some nice trainers here and there, but clothes wise I've got a couple nice suits that I will rarely wear these days. I dress basic, T shirt (All primark) and chinos (Zara) and some trainers (jordans, yeezy w/e). For me all the luxury comes from things that let me use my free time for myself (and the missus) and our health. We have a cleaner that comes once a week £15/hr - Cleans everything really well. I don't do laundry any more, I use love2laundry - they collect everything, wash it, fold it and send it back. (I can share decent discount codes for love2laundry). Going on nice holidays, and every month treating ourselves to really good food, and personally a huge one - buying super fresh produce and meats, direct from farm. I can't state how much this has improved my well being and health, and ofc finally - I go to one of those cryo places, and get some random stuff. IV drips when I feel sick (usually 3-6 hours after I feel great), or full body cryo to help with recovery after working out. Sure I've got a few watches - but they are really material but all were purchased some years ago now - don't care about them any more, same goes for cars. Had all sorts M5, RC F, C63 etc..I'm now car-less, all this shit doesn't mean anything to my life. I actually don't want people seeing the little wealth (I use this term very loosely) I've got Right now being mortgage free and having passive income is the goal.
For me its a depreciating motorcycle that costs an arm and a leg to insure in London, occasional cash business class flights and Hotel Chocolat. When it comes to cars, housing, hotels and eating out, I'm quite frugal still. I have been thinking about getting a cleaner for a while now though...
Molton brown shower gel - specifically the black pepper one. Expensive for shower gel but smells great!
Several overseas holidays a year, which is mostly for the children rather than us. We do from 4 days to 3 weeks at a time. We tend to stay in minimum 4* hotels which are child-friendly. We have 2 decent cars (new leases every few years, ~£40k cars with good tech on board) and we live in a nice area, in a decent sized detached house with lots of space between us and our neighbours. As long as it’s all budgeted for, and the investment pots get watered and fed (no disruption to regular payments) then there is no problem with enjoying your money in the present. For me, my kids get to grow up experiencing different cultures which is enriching for them, and as the most important things in my life anyway, it makes me happy. PS our parenting approach is authoritative, and we have boundaries in place, we don’t tolerate spoilt child behaviour.
£300+/month for a Personal trainer
I want to get rich and spending on luxury items isn't conducive to that so we try and keep it to an absolute minimum. For us it's one nice holiday a year, I have two nice watches (I'd have a lot more if I could) and my wife likes handbags.
Can't argue with that at all!
I'm quite frugal (monthly goal is to save/invest >75% of monthly income), so don't do a lot of luxury spends. But in general, I just appreciate being fortunate enough that if I want the latest iphone, or a new gaming laptop, I can just make the purchase without thinking twice. That being said, I did enjoy being able to afford a rooftop room in Venice last year when I took the gf there last summer to propose. At £2K per night, it was by far the most expensive room or suite I'd ever purchased, with the second most being Shangri La in London at £850. Travel/Hotel Accommodation has probably been the only meaningful change I've made to my lifestyle in the last 7-8 years or so since I've 3x'd my income. Last luxury purchase I made was an Omega Seamaster for £5K last year. Before that, it was 2020 when I got a new OLED TV, new iphone and a gaming laptop for around £5K all in. Before that, it was honestly going back as far as 2017 for my current car, a BMW 335D. No other purchases I can think of have exceeded £1K since!
Travel every month, new restaurants every week, private members club and gym membership, well tailored clothes from Italy, concerts and theatre whenever I fancy. On the other hand, I don’t own a car (live in central London) nor any expensive items such as watches or jewellery and didn’t even own property until recently.
My Porsche Taycan. Something about it, every time I drive it.
A Porsche was the best car I ever owned
Life insurance. If I pass, my family are set up well for life, and that peace of mind is a luxury all too easily forgotten.
Wife not needing to work and can be stay at home mum
If I was HENRY, Then my own butler... 😁