The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: heybro on May 23, 2016, 11:28:07 PM
-
What is that ONE THING, that you will buy no matter what? Your passion? Your experience that you like?
Why do you want to save so much money on all the other junk in order to provide this one thing?
What is your passion that you want the money for?
Is it fishing? (an experience).
A collection (or hobby).
etc.
OR....is it something that you can't even buy! Such as time with family?
-
Food and Travel.
I have a travel account that money is automatically sent to each fortnight. Means I don't too caught up investing to do the things I want to do and also I don't feel bad as the money is already allocated for that purpose
-
Travel and kid's activities. I am paid every two weeks and I budget for two paychecks every month. We do daily spend and saving from that budget and have a slush fund of two paychecks per year (plus any $s from side hustle) that can go to travel, ice skating lessons, lacrosse camp etc. Thanks for the topic - ap.
-
Seems like I can not stop spending money on take out. Sadly if you look at my transactions that's my Passion.
-
Star gazing/astronomy.
I've gone through many expensive telescopes over the years.
I've now cut back to just one little one. He only costed me $1500.
-
Climbing and skiing trailess undeveloped mountains
-
I would say my kids are my hobby. I really don't have time for much else these days. We spend alot of money on them, some unavoidable, some because we're suckers.
Craft beer(and wine for the wife) is something we spend a lot of money on although I wouldn't call it a hobby really. It's one of those things we could cut out and save a lot of $ every month but what's the fun in that.
-
Travel. Just got back from a three week road trip out west and I am now planning my first cruise.
-
Afternoon naps.
-
tools/woodworking
fishing
golf
-
Not sure about "no matter what" because I would most definitely cut back these things if I was in different circumstances but right now:
-Sewing/Quilting supplies
-Books
-Travel
-
Homebrewing.
But at this point, I've got all the equipment I need, so it's just ingredients and the odd tube that needs replacing. Getting a club together and buying in bulk has cut my costs by about 35%, and re-culturing yeast is helping too. Only 30 more brew days to go and the yeast glassware will pay for itself.
-
I spend a ridiculous amount on my primary hobbies hunting and fishing. Between trips, travel, upkeep of hunting camp and properties, boats, guns, tackle, bait, gear, etc. it can get pretty crazy, but it's a big part of what I live for.
-
Family (they live 7h30 away by car) - I don't care about the cost of gas, I'll see them every chance I get.
Travel - local camping weekends and occasional international travel.
Climbing - indoor gym and outdoor weekend trips/
Food - I always cook at home, but I buy good fresh produce and quality meat, because I love to eat... and cook.
-
Afternoon naps.
Hah!
Back in my spendy days, I spent over $1200 on a memory foam topper, duvet, fancypants sheets and pillows for my king size bed. I wouldn't do it again but I am still enjoying it now! 😊
-
Golf. I might even give up beer for golf.
-
Stocks and bonds. I can't get enough of them!
-
I spend a ridiculous amount on my primary hobbies hunting and fishing. Between trips, travel, upkeep of hunting camp and properties, boats, guns, tackle, bait, gear, etc. it can get pretty crazy, but it's a big part of what I live for.
+1
I have to keep an inventory of all of my fishing equipment so that my insurance will cover it if it ever gets stolen.
-
The non-necessities we spend $$ on are:
vacations (easy, travel is it for so many people, but I think my family vacations more than they travel, if that makes any sense...)
education (a preschool we love and private K. 2016-2017 is the last year, though!)
y membership (I know I can workout w/o the equipment & classes, but I like the dynamic there. This is also kids activities...)
my latest fun money expenditure is live music. I don't spend a ton on it, but I used to spend nothing. I really value the experience, though. I've felt like I've rediscovered myself thru music, having spent the last 8 years very focused on small kids. Of course they are still very much a focus, but at 5 and 7 don't require nearly as much of my time as they did as infants/toddlers.
-
Our animals. We will always bring them to the vet, care for them, and adopt new companions even though their care can be very pricey in the long run. To me, spending money on other living creatures (be they human or animal) is almost always worth more than spending money on material possessions. I have friends who prefer McMansions and Prada bags to children and animals. It works for them, but I'll never understand it.
-
EVERYTHING!!! I love my downtown Vancouver apartment. I love my twice-yearly international vacations, as well as my shorter within-Canada getaways. Also my ballet lessons, and previously my ballroom and latin dance lessons. Going to symphonies, concerts, operas, and movies frequently. Buying exotic ingredients to try out new dishes, as well as frequently enjoying all my favourite classic meals. Love it all! It's ALL fun money!
-
I spend a ridiculous amount on my primary hobbies hunting and fishing. Between trips, travel, upkeep of hunting camp and properties, boats, guns, tackle, bait, gear, etc. it can get pretty crazy, but it's a big part of what I live for.
DH just spent $2k on an underwater survey for a 20mi area to show him all the fishing structures. It's the only purchase of his that I've ever been like....you're buying what?? To be fair, he has a side charter fishing business and it should make his life a lot easier, plus he convinced a few other guys to go in on it, so his actual out-of-pocket is $500 with the full $2k business write-off. Still, jeez. How can this possibly be a good idea.
-
Car projects and family
-
Food... I like delicious, fancy, local, hippy dippy type foods. Good veggies, good meat, etc.
My dog. I spoil her rotten. DH spoils her even more.
Hiking. Luckily this is pretty cheap, but hiking shoes, a trail pass, and the gas to get to a trail head have always been on the docket, even during my poorest, food stamp having college years.
-
Fitness and Food
-
I have a lot of hiking and backpacking gear. Sometimes it looks like an REI barfed in my closet. I spend a lot of time comparison shopping, buy really high quality gear I love and lasts a long time, and sell or return stuff I don't need. I also DIY a fair bit, and buy gear from smaller outfitters. Although it gets really expensive (I bet I have ... $10k? worth of stuff), because I can use it over and over again, I generally think that it makes my most frequent travel experiences relatively inexpensive compared to say, vacationing abroad.
-
I have a lot of hiking and backpacking gear. Sometimes it looks like an REI barfed in my closet. I spend a lot of time comparison shopping, buy really high quality gear I love and lasts a long time, and sell or return stuff I don't need. I also DIY a fair bit, and buy gear from smaller outfitters. Although it gets really expensive (I bet I have ... $10k? worth of stuff), because I can use it over and over again, I generally think that it makes my most frequent travel experiences relatively inexpensive compared to say, vacationing abroad.
Do you do a lot of ultralight stuff?
-
Online dating apparently. Photo shoots, outfits, hair and make up, zipcar, I'm seriously considering hair extensions right now.
-
I have a lot of hiking and backpacking gear. Sometimes it looks like an REI barfed in my closet. I spend a lot of time comparison shopping, buy really high quality gear I love and lasts a long time, and sell or return stuff I don't need. I also DIY a fair bit, and buy gear from smaller outfitters. Although it gets really expensive (I bet I have ... $10k? worth of stuff), because I can use it over and over again, I generally think that it makes my most frequent travel experiences relatively inexpensive compared to say, vacationing abroad.
Do you do a lot of ultralight stuff?
I'm in the same boat, I have 5 backpacks could probably sell three of them. I personally have close to 4k in gear but haven't bought anything in a long while. I live in a small condo and have my tents sitting in the den and down sleeping bag hanging in an unused shower.
The gear doesn't have to be too expensive in the US I'm sure you can find used ULA and Tarpent gear and probably quilts. I had to order my stuff from the US to Canada as I wanted lighter gear (Zpacks sleeping bag, ULA backpack, tarptent etc.) My most expensive single piece of gear is a McHale Sarc Chasm, pretty heavy compared to my other gear but fits a large BV500 horizontally and I can carry gear for two people if I hike with my Girlfriend.
So I've eased up on the gear but i don't skimp on travel and I like to rent a car when I get there.
My other weakness is fast food and junk food, but since finding this site and bogleheads I've got my savings rate to about 60%
-
365 brand Tater Tots from Whole Foods.
-
I have a lot of hiking and backpacking gear. Sometimes it looks like an REI barfed in my closet. I spend a lot of time comparison shopping, buy really high quality gear I love and lasts a long time, and sell or return stuff I don't need. I also DIY a fair bit, and buy gear from smaller outfitters. Although it gets really expensive (I bet I have ... $10k? worth of stuff), because I can use it over and over again, I generally think that it makes my most frequent travel experiences relatively inexpensive compared to say, vacationing abroad.
Do you do a lot of ultralight stuff?
Yes, but we also have a lot of "car camping" stuff, which now that I think of it is kind of silly. We're camping in both situations, but basically have two entirely different sets of gear. I think part of this is because when we first started out, we bought stuff to be comfortable in easy camping conditions, usually with a car, and as we pushed into longer backpacking trips, we found ourselves needing lighter and warmer stuff, and also learned more about our priorities.
-
Live music. I go to a stupid amount of shows and it has its own budget item in Mint. I try to be smart about it (getting discounts, going to free shows, buying memberships that I know will save me money, etc.).
I just about died last week when I got my Mint weekly summary, I spent $675 on concert tickets in a WEEK. There were two different expensive shows going on sale where I offered to buy for a group of people so we could sit together, so I will get paid back for most of it. Still was kind of a sticker shock moment, haha. But hey, I'll take the 2% cash back while doing my friends a favor ;-)
365 brand Tater Tots from Whole Foods.
....now I'm going have to try those :-/
-
Afternoon naps.
I might change my answer to this. Of all the things that FIRE can buy me, the time to relax and take nap on any given day (especially after I got myself really tired doing something fun) is the BEST things that I can buy. The ultimate FU....I'm going to take a nap.
-
Afternoon naps.
I might change my answer to this. Of all the things that FIRE can buy me, the time to relax and take nap on any given day (especially after I got myself really tired doing something fun) is the BEST things that I can buy. The ultimate FU....I'm going to take a nap.
My ideal days: nice AM with coffee and breakfast, but still at a decent clip, so I get to the trailhead early. Summit around noon, and head home. Back in time to shower and nap. Late afternoon puttering in my garden. Then wine while cooking dinner, and a slow evening with my husband eating delicious food and drinking delicious booze.
I'm happy to say I've had a decent number of these days in my life, in spite of not being anywhere near FIRE.
-
Camping, hiking and ultra running! Mountain ultras can cost a few hundred to enter plus travel etc, but we like to make a vacation out of it.
-
Hunting equipment. I try to buy used or shop around for the best deals. For instance, I upgraded the arrow rest on my bow. I bought it used and then sold the old rest. It ended up costing significantly less than buying new.
-
We spend a lot on travel including several domestic and international trips every year. I would like to cut this back to save more money to FIRE but I can't stand my job, so I have to take vacations, so I spend more money on vacations, so I have to keep working...
I also spend about $2000 a year on dance practices, classes, and private lessons. These are a splurge and could definitely be reduced.
-
I will also say....my kids. They are athletes and also play instruments....so.....it costs. But, it's worth it!
-
Used and vintage children's books for my kids.
Educational experiences for my kids, including tickets for stuff and activity camps.
"Homestead" equipment (chicken coop, rain barrels, ollas, garden materials, Little Free Library, fancy clothesline, etc.)
#zerowastehome #plasticfree tools and goods for the house
Bicycles and bike accessories.
Good food.
-
My username pretty much says it all. I'd give up the horses if for some reason our income took a huge nosedive, but I'd give up lots of other things first. I could also do it cheaper as I'm a bit of an equipment snob and have a fancy horse that will incur some fancy training fees in the next year. I've also got a permanently retired horse, a big truck and a horse trailer that add to the costs. But I don't know what I'd do with myself if I had to give it up.
-
(http://cdn.quotationof.com/images/little-money-quotes-3.jpg)
-
My expensive passion/hobby = Husband...
He incidentally quite likes fixing cars (he's a mechanic)
And he's on a blacksmithing kick at the moment too.. (my fault told him to learn how to make things to sell if he wants pocket money)
So I spend a bit on car 'stuff' and metal 'things'
But I dont mind, totally worth it :)
-
At the moment travel but that won't last forever. Also wine and brunch.
While I enjoy travel, I'd be perfectly content to leave it at what I've experienced so far. I'd say it is more an indulgence than a passion at the moment.
I do love a good meal out too and find brunch to be most economical. We can usually get a great meal and coffee for two under $40, often far less because we share and the serves are enormous.
-
Half decent white wines, mostly.
-
Travel and wine. We keep the wine expenses to a dull roar by rarely buying anything over 15$ (actually, searching for affordable tasty wines is a passion of mine!), and we do our best to travel as extensively as possible within our travel budget. But, the travel budget is 1/3 our total spending. We could live on 24K a year (rent included) if we stopped traveling. But that would make me sad.
-
Bicycles, ski touring gear and the related trips to participate in those activities. Stupid fun outdoors...or more accurately stupid pretty shiny things that facilitate the enjoyment of the outdoors in a faster and more convenient manner.
-
Travel and hobby/collection. Travel is tops, we certainly value the experience and memories we have gained with being able to travel often. Absolutely love it. Another, but less expensive is our collections. I collect board games(new and old) which we play often also - great evening activity! Hubby collects hot wheels - though I would love for him to sell them all, he enjoys it. We each get an 'allowance' each month that keeps our spending on this in check.
Above all else though we value our time a lot. We became self employed and semi retired 3 years ago. Due to a move, we both took temporary jobs for 6 months. After not being in the work force for that long and coming back to it was tough(one month left to go). We certainly value the time together, even if it's us working self employed. The freedom we have together is worth more then traveling or hobbies/collections.
-
Mountain biking and road trips to different trails. Fortunately one of my riding buddies has a company SUV with a hitch so he always drives on the road trips because we don't have to pay for gas. Bought my first new mt bike last year, the old one was over 8 years old.
-
My dogs, I give myself an allowance each month, and a separate allowance for my dogs... sometimes I spend both on the dogs.
-
Travel, I don't want to leave it till I retire and find I can't do it as I have some health issues. Fabric - I love my fabric stash but I only buy when its on sale
-
Restaurants and Travel
I try to be strategic (deals/rewards), and I keep myself to a budget, but I do spend more than I should on these categories - they bring much joy.