Ask the Readers: What Do You Splurge On?
Editor's Note: Congratulations to Matt, 1bets1, and Lisa Van Hierden for winning this week's contest!
Last week we wanted to know all about your biggest budget items. While many of us have budgets we try to follow precisely, we all have our guilty pleasures that may cause us to splurge.
What do you splurge on? Do you spend more than you should on eating out, shoes, or the latest tech gadgets? What can you do to reduce the amount of money you spend on your guilty pleasures?
Share your splurging confessions with us and we'll enter you in a drawing to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!
Win 1 of 3 $20 Amazon Gift Cards
We're doing three giveaways — one for random comments, one for random Facebook "Likes", and another one for random tweets.
Enter 1 of 3 Ways:
- Post your answer in the comments below, or
- Go to our Facebook page, "Like" us, then "Like" the update mentioning this giveaway (you can comment, as well — but you don't have to for entry), or
- Tweet your answer. You have to be a follower of our @wisebread account. Include both "@wisebread" and "#WBAsk" in your tweet so we'll see it and count it.
If you're inspired to write a whole blog post OR you have a photo on flickr to share, please link to it in the comments or tweet it.
Giveaway Rules:
- Contest ends Monday, February 7th at 11:59 pm PST. Winners will be announced after February 7th on the original post and via Twitter. Winners will also be contacted via email, Facebook, and Twitter Direct Message.
- You can enter all three drawings — once by leaving a comment, once by liking our Facebook update, and once by tweeting.
- You must be 18 and US resident to enter. Void where prohibited.
Good Luck!
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Debra, I love the first thing on your list! That is so sweet.
cake! chocolate cake!
I am right there with you Stefanie!
I splurge on hair and beauty products. I work in a salon, and I feel like a kid in a candy store surrounding by all of the beautiful colored bottles of hairspray, shine serum and leave-in conditioners. I get just as excited to shop for makeup. I have way to many beauty products, more than I could ever use, yet I cannot help myself from purchasing the newest trend or product!
Mostly I splurge on reading material. I buy books (at the used bookstore or Borders when I have coupons) rather than checking them out of the library. I also buy and read a few comic book series. Not cheap, but enjoyable and, in the grand scheme of things, $10/month average is something I can work into my budget.
While I do my best to trim my budget in many areas, I tend to splurge on my hair salon trips. To me, it's well worth the money because looking better leads to my feeling better :)
saving on certain items that my household needs allows me the luxury to spluge on a few things one of which is skincare......I buy this all natural mud mask for $50 which is crazy but it works thats my biggest spluge:)
Mostly coffee and makeup—small indulgences help me save in the long run.
I splurge on clothes that I want or need that are on sale or on clearance - so I can indulge without going too far off budget!
I find that I tend to splurge on Japanese food. I try to wait until the last paycheck of the month but that doesn't always work.
I honestly can say that I don't splurge on anything. This poor economy has taught me much about saving, spending, and living a frugal life. All large purchases are saved up for and small purchases are weighed as to how much of a priority it is and money available at that time.
Before my turn into a Frugalista, I was a big shopper. Take a day and go shopping. I look back at it now and wonder who that person was. Crazy!
Haircuts and highlights. It's so worth paying my hair stylist to make me look good.
I splurge on sushi! And fresh local fruit. And books. I'm working on making my own sushi more often, buying at farmers markets, and I do use the library more now. But I still like to spend money on authors I love.
Massage. A total splurge, but necessary for the soul.
I splurge on locally-grown certified organic groceries. I don't make much money but I think a good diet and good health are of most importance.
Starbucks, and bed sheets. Nothing better than a cozy bed after a long day
every time I go to samsclub I splurge lol
Lately I've been splurging on trips to the chiropractor. Trying to get a handle on these darn headaches.
I spend a good deal on my groceries--for my budget, at least. This means probably $50 a week. But, I have to say that I eat really well--mostly organic with lots of fruits and veggies and no processed food. (And about 2 bottles of wine a week...) I do it by shopping at discount grocery stores. I live in Oregon and I'm moderately obsessed with the Grocery Outlet. If you know how to shop there and what to look for you can find some amazing buys.
Oh, and hair products. I love my Frederic Fekkai glossing cream. It's $27 a bottle, but I can make one bottle last 3 months.
I splurge on my commute to work. Instead of taking a regular subway $2.50 each way, I spend $5.50 each way. Having a comfortable seat in the morning and avoiding the rush hour on the subway and thus starting my day right (stress free) - more than make up for the extra $3.00 i pay. Same thing goes when I'm dead tired at the end of the day and have no energy to be standing in the subway.
I could easily save $6.00 /day ($30/week) but I save on lunch instead by cutting down on eating out. Or I could start taking the subway in the evening at least twice a week.
For me its sports and fitness, mostly running and soccer, with the latter costing more due to league fees. Other than that though, I am pretty good about living well within my means in a relatively minimalistic manner. Of course there are exceptions here and there, but not regular and repeated.
Your question inspired a blog post! I wrote about it on my personal finance blog: http://savvyyoungmoney.blogspot.com/2011/02/go-ahead-live-little-and-spl...
Awesome! Thank you for sharing with us!
Fancy soaps and good food (to be eaten at home).
I splurge on good, healthy food. I think it's a worthy investment in my health, though.
I splurge on travel. It is definitly the most uneccessary of my expenses, but it brings me great joy to travel to see the ones I love and to travel to new places with the ones I love. My husband and I have saved for a whole year to see the running of the bulls in Pamplona this summer and I cannot wait.
Organic food and electronics.
Not purposefully, but my splurges tend to be shoes! And lately, travel.
I typically only splurge on food. We don't buy gourmet stuff, but there are certain items that wouldn't be considered frugal, that we either just gotta have or we like to indulge in from time to time.
I splurge on shampoo & conditioner. I know sauve and white rain are so much cheaper but they make my hair feel like straw!