What do you own (or do or eat/drink) that others would consider extravagant?

I own six pairs of Chacos sandals. I love them. Comfortable and last forever, but I freely acknowledge one pair would have been enough. (They are all different styles and I bought them all on sale, but it's still a splurge.)

 

I bought a 10-year-old Mustang convertible for $6,000. People act like I spent $60,000 because it's a Mustang convertible. Screw it. I finally got a job and needed a car. I budgeted for about $5,000 but went a little extra because it's a freaking Mustang convertible.

 

Here's a kind of funny one...

We bought a king-sized bed a couple years ago. It was expensive, but nothing insane.

My in-laws are pretty wealthy, but other than their house, they don't really have anything that lets anyone know they have money. They drive nice cars, but definitely not luxury.

After we got the bed, my mother-in-law gave us a set of sheets and a comforter. They were awesome. It seemed equivalent of what you would get in a Westin.

Christmas morning, we texted her a picture of our kids, who were 4 and 5 at the time eating pancakes on the bed. She went ballistic. She's not usually like that, and we had paid for the bed, so we didn't know what her problem was.

We found out later that the bedding set she gave was Egyptian cotton by Sferra, which my wife and I had never heard of. I figured they were pricey, but the other set of sheets we had were 800 thread count Vera Wang that retailed at $250, but we paid under $100 for. I figured these sheets might be $300-$400 and the comforter might have been a couple hundred... It turns out I was off by quite a bit...

We don't know the amount paid, but if we were going to replace the set it would be about $2500. That includes duvet covers, comforters, sheets, pillow cases, bed skirts, the whole deal. The comforter is the most comfortable thing you'll ever sleep on, it's insane... My sister-in-law thinks my in-laws accidentally ordered a California King set for themselves when they only have a King and couldn't return it. We don't know though... We have no idea why they gave us such an expensive set of linens.

 

Ever think about making a video faking a monumental spillage of maple syrup all over the bedding? Or do you value your life too much?

 

Re: What do you own (or do or eat/drink) that others would consider extravagant?

Uh, pay for porn?

 

I'm not sure I'd ever pay more than $50 for bed sheets. You lie in bed, sweat, fart, get freaky, throw them in the wash. After a few hundred cycles of this, they're ready to be replaced. Then again, I put more money into replacing pillows. I have a body pillow for my back, a cheap pillow to go under my knees, and a memory foam for my head/neck.

I'd love to get a king bed, but my wife is stubbornly attached to her queen set. It's a really nice set of cherry wood (bed frame and four posts, side dresser/night stand, and full dresser w/ mirror). But we need more room now that I've got to have this elaborate pillow set-up for my bad back. Then again, a better mattress might help.

 

Aziz Ansari has a joke about sheets feeling like you're sleeping in lotion or something like that. That's how these feel... It's insane.

Good sheets are worth it, but you can get really nice sets for $100-$200 if you watch the sales.

Ones like these? I have no idea or concept why anyone would spend that kind of $$$ on bedding. I would love to know the whole story behind why they were purchased, but my wife is worried that we might offend her mom.

 

We lived in a small apartment for 10 years before buying a house When we moved to the burbs, we got a great king sized bed and super nice mattresses and bedding. Totally changed our budget, but so worth it.

I also got a great grill when I bought the house -- I could have gotten away with cheaper and smaller, but I love it.

My regular extravagance is good red wine and an occasional nice dinner.

 

Travel has always been our family extravagence. I worked for an airline for a bunch of years so we were always going somewhere, even by airline family standards.

It has slowed down a bit but that is more to school schedules than anything else.

I have a pretty expensive Tag watch, probably my only real extravagence.