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

We're planning our annual family Disney trip and we always have some family member or friend who makes a comment, "Oh, we could never afford to do something like that..." and in most cases, that's BS, it's all about how people decide to spend their money.

I'm curious what other things people own, do, eat and drink or whatever that others would consider extravagant...

 

You are correct.

We are taking a third Disney trip this year.

We also have $212 in car payments each month, while our friends spend $600 and over each month on cars. That's $5,500 extra each year just on cars.

 

-Day care bill for my two kids (more than my mortgage. I could get cheaper care but I love the school-like environment they are in)
-60 inch TV (daycare bill prevents much entertainment expenses outside the house)

The TV certainly gets a lot of raised eyebrows from my friends. But with no interest for 18 months, it's only a 75 dollar payment each month. Other than the TV, pretty much every one of my bills is either utilities, mortgage or day care.

 

Fart and wife try to pick up a porcelain figurine in every world city we visit.
A lot are rococo-themed.
Conversation pieces.

 

A $5,000 king-size bed. Was something we'd talked about for 10 years and finally did last year and there is nothing like an amazing bed. Changed my life. I want to go climb on it right now.

Yearly 2-to-4 week trips to Cape Town to see my wife's family but there's one person in particular I work with who will inevitably say, "Must be nice." Well, yeah, although it'd be even nicer if my wife could see her family more than once a year or could drive 30 minutes to her parents' house like he can if there's a health scare. The only times we've flown together in 10 years of marriage are on trips to S.A. or Minnesota so we use those as our vacations, even though it's always to see family.

 

Living in the midwest is just a string of instances where people claim you spent too much for everything you own or enjoy.

You have to lie and say you got those $300 concert tickets for free. If you eat a meal more than $50, you have to pretend it's your birthday. Those $500 sunglasses? You found them in a bargain bin at the Big Lots.

 

The amount of money I take on gambling trips is, I think, pretty shocking to the people I'm with.

 

I give less of a fuck than most about what others think of me, but this is just ridiculous. Fuck those people - why would you lie?

 

I think my big money goes towards craft beer. Not just buying bottles, but also getting glassware, shirts, etc.

People say "Why not just buy one of the BMCs? It'll still get you drunk."

1) I'm not in it (just) to get drunk. I buy something because I want to enjoy it or try a new, different style.
2) Quite a few of these different beers go to my friends as well, because I try to be a good friend and want them to try new things. I think it can add a new round of discussion, whereas before it was "Yep. This is beer."

 

I have a man cave with tons of sports memorabilia, beer kegs, three 50" screen TV's and some leather couches. Cost me a lot of money. But now that I'm retired and don't have much to do, it's all worth it.

 

My wife is about a year removed from residency/fellowship, so we are to the point where we aren't living paycheck to paycheck so much, but still owe nearly six figures to pay for med school. We occasionally splurge on an expensive dinner, not too many extravagances, unless subscribing to both HBO and Showtime count.

We went to Disney World a couple of weeks ago, but she'll get reimbursed for a big chunk of it because she was at a convention the first part of the trip. You can do that pretty affordable though. The first week we stayed in a nice, three bedroom condo a short drive from the parks for about $100 a night. We splurged on a couple of nights at a Disney Resort at the end of the trip.

I rarely spend big money on myself, I generally get all the nice things I could want as gifts for Christmas and birthday. My mother-in-law is a great gift giver. But if I ever come across a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle at the store, I'm going to buy it.