Pricey but totally worth it, share your story!

[SolaSola]

Frugal mamas

What are your splurges, the experience or items well worth the money invested?

1)Essential oils - I use them in the bath, in the diaper wipes solution, in my vinegar cleaning solutions, in my almond oil for my face. I love the smell of lavendar $10/ bottle and rose $40/bottle.

2) I work so we employ a nanny who is a companion to our 7 months daughter. We pay her $$$ but my daughter is happy and I can work and not think twice about her care, the peace of mind is well worth it.

3) Our mortgage, Ok so our house is depreciating and we have a high mortgage but we have a wonderfull garden, our south facing home is a few blocks from a redwood forest/park where we walk daily. I never regret sending my mortage payment every month.

[Chamomile Girl]

Alright, cheesy as this is I my sandals. I got a great deal on them, and they were still more than I've ever paid for sandals. This is the third year I have worn them (as in every day for about 8 months) and they are holding up pretty well. I am seriously about the thought of having to replace them.

[choli]

Good quality clothing, especially pants. I'd rather have one pair of killer pants in great fabric that fit perfectly than 20 mediocre pairs. In addition to the cost of the not-cheap pants, I have to pay to have them tailored. But totally worth it.

[kavamamakava]

Organic food! But I do mostly buy from sales or in season stock. For example, I'm not going to pay $4 a pound for organic apples. But they were only $1.79/lb the other day. Woohoo! They taste amazing compared to conventionally grown apples, and I especially like to avoid conventional since apples are one of the most sprayed food crops. Ewww.
Also, I buy Jason's toothpaste. Worth it? Sure. But also, I get canker sores if I use anything with SLS so I suppose I could be frugal and brush my teeth with homemade salt toothpaste or baking soda, but I'd rather splurge on Jasons :P

[BetsyS]

Farmers' market food. I love locally grown anything, and I get a special thrill seeing the first of the turnips or the tomatoes come into season. Yes, it means our vegetable choices are limited (no apples in June for us), but the food we do eat is amazing.

My Le Creuset. I have several pieces, and I use at least one of them every day. They make cooking such a pleasure and joy. I love them!!

[zinemama]

A lactation consultant who came to my house and took all the time I needed.

A glider for nursing.

Good shoes. I get almost all my clothes at thrift stores, but I don't skimp on shoes.

Organic for at least the "dirty dozen" on the produce list. Local when possible.

My bike.

Local artisan cheese. It's my little indulgence.

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by BetsyS

Farmers' market food. I love locally grown anything, and I get a special thrill seeing the first of the turnips or the tomatoes come into season. Yes, it means our vegetable choices are limited (no apples in June for us), but the food we do eat is amazing.

Yup, high quality local (and pastured, if animal) food is my splurge.

I can't just go all-out on it - I can't just eat all the cheese and meat and even bread I want. But vegetables and fruits, and sparing amount of animal food are my splurge. My SOLE splurge.

Yeah, I can't think of anything else that would be considered a splurge by anyone else. I mean, I did buy my first bathing suit as an adult last week... I'm 33... I've been wearing my mother's 20 year old bathing suits my entire adulthood... I kind of felt guilty about spending the $30 but I don't think anyone else will consider it a splurge. I do look great in it, though, which is saying a lot since I'm 30 pounds overweight (and gaining daily, apparently...).

[Ellien C]

My Deva Curl shampoo, conditioner and No-poo. Totally worth it to have my hair look good with minimal effort.

[lach]

Paying someone to mow our lawn, and a housekeeper who comes in for a few hours every other week.

I feel like such a princess (and not in a good way) that we "waste" this money, when it could really go to other things. But before we outsourced this stuff, it NEVER got done and it frees up so much time and energy that my family can enjoy our time together. It takes the guy who mows the lawn about an hour to do what it took DH half a day to do. And now we have that extra day to hang out together or go do something fun as a family. And I am no longer embarrassed to have people over: what is messy for us now was what we would have considered clean a few years ago! Gross.

Now, if only I could swing a chauffeur, private chef, and my own personal organic vegetable gardener!

[HappilyEvrAfter]

~The large part of our grocery fund that is spent on high quality veggies/fruit.
I could probably by twice as much content with what we spend, but the quality would not be anywhere near what I think we should be having. But, we don't eat out all that often so it's a trade off not having a "eat out" fund.

~Our monthly movie theater allowance.
Small town, not much else to do. We end up seeing any movie that's age appropriate for us. (rental box money comes out of this fund too)

~The brand of make-up I wear.
I'm prone to terrible acne. Nuff said.

~Our once a week trip to "the pastry shop that shall not be named"
Because I love their and the kid looks forward to it.
It's a tradition now so I just can't stop doing it!!!

[Knittin' in the Shade]

hands down, my droid smartphone. It's amazing how much this little thing has streamlined my life. Totally worth the monthly bill! it's worht the price alone just for the calendar that help me keep all of our lives on track (6 people, each now with our own google calendar that I can see at a glance on my phone!) but add on the various ways I use it for our home life and my work and it's probably freeing up severals hours a week for me.

[Ruthiegirl]

My new freezer. Love it, love it love it.

We have 30 pounds of gorgeous strawberries that we picked ourselves, cleaned and stashed in the freezer. I love that my kids go down and scoop themselves a cupful of healthy, hot weather frozen snacks.

[Drummer's Wife]

I agree with the sandals - I love my Keens, and swear they are worth triple the price. So super comfy.

oh, and my iphone.

Originally Posted by lach

Now, if only I could swing a chauffeur, private chef, and my own personal organic vegetable gardener!

This is what I dream of.

[Chamomile Girl]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

I agree with the sandals - I love my Keens, and swear they are worth triple the price. So super comfy.

These are my sandals. I don't think they actually make them anymore though.

[celestialdreamer]

Nice appliances. They aren't like super high end or anything, just newish (gas stove, front load washer, dishwasher, etc) with all the bells and whistles. I looove them! They just make my life a bit easier at times. I appreciate having good tools to my "job" of caring for my family.

Also, pastured meat, eggs and raw milk. We are very frugal and on a tight budget, but we make it work to eat almost all pastured animal products. They are such a nice luxury and I'm grateful to have them to feed to my kids. I believe very strongly in the reasons that we buy them. Pretty soon I won't be buying my pastured eggs anymore though...cause we have 12 pullet chicks in a brooder for our very own laying hens

I can't really think of anything else? I used to have my craft supplies (yarn, etc) as a luxury, but I sold all of that and I keep things pretty simple. We usually only buy consignment or clearance clothing and buy all other food items in bulk. We don't have cable, netflix, we have cheap cell phones through DH's work, we never eat out and rarely buy "things". I don't mind though, I've found I really crave simplicity

[A&A]

Music lessons for my children.

And I agree about the organic food!

Books, books, more books. It's scary to think about how much $$$ I've spent on books over the years, but I have two readers, so it's worth it.

[Xpcting#3]

- surprise hot chocolate dates with one of my boys at the local coffee shop
- a grill for my DH
- gardening supplies, both food and flower seeds/starts

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

The Roku. There are more frugal ways to stream Netflix, but this is so easy. 80-90% of our tv viewing is through the Roku. Wonderful investment.

[Siennaflower]

Shoes, supplements and have to agree with the pp who mentioned her droid smartphone. I my Motorola Cliq.

[mum4boys]

Buying a brand new truck. We have now owned it almost 21 years. We have spent $900 in repairs in the course of 21 years and that is it.