While I admitted that I’m more about earning more money than saving more money, I’m still pretty cheap by nature. I don’t enjoy spending money on shopping sprees, I get my hair cut at Great Clips about once a year, I can’t remember the last time I got a pedicure or manicure, I don’t go on lavish vacations (though I wouldn’t mind that one) and IΒ don’t spoil my kids rotten (even though I may want to).
That being said, there are definitely still quite a few things I’m just not willing to give up in order to save more money.
Specialty coffee beans
First thing that comes to mind is my beloved coffee. I’ll admit, I used to go to Starbucks every single day. So did my husband. And sometimes we would go again when he got home from work. Did I just admit to that? Yikes. Well, now that we live in North Carolina, our Starbucks trips have drastically reduced. In fact, I can probably count on one hand how many times we’ve been there in the two months of living here. But – it’s not because we were trying to save money, it’s because they aren’t as convenient as they were in AZ. In AZ, almost every Starbucks had a drive-thru (and with a toddler and a baby that’s a must) and there was one on every corner. Here, they’re in grocery stores, Target’s and a few shopping plazas, but they’re pretty spread out and I have yet to see a drive-thru. Now, we buy flavored beans from coffee shops and grocery stores and make our coffee at home. It’s better than Starbucks and we spend significantly less money. I know we could switch to Folgers, but I’m just not quite there yet. I love my good coffee too much!
Bath and Body Works candles
Pumpkin Apple, Sweater Weather, Pumpkin Pecan Waffles, Leaves and Winter Candy Apple to name a few. I love love love me some Bath and Body Works candles! At $22 a pop, they’re not cheap. I do wait to buy them until they go on sale (2 for $22) and browse for Bath & Body Works coupon codes at Coupon Sherpa, but $11 for a candle is still pretty pricey. Sorry, not sorry – these are sticking around (at least throughout winter!).
Driving around looking at neighborhoods
My husband and I love driving around exploring different neighborhoods in the area. Sure, we’re new to the city, but this is something we did even when we lived in Arizona. It’s fun to daydream about where we want to live, see everyone’s houses and porches decked out for the holidays and find hidden parks for our girls. We probably waste a lot of gas doing this, but the girls are usually happy in the car (usually, haha) so I’m willing to pay any amount of money to have some quiet time with the hubby.
Sweets
I’ve already confessed my love of sweet treats on the blog, so this goes without say. I seek out cookies from a specific bakery weekly, I am easily swayed to purchase a specialty pie at the grocery store and if we pass a bakery on the weekend, I stop and go in without even a slight hesitation. Sweets are my weakness and I enjoy them too much to give them up!
Holiday decorations
While I don’t really enjoy the “gifts” part of the holidays, I love the decorations and the food! Sadly, when we moved I had to donate all of my fall decorations and most of my Christmas decorations, but that means I get to buy new ones this year! I spent about $100 on fall, which isn’t too bad, but I’ll probably spend closer to $400 for Christmas (depending on whether or not we buy a fake tree or get a real one). That’s a lot of money – but those decorations will last us for many years to come. I love making my home warm and cozy for my family and for when friends and family come to visit!
Going out to eat on a whim
Another personal finance blogger fail, but I love going out to eat on a whim! Last night, for example, we had tons of food we could have made from home but both my husband and I had an incredibly long day. It sounded much nicer to walk to our local BBQ restaurant and enjoy dinner outside in the bustling downtown area. And so we did! All of our food will last for a while, so it’s not like anything went to waste. We didn’t ‘budget’ the dinner and we didn’t plan it ahead of time, but to me that’s part of the fun. You have to be spontaneous every now and then! (Also, kids ate free last night so our entire family of four ate for $10.90!)
Spending money on others
And finally, I am not going to give up spending money on my husband, daughters, family and friends. If a birthday rolls around, someone has a baby or gets married, or if someone is feeling down, sending a little gift is a great way to cheer them up. While I don’t spend lavishly by any means, it’s always nice to surprise the people you love with little things you know they’ll enjoy.
What are you not willing to give up to save money?!
I thought we were the only ones that wasted gas checking out neighborhoods;0) Isn’t it fun?! We have not given up cable. The hubby likes ESPN too much. We also go a little crazy on vacations. They are few and far between but we enjoy them to the max!
Hahaha I love that you guys check out neighborhoods, too!! It’s so fun – for sure one of my favorite things to do on the weekends!! And I’m all about going crazy on vacations – they are few and far between for sure. You only live once and I think it’s totally OK to splurge every now and then π
Thanks for the comment! Hope you’re having a great night!
Going out to eat on a whim is one of our favorite things to do! We have four kids, so we are always proud of ourselves when we find deals like that. lol. I am a firm believer in sacrificing now to live a better life later, but there are some things you can have now and later. π
Exactly!! And sometimes, after a long day, it’s so nice to just eat good food that you don’t have to prepare yourself or clean up afterwards!! It’s totally worth it in my opinion. Going out to eat is more of an experience and it’s fun for the whole family! And that’s cool you have four kids!! I admire you for being able to blog and get stuff done, haha – I have such a hard time with just my two!! π
Being spontaneous makes life interesting, so I agree being about to go out to eat on a whim is important. My rule of thumb is just to make sure we can work these things into our overall plan.
Books… but who would want to live without books anyway? What kind of a world would that be? π
I completely agree!!! I’m a huge bookworm…lately I’ve been finding what I need at the library which has been nice! But books are another thing I will absolutely splurge on!
LOVE BATH AND BODY WORKS CANDLES.
π
A new BBW store is opening in my city, merry christmas to me with expensive and yummy candles ^^
I’m with you on the candles. They smell too good not to spend money on.
I also have no problem spending money on Spotify every month, nail polish, and if I can’t find them at the library or know I want to read them again, books.
I am with you on the books!! I’ve been getting lucky at the library lately, but if I can’t find it I have no problem purchasing it π
Thanks for the comment! Hope you’re having a good evening π
The candles at BABW are nice, but I find the walmart ones are pretty close. Those usually run $5-$6. If you haven’t checked them out before, they make a nice (although cheaper) alternative.
I love those ones too haha!! I actually buy those year-round and “splurge” on the BABW ones for the holidays. The 20 different pumpkin scents get me every time…
Lol! Thanks for the comment! Hope you’re having a good night!
Great list! We brew our coffee at home but still go to the coffee shops maybe once every two weeks to work on homework (well, my wife works on hw because she’s in grad school) and blogging. We use coupons to get the “better” beans such as Caribou, Starbucks, etc. and brew it each morning. I couldn’t survive without coffee in the morning!
The biggest one for me is health care. I’ve had health issues my entire life and I simply refuse to cut back on my health emergency fund (via my HSA) or avoid going to the doctor to save money. It’s one area I’m willing to spend as much as needed to get the care that’s needed.
Life is to enjoy, so I can appreciate that there are things we each don’t want to give up. If these things won’t cause problems in our lives, why give them up if they truly provide a lot of enjoyment and maybe even peace of mind? Good, refreshing post.
Thanks!! I totally agree – it’s the little things in life that make me happy, so why not splurge?! I think since I blog about money I sometimes feel like I have to be uptight and save every dollar, but I’m learning that that’s not the case. It’s all about balance!
Thanks for the comment! Hope you’re having a good day π
DVR! Because with a toddler, I never actually get to watch my shows when they air. And TV is how I unwind. And wine…I have a glass or two 2-3 days a week. However, my wine is $9 a bottle, so it’s not like that’s a real splurge, lol.