If you are frugal, you'll likely never get into financial trouble. I was very frugal saving between 50% – 70% of my after tax income until about age 35. Then I decided there was no point saving so much money if I wasn't going to live a little. This post will discuss things worth spending max money on for a better life.
The pandemic has really caused our lifestyles to suffer. If there was ever a time to spend money on improving our quality of life, now is the time! Spending more money for a better life is appropriate, especially if you are an investor who has seen your real estate holdings and investment portfolios grow.
Personally, I plan to revenge spend on travel, cars, and homes to my heart's content. Given all our investments are up strongly since the pandemic began in 2020, we might as well live large in 2022 and beyond!
Being Too Cheap Is No Good
Instead of trying to walk the entire city of Budapest, I ponied up 30 Euros like a baller to get on the Hop On Hop Off bus. Instead of just having lemon water with my rib-eye steak, I started ordering a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.As I pushed the spending envelope a little more each year, Igraduallyrealized I didn't miss the money. My lifestyle actually got better.
The root of my frugality stems from watching how my parents spent their money. My father always drove a beater and my mother utilized things until the very end. When you're gunning for early retirement, every single dollar counts. And once you've left the work force, there is alingeringfear of running out of moneythat's hard toeludeuntil after about the third year.
If you suffer from frugality disease, here are some things worth spending a premium on for a better life.
Things Worth Spending Max Money On For A Better Life
* Mattress. You spend a third of your life sleeping. It makes sense to get theabsolutelymost comfortable, most supportive mattress you canafford. Go top of the line soeachdayyou are fully rested and rejuvenated for the grind ahead. Justbe awarethat mattresses have massive markups, which is why there's been a plethora of mattress startupsover the years.
* Vision. Vision may be our most important sense. Therefore, it's absolutely worth buying the most comfortable contacts or glasses.Ifyou wear glasses, go for thethinnestlenses with anti-reflection and a scratch proof coating. Buy daily wear contacts that contain the latest breathable technology. Stop reusing your disposable contacts beyond their recommended usage. Get sunglasses with UV protection.
* Dental care. Throw away your $5 manual tooth brush and buy the best sonic tooth brushwith UV sanitizer that brushes hundreds of times faster per minute. You can't grow back your teeth or your gums. Floss and brush at least twice a day. Your older self will thank you. You can also try the Snow toothbrush, which has an LED blue light to help whiten your teeth. I just bought one in 2022 and it makes me brush more too.
* Work clothes & shoes. Instead of buying a lot of mediocre quality clothes and shoes, buy only a few items– as if youwerebuilding a boutique of high quality items.Purchaseonlythe most finely wovenfabrics for yoursuitsand the finest grain leather for your shoes.Sure, you may have to pay 2-3X the average price, but the items will last longer, and you'll have less clutter.
* Baby care products. Babies are helpless. Buy the most comfortable,waste absorbing diapers possible. Get the right creams for diaper rash. Feed themonlythe healthiest food. Why riskanythingwhen they aredeveloping their foundation.
More Things Worth Spending Maximum Money On
* Sports equipment. If you're serious about performance, then you might as well give yourself the best chance to perform by buying the best equipment. You've already got enough to worry about trying to improve your physical fitness and skill. I recently bought a sweet softball bat, batting gloves, and nw tennis shoes.
* Prime property. You want to buy property in the most prime location possible. Prices hold up better in a downturn and rise faster in an upturn because there is only a limited supply. Think about prime property as beinglocatedat theapexof a triangleunder whichthere's a huge base that'salwayslooking tomove up.
Related: Housing Expense Guideline For Financial Independence
* Home appliances. Given it costs the same to install a $500 shower head and a $100 shower head, you might as well get the best shower head possible. The same goes for tiles, toilets, bath tubs, hot tubs, cabinets, faucets, floors, molding, and paint. The worst is when a home seller remodelson thecheap.This causes thesavvy home buyersto offer low purchase prices because they know they will be rippingeverything out again.
* Home theater system. Buy the highest definition TV and most enriching surround sound system and you'll never want to spend money going to the movies ever again. Given you're never going to the movies again, you'll make back your home theater system cost in no time.
* Mobile phone. The average person checks their phone 80 times a day. Some of us who have internet businesses check a whole lot more. Given the data plan costs the same regardless of the quality of phone, you might as well get the best phone possible.
Even More Things To Spend Money On
* Wellness. Massages, physical therapy, acupuncture, therapy, medicine, and coaching are all things worth spending top dollar on.Thanks to technology and globalization, life has become grossly complicated and stressful for many people. Physical and mental health are priceless.
* Vacations.The average private sector U.S. worker receives only 16 paid vacation days and holidays a year. One in four Americans does not have a single paid day off. Therefore, if you plan to go on a rare vacation, you might as well make it the best adventure orenjoythe best amenities possible. If you want 30 or more paidvacationdaysand holidays a year,work inNew Zealand, Italy, Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal, or Austria. With the economy opening up, it's vacation travel time!
* Food. Your body is your temple. If you eat junk, you're going to start feeling and looking like junk. Your energy, mood, and outlook are all affected by the food you eat. It's worth paying a premium for fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish.
* Car Safety.According to data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2016, 37,461 people were killed in 34,436 crashes, an average of 102per day. There are supposedly over five million crashes in the US per year. If you have a dependent or a small child, it's worth buying the safest car you can comfortably afford – even if it means breaking the 1/10th rule for car buying.
* K-12 Education. If your public grade school system has low marks, then either move to an area that has high marks or pay up for a private grade school with high marks. Education is one of the most valuable gifts you can give your child. It wasonlyafterI graduated from business schoolthatIrealizedhow valuable a good education was for my career and beyond.Knowledge, confidence, and connections are integral parts to achieving a happy and financially independent life.As for university, highly ranked public universities offer better value if you are paying rack rate.
The Best Purchase To Spend Max Money On
A great book. If there's no book I recommend everybody buy, it's Buy This, Not That: How To Spend Your Way To Wealth And Freedom. The book helps you buy optimal personal finance decisions when deciding on your biggest dilemmas.
After spending two years to write BTNT with Penguin Random House, I've come to seriously value reading good books. And author uses all his or her wisdom to help you solve a topic and improve yourself. Then the book is edited a dozen times by multiple editors to make the book shine.
Buy and read more books folks! You'll learn so much for not a lot of money. All the wealthiest people in the world I know are voracious readers.
BTNT will be the best personal finance book you will ever read. You can buy a copy onAmazontoday. The richest people in the world are always reading and always learning new things. Learn from those who are already where you want to go.
Identify The Things Most Important To You
It's important we identify things that are most important to us and spend accordingly. Don't cheap out on everything on your path to financial freedom! For the most part, I always recommend buying less and focusing on quality over quantity. Having a house full of clutter doesn't do anybody any good. Further, I've never regretted spending up on an experience. Great experiences tend to appreciate with time.
It's strange, but despite a rising net worth thanks to a raging bull market, I don't have a desire to buy anything new. I'm content with our cozy home, our one family car, and the scrumptious food we eat every day. Being able to see the best healthcare providers at UCSF for my family is one of the things I'm most happy about. Where I do plan to spend more money on are services to help save time at home. But that will be a topic for another post.
What are some things you value that are not on my list? What are some things on my list you don't agree with? Any holiday blockbuster deals you've seen that are worth taking advantage of? I think I may just buy more Amazon stock instead.
Related: When Is It OK To Forsake Stealth Wealth And Spend Up?
