I am mostly frugal, except for ____!

[auron]

Fill in the blank!

I am mostly frugal, except for when it comes to my dog! I swear I budget for her, but she still accounts for ~14% of my income! I can only imagine what I would be like if I had a child

[disneysteve]

... dining out. We like to eat out and we don't like crappy chain restaurants. No Chili's or Applebee's or Friday's or McDonald's/Burger King/KFC. We like real food, cooked fresh to order by a chef, not some high school kid with an after school job. If we're going to go out, we want to enjoy both the meal and the experience. So dinner for the two of us is typically in the $40-50 range for an average meal and can easily top $100 for a special occasion meal.

We do some more casual/less costly dining out too, of course, but still generally stick to local, family or chef-owned restaurants.

[breathemusic]

concerts. I can skimp on lots of other entertainment activities, but concerts are my favorite events and if I really want to see a new band, I don't mind forking out extra money for a better seat and buying a shirt with tour dates, etc.

[moneybags]

College tuition! Passed up on some better deals so that DD could go to the school she is at. I don't regret it at all!

[riverwed070707]

Beer. Terribly expensive hobby. We don't go out drinking it often but we enjoy trying new craft brews (at home or at the brewery), homebrewing, etc and it tends to add up. Fortunately, we stay within our entertainment budget because we don't get out and do much else

[disneysteve]

College tuition!

I'll second this. Our daughter is a junior in high school and starting to look at colleges. While I pay attention to the price, I'm not going to have her base her choice on price. I want her to choose the best fit - best program for her field of study, a campus where she feels comfortable and will fit in well, etc. It is far too important a decision that affects the rest of your life.

[EarlyRetirementJoy]

Travel!

Originally we had set aside 15% of our annual retirement budget for travel, however through diligent review of each and every bill and budget item over the course of about 12 months, we've found and eliminated a lot of waste to the degree that we were able to increase our travel funds to an amount now representing 20% of our annual retirement budget.

[dawnwes]

We are frugal with a lot of things, but we do have a nice house. It is nicer than we need, but we completely enjoy it.

[cypher1]

Tools. While I try to plan ahead and find better deals, if I'm working on a car or house project I'll buy what I need up front to save time.

[BMEPhDinCO]

... dining out. We like to eat out and we don't like crappy chain restaurants. No Chili's or Applebee's or Friday's or McDonald's/Burger King/KFC. We like real food, cooked fresh to order by a chef, not some high school kid with an after school job. If we're going to go out, we want to enjoy both the meal and the experience. So dinner for the two of us is typically in the $40-50 range for an average meal and can easily top $100 for a special occasion meal.

We do some more casual/less costly dining out too, of course, but still generally stick to local, family or chef-owned restaurants.

This for sure - We are great with the budget in every category except good food. Not just going out, but buying local, good quality meats and cheeses. I go even higher than Disney - special occasions for us can top $250! But I do try and budget for these at least, it's the weekend "we're bored and out of food" ones that can hurt the most. But Oh so worth it for a great meal!

[josetann]

That's a tough one. Even the things we splurge for, I still do so as frugally as possible.

Taking a cruise, going to drive to Sydney and camp in the middle of the Harbour. Costs much less than booking a regular motel room (at least one that'll hold four). So...are we being frugal (by booking a "cheap" cruise, camping and saving a lot over a motel room, etc.) or are we splurging (since we're spending a significant portion of our income on travel)?

I usually pay very little for clothing, the pants and t-shirt I'm currently wearing cost $1 each. But occasionally I'll go way over, last pair of shoes (bought yesterday) cost over $100...ones before that were $10 to give a reference. But I've been needing them, I checked some "sales" and determined the shoes would fall apart in no time...so I eventually paid a high (to me) premium to get something decent.

And I'm also finding I'll pay a premium to have a bit of "home". Cost over $150 (just in shipping) to get two boxes shipped to us, but it was filled with Wal-Mart goodies (from pain relievers, to spray sunscreen, semi-sweet chocolate chips, kool-aid, vanilla wafers, you get the picture). Simply having Thanksgiving this Saturday is much more costly than it usually would be (every single thing is out of season). But we really, really need that bit of "home", and it seems we're willing to pay extra for it.

[kork13]

...my hobbies.

I'm perfectly happy to drop the cash (within reason) to get quality equipment for my hobbies, or for actually going to do them. As I type, I'm in Colorado on a snowboarding trip with a brother & some friends. I recently bought gear & a bunch of punch-card passes for use at the local rock climbing gym in my city, and a couple years ago I bought a mid-grade road bike that I use frequently. I see the money I make and save as a means of providing for enjoyment in life, so I'll spend it as necessary for experiences that I value.

btw, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[LuckyRobin]

Our mini-van. We did not need to buy it new or with all the bells and whistles we got or in the color we wanted. It is our only vehicle and we plan to drive it for many, many years, but we still could have gotten a fairly decent mini-van with a lot of bells and whistles used for a lot less money. We just felt like we wanted it to be exactly what we wanted it to be if we were going to keep it for fifteen years or more. It wasn't a frugal purchase, but we do send extra to principal each month. And honestly, we've been very happy with it and not resentful like we probably would if we'd gotten the used white one with a weird tortoise-shell/faux wood thing going on inside. We are pretty frugal everywhere else, but this was a big thing not to be frugal on.

[thesimplemoneyblog]

... dining out. We like to eat out and we don't like crappy chain restaurants. No Chili's or Applebee's or Friday's or McDonald's/Burger King/KFC. We like real food, cooked fresh to order by a chef, not some high school kid with an after school job. If we're going to go out, we want to enjoy both the meal and the experience. So dinner for the two of us is typically in the $40-50 range for an average meal and can easily top $100 for a special occasion meal.

We do some more casual/less costly dining out too, of course, but still generally stick to local, family or chef-owned restaurants.

Dining out!

Very true for us too. We definitely enjoy our dining out, and we figure out a way for it all to work within our budget whether its a small event or family celebration at a nice restaurant.

[newlywed2012]

Our television watching is the only splurge for us. We have basic cable + Tivo, which I refuse to give up! We don't go out to eat or go to concerts or the movies. I love tv so much that it's enough entertainment for us.