15 Things I Splurge On

Sometimes everyday life can feel pretty mundane. I am an escapist at heart, a gypsy who flits from place to place exploring all there is, a girl who reads a new novel in one sitting. I will be the first to admit that I get bored easily and am often just heartsick at the ordinary, daily things that life requires such as work, studying, sweeping the floors, laundry, homework with kids, and oil changes. I mean, I can always think of SO many more fabulous ways that I could be spending my time! I could be ziplining over canopies of trees in the Costa Rica rainforest, eating bread and cheese in Paris, sailing in a hot air balloon over Capadoccia, Turkey, or snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. There are so many more, but these are some of my travel fantasies. Even at home, I would much rather be getting a massage, floating the river, snowshoeing across a winter wonderland, dabbling in paint, or curled up by the fire with a new book or travel magazine. I mean...who wouldn't rather do that than the ever burgeoning, never-ending laundry?!  The thing is though that life is not all adventures and wonderful playtime. Life is made up of a lot of everyday stuff, and sometimes it is hard not to feel bogged down by it. Alas, we can't all be millionaires who travel the world in luxury, nor is money ever the answer to happiness...but a bit of splurging on everyday things in your environment as well as a few bigger things can make a world of difference!

While everyone has different tastes, and therefore different items that matter most to them, here are 15 things I splurge on that definitely make me happier and estimated costs. In no particular order: 

1. Fresh flowers. Always. It costs anywhere from $5-10 a week in the fall and winter (spring and summer we cut from our own yard) to have fresh flowers on our dining room table to brighten things up. 

2. Cheese. We are cheese lovers in our home, so we often splurge on "fancy" cheese such as bringing cheese home from Spain, and getting the imported Havarti, Gouda, and Queso Fresco in the deli section of Safeway. Cost: $6-12 about once or twice a month.

3. Amazon Prime. We live in a rural area, and running into town takes time (not like hours, but a good 40 minutes round trip plus the time of the actual errand, so it's not super convenient). We do a lot of stocking from Amazon Pantry of things we use regularly like paper towels and paper plates, some toiletries, and some cleaning supplies. Barrett makes sure we never run out. Also, when the kids "need" a new pair of shoes, or I want a new novel, etc we enjoy the free shipping. Cost: $99 a year for free shipping, as well as free Kindle books (I sometimes use) and Prime streaming of movies and shows (rarely use...but sometimes).

4. Soap. I don't pay a ton, but I do LOVE the Bath and Body Works foaming hand soaps for all our sinks. They smell nice. When I cut my hours in half, I actually asked Barrett, "Can we still afford the nicer soap?" :) Cost: during their sales it's 5-6 hand soaps for $25-30 with free shipping. I avoid actually going to stores as much as I can!

5. Candles. Same as above. I want smelly good candles throughout our home that change with the season. You know, heavier, sweeter scents in the winter, light and airy in the summer. I want to burn them every night. I light them around dinner time, and we typically turn down the lights and watch a movie or show or read afterward, and it's just a nice, homey atmosphere. The kids love lighting the candles and choosing which few "go together" for our nightly scent. I light them when I study, when I take a bubble bath, and sometimes just to try to unwind. If the power goes out, we have 5-6 candles regularly out throughout the home. Cost: I probably get 12-15 or so candles a year, and get them on sale from Bath and Body Works, so I would guess I spend maybe $60-70 annually on candles. We use them. They don't collect dust. 

6. Coffee. We splurge on and off on this. Some people do WAY more with fancy machines. We found beans we really like from Winco and get them in bulk and grind at home most of the time. We have a cheap coffee pot, and we froth our milk by shaking it in a jar (works wonderfully) for my cappuccinos, BUT this made the list because we are never shy about splurging on a coffee to go from (insert drive through coffee hut here), and have recently signed up for Atlas Coffee Club who sends us one pack of coffee each month from somewhere in the world to try. You get to pick ground or whole bean and light, medium or dark roast. We are excited to try it! Cost: To go coffees: $8-9 for 2 about once a week, coffee club: $14.99/month. We got our 1st month 50% off, and you can too: https://atlascoffeeclub.com/collections/coffee-subscription-service

7. Books. Barrett has fully embraced the Kindle, but I have not. I love the feel of a book in my hands, the smell, the experience. I never hesitate to pay hardcover price for a new book I want, and the books are well loved and passed around to friends and family, and then donated if I don't think I will read again (I want others to read them!). I have a subscription to Book of the Month club that I actually cancelled for a few months after having for over 2 years, and I missed it SO much I signed right back up! For $14.99 I choose a new hardback novel from 5 pre-selected options. I LOVE this service. https://www.mybotm.com/096med629cmwvcxr is my referral link if you try it out. 

8. Photos. I have a few lovely photographer friends, so luckily a few shoots a year does not run us too much. I also print the photos to hang in our home and make photo books of each photo shoot and each vacation on Shutterfly. I am hugely into pictures. Cost: $50-150 per session, $40-100 per photo book (depends on amount of photos in it and sales), $50-100 once or twice a year to update photos in the home. Seeing recent memories we have made is important to me.

9. Home design and decor. Obviously we don't build a home every year, but when we did we splurged on a few things I will never regret: a large, walk-in closet for me, a giant, tiled shower, a Jacuzzi bathtub. These things make me feel like my home is an oasis of rest and calm and I don't even want to know the itemized cost of say, our shower from the build. It was worth it. Now, I also splurged on some decor. Our bedroom has a mostly useless blanket ladder wrapped in fairy lights (we turn them on EVERY night to create a relaxing atmosphere), an electric fireplace (LOVE and it was a gift), a chaise by the window (one of my favorite places ever to read and study), a rug in the living room I won't say what I spent on (but I LOVE it)...we have cozy blankets throughout the home...etc.  I am sure we spent thousands on all the paint...but not an everyday cost. Cost varies, but making our home a place of rest and full of colors and textures we love was a priceless decision. 

10. Personal upkeep. I do not skimp on makeup items I love, and still buy and use Younique even though I don't have the time to really sell it though you can always order from me here: https://www.youniqueproducts.com/SarahBWest/presenter/aboutme#.XIKjBohKg2w. I get my hair colored every few months (it used to be a lot more often when blonde or red), and I started to get my nails done again. These things make me feel lovely, and they are worth every single cent. Cost: $100-150 every 3-4 months for hair color/cut, $30 every 3 weeks or so for gel manicure, $30-40 every 2-3 months for a pedicure (I do them at home usually), and make-up items I use most: Younique mascara $24, lipstick $19, and BB cream $39. Your personal upkeep might include massages or a personal trainer...

11. iRobot Roomba Vacuum. I have mentioned one of my fave family members, Bob, before. He vacuums our floors daily. There are different models, but we love him, and think we spent like $500. Hefty price tag, but he gets used daily, and with 2 kids and 2 pets, it makes a huge difference in how often we lug the broom and vacuum cleaner out. 

12. Dates. My marriage is super important, and though we are without kids every other weekend, we tend to only "date" once every 4-6 weeks as far as spending money (we often just curl up at home). When we do date, we will splurge on a Paint Nite $60 or so with coupon, go mini golfing $30, movie and dinner $60 or so, or even more interesting things. We have done a river cruise/dinner in Portland, a symphony while in Spain, riding on ATVs (when we had), gone to a shooting range, a night at the coast, a totally free evening under the stars in the summer to watch meteors, and want to try a clay/pottery night in Albany we read about. We try to keep things fun, and someday dream of dance lessons, Scuba certification, a sailing lesson, a cooking class, and boating... Side note-dates with kids matter too. I would rather go to the aquarium once a year, visit the zoo, or go to a pottery shop then just hang at home all the time. 

13. Travel books. Yes, there is so much info out there online that why would you need a coffee table book of travel places to drool over? Uh...why wouldn't you? I always buy paperback travel guides for places we want to go, have 2 travel magazine subscriptions (National Geographic Traveler and Travel and Leisure), and buy a few hardback, chock-full of drool-worthy pictures, travel books a year. They inspire me. Cost varies. I do use the internet too though.

14. Education. Now, I am not necessarily talking degree programs, though I NEVER think that education is a waste but also struggle with mounds of student loan debt that will take me 10-15 YEARS to pay off (still). I am talking about taking community classes you want to take: astronomy, painting, cooking, dancing. I still struggle with this as I am taking need to take for degree classes currently, but someday...a watercolor course, a photography class, an astronomy night class. Be still my heart. 

15. Travel. You knew it would make MY list. We will never be luxury travelers, but we splurge on things that matter to us whether it is food, or homes we stay in. We try to travel about 3 times per year though it depends a lot on how much we spend on each trip. My ideal annual travel budget is about $12-15,000 a year (that's 2-3 international trips, 1-2 just us, and 1 with kids). We are not quite there...but I watch for deals, subscribe to Next Vacay ($25 annually), and we save every month for travel. It is a priority in our home, and sometimes I try to pick up extra shifts for it, as well as when B gets bonuses at his work, they go to travel.  In the past 12 months we were able to visit Turks & Caicos, Canada, Ireland, and Spain! Cost varies widely with travel, and to really look at relative costs, I tend to look at overall cost (food, airfare, gas, excursions, accommodations divided by days, divided by people-that gives you a great idea of expense and perspective because a $6000 family vacation to Hawaii that only lasted 4 days may be a poor choice versus a $6500 vacation in Mexico that lasted 8 days and had a nicer hotel) ,...Canada with kids for 8 days was probably $3000 which is under $94 a person/day, though we drove part of it, and stayed in pretty affordable homes versus fancy hotels. Spain on the other hand was about $300 per person/day, and Ireland slightly less. It all depends where you go, when you go, and what you do...but travel memories are priceless. My kids favorite vacation ever was Aruba, and we got a steal of about $170 a person a day including our stay in a 3 bedroom home with gorgeous pool! 

Those are my thoughts on splurging to make everyday life and your adventures slightly better. Obviously ideas are very personal. Things I don't splurge on? Clothes (I wear whatever makes me feel good from great items from Stitch Fix to cute second-hand items), gym memberships (I do exercise some with yoga and weights, and I do at home-as does B), cars (Barrett's truck is paid for, and we are working on paying off my car...not my dream muscle sports car, but does the job), take-out-we usually cook at home and I pack my lunches for work now, household items and some food-we buy in bulk, generic, and only what we need. We don't pay for housekeeping or gardening like some families do. We don't have a mortgage anymore (but we DO have private school which more than makes up for it!). Barrett has built many things for our home. We camp too, we don't just splurge on travel. We grow some of our own produce in the summer. We don't pay for TV, and our boys don't have many gadgets but they do play sports and take lessons, etc.  This year we decided not to replace the above ground pool, but will spend lots of time at the river and reservoir. It's all about balance. Unfortunately Barrett works a lot...but he doesn't have options to cut back (though he gets a good amount of vacation). I work much less but can often pick up work, and then we gauge if it is worth the time gone from family and home. We try to focus on what matters most to us. 


What do you splurge on?

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