Boyfriend is super generous and doesn’t charge me rent to live with him, so I feel like I have a large amount of disposable income. Here are a few things I’ve splurged on recently that I never would have bought before I retired.
1. Expensive contact lenses
I’ve never been able to figure out a thrifty hack for contact lenses. With the eye exam, it’s an expensive necessity. I don’t remember insurance ever covering this. Do they? I easily spent $300 – $500 on contact lenses plus exams for monthly disposable contacts every year.
This year, I spent extravagantly and bought daily disposable lenses. They’re so wonderful, but they’re not cheap.
But worth it! I can fall asleep on the couch and just throw my contacts out at the end of the day. It’s bliss having crisp, clear eyesight every day. My old contacts would fog up and gunk up, I think because I’m allergic to Curtis. It drove me insane. New contacts are much better. They never get old enough to accumulate any debris.
When in early-retirement-seeking mode, I would buy the monthly contacts and wear them for two months or more to make the entire order last two years. This habit was probably not great for my eyes.
For a year’s worth of dailys and an eye exam this year, I paid nearly $1,000. This does not include glasses.
2. Chemical hair straightening
Many years ago, I visited my college roommate in Brazil and she took me to a salon and requested a Brazilian blowout for me, a chemical hair straightening service. It was the bomb. And cheap because I was in Rio de Janeiro. I think I paid $80. It makes my hair go from oh so very much maintenance to none. None! I don’t have to straighten my frizz every few days.
I recently got a French blowout in Denver. It’s the same concept as a Brazilian blowout, but more expensive and lasts longer. Supposedly.
The service cost about $600 with tip and lasts approximately six months until the hair at the top of your head grows out enough to be noticable.
When I was trying to retire early, I spent about $50 every six months on a haircut and straightened it with my flat iron a couple of times a week by myself.
3. Nuuly
Nuuly is a clothes rental service. They mail me six pieces a month for $106 per month. I borrowed outfits for that wedding I told you about, a festival to watch the solar eclipse in Texas, Jazzfest in New Orleans, and lots of other events.
It’s actually quite fun because they have 00 Petite which fits me! It makes shopping more enjoyable knowing clothes won’t run big.
When I was running towards FI, my clothing budget was about $10/year and just for new underwear. All of my clothes were hand-me-downs from my lovely sisters.
4. Nutritionist
I’m trying to get a six-pack of abs and I recruited this nutritionist at this gym close to my house to help me. It was pricey with a $350 initiation fee and $600/month thereafter. I’m not sure it’s worth it. I get two meals a week from myfitfoods.com, two visits a month to a nutritionist, some blood work. Encouragement, maybe. Accountability. I don’t know.
The first week she had me write down everything I consumed. The second week, she started tweaking my diet. Each meeting, she’d give me advice. Then she started writing workouts for me. I’ll tell you more about this in another post. If it works. I’ll probably tell you about it even if it doesn’t work because that’s how I roll.
The nutritionist is on top of the $165/month gym membership I have.
When I was working, my law firm either had a gym and personal trainers in the building that I could use for free (in Chicago) or would subsidize my gym membership (Sydney). A nutritionist wasn’t even on my radar at that point.
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I’m one to hate subscriptions. It’s a mindless drain on your finances, but I have almost $1,000 in recurring monthly charges in my life right now. Seeing that number in print makes me want to lower it.
When can you take your foot off the pedal a little?
Sometimes I’m frugal for frugality’s sake. It’s a virtue. Buy less stuff. Realize the most important things in life are free. Relationships. Time with people you love and who love you. Experiences. Money can only make you happy up to a point.
And sometimes I’m not thrifty. There are different stages of life and I think, looking back, you really only have to scrimp and deny yourself until you get your first $100,000 saved. That’s a big enough cushion that it’s not going to kill you or your dreams to spend an “unnecessary” $600. Just my opinion. I waited until I retired and was living with a boyfriend and had no rent before I went hogwild, but I probably could have purchased these things sooner. Just, you know, don’t have too many of these types of splurges.
What do you think? When can you ease off the pedal a little?
I don’t need to be frugal anymore. So splurging is good!
But I would never pay 600$ A MONTH to a nutritionist.
Maybe read some books about the subject and use the money for a business class flight to Europe.
I’ve read all the books and have been trying to get that damn six pack for years now. But agreed, I’ve already let the nutritionist go. After writing this article, I realized how little I was getting for $600/month.
Another great post, thank you! You are showing us how you are enjoying your money which maybe for some of us is difficult.
Yes! I think it’s very hard for frugal people to spend. I keep thinking of the book, Die with Zero. I don’t plan to die with nothing, but I do like the idea of enjoying my money.
I agree with the above comments… Definitely ok to splurge as long as it’s not detailing your overall goals. I’m trying to follow my own advice.
You still gotta live and enjoy life while you’re on the journey, right? I know, easier said than done.
Anita,
I think it’s great that you’re spending on things you enjoy. I’m especially pleased about the Brazilian blowout for a rather specific reason.
Many years ago you posted a picture of yourself from behind, your mane of hair cascading down your back, and a caption reading something like “Actually quite lovely!” My first thought when seeing this was “I agree!” But what really hit me was that you used the word “actually”, as if you were surprised and realizing for the first time how beautiful you are. That was quite a while ago yet I still remember how extremely happy I felt for you about your discovery.
I have no idea if that’s how things actually transpired. But either way you have my vote for any money you spend on your hair that makes you feel good about yourself. And earrings too. (BTW, are you missing one in the latest picture at the eclipse viewing?)
“When can you take your foot off the pedal a little?” From Warren Buffett’s business partner:
“I don’t care what you have to do, if it means walking everywhere and not eating anything that wasn’t purchased with a coupon, find a way to get your hands on $100,000. The first $100,000 is a bitch but you gotta do it. After that, you can ease off the gas a little bit.”
— Charlie Munger
-Bob
Yes! I love Charlie Munger. I believe we’ve chatted about this before.
And no, not missing an earring, wearing just a single one to be a little different!
And yes! I know exactly what picture you’re talking about. I was delighted to find out my hair is rather lovely from the back. Who knew? 🙂
Big giant man hugs,
Anita
Thanks for the post, glad you feel ok having a splurge, part of your personal growth to be able to free yourself up to do that.
Some gender stereotypes here? Man provides house, woman spends money on clothes and hair 🙂
I am sure he is happy with his role and wouldn’t have it any other way, but maybe find a way of spending some of your saved rent on things/experiences for him/both of you? (think motorbike, weekend away, meal out etc 🙂 )
take care, love the blog!
Oh heck yeah! I’m going to buy boyfriend something right now. Love the idea.
After reading the post, the first thing that came to mind was a quote from Morgan Housel in his book “The Psychology of Money,”
“The hardest financial skill is getting the goalpost to stop moving.”
Frugality does have its place. That said, there are those times when you have to take a step back and think to yourself, “I have all this money and yet I’m splitting hairs over this…” whatever it is you want to splurge on (I deal with this myself). You’re in your early 40’s, you have a sizable net worth, you shack up with your boyfriend for free. Go ahead and spend the money on yourself. It’s later than you think, and to paraphrase former financial radio talk show host Bob Brinker, “What’s the point of being the richest person in the cemetery?”
Love that quote about the goalposts! Thanks for sharing.
I still do stop and think about every purchase, asking where it came from, where it will go when it’s not useful, thinking about the condition of the person who made the thing and asking myself if it will bring me joy. I’m finding a lot more things are bringing my joy these days, so it’s easier to say yes!
Shifting to spending more can be really hard for us FIRE minded folks! Thanks for sharing the things that have had value for you recently!
Lately I’ve also been spending more than usual. Since my husband is still working, it’s made it much easier to justify. Oh and we bought a dog! He is a sweetheart – there’s dog hair everywhere! lol but he’s worth it. Lots of house expenses too, but doing much of the work ourselves. The kids activities are costly too. Whenever I read about people spending a bunch on their kids, I think, you could do better. Of course it’s easy until judgy me is faced with signing someone up for soccer or not. I’ve been finding a balance there (sticking with a recreation league for now instead of the $4,000+ annual costs of a travel team). Once hubby stops working I will have to be more discerning with splurges.
Having income is a game changer in terms of mentality of the ability to spend money. Congrats on the dog! And holy cow, $4k for soccer? :-0
100% – it’s going to be a game changer when the regular paycheck is no longer.
Thank you!
Some of the reason it’s so costly is because it’s for ten months and they get a lot of practice/play time. Also the coaches are trained instead of volunteers. But it still feels like an absurd amount, especially if they stick with it (the boy is seven for crying out loud).
Always nice to see a FIREy person loosen the financial reins. I FIREd a few years ago and am still struggling getting to where you are. Bully for you!
It’s still scary taking money out of my investments on what I don’t consider necessities, but it’s getting easier!
As a super late bloomer, I am just now starting to learn how to figure out financial stuff, I found your book; and I just want to say thank you. I am already doing a lot of what yiu suggested and I love how it’s mainly minset, I live on gratitude attitude – I am thankful for what I have. Thank you for reaffirming that I am on the right path.
With gratitude,
B
Your comment made my day! So happy for you. 🙂
I think it’s great that you’re splurging on things that you want and like! I once had a $1000/month budget that included $80 for waxing, and I dare anyone to challenge that without living through my particular mix of dark leg hair/societal judgement of women who don’t remove it/legs that break out into a thousand tiny cuts if I shave them more than once every two weeks or so.
Most FIRE advice is very dude-centric including a couple of the comments here. Anyone who has read this blog knows you weren’t out looking for some guy to pay the rent.
That’s a really sweet comment. I definitely wasn’t looking for someone to live off of, more someone to split everything with. I think we’ve got a nice balance. 😁
Anita, I wanted to tell you that I just finished reading you book. While I love JL Collins and appreciate MMM, it is so lovely and refreshing to hear a female perspective on the FIRE journey. Thank you for writing it and thank you for the reminders. I am 11 months away from FIRE and reading about your experiences are very reassuring and I am grateful for your voice.
Such a wonderful comment! Thanks for coming here and telling me this. It really does make my whole day!
For us weirdos who are more naturally thrifty, I’d say a one time splurge of $600 on something that brings a lot of joy or comfort is probably fine even if you only have $10,000 saved up.
If someone is hardwired to save, odds are they are not going to become perpetually wasteful overnight.
I blow $50-$60 to have someone come pick up 25-30 lbs of laundry and bring it back all folded the next day. If i had a washer and dryer in my apartment, I probably wouldn’t do that, but happy to pay it to not carry my hamper up a hill to the laundromat and dealing with quarters. 🙂
Yeah, the farthest I’ll go is my building to do laundry. I could see paying someone to avoid the laundromat.
Chicago office of your former law firm moved this spring and no longer has in-house fitness center.
Bummer. I wonder if they give a gym stipend to go elsewhere.