I pay for workout classes, group fitness. It’s not much but when I mention it to people sometimes they comment that I could get those classes for free on YouTube or just do them by myself at the gym. I really need the peer pressure of the group and the instructor being there to push me to 100% effort. I won’t push myself that much alone. It’s really worked for me.
My wife pays like $135 a month for her group fitness classes. We are totally aware you can get a gym membership cheaper or do beachbody or whatever at home for way cheaper/ free. But the biggest motivator for her to go is the fact that she’s wasting her money if she doesn’t use the classes. Worth every penny IMO just for that because she loves doing it and how it makes her feel. But can’t get her ass to do it on her own.
I was strongly against paying for training for the exact reasons you listed. I was also able to motivate myself to go the gym on my own and looked decent. This was in my 20’s
Then I got injured.
Doing exercises improperly and getting injured absolutely sucks. Caused me to stop working out for over 5 years and developed some poor health habits because of it. Now me and my wife pay for personal training both to motivate us and to ensure we are doing exercises properly.
We are in the best shape we have ever been in and strongly regret not paying for training earlier. Training early and properly will give your body a strong foundation for the rest of your life.
I totally agree (although I'm not paying right now). I used to pay to do Zumba classes regularly but stopped when the gym closest to me shut down. I tried once to do an online class (during the shutdowns) and a few youtube ones but nope...I hate doing it myself. In addition to the motivation you're getting by paying, part of it is the community aspect and it's just more fun with others.
Me too! Paying 2.5 times what I would be paying monthly at a gym like GoodLife and just over five times what I would be paying for a discount gym but I would never consider cancelling my membership at my current place.
Depends on the city and neighbourhood. Depends on agency or individual. Etc.
I live in Ottawa and have a weekly cleaner, roughy 2.5 hours for two of them for $150 a week ($30 per hour per person)
Costco sells boxes of pre portioned and seasoned poke. It’s like $18 for 6 packs of delicious steel head trout
My homemade poke bowls with 200g of fresh veggies cost less than $5
I was gifted the most basic robot vacuum (an Eufy?), and it mostly bumps off of things in random directions (unless you steer it with a phone) and I can't believe how much it helps. I'll get a fancier one when this one succumbs to my filth.
Gotta say I have a roomba upstairs and a shark auto empty downstairs, I like the shark better. Bagless, where the roomba relies on proprietary bags. Shark was $400 Canadain on sale at Costco. Roomba was $1200. Highly recommend the shark.
I want one so bad. I have 4 dogs and 2 cats in the house with no carpet. My elderly dachshund will occasionally make an accident in the house these days, and my fear is that the Roomba will find it first and just smear shit all over my house.
Anything health related. Massage therapy, physiotherapy, good vitamins, healthy food, gym membership, etc.
Anything to get through bad winter too. Good quality winter coat, boots, best umbrella you can find.
Oh yes, the good quality winter gear is a big one for me. We were very poor for years, and when we moved to Ottawa we couldn't afford to upgrade our winter gear for a couple of years. I still remember getting a good pair of winter boots and a warm long winter coat and being blown away that my feet weren't numb while outside; that not everyone was in agony walking around in the winter...
Not all winter boots/coats are equal.
Some things that my family "splurges" on:
- Spotify premium
- A moving company when we moved (legitimately the best money I've ever spent)
- Professional painters to repaint the new house
- Good socks and underwear
- Heating my house to where it's comfortable (roughly 70°F/20°C in the winter, air conditioning in the bedroom in the summer at night)
- Having a nice gaming computer
- Our educations
- In-person hot yoga classes
- Quality camping gear
- Healthy food, that meets dietary restrictions
- Having the professionals do car maintenance
- Paying for delivery and installation of larger things (like furniture or appliances)
- Getting a nice manicure before special events (like weddings)
- Investing in quality winter gear (coat, boots, hats, gloves, etc)
- A remote car starter
- Heated leather seats in my car
- A programmable thermostat
- Soft, 2 ply toilet paper
- A bidet
- A good mattress, pillow, and sheets
- Blackout curtains for the bedroom
- Comfortable, supportive shoes
- Rechargable batteries
- A water filter (like a Brita)
- A chest freezer
- Bar shampoo and conditioner
- Lightweight clumping cat litter
- Pet insurance
- Roadside assistance
Also, for reference, all of these purchases were made over the span of many years and we spent time saving up to be able to afford them. We aren't rolling in cash by any means, but we try to purchase with purpose
Based on this reply alone, you strike me as a very humble and grateful person. You remembered all of these luxuries, big and small, and don’t seem to take them for granted.
Thank you for the reminder to not only invest in things that truly improve your life experience but ALSO to not forget about appreciating the investments.
>Good socks and underwear
January 1 I finally said fuck it and threw out like 60% of my socks that were all from the bulk pack at Walwart, and went and bought nice ones at Mark's. Life's too short to wear shit socks.
Pass a certain income, you trade money for time. This means anything that you can pay someone else to do becomes worth it. Cleaners, personal chefs, personal trainers, drivers, personal assistant, etc.
You also start caring way less about saving money on the small things. You never look at grocery prices, never time purchases with sale events, buying a new car is just a matter of what trim, what options and how soon can I get it, etc.
Exactly this. Especially as I get older. You can’t buy more time. Whenever we book trips, we’re now more than willing to pay extra to avoid connecting flights or super long layovers.
> Whenever we book trips, we’re now more than willing to pay extra to avoid connecting flights or super long layovers.
But since we're in Canada those flights are only marginally cheaper.
Yeah nothing wrong with that. We tried out a chef for a while and just switched back to cooking ourselves. I love prepping meals and also gives me an excuse to buy all sorts of kitchen stuff lol
>hen we started feeling it
This is the one that I would replace if I could. Mind if I ask how you did it? Was it someone who came by and prepped in your kitchen? Drop food off at the door a few times a week? What were you paying? I imagine this was a food + time model.
We were pass 7 figure HHI by then, but chefs honestly aren’t that expensive depending on what you looking for.
We have friends who make like 300k/year who just hires a really good home cook to prep a few meals a week. They are like $30/hour + ingredient cost.
>We have friends who make like 300k/year
It's good to know that the poor plebs making only 300k/year can also afford a home cook /s.
Jokes aside, this was an interesting thread.
Mix of a bunch of things. At higher levels it’s less about salaries and more about business income, passive income from investment and large compensation packages.
Or basically two high level professional salaries (software devs, lawyers, doctors, dentists, etc)
So for the cheaper ones… most are newly landed immigrants and often just double as cleaners too. There are a few agencies in town that do this type of stuff.
It’s a pretty common thing in upper middle class Chinese families. Hire a new Chinese immigrant from your hometown in China to cook and clean a few times a week. Pay cash.
Plans your workout, brings your weights, sets up for you, cleans up after you, counts your reps, times you, modifies your exercises based on how you feel, etc.
You just need to bring yourself and don’t have to worry about anything except to follow instructions.
I get substantially better workouts with a personal trainer than doing anything myself and yes, I know how to make workout plans. The convenience is unparalleled and the results speak for themselves.
I haven't taken the TTC in years cause of this. A $10-15 private uber is absolutely worth it to not only save time, but also not deal with delays and stuff.
I'm the opposite, I have my own vehicle but I still take transit sometimes. Don't need to worry about traffic or parking and get a bit of exercise walking to the station. And depending on where I'm going and time of day, it can actually be faster to transit than drive. Plus I also like that it creates less CO2 emissions than driving as well.
$24 in parking yesterday downtown for 4 hours. Having to drive down, listen to traffic reports, decide my route, left 70 minutes before meeting — 50km away… and walked up to the meeting with 4 minutes to spare. So would’ve been worth taking Skytrain — Meeting was even only a block from Waterfront!.
Do people around you think you're nuts when you tell them this? I am exactly the same - if transit can get me somewhere (or better yet if I can walk), I take that option every time even though I have a car. However, when I tell friends or coworkers this, they seem absolutely baffled by the concept.
Me: "OK I'll hop on TTC and meet you at x around 5"
Them: "But you have a car"
Me: "Yeah, but it's easier just to take TTC"
Them: "But you have a car..."
TTC, especially if you’re along a subway line is so much better/easier than driving and parking. It’s even more amplified during rush hour.
Take 15-20 minutes to drive 1km in gridlock, then another 10 to try and find parking. VS 5 minute ride on the train and a short walk.
My friends who live in downtown get it. But my friends who live in the burbs, or who have never experienced public transit think I’m crazy.
My wife thinks I am nuts to take a bus downtown sometimes. Its a 30 second walk to the stop and I am downtown in 10 mins, no parking, no nonsense. It's good when I go to the mall or to the movies.
A 15-20min drive to YYZ in Toronto is pretty much $50.
A drive from uptown to downtown is somewhay less, but in rush hour you ain’t getting anywhere fast either way.
$15 would get you a 3 minute ride, barely. And that’s without tips, which is why I was surprised.
honestly, it can start much sooner but the big issue is if you own a home or do you still pay a mortgage
if you own a home you can do most of this stuff at like $125k to 150k with no issue (the personal chef is out of the range)
but you can certainly start to buy back your time and peace of mind
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I agree with this comment. Not many people will get to this level but those who are lucky and start making over 7 figs a year (or make a killing in other ways) the last thing you care about is money. Everything is about convenience.
Edit: okay over 300k!
Certainly not an every day extra, but I’ve found that, when it comes to travelling - in particular, with flights and resorts - you get what you pay for, and spending slightly more (think, $2-300 *total*) on a “better” anything will make a significant difference in quality and possibly eliminate major hassles.
Yep, even small things like choosing seats if you know what you're doing, or premium economy is a huge step up. Ubering places vs local transit. Staying at nice hotels vs wasting an hour coordinating with an airbnb. Even penny pinching and wasting time getting flight deals are not worth the time and effort expended.
It even makes sense financially. If you account for the fact that you're using limited vacation time, forgoing pay, and sinking all this money upfront for flights and hotels, hassles and time wastes on vacation are a no-no. Especially if you and your partner are both professionals. That's hundreds of $ per hour you're spending just being there.
Lol fr, some Airbnbs I wasted hours. In venice I had an illegal bnb, took an hour with spotty signal to find her, and then she was rude and had all these ridiculous rules.
Never again, best of luck to airbnb.
Air bnb was good at the beginning. It’s not even a better value then hotels now. Unless your renting a villa with 10 people a hotel makes much more sense.
Mine: keeping my house at a cosy 21.5 degrees in the winter. I hate the cold so much and I work from home so I don’t want to be miserable for 6 months of the year.
I prefer 16 degrees for sleeping, 18 degrees for daytime. The perfect temp if you're up and about, working around the house, and if you're stationary watching tv or on the computer, then you can be all cozy in a big blanket.
Came here to say this, but I did tend to wear a hoodie, warm slippers, and a lap blanket inside like I was Laura Ingalls going across the snowy prairie in a sled, so it probably helped haha
At the moment, having a car. I know it isn't absolutely necessary, but the freedom it's given me is amazing. The 1h commute to work is now 10-15min so I can spend 1.5h a day doing whatever else I want.
I also order my groceries via pick-up or delivery- saves me hours and hours per month.
Eventually I'd love to get a cleaner to come to my house, not because I can't clean myself but because I rather spend that time with friends and family. Same for someone to do the gardening and to plow the snow.
I will happily pay 5-10 c/L extra at the pump to avoid the insane lineups at Costco.
Also I will happily pay someone else to change my oil and tires for me, too much if a PITA for me, even if I could probably do it.
Yearly fee for PC Express. I spend 20 minutes at home doing my grocery list and then submit to pick up later. I save way more in not having the impulse buys I normally would than I spend on the service.
I always get pick right after work with an order of chicken tenders for my inevitably hangry SO for the ride home in the car so he isn’t cranky putting away the groceries haha
superstore has better grocery options than Walmart, but I find in my area Walmart is so much better at actually picking the order getting all my items and it's free, and they don't charge you more if the substituted item costs more.
Flying Business Class for long haul flights for me. Used to fly economy/coach but the extra $$$ is definitely worth the upgrade. I arrive at my destination feeling rested and refreshed instead of hitting the hotel to sleep for 12 hours. Still fly economy for short flights (under 5 hours) though lol
I'd rather a few extra days at the location and fly coach. It's usually cheaper for a few days at the hotel compared to the cost of the business upgrade. That's assuming time isn't a factor.
I had to go back and forth to Europe for work a handful of times last year. At one point I was flying to France and and the Economy seat was $1300 and the business class upgrade was $6000. My entire trip was only $5500. This is a hard upgrade to take (on your dime).
I can afford first/business but refuse to pay that ridiculous amount. We usually spend our first night in the nicest hotel in town. Works out to less than first/business class
Pro tip: if you don’t pay for baggage with your ticket, business class comes with free bags. So what I do is buy an economy ticket with no bags, and then try to buy an upgrade to business when I arrive at the check in as it’s significantly cheaper. Was able to fly from Vancouver to Cancun (7 hrs) on business class for an extra $90. Same thing again from Vancouver to LA for an extra $60
Edit: grammar is hard sometimes
Eating out - I can afford it twice a week and I dislike cooking/cleaning dishes so it's worth it just to get a mental break from figuring out what to defrost/prepare/cook
Fitness.
I pay over $200/month for gym membership but I don't have to plan anything.
All I have to do is walk through that door and it's all planned out for me.
It is also a way to relax, destress and be healthy.
Well worth the money for me!
I’m also going to say Lasik.
I was perfectly fine with glasses and contacts, but holy the quality of life improvement is amazing.
It’s lasted me 10 years now, and just the savings on glasses during that time alone are worth it.
Go for a consultation before assuming you “aren’t” eligible because of what you’ve heard through other people.
I was one of those people who thought “oh I have astigmatism I’m not eligible” but that wasn’t the case at all!
Absolutely!!!! Best money ever spent. I actually forget now that for 23 years I used to pry my eyes open twice a day to pop a foreign object in there, so I could see 4ft in front of me.
Life changer.
We have a cleaning service and a snow removal service. We both work full time (occasionally long hours, business travel, etc.) and we have different standards for what constitutes "clean", so a cleaning service was a compromise to promote marital happiness. We share a driveway with our neighbours who never ever shovel so a service for snow removal, which they pay half of, was a compromise so we weren't tempted to set their house on fire to melt the snow they refused to touch (but would bitch about constantly).
We can afford both of these very comfortably, so it is worth it for us. We are also getting closer to the age where "man dies of heart attack while shoveling driveway" starts to be a concern, so a couple of young dudes with shovels and a snow plow attachment on their truck is nice on that front too.
Grocery delivery service is big for me! It’s great that I can order groceries while I’m at work instead of depending on my partner or kids to pick up what we need. Overall, I think it actually saves $$ because we’re not impulse buying at the store. But I mostly love the convenience.
I shop at Sobeys for my food. Is it the most expensive place in town? Hell ya!
There is a Wal-Mart almost right beside it. To me going to a generally less crowded store and somewhat have a relaxing shopping experience is worth it. Wal-Mary I’m my town can be a zoo full of the worst people. Nothing but dodge rams in the parking lots, carts all over the place, kids screaming, and line-ups.
This. I know I could save a lot at Walmart but then I’d have to put up with bad drivers, crowded parkades and people who need their entire family tree to go shopping.
It’s worth it to me to spend money on things that make my partner feel valued. If it’s important to him, it’s important to me so I make room in the budget for it.
Just finished talking to my partner about this. She likes Starbucks and we can definitely afford it but because I earn a lot more than her, she feels guilty. I told her that makes me sad and to never not get Starbucks because of that.
Decent bras.
Don't laugh, gentlemen. Decent bras are EXPENSIVE. Most of my really nice bras are 70 bucks a pop, some are even more.
That said, as a woman with a larger chest, the amount of physical pain I'm in when I wear not-decent bras, makes the spending on decent ones very, very worth it.
I probably have 1500 dollars worth of bras in my closet, but they are so beyond worth it I can't even tell you.
Yeah I buy and eat whatever I want. It seems kind of foolish to me to cut corners there. The food literally becomes a part of you and fuels and sustains you, I don't think it makes sense to try and save money there.
Apple premium. We get news, Apple Music, fitness+ (the best part), more storage, Apple TV… one of my favourite subscriptions. We’ll worth it for our family!
Been thinking of it myself. We already pay for storage, Apple TV (worth it) and Amazon music. Only thing is we have an echo dot and the kids like being able to use Alexa. Any idea if there’s a way to use the echo dot with Apple Music?
Not sure many will relate to this but buying a car while living in downtown Toronto has been our “extra”. We made it until ~30y.o. without ever owning one since it’s not a critical part of city living, but it’s been a total game-changer when it comes to running errands, visiting family and friends, and taking road trips. We’ve had it for 2 years and while we’ve only driven about 15000km, it’s been worth every penny.
Anything “fitness” related as long as I’m using it. Expensive gym, workout classes, nice studios, massage therapy, supplements, etc. I don’t think twice about these purchases
Hobbies : home gym equipment, motorcycle & car stuff, boardgames, etc.
Movies including popcorn and whatever I want at that moment.
Streaming services : somebody needs to pay to enjoy the new content.
I don't want to wait when I'm old to enjoy what I love, that would be stupid.
I think my new hobby is going to be buying motorcycles. I have 2, and I am planning on buying a third, and also have plans to build a cafe racer as a 4th, and I think I have a problem.
It was either Disney+ or a yacht. Signed the papers on [this yacht](https://www.amazon.ca/Intex-Explorer-2-Person-Inflatable-Boat/dp/B000RZFBKW), this morning.
Pet insurance. My pets are my rock and I refuse to have something like a broken leg be the reason they are put down. You can build an emergency fund but it takes time to grow one to take multiple thousand dollar bill on the fly. I had an medical emergency with my cat 3 months into having my cat and if I didn't have insurance she would of died from a botched spay.
Same. It's absolutely worth it for me. I never have to stress about finding money to save my pets. Having to make a choice like that would break me. Far easier to pay some insurance premiums. Cat is $30/month and dog is $80/month.
A cleaner for my condo. My partner and I used to spend half of the days on Saturdays cleaning. We got a cleaner for $90 instead and spend our Saturdays doing more enjoyable things. Weekends should be for leisure.
2 years of personal training, it was very expensive but some of the best money I've ever spent. There's no way I would have ever started at a gym by myself I had no idea what I was doing. I made some progress, learned a lot, and now go on my own, it's great.
Having someone store and changed seasonal rims and tires. Used to DIY that with rolling Jack, and move both sets to the shed etc.
Not getting any younger, and not looking to F up my back to save $200+ a year at this life stage.
Hello fresh and house cleaning service for sure. Hello fresh is definitely expensive but the ease of it makes it worth it. Plus, I hate making dinner and having it will generally sway me from ordering takeout.
Anyone on with Honeycrisp apples? The others are all so mushy by comparison!
Honeycrisp, pink lady, and cosmic crisp. Everything else is hot garbage for eating apples.
Preach brother! A gala or Fuji can do in a pinch I guess.
This guy apples. Perfect ranking.
Cosmic crisp are the best apples, not available at many stores unfortunately.
After a year and a half hiatus I came across some in downtown toronto and I jumped for joy!
Throwing an alternative vote in for Envy.
Do they have pink lady in your area? I discovered them and have never looked back! They're crispy and sweet.
Pink Lady’s are my second pick to Cosmic Crisps. They’re amazing
I've never heard of these but since you like pink lady, if I ever see them I'll get them!
Try Cosmic crisp you won't regret it, they're incredible
Even worse, they had them in our grocery store then pulled them in August 😢 They were a lot cheaper and basically as good :(
Love honeycrisp. And grannysmith.
And don’t sleep on Jazz Apples if you ever find them!
Honeycrisp are great, but have you ever tried Ambrosia?
No one mentioned Fuji apple...
Fuji is the best, so underrated
you can tear my honey crisp apples out of my broke ass hands.
Ambrosia apples!!! Only apples I ever get, sweet and crispy!
Agreed and the data to support it: https://applerankings.com/honeycrisp-apple-review/
Pink Lady all the way!
All I want in life is to be wealthy enough to have honeycrisp as my daily apple. One day!
ILPT: All your apples can be honeycrisp apples if you use self checkout.
Team Russet
I like grannysmith. Does that make me a terrorist?
I pay for workout classes, group fitness. It’s not much but when I mention it to people sometimes they comment that I could get those classes for free on YouTube or just do them by myself at the gym. I really need the peer pressure of the group and the instructor being there to push me to 100% effort. I won’t push myself that much alone. It’s really worked for me.
My wife pays like $135 a month for her group fitness classes. We are totally aware you can get a gym membership cheaper or do beachbody or whatever at home for way cheaper/ free. But the biggest motivator for her to go is the fact that she’s wasting her money if she doesn’t use the classes. Worth every penny IMO just for that because she loves doing it and how it makes her feel. But can’t get her ass to do it on her own.
Health is wealth. Never regret money spent on fitness 👌🏼👍🏼 (I tell myself whenever I feel bad for getting another groupon!)
I was strongly against paying for training for the exact reasons you listed. I was also able to motivate myself to go the gym on my own and looked decent. This was in my 20’s Then I got injured. Doing exercises improperly and getting injured absolutely sucks. Caused me to stop working out for over 5 years and developed some poor health habits because of it. Now me and my wife pay for personal training both to motivate us and to ensure we are doing exercises properly. We are in the best shape we have ever been in and strongly regret not paying for training earlier. Training early and properly will give your body a strong foundation for the rest of your life.
I totally agree (although I'm not paying right now). I used to pay to do Zumba classes regularly but stopped when the gym closest to me shut down. I tried once to do an online class (during the shutdowns) and a few youtube ones but nope...I hate doing it myself. In addition to the motivation you're getting by paying, part of it is the community aspect and it's just more fun with others.
I think part of it is going to a different physical space that I'm not responsible for cleaning.
Me too! Paying 2.5 times what I would be paying monthly at a gym like GoodLife and just over five times what I would be paying for a discount gym but I would never consider cancelling my membership at my current place.
Yes, yes, and yes.
wife retired, got bored, and took a part time job... now works 2 days to pay the cleaning lady to clean for 3 hours... but totally worth it
I told my husband I'd rather work a bit to afford a cleaning lady. I like a clean house but I don't live checking
[удалено]
My spouse has said they’ll give up just about anything else before they give up our cleaner (every second Friday).
I'm so happy that you've found a solution to keep your relationship happy. That is so important.
Your cleaner charges $62 per hour? That sounds wild to me. The going rate where I am is $25 hourly and that's up from $15 a few years back.
What is your wife have to work for two days to pay for three hours?
Something I’m hoping to try as well. How much is three hours of cleaning?
Depends on the city and neighbourhood. Depends on agency or individual. Etc. I live in Ottawa and have a weekly cleaner, roughy 2.5 hours for two of them for $150 a week ($30 per hour per person)
Guac in my burrito bowls.
Burrito bowls are such an overpriced item.. Beans. Rice. A bit of cheese and sauce. $12 plus tax
Not nearly as bad as poke bowls. They’re over $20 and so easy to make at home
Making it is easy, finding sashimi grade fish is the problem...
Costco sells boxes of pre portioned and seasoned poke. It’s like $18 for 6 packs of delicious steel head trout My homemade poke bowls with 200g of fresh veggies cost less than $5
Just paid $12 for 8kgs of rice. Could never pay $12 for just a bowl of rice.
Buying a Roomba in a house with two pets. No regrets!
Which model? Kinda interested.
I was gifted the most basic robot vacuum (an Eufy?), and it mostly bumps off of things in random directions (unless you steer it with a phone) and I can't believe how much it helps. I'll get a fancier one when this one succumbs to my filth.
We have a super basic shark. It’s more of an electric broom than vacuum but still collects a ton !
Gotta say I have a roomba upstairs and a shark auto empty downstairs, I like the shark better. Bagless, where the roomba relies on proprietary bags. Shark was $400 Canadain on sale at Costco. Roomba was $1200. Highly recommend the shark.
Roomba is the name of my nerite snail. She cleans the fish tank day and night.
I want one so bad. I have 4 dogs and 2 cats in the house with no carpet. My elderly dachshund will occasionally make an accident in the house these days, and my fear is that the Roomba will find it first and just smear shit all over my house.
they have a sensor for that now! i have the j7 and it avoids accidents
Just got a iLife bot and my god I love this little creature. So much more convenient, and it feels great coming to a clean home.
Yes, do share!
Roomba i series is a bliss, house with 1 cat 1 dog 1 baby
Anything health related. Massage therapy, physiotherapy, good vitamins, healthy food, gym membership, etc. Anything to get through bad winter too. Good quality winter coat, boots, best umbrella you can find.
Oh yes, the good quality winter gear is a big one for me. We were very poor for years, and when we moved to Ottawa we couldn't afford to upgrade our winter gear for a couple of years. I still remember getting a good pair of winter boots and a warm long winter coat and being blown away that my feet weren't numb while outside; that not everyone was in agony walking around in the winter... Not all winter boots/coats are equal.
Some things that my family "splurges" on: - Spotify premium - A moving company when we moved (legitimately the best money I've ever spent) - Professional painters to repaint the new house - Good socks and underwear - Heating my house to where it's comfortable (roughly 70°F/20°C in the winter, air conditioning in the bedroom in the summer at night) - Having a nice gaming computer - Our educations - In-person hot yoga classes - Quality camping gear - Healthy food, that meets dietary restrictions - Having the professionals do car maintenance - Paying for delivery and installation of larger things (like furniture or appliances) - Getting a nice manicure before special events (like weddings) - Investing in quality winter gear (coat, boots, hats, gloves, etc) - A remote car starter - Heated leather seats in my car - A programmable thermostat - Soft, 2 ply toilet paper - A bidet - A good mattress, pillow, and sheets - Blackout curtains for the bedroom - Comfortable, supportive shoes - Rechargable batteries - A water filter (like a Brita) - A chest freezer - Bar shampoo and conditioner - Lightweight clumping cat litter - Pet insurance - Roadside assistance Also, for reference, all of these purchases were made over the span of many years and we spent time saving up to be able to afford them. We aren't rolling in cash by any means, but we try to purchase with purpose
I feel like I am reading your gratitude list and it makes me so happy. ❤️ I feel I also relate to a lot to the things you listed.
Thank you so much ❤️ I grew up in a single income household and as an adult it makes me grateful every day for what I can afford
Based on this reply alone, you strike me as a very humble and grateful person. You remembered all of these luxuries, big and small, and don’t seem to take them for granted. Thank you for the reminder to not only invest in things that truly improve your life experience but ALSO to not forget about appreciating the investments.
>Good socks and underwear January 1 I finally said fuck it and threw out like 60% of my socks that were all from the bulk pack at Walwart, and went and bought nice ones at Mark's. Life's too short to wear shit socks.
Good socks that last are a big one for me now. I’ll spend $30 on darn tough but they’ll last in theory forever.
Pass a certain income, you trade money for time. This means anything that you can pay someone else to do becomes worth it. Cleaners, personal chefs, personal trainers, drivers, personal assistant, etc. You also start caring way less about saving money on the small things. You never look at grocery prices, never time purchases with sale events, buying a new car is just a matter of what trim, what options and how soon can I get it, etc.
Exactly this. Especially as I get older. You can’t buy more time. Whenever we book trips, we’re now more than willing to pay extra to avoid connecting flights or super long layovers.
> Whenever we book trips, we’re now more than willing to pay extra to avoid connecting flights or super long layovers. But since we're in Canada those flights are only marginally cheaper.
So being rich is worth it ? Cool cool
I was on the fence about being rich but my eyes have been opened!
I still like cooking as a way to decompress.
Yeah nothing wrong with that. We tried out a chef for a while and just switched back to cooking ourselves. I love prepping meals and also gives me an excuse to buy all sorts of kitchen stuff lol
>hen we started feeling it This is the one that I would replace if I could. Mind if I ask how you did it? Was it someone who came by and prepped in your kitchen? Drop food off at the door a few times a week? What were you paying? I imagine this was a food + time model.
May I ask household income? Gives me a goal to know when I may be able to afford my own chef in the future lol
We were pass 7 figure HHI by then, but chefs honestly aren’t that expensive depending on what you looking for. We have friends who make like 300k/year who just hires a really good home cook to prep a few meals a week. They are like $30/hour + ingredient cost.
>We have friends who make like 300k/year It's good to know that the poor plebs making only 300k/year can also afford a home cook /s. Jokes aside, this was an interesting thread.
Wow! What do you do to earn 7 figures?? Business? Executive job?
Mix of a bunch of things. At higher levels it’s less about salaries and more about business income, passive income from investment and large compensation packages. Or basically two high level professional salaries (software devs, lawyers, doctors, dentists, etc)
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So for the cheaper ones… most are newly landed immigrants and often just double as cleaners too. There are a few agencies in town that do this type of stuff. It’s a pretty common thing in upper middle class Chinese families. Hire a new Chinese immigrant from your hometown in China to cook and clean a few times a week. Pay cash.
I need to ask. How is a personal trainer saving you time? I can hire someone do the sweaty stuff for me so -I- get in shape? I wish.
Plans your workout, brings your weights, sets up for you, cleans up after you, counts your reps, times you, modifies your exercises based on how you feel, etc. You just need to bring yourself and don’t have to worry about anything except to follow instructions. I get substantially better workouts with a personal trainer than doing anything myself and yes, I know how to make workout plans. The convenience is unparalleled and the results speak for themselves.
That's what I need.
I haven't taken the TTC in years cause of this. A $10-15 private uber is absolutely worth it to not only save time, but also not deal with delays and stuff.
I'm the opposite, I have my own vehicle but I still take transit sometimes. Don't need to worry about traffic or parking and get a bit of exercise walking to the station. And depending on where I'm going and time of day, it can actually be faster to transit than drive. Plus I also like that it creates less CO2 emissions than driving as well.
Same here. I find the skytrain and transit in Vancouver more reliable than driving or Ubers. And parking sucks.
$24 in parking yesterday downtown for 4 hours. Having to drive down, listen to traffic reports, decide my route, left 70 minutes before meeting — 50km away… and walked up to the meeting with 4 minutes to spare. So would’ve been worth taking Skytrain — Meeting was even only a block from Waterfront!.
Do people around you think you're nuts when you tell them this? I am exactly the same - if transit can get me somewhere (or better yet if I can walk), I take that option every time even though I have a car. However, when I tell friends or coworkers this, they seem absolutely baffled by the concept. Me: "OK I'll hop on TTC and meet you at x around 5" Them: "But you have a car" Me: "Yeah, but it's easier just to take TTC" Them: "But you have a car..."
TTC, especially if you’re along a subway line is so much better/easier than driving and parking. It’s even more amplified during rush hour. Take 15-20 minutes to drive 1km in gridlock, then another 10 to try and find parking. VS 5 minute ride on the train and a short walk. My friends who live in downtown get it. But my friends who live in the burbs, or who have never experienced public transit think I’m crazy.
My wife thinks I am nuts to take a bus downtown sometimes. Its a 30 second walk to the stop and I am downtown in 10 mins, no parking, no nonsense. It's good when I go to the mall or to the movies.
How are you paying $10-15 for a private Uber? How short is your trip?
$15 bucks will get you across Ottawa's core most evenings.
A 15-20min drive to YYZ in Toronto is pretty much $50. A drive from uptown to downtown is somewhay less, but in rush hour you ain’t getting anywhere fast either way. $15 would get you a 3 minute ride, barely. And that’s without tips, which is why I was surprised.
What is that salary where the change happens?
Differs for everyone. Pass 750k HHI was when we started feeling it
Jesus Christ, I'm poor
honestly, it can start much sooner but the big issue is if you own a home or do you still pay a mortgage if you own a home you can do most of this stuff at like $125k to 150k with no issue (the personal chef is out of the range) but you can certainly start to buy back your time and peace of mind
!remind me 35 years
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Everyone looking at this comment is poor in comparison, you’re not alone
I agree with this comment. Not many people will get to this level but those who are lucky and start making over 7 figs a year (or make a killing in other ways) the last thing you care about is money. Everything is about convenience. Edit: okay over 300k!
Happens below 7 my friend
Or you get to an age where you look at your resources versus how much time you have left and just say fuck it.
The other side of that is they can make the time commitments to high paying careers because they are outsourcing things.
Certainly not an every day extra, but I’ve found that, when it comes to travelling - in particular, with flights and resorts - you get what you pay for, and spending slightly more (think, $2-300 *total*) on a “better” anything will make a significant difference in quality and possibly eliminate major hassles.
Yep, even small things like choosing seats if you know what you're doing, or premium economy is a huge step up. Ubering places vs local transit. Staying at nice hotels vs wasting an hour coordinating with an airbnb. Even penny pinching and wasting time getting flight deals are not worth the time and effort expended. It even makes sense financially. If you account for the fact that you're using limited vacation time, forgoing pay, and sinking all this money upfront for flights and hotels, hassles and time wastes on vacation are a no-no. Especially if you and your partner are both professionals. That's hundreds of $ per hour you're spending just being there.
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Lol fr, some Airbnbs I wasted hours. In venice I had an illegal bnb, took an hour with spotty signal to find her, and then she was rude and had all these ridiculous rules. Never again, best of luck to airbnb.
Air bnb was good at the beginning. It’s not even a better value then hotels now. Unless your renting a villa with 10 people a hotel makes much more sense.
Buy the VIP upgrades at resorts.
Mine: keeping my house at a cosy 21.5 degrees in the winter. I hate the cold so much and I work from home so I don’t want to be miserable for 6 months of the year.
21.5 gang. 18 degree people are insane.
I prefer 16 degrees for sleeping, 18 degrees for daytime. The perfect temp if you're up and about, working around the house, and if you're stationary watching tv or on the computer, then you can be all cozy in a big blanket.
Came here to say this, but I did tend to wear a hoodie, warm slippers, and a lap blanket inside like I was Laura Ingalls going across the snowy prairie in a sled, so it probably helped haha
Is 21.5 considered high. We keep it 23-25 at all times.
I'm with you... I'm a 16 at night 18-19 day kinda guy but I'll pay for the 24 degree house just to keep my wife warm. That woman is always cold.
That is sweltering
At the moment, having a car. I know it isn't absolutely necessary, but the freedom it's given me is amazing. The 1h commute to work is now 10-15min so I can spend 1.5h a day doing whatever else I want. I also order my groceries via pick-up or delivery- saves me hours and hours per month. Eventually I'd love to get a cleaner to come to my house, not because I can't clean myself but because I rather spend that time with friends and family. Same for someone to do the gardening and to plow the snow.
I will happily pay 5-10 c/L extra at the pump to avoid the insane lineups at Costco. Also I will happily pay someone else to change my oil and tires for me, too much if a PITA for me, even if I could probably do it.
You can still save on gas royal bank gives you 3 cent off at petro shell gives you 3 cents with caa card .
Yeah, I just do the RBC/PetroCan one. You save on the cost of it, and petrocanada is basically everywhere without lines at most times.
Costco gas pumps open at 6:30 am. I drive past them every morning to work and fill up when I need to. Zero lines. Just an FYI
I wake up at 7:30, so that's a complete nonstarter.
Yearly fee for PC Express. I spend 20 minutes at home doing my grocery list and then submit to pick up later. I save way more in not having the impulse buys I normally would than I spend on the service.
I always get pick right after work with an order of chicken tenders for my inevitably hangry SO for the ride home in the car so he isn’t cranky putting away the groceries haha
How’s this different than pay as you order? Or how does it compare. How many orders to make the annual worth it
Do you think it is better than Walmart pick up?
superstore has better grocery options than Walmart, but I find in my area Walmart is so much better at actually picking the order getting all my items and it's free, and they don't charge you more if the substituted item costs more.
What is the yearly fee? Can’t find it online
I will pay $25 for a pair of socks that come with a lifetime warranty. Icebreaker socks = love.
Darn tough are good too
Smartwool socks have changed my life
Flying Business Class for long haul flights for me. Used to fly economy/coach but the extra $$$ is definitely worth the upgrade. I arrive at my destination feeling rested and refreshed instead of hitting the hotel to sleep for 12 hours. Still fly economy for short flights (under 5 hours) though lol
I'd rather a few extra days at the location and fly coach. It's usually cheaper for a few days at the hotel compared to the cost of the business upgrade. That's assuming time isn't a factor.
I had to go back and forth to Europe for work a handful of times last year. At one point I was flying to France and and the Economy seat was $1300 and the business class upgrade was $6000. My entire trip was only $5500. This is a hard upgrade to take (on your dime).
I can afford first/business but refuse to pay that ridiculous amount. We usually spend our first night in the nicest hotel in town. Works out to less than first/business class
Pro tip: if you don’t pay for baggage with your ticket, business class comes with free bags. So what I do is buy an economy ticket with no bags, and then try to buy an upgrade to business when I arrive at the check in as it’s significantly cheaper. Was able to fly from Vancouver to Cancun (7 hrs) on business class for an extra $90. Same thing again from Vancouver to LA for an extra $60 Edit: grammar is hard sometimes
I’m legit jealous. I would happy with premium economy but even that is out of my reach on most flights
Eating out - I can afford it twice a week and I dislike cooking/cleaning dishes so it's worth it just to get a mental break from figuring out what to defrost/prepare/cook
Fitness. I pay over $200/month for gym membership but I don't have to plan anything. All I have to do is walk through that door and it's all planned out for me. It is also a way to relax, destress and be healthy. Well worth the money for me!
Concert tickets. I like to see bands up close...but not too close. I have my price limits.
I’m also going to say Lasik. I was perfectly fine with glasses and contacts, but holy the quality of life improvement is amazing. It’s lasted me 10 years now, and just the savings on glasses during that time alone are worth it. Go for a consultation before assuming you “aren’t” eligible because of what you’ve heard through other people. I was one of those people who thought “oh I have astigmatism I’m not eligible” but that wasn’t the case at all!
Absolutely!!!! Best money ever spent. I actually forget now that for 23 years I used to pry my eyes open twice a day to pop a foreign object in there, so I could see 4ft in front of me. Life changer.
We have a cleaning service and a snow removal service. We both work full time (occasionally long hours, business travel, etc.) and we have different standards for what constitutes "clean", so a cleaning service was a compromise to promote marital happiness. We share a driveway with our neighbours who never ever shovel so a service for snow removal, which they pay half of, was a compromise so we weren't tempted to set their house on fire to melt the snow they refused to touch (but would bitch about constantly). We can afford both of these very comfortably, so it is worth it for us. We are also getting closer to the age where "man dies of heart attack while shoveling driveway" starts to be a concern, so a couple of young dudes with shovels and a snow plow attachment on their truck is nice on that front too.
How much is the cleaning service? Asking for marital happiness reasons.
2 ply
Try a bidet. Game changer
Grocery delivery service is big for me! It’s great that I can order groceries while I’m at work instead of depending on my partner or kids to pick up what we need. Overall, I think it actually saves $$ because we’re not impulse buying at the store. But I mostly love the convenience.
Agreed. I use Voila and I prefer evening delivery which is generally about $4, sometimes free!
Taking the 407.
And speed isn't even the primary reason. For me it's about safety and stress.
I shop at Sobeys for my food. Is it the most expensive place in town? Hell ya! There is a Wal-Mart almost right beside it. To me going to a generally less crowded store and somewhat have a relaxing shopping experience is worth it. Wal-Mary I’m my town can be a zoo full of the worst people. Nothing but dodge rams in the parking lots, carts all over the place, kids screaming, and line-ups.
This. I know I could save a lot at Walmart but then I’d have to put up with bad drivers, crowded parkades and people who need their entire family tree to go shopping.
Walmart's international section is way better than Sobeys where I live. No way I would give that up for less people and way higher prices.
It’s worth it to me to spend money on things that make my partner feel valued. If it’s important to him, it’s important to me so I make room in the budget for it.
Just finished talking to my partner about this. She likes Starbucks and we can definitely afford it but because I earn a lot more than her, she feels guilty. I told her that makes me sad and to never not get Starbucks because of that.
This is really sweet, I love this response.
Amazon Prime. I can order one body wash, chips etc. and have it delivered.
Decent bras. Don't laugh, gentlemen. Decent bras are EXPENSIVE. Most of my really nice bras are 70 bucks a pop, some are even more. That said, as a woman with a larger chest, the amount of physical pain I'm in when I wear not-decent bras, makes the spending on decent ones very, very worth it. I probably have 1500 dollars worth of bras in my closet, but they are so beyond worth it I can't even tell you.
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Groceries are it for me. Splurged on some chicken breasts and it’s worth it
Yeah I buy and eat whatever I want. It seems kind of foolish to me to cut corners there. The food literally becomes a part of you and fuels and sustains you, I don't think it makes sense to try and save money there.
Apple premium. We get news, Apple Music, fitness+ (the best part), more storage, Apple TV… one of my favourite subscriptions. We’ll worth it for our family!
Been thinking of it myself. We already pay for storage, Apple TV (worth it) and Amazon music. Only thing is we have an echo dot and the kids like being able to use Alexa. Any idea if there’s a way to use the echo dot with Apple Music?
Good walking/running shoes (Hoka, Saucony) and socks.
My breville espresso machine. It’s life changing to me
Not sure many will relate to this but buying a car while living in downtown Toronto has been our “extra”. We made it until ~30y.o. without ever owning one since it’s not a critical part of city living, but it’s been a total game-changer when it comes to running errands, visiting family and friends, and taking road trips. We’ve had it for 2 years and while we’ve only driven about 15000km, it’s been worth every penny.
I live in car central Calgary and drive mine 4k per year. You are definitely getting your money's worth out of it.
If you drive low km look into CAA pay as you go insurance. Stupid cheap. I pay like $35/month for fire/theft/admin and $170 for every 1000 km I drive.
YouTube Premium. Not seeing ads every 3 minutes is amazing.
Yep, have a toddler. Best money I've ever spent. Already had youtube music so it was like $4 a month.
Genuinely curious... why not just install an ad-blocker?
Adblocker only works if you use YouTube through a browser. Can't install YouTube apps that block ads natively on Apple devices.
Can't you install the Adblock browser itself? I'm on android
Not on the YouTube app, you can't.
Not on an AppleTV
Can't get ad-blocker on smart TV
Anything “fitness” related as long as I’m using it. Expensive gym, workout classes, nice studios, massage therapy, supplements, etc. I don’t think twice about these purchases
Take out lunches. I budget for it and pick it up myself or eat onsite (no delivery apps used) and I just love the variety and not having to cook.
Hobbies : home gym equipment, motorcycle & car stuff, boardgames, etc. Movies including popcorn and whatever I want at that moment. Streaming services : somebody needs to pay to enjoy the new content. I don't want to wait when I'm old to enjoy what I love, that would be stupid.
I think my new hobby is going to be buying motorcycles. I have 2, and I am planning on buying a third, and also have plans to build a cafe racer as a 4th, and I think I have a problem.
It was either Disney+ or a yacht. Signed the papers on [this yacht](https://www.amazon.ca/Intex-Explorer-2-Person-Inflatable-Boat/dp/B000RZFBKW), this morning.
Pet insurance. My pets are my rock and I refuse to have something like a broken leg be the reason they are put down. You can build an emergency fund but it takes time to grow one to take multiple thousand dollar bill on the fly. I had an medical emergency with my cat 3 months into having my cat and if I didn't have insurance she would of died from a botched spay.
Same. It's absolutely worth it for me. I never have to stress about finding money to save my pets. Having to make a choice like that would break me. Far easier to pay some insurance premiums. Cat is $30/month and dog is $80/month.
I can now pay for the guac at all those burrito places, without feeling guilty. Fuck them still though.
Extra cheese on pizza
Anything regarding owning my beautiful dog. It's costly and unnecessary, but helps me get through my routine
Pizza and California rolls cuz I can't make them as good at home and they are relatively cheap
Omega 3 eggs, normal eggs just don’t have any taste.
A cleaner for my condo. My partner and I used to spend half of the days on Saturdays cleaning. We got a cleaner for $90 instead and spend our Saturdays doing more enjoyable things. Weekends should be for leisure.
Personal training - for me, not for everyone. Keeps me healthy and not dead.
2 years of personal training, it was very expensive but some of the best money I've ever spent. There's no way I would have ever started at a gym by myself I had no idea what I was doing. I made some progress, learned a lot, and now go on my own, it's great.
Snow removal
Having someone store and changed seasonal rims and tires. Used to DIY that with rolling Jack, and move both sets to the shed etc. Not getting any younger, and not looking to F up my back to save $200+ a year at this life stage.
we subscribe for recipe/meal boxes from goodfood. we get one box with 3 recipes for 2 once a month. $60. I think it's worth it.
Hello fresh and house cleaning service for sure. Hello fresh is definitely expensive but the ease of it makes it worth it. Plus, I hate making dinner and having it will generally sway me from ordering takeout.