Comments on: Your Take: Splurge on Experiences or Things?

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:14:38 +0000

They do say that but I think it depends on what you value, I would value taking a Jack Harter helicopter ride over eating the finest cereal in the land when bran flakes are bran flakes.

By: Marcie

Marcie — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:12:41 +0000

I can relate. We took the Harter helicopter ride in Kauai on our honeymoon this summer and also penny-pinched at the local grocery store, making almost all of our meals in our condo. Pennywise, pound foolish, is that what they say?

By: Chad @ Sentient Money

Chad @ Sentient Money — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:07:35 +0000

Definitely experiences. 80% of things are just useless.

By: The Conscious Snob

The Conscious Snob — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:45:11 +0000

I tend to splurge on both. My vacations are limited to one international and one domestic trip a year, so when I do go, I like to indulge. Pretty bad on the wallet. I also love to purchase high quality items, whether they are kitchen appliances to new leather high heels. It’s gotten to be a lot better as I started to educate myself about finances, savings, investments and retirement. I definitely still enjoy travel/experiences and purchase beautiful things, but I limit it and I try to make sure I have that extra money before I go out and spend it.

My old philosophy was, “while on vacation, you don’t have to budget.” Now I do.

By: fred@opc

fred@opc — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:30:36 +0000

No question: I like experiences. And I often think its a reaction to my parents’ who are definitely “stuff” people. Their house has something on every foot of every wall – furnitures, hangings, knick-knacks everywhere. They’ve had to have extra shelves installed to hold everything they’ve collected over the years. What’s more: my parents basically don’t travel. They like their house, which they’ve built to be a vacation home filled with stuff. They’ve got a pool in the backyard and are content to live in one place, doing the same things day after day.

For us, we love experiences… and we’re willing to pay for them. We just got back from the UK. While we were there we had to abandon price sanity – everything costs double, but it was worth it. How often will we get to go to the UK? When I’m old, I’ll fondly remember that experience, and I’ll have totally forgotten how much it cost.

By: Steve Olson

Steve Olson — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:12:56 +0000

When I was younger I didn’t care about stuff, I lived to experience everything. Today things have changed. I am into things more than ever. I like houses, and businesses and other assets. I buy other stuff because i am usually at home with my kids and I can’t experience as much as I used to, so I buy gadgets and projects to keep myself entertained. But as my kids grow I am sure I will return my focus to experiences.

By: Madame X

Madame X — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:14:29 +0000

I lean more towards experiences. The more stuff you have, the more space you need to store it, etc. and it just ends up dragging you down. (The exception being things that might appreciate in value, or at least retain some resale value.) My favorite expensive experience so far was spending about $100 to go swimming with dolphins in New Zealand. I highly recommend it!

By: Lance

Lance — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:15:30 +0000

I prefer (and find more meaningful) that where I splurge on experiences. A couple of years ago my wife and I skydiving. It’s an experience we’ll both remember forever. This summer we are taking our kids on a vacation out in the western US, including 4 days of whitewater rafting. It is expensive, but I think it’s something they’ll all remember for a long time to come. Do I remember the gifts I got for my last birthday, or what I gave our kids for Christmas? No, not very well. And they were things. Now, the kids all like things, because there is instant gratification. But I think the older we get the more we value the experiences in our lives.

By: jim

jim — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:51:49 +0000

I saw Aerosmith in concert once and it was an amazing show…

By: Glenn Lasher

Glenn Lasher — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:38:16 +0000

It really depends on the thing. I do collect some things (records, for instance) but I have always felt that you need to be able to use the thing that you collect in order for it to be worth collecting. Now the problem is that many record collectors have a turntable in their basement that never gets used. Mine is in my home office, and does get used.

That said, the experience counterpart to record collecting would be going to concerts. My wife likes going to concerts quite a bit, and, letting her lead on this, we have seen Ben Lee (and actually met him on the street before the show, outside the venue, totally by accident), Aerosmith, Kiss, Lenny Kravitz, Slayer, Lamb of God, and others of many genres. Each of these is a different experience, and each is an experience worth having. On one occasion, she spent several hundred dollars apiece on the tickets, and got us front centre floor seats, well worth it.

By: Sheila

Sheila — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:52:44 +0000

Hehe…I could so relate to your Wal-mart mac nut comparison shopping while planning an expensive tour.

I’m definitely a splurge on experiences person. Thats where memories are made, in my opinion.

BTW, Kauai is definitely THE island to splurge on a helicopter ride.

Happy Aloha Friday!