
Ask HN: What do you perceive as worth spending money on? - bmcnamara82
For myself, I value spending money on non-fiction books, craft beers, well designed things, and experiences with friends and family.<p>What do you believe is worth spending money on? What is the right price for some of the items you value? How do you determine this?
======
rstocker99
1) Books. A number of years ago when the startup I worked for got acquired my
wife suggested that I go out and buy myself something nice to celebrate. After
wandering around looking for something fun to buy and not finding anything
that excited me I eventually bought myself a $10 book.

2) Things that save me time and make my life more convenient. Often this means
services vs. products e.g. paying someone to do work around the house I don't
want to do. I'm a sucker for convenience.

3) Good food. Because I love to eat.

4) Experiences e.g. travel. For some reason paying for something that will
provide a lifetime of memories always seems worth it.

I'm not particularly price sensitive. If I perceive what I'm buying as worth
it I'm happy to pay. For example, if I'm buying a steak at the butcher I'll
pay more to get a really good ribeye vs. a cheaper cut.

In general I'd rather have less stuff but really enjoy what I have.

~~~
prawn
I'm similar. Convenience. Fine dining. Travel experiences.

But I'd add cookware to the list - pains me to see people struggle along with
cheap and shoddy knives, small chopping boards and weak pots and pans.

~~~
etm117
I totally agree on the knives. If you want easy brownie points I recommend
purchasing for your mother (or father if he does the cooking) a set a nice
knives for the Holidays or birthday one year. You will be a hero the first
time they cut a tomato and don't squish it.

My mother still thanks me and it has been over 6 years since I gave her a set
of Wüsthof.

~~~
prawn
Funny you should say that, because we bought a set of Wusthof-Trident for my
in-laws.

I bought mine in Germany and carted them back through China. Gives you a
special appreciation of them when you've carried heavy knives and a wood block
on your back for a couple of months to get them home!

------
danilocampos
Experiences and adventure: Blowing a pile of money to go somewhere new is
always worth it. The memories are priceless and occasionally the experience
helps me redefine what I thought possible for myself. The right price is
whatever I can scrape together to make this happen. (Trip to Europe, basic
gear for camping, a tank of gas or two for a roadtrip.)

Plus standard geek staples: iPhone, solid computer for coding, writing and
designing. Nothing surprising in the tools department.

~~~
andrewingram
I totally agree with the experiences thing. Assuming you're not saving up for
a house or something, what better thing to spend your money on than a new
experience?

A lot of people suddenly become frugal when confronted with the price tag of
an amazing holiday, but are perfectly happy blowing £50 on a night of
drinking. It always seems like a false economy to me.

~~~
div
A night of drinking is an experience as well. It may not be a 'new'
experience, but it still is. Blowing a fifty on a pair of socks is another
story.

~~~
eru
If they are superior socks. (Though going barefoot is quite cheap and a nice
experience, too.)

------
kranner
Books.

Still a fan of the dead-tree variety. It's not so much paper vs e-ink, more
that every new book is a new physical object with its own size, shape, weight
and (sometimes) smell.

~~~
srv
I absolutely love everything book-related, and have for a long, long time. But
as you say, each book is an item with its own size, shape and weight. Having
to pack the thousands of them I have amassed for moving has lead me to finally
getting a Kindle.

~~~
kranner
I know what you mean having suffered the same issue multiple times. But if I'm
going to spend quality time with a book, I still think it worthwhile to
purchase the physical version.

The digital version is good for archival and portability, but the first time
through a good book feels like it _should_ be with its most authentic
representation.

------
drblast
Anything that is an instrument of creativity. For me, this includes musical
instruments, computers, and conventional building tools.

These things are priced all over the map. At the very low end, you get crap
that ends up limiting your creativity. At the very high end, you're paying for
a name or features that might be nice to have, but not having them isn't going
to prevent you from going from amateur to pro if you want.

I buy the things in the middle of that spectrum. The sweet spot for musical
instruments seems to be about $1000, although you can arguably get by with
$500 instruments and be happy.

For computers, I buy the lowest priced one that has the features I want,
usually wireless, decent graphics card, etc. Every computer produced since
2002 has had the power to do everything I need to do, minus high-definition
video editing (nothing will ever be fast enough) and playing Starcraft 2. I
have an $800 desktop for those two things, cheap laptops running Linux for
everything else.

The best money I've spent recently was on singing lessons. Not a "thing," but
finding the right instruction for something you want to do can be extremely
valuable. For the rest of my life I'll be a better singer, which is great.

------
photon_off
I personally enjoy collecting scientific gadgets that fascinate me like a
child. I have an IR thermometer, pocket microscope (might get a USB one soon),
range-finder, digital caliper (measuring the height of a piece of paper is
surprisingly gratifying), altimiter, multimiter, scale (not as precise as I'd
like [10mg]), and weather indicator.

Eventually, I want a collection capable of measuring any attribute of anything
I come across. On my list: lightmeter, wetness-ometer, electron microscope
(when I hit it big), soundmeter, and smelloscope.

~~~
Kliment
Try this, homemade electron microscope (appears to be WIP):

<http://www.chemhacker.com/topics/stm/>

Or this, a finished, working one:

<http://sxm4.uni-muenster.de/introduction-en.html>

~~~
mechanical_fish
These are STMs, by the way, not electron microscopes.

Making an electron microscope is probably a more expensive task for the
homebrewer, because you invariably need a vacuum-proof chamber with a door
that can be opened and closed, and the pumps to evacuate it...

------
b3b0p
First, I really (really) enjoy spending money on other people, especially
those important to me (friends and family). When it's a surprise it's even
more fun! I love to see their face light up when they least expect. Great
feeling.

Now, if we are talking about items for myself, not necessarily of great
importance, I do indulge on certain things, but I have rules.

I have no problem spending money on well designed items that look, feel, and
function properly with the quality I desire. Examples include Macbook Pro with
Mac OS X, Apple Cinema Display, Water Field Designs Muzetto and I'll tell you
why.

First, the Macbook Pro. I used to do Linux as my platform of choice, loved the
whole idea of open source, freedom, the platform, the options, and it's
abilities. However, I would spend countless hours gettings thing like sleep /
hibernate working on my laptop, wireless card setup correctly, tweaking my
Fluxbox settings, among other things. It got the point I started to really
value my time spent working (this was before I actually had a career) and
doing other things I enjoyed. I didn't have much desire to use Windows for my
main system, so I grudgingly invested in my first Apple, a Macbook Pro v1. It
was hotter than heck, but I loved it. Things worked! Wireless! Video! And most
important to me was sleep and hibernate were flawless! it was amazing.

For the Apple Cinema Display, you wouldn't think it would be that big a deal,
but it made my desk nearly clear of cables now and the extra power connector
made it worth every cent. This is the 24". Since I have this nice display now,
I had now qualms purchasing the 13" Macbook Pro this time with it's smaller
screen (and price). I love the portability of this little guy and not having
to take out the power supply and just keep it in my bag, pure luxury. The
screen is gorgous too!. My other display is a Dell U2711, I have delegated it
video games.

Finally, the bag, as many call it, a nearly $300 man purse, the Water Field
Designs Muzetto (with sleeve of course). Quite simply the most beautiful bag I
have ever owned or seen. I love it to death. It looks great, feels like a
tank, is easy to just pick up and go. It gets a little cramped with my iPad,
power supply, and Macbook Pro, but that's good otherwise I would jam it full
of excess items. It forces me to travel lite. I got the cream. It attracts all
sorts of people and I get comments almost everytime I'm out and about with it.

That got a little long, so I'll leave it at that.

~~~
patrickaljord
Ubuntu user here. Wireless, video, sleep and hibernate work too and I never
spend time tweaking anything.

~~~
metamemetics
Just spent a lot of time today tweaking ubuntu 10.04 to work with intel
wireless :/ Also the proprietary ATI graphics drivers the OS recommended I
installed caused all sorts of problems with sleep\hibernate\freezing. Not
really a linux problem as the default non-proprietary drivers I switched back
to actually work great, but the OS did literally give me an icon reminder
telling me to do what caused the problem. Also the battery on my laptop lasts
half as long as it does in win7\cygwin.... so more tweaking ahead...

edit: on the plus side I love Gnome DO.... I can't believe I found something
better than win7 start autocomplete or OSX Spotlight...

~~~
auxbuss
Gnome Do is a little treasure that needs as much exposure as it can get. It
completely changes one's interaction with the OS. No more hunting around for
apps in the menus. No more using the menus. Reduced use of the mouse.

Gnome Do is an all round boost to productivity.

------
marcuswestin
For anything that you spend more than an hour per day doing, get the very best
that your money can buy you. This probably includes

\- your bed

\- your desk setup if you work at one, including the chair

\- food

\- the people closest to you (roommates, family)

------
sosuke
I enjoy spending money on things that will help me make more money or save
money. Home entertainment saves me from spending money out and good computer
hardware helps me develop faster, dual monitors, test hardware all help me
make money.

I have a real hard time buying stuff that doesn't fall into those two
categories for myself.

------
jasonkester
I tend to lean toward spending on Experiences rather than Possessions. That
said, there are certain classes of Possession that can really make your life
better if you buy the best.

Always buy the best:

\- Kitchen Knives

\- Development tools

\- Toilet Paper

All the above can be skimped on, but they'll make you unhappy. I've spent
enough of my life sawing onions in half with a squirrelly 99 cent Ginsu clone,
trying to get Eclipse to autocomplete _anything at all_ and letting roommates
bring home a 60 pack of Welfare Brand Flims-E-Paper. Now that I've got two
dimes to rub together, all that stuff is a thing of the past.

~~~
akgerber
I get the impression that there are a lot of unnecessarily expensive kitchen
knives out there. Professional cooks spend all day using a knife & most of
them use some knife that cost maybe $25 at the restaurant supply store.

~~~
modoc
My brother-in-law is a chef and he, and almost all of his chef/sous chef
friends all have pretty impressive knife collections they bring with them to
the job each day. Primarily Japanese knives, purchased one at a time as they
save up the money.

While prep cooks will use stock kitchen knives, most chefs will use their own
tools, which tend to be pretty expensive.

------
aspir
I've discovered that opting for higher quality foods (not gourmet or a 100%
organic diet, just slightly better than spam/ramen) is well worth the results
in regards to short term energy and health. Let alone long term health. I just
feel better with fresher fruits and vegetables and quality grains and meats. I
used to swear by ramen, but buying cut rate flour noodles and stock separately
is nearly as cheap, and I'm noticeable healthier. GIGO for meatspace,
essentially.

------
zavulon
1) Gifts for loved ones 2) Things that make my life easier 3) Things that
bring me joy

Roughly in this order of priority ...

~~~
Zev
I opened the thread to say just this, in a much less succinct fashion. I like
your version much more.

------
djm
Here are a few of my handy tips to help you decide whether you should go ahead
and buy that new X:

(1) Think about cost in terms of the work you had to do to buy it, not just
the sale price. You are (most often) buying X with post-tax income so add your
tax back on.

(2) Think about the opportunity cost of making the purchase, or "what can't I
afford if I buy X?"

(3) Consider whether you are just buying X because it is a status object and
whether there is a cheaper alternative (do you really need that merc when you
can get from a->b in a honda? and so on).

In choosing what things are important to spend money on I'd generally echo
others comments - people looking back over their lifetimes tend to value
experiences they had more than junk they bought so spend your money buying
experiences.

~~~
irishman_irl
I like my BMW 5 series as I am a driver at heart. To me driving a well
designed car like, with a 1000 tiny well thought out performance tweaks is an
experience I enjoy every day.

Having struggled with noisy, underpowered, no fun, front wheel drive Toyota's
& Hondas for years I would be hard pressed to give this up.

However if you just buy something like this for the badge, you need your head
examined.

------
liljimmytables
"What is the right price for some of the items you value?" This question has
changed its meaning for me in recent months, as I'm saving up to fund some
{pre-,}incubation work in the new year. Ordinary things like "a shiny new
phone" through to "getting the roof fixed" are now being framed in terms of a
week's work at minimum wage. So far there have been very few things as
important as a week's work, and as a result the things I love are being
fulfilled in slightly strange ways. I now know a whole load about quality
homebrewing. My music collection is filling out with all the albums I never
got around to buying in my teens (thank you, charity shops). And buying new
gadgets has been replaced with writing a few apps and revving the firmware.
It's made me more aware that I don't really want _that_ book or _that_ device,
but that I will be content with anything that stimulates me and makes me feel
richer in the areas I care about. And on the whole, "you could do a week's
work for that" has been the perfect whip to keep my tech covetousness at bay.

If this post reads smug or pious it wasn't my intention, you can bet I will be
right off the wagon as soon as the new project is up and running...

------
jobeyonekenobi
Books - yes, the physical kind. Although this has to be calmed down a bit,
because I can only get through about 2 a week, but they make me feel very
wealthy indeed.

Food - We have an excellent butchers in the town, and it's game season, so I
am looking forward to getting a brace of Partridge and cooking something up.

Travel - it really does expand the mind. I did not realise how educated I had
become from being 'dragged' away 5 times a year by my Mum. Even if I can only
go 100 miles away for a weekend, it's still wonderful.

And the deviation from everything else I have read so far on here:

Exercise: I really value the money I spent on my MTB. I love my Bouldering
gear (shoes, crash mat and chalk really), and I wouldn't be without going to
Muay Thai twice a week. Doing all of this makes me feel like I have more of a
rounded life - Yeah, I get to be sedentary for 14 hours at a time tweeking
stuff on various VM's, but I also get to test my body to (what feels like) its
limits, and I get physical camaraderie from the boxing, or the biking that
just isn't the same from a book.

------
SkyMarshal
Knowledge, relationships, experiences, health.

Eg, books, education, travel, new skills (be it Haskell, spelunking, or
Spanish), good times with friends, family, and significant others, etc. And
good health makes it all possible (or rather prevents it from becoming
impossible).

Things, only insofar as they facilitate the above, but not for the sake of
having 'cool' stuff or the latest 'must have' gadget.

------
elblanco
1) Something I need. Clothes, house, food. I try not to skimp on those things,
I buy decent clothes, eat good food, live in a nice house. I always know that
if times are tough, I can scale these back easily, but these things always get
paid for first.

2) Something I want, but only if it performs its principle function correctly,
operates reliably, and is cost effective. I'll buy a Honda over any Mercedes
for example. (I could cars in this category even though I need one for
transport because I could always go el cheapo used car for my actual _needs_
).

3) If I have time or opportunity, luxury items, but only one or two per year
-- they don't have to conform too tightly to the cost effective idea but I
_have_ to make sure I can use it. If I buy it and have no time to mess with
it, then it's a waste. These usually take the form of travel once or twice a
year.

------
trouble
I think it’s worth spending money on travel, but the amount is determined by
how long I have to stay in one place to afford a trip. If a trip to Europe
means I have to save up for two years beforehand, chances are I’ll take it off
my priority list in favour of less-costly trips that mean I can take time off
my job every three or four months.

Other things I believe in spending money on include education (although I do
think that my university fees are unfairly high), good food, make-up and shoes
(makes a big difference to how I am treated by others, unfortunately),
kitchenware that lasts forever, a laptop and phone that work without causing
me to stress, and bright, colourful things that make me happy. I also like
shiny things but the price is normally too high compared to how much I like
them.

------
tlrobinson
Definitely not "stuff". This pg essay really resonates with me:
<http://www.paulgraham.com/stuff.html>

I've found my attitude changing from "can I afford this?" to "do I really want
to be burdened by this object"

During my last move I put _everything_ own into a storage unit, and cherry-
pick the few things I actually need/want as I need them. Next time I move I'm
going to get rid everything left in storage. I figure if it's been in storage
for that long I probably won't ever need it.

Incidentally, this is exactly the same strategy I take with my computer. Once
or twice a year I'll backup everything, reformat, and only copy back over what
I need, as I need it.

------
nirajr
My basic thumb rule is, does a spend now help the cause of my larger plan in
life, or goes against it. So, spending on a new experience would make more
sense for me than saving that money and investing it into something, as I've
figured out that my experiences have been my biggest investments.

The question is how to make an objective judgement on whether a spend is
beneficial in terms of the larger plan or not. For myself, I have learnt to do
it over time, and know where to draw the line. (Not that I don't make on the
spur expenses, but have noticed that these days, my thumb rules applies itself
'in the background' even when I am making an on the spur purchase)

------
lotharbot
1) Tools -- must have a high ratio of time or annoyance saved vs. cost. For
example, quality kitchen tools that will make cooking easier every day for the
next 20 years are worth spending a bit of money on.

2) Games/entertainment -- must give me a lot of hours of fun for a low hourly
cost (like 50 cents an hour or better.) Video games that I'm going to play to
death fall into this category; movies at the theater do not.

3) Family -- I'm willing to give up an awful lot of money so my son can grow
up with his grandparents (and great grandparents) around, and so I can hang
out with my brothers and sisters as they all grow up and start families.

------
qq66
Rent - I need a great place to come back home to. Food - fresh, high quality
food improves my life a lot. Car - my 30 30 square feet of personal space that
I can transport to wherever I want.

------
kbob
A Pagani Zonda.

------
achompas
Travel. Going out with friends and dates. Fresh, locally raised food. A good
pair of leather shoes.

Oh, and that copy of Snow Leopard required to grab the iOS SDK. =/

------
sachitgupta
I just graduated and started a full-time job, so I've been dealing with this
because I want to save as much as possible. Here's what I've spent money on:

Technology - phone, iPad. Bed, desk chair, food.

On the flip side, I've also been getting rid of everything I don't need or
haven't used in the last 6 months (100 Things Challenge). My motto: own less
and only things you need, but for those, buy the best quality.

------
kia
For me my health (both physical and mental) is the most important thing so i
spend money on things that make me healthier and happier.

------
paolomaffei
Clothes (got a consulting biz), a dell 30' + 13' macbook pro, my dog (food and
veterinary) I found that traveling with couchsourfing is both cheaper and more
FUN actually And then I try to invest whatever I make in new ideas, websites -
always trying to get the passive income higher since I pretty much only have
active one now.

------
lazyjeff
One thing that people here haven't mentioned: Good furniture -- costs pennies
per day, is there waiting for you after a long day, makes your place
aesthetically pleasing, allows you to entertain guests, and you can sell it
for at least half the price when you're done with it.

------
Shakattack
1) Technology - Quality speakers, nice monitors, computers, etc

2) Good pair of running shoes and a tennis racket

3) Food - Not often, but nice restaurants when I can

Other then that, I don't care as much about what I drive, what I live in, etc.
I do care - but as long as I'm living in an interesting city I'll be fine.

------
roadnottaken
I try not to spend money on things that will result in watching more TV.
Things like cable, DVR, etc. I want some of these things, but I feel like this
sort of spending results in lower life-happiness which is the opposite of what
you want from spending money.

------
tomh-
I spent either money on good memorable experiences (dinners, traveling,
friends etc), entertainment (movies, games) or investments in
products/services which will earn back their value (books, courses, hosting
etc)

------
ryne
Concerts/shows. I rarely buy music but I still want to support the artists I
like and its a great experience. I tend not to go to shows that only sell via
Ticketmaster or are exorbitantly priced.

------
kloc
I see a trend here. Good food. On loved ones. Gadgets.Books.( All same for me
too). Wonder what people here would spend on if they had 10 times the money
they have now.

~~~
exit
spend it on not spending time working on idiotic shit

~~~
div
ah, to be free from the rat race

------
cromulent
Health insurance, and life insurance (I have dependents).

------
dglassan
ditto on the craft beers and non-fiction books. I spend money going out with
friends every weekend to have a great time. I guess it's just a gut feeling,
if I believe something is worth the price, I'll spend the money on it.
Sometimes I'm wrong and pay too much for something that's not that valuable,
but other times I feel like I purchase things at a great price that offer me a
lot

~~~
aspir
I agree. Sometimes being miserly just isn't worth it. It's a good way to
alienate people if done poorly. It also begs the question of "What are you
saving up for in particular?" If it's for a house payment or a large long term
goal or to keep a balanced budget that's one thing; but if it's to simply save
for saving's sake alone without an objective, it can become oppressive. It did
for me, that is.

------
andywood
Good food, good neighborhood, books, hobbies. Or put another way - health,
mental health, personal development, and fun.

------
imp
Gym membership, books, GeekDesk, services that save me time (doggy daycare,
gutter cleaner, etc.).

------
pugil
Better than what I should ask when. When the time is appropriate. When I feel
like of it.

------
josefresco
My kids and their future.

------
fezzl
Food: meals and snacks.

------
timcederman
Friends, food, travel.

------
known
Gold and real estate.

~~~
ashconnor
An interesting life if ever I saw one...

------
petervandijck
A house that I own.

------
siculars
right now, not much.

------
lotusleaf1987
1\. experiences--vacations/trips 2\. quality food 3\. house/apartment 4\.
possessions I enjoy having nice things, but fewer of them. I like to spend my
money on things that I imagine my grandkids would fight over. But really, I
think vacations and memories are a much better investment in the long haul. I
don't buy things unless I think it's something I will still want in another
year, or hopefully two or more. Eating healthy costs more, but without a doubt
I think it's worthwhile to pay more to eat organic/local foods. Living in a
place you feel comfortable and happy to be at is also very rewarding, just do
the extra work to find a deal.

------
davj
Spend money on things you need. If you want it, and need it, w00t!

------
startupCurious
This is a fully loaded question!!

"What is the right price of some of the items you value" --> India has double
digit inflation right now.Not of much significance to people on HN,the cost of
certain food items has doubled in India, over the last couple of years!

Have been recommended to read "Wealth of Nations",Adam Smith, have the
book,but havent got around doing that.

Maslow's heirarchy of needs( Google it) ,is a good rule of the thumb- which
determines what your needs would be, depending on which "level" you are.

