Let's Chat | Worth the Splurge?

Often when I reading blogs (including my own!) I find some much stuff that people say is "worth the splurge."  Expensive jeans, an all natural face moisturizer, a piece of art, and so on that are "worth the splurge."  Heath and I are very guilty of this - don't get me wrong.  I take the buy-one-nice-thing-to keep-forever thing very seriously (see Starting a Collection, Stack Rings, Forever Pieces, French Five, etc.)  I just can't help it!  BUT, that mentality can get you in trouble, and you can't splurge on everything in life or you have no money to splurge on the stuff that matters to you. 

So, I'm curious, what is the splurge stuff that matters to you, and where can you take a pass? 

For me personally, Worth The Splurge...

MAID | This one is hard for me to stomach because deep down I think this is a waste, but currently it's my sanity having a maid two times a month.

ART/DECOR | I don't buy pieces often, but J.D. and I like to be intentional about what we bring in our home.  I mean it when I say I want my home to be "collected" over time.  And when I say I don't buy pieces often, I mean I may buy one piece of art and/or furniture a year.  (This is tricky to follow when you just buy a house!)

TRAVEL | it's important to me (and maybe J.D., I can't tell if he just goes along with me. :) and we're intentional about saving money for travel.  It may not be a trip every year, it may be every few years, but I like planning getaways.

DATE NIGHTS | these nights don't necessarily have to be expensive, but it's a priority around here to date each other every so often.

Grey Area for Me...

MAKEUP/COSMETICS | I can't decide if nice makeup/face stuff is important, and now that I'm getting a older, I'm wondering if my $7 Oil of Olay is cutting it!  I splurge on good enough quality makeup (love Tarte) but where I save is that I don't buy much quantity.  A new lipstick or two a season, and everything else is streamlined.  I'm not a product junkie.

CLOTHES | I love beautiful clothes and shoes like the rest of the world.  I'm always disappointed when I buy really cheap stuff - I just never wear it.  So my compromise here is buying just a few nice things each season.  My closest is truly a quality over quantity reflection.  There's a good chance I'm wearing the same outfit to book club, steak club and date night, but at least it's an outfit I love. 

Not Worth It To Me...

MANI/PEDI | sure I love them, but man they're pricy and they just don't last!  I wish I could justify this bit of pampering, but I can't unless I'm taking clients.

CAR | We aren't car snobs around here.  I would rather take a vacation any day of the year then spend money on a car.  It's not my thing, we're paid for used car types!

MISC | I'm really good about not spending random, miscellaneous money on things at Target, things I can't remember even ever buying.  I think this is because our house is small so there is no where for this miscellaneous stuff to go. (It's amazing how much money is lost on this category!)

Okay, so here's the problem, my "Not Worth the Splurge" list is really still too short, I need these to be more in balance!  What else isn't worth it to you?  What are your top splurges?

~Mary Keller

top image of Aerin Lauder's beautiful dressing room, full of splurges :)