spending it while we can

A question about : spending it while we can

I want to get away from the ski-ing idea, when spending is lavish and deliberately anti inheritance. We have lifelong savings and I have spent on various `good` items during the past year. Items I could have done without but want now, to enjoy while I can

First off was a new better sewing machine. Not the top of the range singing dancing type but a really good solid bernina that doesn`t put a foot wrong

Then a babylock coverstititch machine to match my babylock overlocker. None essential but by golly it helps me make well finished clothes for me and my hubbie

My hubbie needed a new cycle so I have been through the whole process with him and have persuaded him to have a ferrari of bikes, one fitted to him that floats over the lumpy roads. Great to see him so looking forward to it, his riding 70 miles at a time helps his heart condition and gives him a great social circle

We eat raw food at times and make nut milks etc so I decided yesterday to actually get the very high powered machine that I have been wanting for years. A vitamix, now ordered and the best one at that

I wanted a good new spinning wheel last spring, a majacraft. So I bought one and it sings so sweetly and is in use a lot. I already have two other wheels, one very old one which I renovated and a new one that packs into a bag for travelling, so the majacraft wasn`t essential but is a dream

Knitting needles, a simple thing like that. I bought carbonz and topped up my lantern moon needles. My old metal ones went to a charity shop

Best answers:

• I don't see ski-ing as frivolous spending, it's not in me after a lifetime of having to count every penny.
  However, we enjoy travelling and I feel I can only survive as long as I see my gorgeous boys in the USA about three times a year. We will continue as long as we have our health.
  Anyway, after giving both kids a good start and help now when need, they are more than happy for us to enjoy life.
• My husband loves his photography and recently upgraded to a new Canon 7D and also bought some new lenses. I then encouraged him to buy an AppleMac Pro to store his photos on.
  I haven't decided what I would like, although I have just bought a Pandora watch that I took a fancy to.
  My DH gets very frustrated with me because I find spending money difficult, as I really don't know what I would like (although I love spending on DH).
  At the moment my DH is pestering me for a Christmas List, but I don't know what to put on it
  I find spending on myself very difficult, and when I do buy anything I feel guilty
• I think after always putting others first it is hard to spend money on ourselves. I can't really think of a single thing I actually want for myself now.
  However, you can't take it with you so we go travelling as much as possible and I'm getting some new stuff for the house.
  I want O/H to get a decent car too but he's still of the mindset that if our old one still goes, it's fine.
  It's 15 years old...!
• I don't have any kids, so the inheritance thing isn't an issue.
  But we have saved money for retirement - if all gets to plan we should stop work within the next two years.
  I'll be 55 at that point, and want to spend the money on holidays while I'm healthy enough to be able to do long haul travel. We'll buy a new car before we stop work too, so that'll be another expenditure.
  But if a person has the money, wants something, whether it's big or small, and they can afford it, I think they should go for it while they are in a position to get enjoyment out of it.
  Old age and failing health will catch up with us all in the end, so I think it is important not to delay purchases for too long.
  Also, I think people can get a saving mindset, and when the time comes for expenditure, they find it difficult to let go of the money. In fact I know people who won't spend anything, claiming poverty, when I know for a fact they have hundreds of thousands in the bank.
  They say the best things in life are free, and it is true that having a good time doesn't have to cost money, but sometimes spending a bit of dosh can make things even better.
• I agree with all above, I have kids, they really do not need my money, on the other hand there is nothing I really want or need, so have taken to a sort of "bucket list" and visit places in UK I have never seen, it was Hadrian's wall this year
  I am ex RN, so have seen the world, but realised there are many places in UK I have never seen, Bath in 2014 maybe?
• We've spent more this year than we ever did spend.
  First off, I realised some of my investments at the start of the year to pay for reduction mammoplasty in the local Spire hospital. That cost Ј5 1/2 K. That was February.
  Next, we had a very enjoyable but no-expense-spared holiday in the western Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. That was in June.
  In August we had the pond completely re-done, a hard liner put in to replace the one that leaked and turned into a mud puddle, paving right round and looking lovely.
  Just 3 weeks ago we flew from the local airport, the one highlighted in the Stobart TV programmes, for a few days in Alicante. We stayed in the 5* Hotel Amerigo in Alicante old town. We thoroughly enjoyed it. In just a few days I learned the basic few words of Spanish, enough to say hello, good day, goodbye, please, thank you, una naranja por favor and donde esta la playa, por favor. I like the Spanish people. I found them less stand-offish than the French. Very civilised people and I liked their way of life. We spent ages just sitting on the Explanada de Espana just watching the world go by, but that's what the Spanish also seem to like doing, or just walking up and down.
  Flying by easyJet 'cattle class' is something else though. DH can't be jammed in because he needs space for his left leg, and nor can he walk very far. We got help on the return flight, thankfully. But travelling like that is a no-no for us, really.
  We're going away for a couple of nights at New Year, DH found a 'deal' with Premier Inn 1st and 2nd Jan, in Blackpool. As for Christmas, I'm planning to cook a venison stew with red wine and herb dumplings. The next thing we're planning is to go to Switzerland next summer, but that will be our favoured mode of travel - driving.
  DH and I have decided to live while we still can, (1) while we're still mobile and (2) while we can still afford it. The investments I cashed earlier in the year have almost grown back to where they were, and I've helped some of the young ones a little bit.
  For me, I have the funny feeling of time running out, time speeding up, like sand running through an egg-timer. I can't believe that just 3 weeks ago we were off to Alicante. It seems no time at all.
• [QUOTE=margaretclare;63810595
  For me, I have the funny feeling of time running out, time speeding up, like sand running through an egg-timer. I can't believe that just 3 weeks ago we were off to Alicante. It seems no time at all.[/QUOTE]
  I have just the same feeling, a weird sense of time going by faster and faster. I am loving the moment these days, no point in looking too far ahead as what will be will be
  We are home by ourselves for christmas too and very much by choice. We have told the children that this is the time for them to be at home with their own families. We will see them all at our house on the 28th and I will prepare a liverpool scouse with crusty hm bread and pickled red cabbage. Everything I need is in and red cabbage is made. Deserts from lakeland, lol the ones that can be heated and poured into little dishes and/or frozen yoghurt quickly made in my ice cream maker. I have no intention of going mad or getting shattered. The days of everyone at ours and dh and me being run ragged are over and I have gained the ability to say no, one of the benefits of getting older
  Iris that weather station is brilliant, we look at it several times a day
  I have just had another waitrose order delivered. I only spend just over the Ј50 but it saves so much time and I like armchair shopping
• We have savings but I won't save any more than we already have as, when the time comes, we will downsize probably. It would be nice to leave money to my grown up children, not least if it enables them to retire at a reasonable age like we did but I doubt that will happen as, rightly or wrongly, I fully expect to have to fund my/our care in old age.
  There are some things I would like to spend money on, in this house, but common sense tells me not to as we probably won't get our money back when we sell. It's a difficult decision as I know we will get the benefit while we are still here, so undecided at the moment.
  I wouldn't go out and spend money for the sake of it, not in my nature but I don't hold back if I want something. Lots of our retired friends travel all over the world. We hate flying and limit ourselves to the occasional city break here or in Europe.
• I think I would spend to 'get the benefit while we're still here' as you put it.
  I also continue saving because we simply do not know what's around the corner and what we may need. I wouldn't have been able to contemplate that private surgery if I hadn't had some savings, and I've never regretted it for one moment.
• Likewise . We save in order to fly to the USA to see the grandsons.
  We don't go into longterm savings, as MC said, who knows what's round the corner.
• I don't think we do frivolous spending either (I thought the SKI-ing acronym was tongue in cheek anyway?). Most of what we spend is on our home to make it more comfortable, or on modest (as in the UK with friends) holidays. We mainly use money we earn from petsitting for this, or money earmarked for the purpose. The new kitchen we have just had was from IKEA and on interest-free credit, so we are actually paying for it out of income.
  We did buy a much newer car, but our old one was 17 years old and had done over a quarter of a million miles!
  We gave our son Ј25k as a deposit for his flat. This was from the sale of our Spanish house.
  We still have a good inheritance for him (house and savings) and do not go into long-term savings.
• Well, it sounds to me that all your purchases, although not strictly speaking necessary, are still very much thought about, not impulse buys and most importantly of all, you enjoy them! We are also splashing out on a holiday this year with OH. We've been married for over 20yrs and this is the first time when it's just us going on holiday with no other agenda to visit friends, family or any other business. We're in our late 40's - both in good jobs, have some savings but they are earning rubbish interest. We've been looking for a house to buy but not been lucky enough to have an offer accepted yet (sealed bids, etc...) so thought - sod it, let's enjoy ourselves for a change!
  Oops, I just noticed that I don't quite qualify as an over 50 yet... the title was so captivating didn't realise ....
• lol mrs z, you are wishing your life away. I think those of us in our middle 60s + have a slightly different viewpoint and it doesn`t matter to us that purchases are not strictly necessary. As Margaret said, time is moving on faster and faster so personally, I am purchasing to enjoy, they do not have to be essential any more but making life easier is a bonus of course
  I have been revamping some of my kitchen stores today and have got rid of dried beans and grains, I would have passed them on but they are just out of date anyway. I am using tinned beans these days and hang the expense I am well into raw food and love many of the recipes while still enjoying hot cooked meals and soups, meat and fish, so today I ordered the few items that I wanted. Razz cherries, now they are horrendously expensive but we enjoy just a counted few on our hm granola breakfasts. I have 8 trays of granola in my dehydrator at the moment: jumbo oats, spelt flakes, soaked almonds, goji berries, dried sprouted flax, honey, cacoa nibs, a little coconut oil and a small mount of water. All mixed well and dehydrated at 105 degrees for about 12 hours. Yummy served with hm hemp milk. Oops I am off on a tangent but trying to explain how we use raw food like hulled hemp seeds. The ingredients are not cheap to buy but work out cheaply enough over time.
  Nothing to buy on the horizon at the moment, just lots of fruit and green veggies for hm smoothies and tbh they are expensive enough
• It really IS essential to live while we can, live life to the full.
  DH has just had a phone call from his cousin's son, one of his first cousins who has been battling against acute myeloid leukaemia for the last 3 years starting in August 2010, died last evening. He has really had all the treatment that was possible up to recently, has been so brave. They grew up together as lads - cousin a year younger than DH. Funeral is tomorrow afternoon. I'm not going. I have the perfect excuse - the dreaded lurgy, cold in my throat descended into my bronchial tubes and I wouldn't be very popular going there spreading my germs all around. DH has often said, if that had been him, he wouldn't have gone through repeat and repeat courses of chemo, he'd have said 'enough is enough, let's go off and enjoy ourselves for the time we have left'. I think his cousin's wife would not have been of that mind, though.
• That's really sad MargaretClare.
  If only we knew what life holds for us, then we could cram in as much as possible.
  I never used to think about death, but since reaching SPA I often wonder what is in store for us.
  We are both very fit (although DH did have a replacement hip 6 years ago), so I think we better get on and enjoy ourselves before it's too late.
  Hope you soon get better MC.