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| The Basics | 10 more splurges to spoil yourself with
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Readers respond to my '10 little luxuries' column with their own ideas on how to pamper yourself without breaking the bank, from day spas to lawn service.
By Liz Pulliam Weston
Our ideas about how to spend our money seem as individual as our fingerprints. Yet my ruminations about "10 little luxuries worth every penny" struck a chord with a lot of readers.
Many of you sent e-mails commenting on my list of favorite splurges and offered some of your own. For even more suggestions, I turned again to the posters on the Your Money message board -- a group that on the whole is pretty careful with money, but not afraid to spend where it counts.
I'll make the same caveat I did last time: Not all of these ideas will fit every budget. If money is tight right now or you're saving for a particular goal, you might be cutting back in the very areas where others are splurging. Keep to your own path and perhaps tuck these ideas aside for future days when cash is flowing more freely in your life.
Lawn service
I mentioned housecleaning and tax preparation as good deals for the money, but Tony Lucchesi of Riverside, Calif., has another service he wouldn't give up: his lawn guy.
"I live on a half acre of land and have lawn in the front and back yards," Lucchesi said. "When I was young, I was able to cut both in one day."
As he got a little older, the one-day chore turned into two. Lucchesi decided life was too short and outsourced the job to a service that charges $65 a month to mow both yards, trim the bushes and pick up the occasional bonus left by the dog.
"I think that this kind of service helps resolve your time crunch," Lucchesi said, helping him get to his other chores on the weekends.
A thought: If lawn services aren't quite so cheap in your neighborhood, consider hiring a responsible teenager to do the job.
Broadband
This wasn't on my list, because I now take zippy Internet access for granted. But the number of folks who mentioned their cable modems or DSL lines as money well spent tells me that this "luxury" quickly becomes a near-necessity once you have it.
The spa day
Several women -- and one guy -- nominated their local day spas as being worth the money. Some get massages, others facials and some, like Raena Grant of Grand Rapids, Mich., get it all.
"I'm usually a cheapskate," Grant confessed, "but at least once a year, I splurge on a spa day trip. It's a day of manicures, pedicures and facials."
If you want to relax with your sweetie, Mark Kidd of Allen Park, Mich., has another suggestion.
"About once a month, we drive about a half hour to Ann Arbor and rent a hot tub for an hour," Kidd wrote. "It's a great stress release, and a nice option for anyone who doesn't own one."
If money's really tight, Bernard Duerr of Seattle recommends looking for a local school that trains massage therapists.
"In Seattle, a one-hour massage is only $30 at the Ashmead College Student Clinic," Duerr said. "The student practitioners are in their final two terms of school and have completed nearly 400 hours of massage training . . . (the school also offers) one-hour spa treatments for $45."
Professional hair care
When it comes to personal care, getting a professional manicure and pedicure are at the top of many women's lists. Peggy Harkness of Columbia, Md., nominates another splurge she wouldn't do without: "Having your hair professionally colored."
"It is my own luxury," she wrote, quickly amending "luxury" to "necessity."
Better food
Andrew Nuxoll didn't think much of my penchant for valet service; the Ann Arbor resident splurges in another way.
"I can't believe you've left organic food off of your '10 little luxuries worth every penny' article," Nuxoll said. "I've used valet parking. It's not nearly as worth it as food that tastes three times better than Safeway."
On the Your Money board poster "whycantyousimplifythis" votes for flavored pasta and packaged salads as favorite splurges.
"As I ate my salad of mixed greens, radishes, snow peas, carrots and cabbage, my father made a snide comment about the preserved age of my commercial salad, my generation and his homegrown garden produce," the poster wrote. "I replied that it is December, and nothing is growing in his garden right now, and for (less than) 33 cents a serving and 10 seconds, I had a salad I did not have to plant, grow, harvest, wash or chop. My mother, who has cooked every meal of my father's for 50 years, had that 'Amen' spark in her eyes."
Another TiVo -- or two, or three
In the previous article, I waxed rhapsodic about my digital video recorder, as we TiVo owners are wont to do. Tom Leipelt of Santa Clara, Calif., shares my love of this device, which allows you to pause live television, skip commercials and record a season's worth of shows with virtually no effort. In fact, Leipelt may be even more of a fan.
"My mother-in-law bought us Direct TV (satellite television service with) TiVo two years ago as a Christmas present," Leipelt wrote. "Our first reaction was, 'what in the (heck) do we need this . . . it can't be useful because it's coming from my mother-in-law!!!' Boy, was I dead wrong. We now have three TiVos around the house. We even have one in our boy's playroom for all of their children shows. Go TiVo!!!!!"
In-car entertainment
"IlluminatedCringle" posted about a recent splurge: "Buying a $29,000 DVD player (OK, so the van came with it)." While the older generation may tsk-tsk, they've obviously forgotten how tough it can be to keep the shorties from squabbling on long car trips.
You don't even have to invest in a new car. You can find plenty of portable DVD players now that strap onto car seats for less than $200.
The good seats
If you love concerts, plays and operas, the usual tightwad strategy is to "rush" -- show up at the box office and see if there are any last-minute seats that have been marked down. You get to see the performance, although typically from "the third balcony behind the stage," as poster "penolfare" wrote on the Your Money board.
That's why penolfare recently decided to ante up.
"I have been wanting to experience the shows from the orchestra seats, so my splurge was for the expensive seats to see Yo-Yo Ma next spring," penolfare wrote. "It gives me something to look forward to and the price ($80) is not something I normally would be willing to spend."
Vacation property
The rich may have second homes in Antigua and Fiji, but all it takes to make "len101" happy is a little chunk of land with a fifth-wheel trailer about a two-hour drive from his home.
"We are avid campers and outdoors people, (but) with the price of gas etc., it became harder and harder to go camping anytime we wanted," len101 posted. "We can now go to 'R-hill' anytime; we never have to worry about camp spaces (being) available when we arrive. Because we save on gas and site fees, the monthly payment is just about taken care of. . . . By the time we retire we will have a well, power (solar and wind) and septic system, as well as the land, all free and clear."
Warmth
I was struck by how many message board posters equated being toasty with luxury. Whether it's down comforters, long hot baths or cranking up the thermostat, people wanted to be warm.
"I would rather pinch pennies just about anywhere else and have a toasty warm house that costs me a little more on my electric bill," "hillyw" posted. "Unfortunately, (my husband) would never let me get away with 72 degrees in the winter, not because he's cheap, but just because he's always warmer than I am! So my alternate little luxury: cozy warm pajamas and slippers!"
Liz Pulliam Weston's column appears every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions in the Your Money message board.
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