Sensible investments

Outside the stock market & Co

@Staatsmann asked last week where basic needs end and luxury begins. I thought about this a little and asked myself when I really allow myself luxuries in life and whether the money is invested wisely.

I generally live relatively frugally, which is why every (luxury) expense gnaws at me 😅. For example, when my wife wants to order dinner again and I could actually cook something. Maybe my cooking skills are too poor and I should invest in a cooking course! Or when my wife wants to go on vacation again and I think it's nice to be at home. We go anyway, of course. After all, I'm happy when my wife is happy.

I would describe myself as a moderate techie. I like owning technology. But the days when I had to have the latest cell phone every two years are fortunately over. I currently treat myself to the previous year's model on the smartphone market about every 3 years. I can easily reconcile that with my conscience. Some people might still describe the 30k new car as luxury, but even here we drive with $005380 (Hyundai) is relatively economical. I usually buy my groceries at Rewe and whatever I feel like. I consciously allow myself this luxury. Wow, did I really just call food a luxury 🤯? Again, I would mainly drink water from the tap. But my wife always makes me carry crates 😁.

A really sensible luxury expense, which I think is much more sensible than any vacation, was the 1 bed room in the hospital for my 1 year old daughter. It cost around 1,000 euros in total, but it was worth the extra peace and quiet. I would do it again at any time.

What about you? What do you like to spend money on? What were sensible investments for you, even if your savings rate suffers? What do you consciously do without? And what is perhaps the game changer that everyone should own / invest in?