When did you go way over budget but not regret it

[JaceLancs]

Have there been occasions when you have spent much more than you should but looking back are glad that you did?
In the 90s I was a struggling lone parent on benefits and splashed out on a small fibre optic Xmas tree - they were quite new back then
My small DC were enthralled with it - it’s still going strong nearly 30 years later and still gives us pleasure

Another time I blew most of my pitiful weekly income on some antique China - it still has pride of place on my shelves and is worth 10 x what I paid for it

I spent a ridiculous amount of money to see one of my favourite bands play at their last night. Don’t regret it in the slightest! It makes being frugal and sensible the rest of the time worthwhile, because it meant I could do it without denying any other finances.

This year's summer holiday. Booked Feb 2019. I'll have had at least 2 years excitement of looking forward to it. At least...

Barbour parka jacket. £270. Bloody warm and waterproof - had no idea how many walks I'd go on this year. It's all we've been able to do after all!

I like nice things. I’ve never regretted occasions when I’ve splashed out. A couple of times I’ve walked away from things I really liked because they were too expensive, and regretted it ever since.

GHDs. Expensive but worth it. Had mine 12 years.

Trip to Europe. We're in Australia so it's a huge expense. Travel agent stuffed up dates & we had to stay an extra 10 days. Cost a lot more, was very stressful, but we added a couple more countries on & are eternally grateful it happened.

It taught me how to book my own trave, tool. Never needed an agent since!

My wedding. Spent more than double what we’d planned but it was worth every single penny. It was absolutely beautiful and we had so much fun, and so did everyone else

My house. Our budget was x and we went waaaay over. Potentially dangerously so. But it worked out for us and turned out to be a great investment.

Our house. We pushed our budget right to the limit. We were looking at around £230k but this was £245k. The sellers accepted £240k. I was annoyed with DH originally for finding it and for making me go and view it. But it is our perfect forever home. We won't have to move from here until we want to downsize. It's in a lovely area, we have lovely neighbours (I know that can change) and it felt like home from day 1. The monthly mortgage made our finances tight. But I quickly got a promotion after we moved here and so has Dh. So it's much easier now. I realise how lucky we are that it all worked out ok.

I spent a small fortune on my wedding. I had designer dress, got married in a castle with 2 horse drawn carriages, 1 for me and page boy and 1 for bridesmaids, a medevil banqueting suite for reception and a sit-down feast for 121. Evening reception for 180 with good, live band and DJ. I don't regret a penny. I have the most wonderful memories and photos.

On a horse box.. the new shiny one was too tempting and I spent double my original budget! Oops..

I spent triple my budget on a basic Europe holiday but had such a great time I could never regret it. Memories are always worth more than money/belongings to me.

A piece of clothing in the 1990s when I was really hard up, with small children and stuck in an abusive marriage. It was versatile and did for work, rest and play, and every time I put it on I felt like a person rather than a downtrodden Mum. I wore it for years till it fell to pieces.

(Thanks Mum for financing that. I know you were horrified that I spent the whole of your very generous gift on one item of clothing, but if you knew how much pleasure it gave me I think you would be ok about it.)

When I bought my flat.

I visited the building about five years ago and absolutely loved it.

I was very lucky that a flat came up that had been fairly badly trashed by the previous tenant, the bathroom and kitchen were so bad it was only just mortgageable. I got a good price, but I had to find a bigger deposit than I had hoped for, so I used all but around £4k of my savings and I borrowed quite a chunk from a friend.

This is my forever home and I have loved changing it from an empty wreck of a flat to mine and my sons home.

My bathroom - it cost £15k and has all the snazzy features and was reconfigured so everything fits nicely. It's like a luxury hotel and I love it.

Trip to Capri - went way over budget but have so many amazing memories
Wedding - ditto
Family photos - spent 3x what I initially planned but I have over 100 amazing photos

Cruise down the Nile with mum, sister, aunt and cousin. I really couldn’t afford, nearly didn’t go. My mum had cancer but had recovered, we thought she’d be Ok, but she died the following year. It was an amazing holiday and so so glad I went.

Oh, also my bathroom, I wanted a fancy wooden sink and I ended up with essentially an entire wooden bathroom. I could fit four adults in the bath, which will never be a feature I need, but there we go.

Decent headphones and winter boots. I had to eat a lot of baked beans to pay for them and don't regret a single penny.

My dyson air wrap. I refused to tell dh how much I paid for it but it’s wonderful.

I’ve splurged this Christmas too and I’m not sorry. Well, we’ll see.

My kitchen extension.

I waited 30 years for a kitchen I'd chosen exactly as I wanted it. Five years later I still love it.

Some lovely examples thank you
@StillSmallVoice you have just reminded me of a fake fur coat I bought the year after the Xmas tree with Xmas money from DM - brought me joy for years - I sold it on eBay when I lost weight and have only recently found one similar

My car, however, I love it.

DH planned to get me a holiday to tenerife for my birthday, it had gone up in price since we went a few years before as our first holiday together to about 3k ish. Decided that was too much so spent 8k ish on Maldives instead. Absolutely incredible upgrade