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Original poster

Frivolous things you used to spend money on?

403 replies

Lemon221 · 03/04/2022 19:24

What did you used to spend your money on that your now seems completely extravagant and frivolous? I’ll go first, jo malone candles ridiculous how much I spent on wax!

OP posts:
Enzbear · 03/04/2022 20:51

Bedding plants for hanging baskets and pots. Now I just buy bee friendly perennials that bloom every year.

Longingforatikihut · 03/04/2022 20:56

Cigarettes
Alcohol
Threading
Personal motorised vehicles

RonSwansonsChair · 03/04/2022 20:57

Getting my nails done every two weeks. Used to get them done on my lunch break when office based but since I'm now full time WFH I just haven't bothered. If course my nails are shit, but I'm saving €50 a month 😉

EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall · 03/04/2022 20:59

Nail extensions

EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall · 03/04/2022 21:00

I now do them myself

TypicaIMe · 03/04/2022 21:00

I used to get really caught up in 'must have' beauty trends when I was younger. For example, when Hard Candy nail polishes came out in the 90s I was on the waiting list at Harvey Nichols for all five pastel shades. They were £12 a pop almost 30 years ago! Also Mac lipsticks. I must've spent a fortune on makeup.

Also cigarettes. I gave up 12 years ago but hardly a day goes by without me regretting the thousands I must have spent on the stupid things.

SilkenBunny · 03/04/2022 21:01

Riding lessons
Designer jeans
Expensive skincare
Magazines
CDs and DVDs (I know they aren't expensive but I used to buy A LOT pre-Spotify and streamed TV
New clothes most weekends for going out in

Folks · 03/04/2022 21:01

Heroin and crack cocaine were the biggies. That was a lifetime ago though.

Now I’ve got to break my Waitrose habit.

littlefirecar · 03/04/2022 21:01

This post is so depressing :(
Yes most of these things aren't necessary but we enjoyed them.
How has it come to be that everything not soley essential is now frivolous? Sad

GroovyGroovy · 03/04/2022 21:02

M&S Beauty Boxes.

OK, they were a nice treat but I have enough creams and potions to last me for years!

I never buy clothes now. I have enough.

VanLife · 03/04/2022 21:03

@littlefirecar

This post is so depressing :( Yes most of these things aren't necessary but we enjoyed them. How has it come to be that everything not soley essential is now frivolous? Sad
Exactly what I was going to say X
PersephonePomegranate · 03/04/2022 21:04

Eating out, drinking and partying, make up, perfume, clothes, taxis, magazines, spa days Sad

TheSoapyFrog · 03/04/2022 21:05

Lunch at work every day and two pairs of Irregular Choice shoes every payday. Can't even afford a pair a year now!

OrangutanLibrarian · 03/04/2022 21:05

Cigarettes. I could weep for the £1000s and £1000s I smoked my way through. I could really do with that money now Sad

RestingMurderousFace · 03/04/2022 21:09

Cocaine. Dread to think how much money I wasted on that muck.

Original poster
Lemon221 · 03/04/2022 21:09

Ah sorry was meant to be lighthearted

OP posts:
Dippydinosaurus · 03/04/2022 21:10

Clothes oh so many clothes. Every Saturday we'd go into warehouse, kookai, Topshop etc and buy new outfits for Saturday night. I sold them all on eBay over the years and they were such good quality fabrics such as silk. I really wish I'd kept them as they're back in fashion now except the quality is crap

Orangutanteddy · 03/04/2022 21:11

Things like new perfume. I used to always have another malone on the go. Now Jo malone is a once a year treat. I used to buy a lot of clothes too. I got rid of binbags full last summer, to my shame. Now I'm more thoughtful about buying an item. For example, I bought a wool M and S coat last Winter. I've decided I'll just get it dry cleaned and use it again next Winter. No point in buying new one.

canary1 · 03/04/2022 21:11

Magazines, manicures and music (CDs)

Passanotherjaffacake · 03/04/2022 21:11

Also magazines and nails here, plus designer clothes, takeaways, food out etc. frittered away loads on this stuff but have always worked long hours in a stressful job so I feel like I can forgive myself. Spend nothing on most of this stuff now (except occasional takeaway/meal out) now but have a crippling mortgage and nursery payments!

ReeseWitherfork · 03/04/2022 21:13

Flowers here too, would quite happily chuck a bunch in the weekly shop. They’d brighten up the house quite nicely. Plastic toys here there and everywhere do that now.

Still love a magazine. It’s nice not to be looking at a screen sometimes, even if it’s essentially the same just in a different format!

springiscom · 03/04/2022 21:14

Brazilians.

Unforgettablefire · 03/04/2022 21:14

Cigarettes. The biggest and most expensive regret of my life.

Nanalisa60 · 03/04/2022 21:15

Highlights, gel nail, waxing, facials, two many cloth and shoes, and don’t forget the magazines.

Only thing I don’t regret is all the holidays, I don’t think anyone gets to the pearly gates and says I have traveled too much !! New mantra in life less stuff more experiences!!

KohlaParasaurus · 03/04/2022 21:16

School fees. All peer pressure and FOMO. I should have put all my DC into the local state school from the start.
Treats from Selfridges food hall, every weekend. I might still be doing that if I hadn't moved a million miles away from the nearest Selfridges.
Single skeins of hand dyed knitting yarn that look like cat sick when I knit them up.