I don’t make big money irresponsible purchases, but I have spent money needlessly on Star Trek decorations for my house.
I have a picture of this one in my house somewhere, but I can’t find it, but I do own it. If you press the button, it plays the fight music. And it plays… and plays… and plays… for like 60 seconds!
That’s not irresponsible. That’s logical.
Boat
Almost 800 bucks on a Flair 58. I already had a decked out coffee setup but I couldn’t resist. Now it’s my go to machine.
An couple of American made guitars. A thinline telecaster and a Taylor 717. I’ve been playing on cheaper guitars for 20 years and finally was in the position to treat myself. While they sound a play a little better it’s not a huge difference, especially after a proper setup. The acoustic was the bigger improvement for sure.
Definitely a luxury purchase but after 4 years of the electric and 2 of the acoustic I still love playing both.
1700 dollar massage chair. I can barely move it but I love it so much. I might still get the odd personal massage but using the chair every night helps my sleep enormously and it definitely gets the kinks out.
I hear personal massagers are also good for kinks
My first parrot Johnny. I purchased him for my husband as a surprise Valentine’s gift when we were dating/living together. While we had done our research and made sure we were ready to handle the responsibility, we were not financially in a great place at the time. My credit card was almost maxed but I made the impulse decision to call the company to get a limit increase so I could make the purchase. And while it did take me some time to get out of my young and dumb credit card debit I never once regretted getting my little turkey bird. He passed away from old age almost 2 years ago but I still miss him everyday.
One time, I walked out of my then apartment and there was a parrot standing on the windshield wiper of my car. (I did not live in a tropical or otherwise parroty area.) I was not prepared for that situation and had no idea what to do with it.
I held out my hand and he hopped over, then just hung out on my shoulder. I carried him around my neighborhood asking anyone I saw if they had any idea where he came from so I could return him, but no one did. He ended up staying in our bathroom with a closed door overnight (we had cats) then we took him to an exotic bird shelter in the morning. Obviously I did what seemed most responsible in that case, but I think I could have become a parrot owner if I had been so inclined.
Hopefully he did well. And here I thought the distribution system only worked for cats!
Spent $800k on a house remodel. We gutted it and rebuilt it.
I did all the plans myself, I got them approved by the city, I made all the interior design decisions (my wife had veto power but left 90% of it all to me). In theory, in my area, the house has gone up in value by equal to or more than what we spent… but realistically I overspent. The amount I pay for loans is enough to make my very hefty salary seem low, but I don’t regret spending the money (It didn’t help that interest rates went up right before we pulled a $500k loan!). The house is awesome and it’s MY/OUR house since I did the design myself and I worked with the contractors throughout the entire process. I know every trade off we made and I can tell you why we made every decision. Doing this was a bucket-list item… but yeah… I overspent.
My V8 Holden Ute. Sure it’s not super practical but it makes up for it in Smiles per gallon.
I just did that too, recently bought and slowly fixing up a VE series 1 SSV with a manual L98
It does nothing but cost me money but I fucking love it.
Good on ya m8! Double bonus points if it’s a manual.
Been buying overpriced to go cups, and too many of them
First bicycle this summer and soon second bicycle for winter. I have never felt better than since I started commuting on my bike to and from work.
Tossed a hefty chunk of change on a Maschine+. AKA fancy beat pad for finger drumming/music production that can operate as standalone device. Did catch on sale, but still a hefty investment.
While not as “responsible” as other things I’m saving for, it’s been a fucking blast! Always fun having an easy way to kick beats without schlepping a full kit, and tbh I have so much more potential for making weird noises with the pad.
I always look at things like these and are tempted to buy them. There is so much cool audio gear out there that I feel like could “up my game”, but then I realize I have no game and already own a bunch of fun production gear that collects dust because I don’t have the time or energy to make music anymore.
I considered selling some of my stuff, but want to hang on to it just in case any of my kids pick up the hobby and all my stuff is cool and “retro” at that point. Shit it is almost already cool and retro - Akai MPC1000, Korg Electribe SX ESX1, Korg KP3, Dsi MoPho, a couple other bits and bobs.
But yeah, always tempted to buy cool new awesome shit that I would never use.
A round blanket with the pattern of a pepperoni pizza on it. Bought it as a funny treat for my wife and me. Our, now, 5yo sleeps with it every night. It’s his pizza blanket!
I’ve almost pulled the trigger on a tortilla blanket for my wife, as she always wraps herself in the blanket like a burrito, but I’m afraid I’m the only one that will find it funny.
Do it. It’s soft and lasts forever, even with an infant to 5yo. It has only started to see some minor holes but my kid likes picking at holes so he is likely making it worse.
Nothing wrong with that.
As of right now, a bunch of Magic the Gathering cards. I have nobody to play with. I regret nothing.
There’s another purchase that would’ve been one of the most irresponsible of my life, but the seller didn’t actually have the thing in stock. No, I won’t tell what it is, I’ll just let you folks imagine
My rower, a Concept 2. I bought it for myself as a congratulations/self care splurge after leaving a truly toxic job. I love it and it has been a great way to get some exercise basically whenever I want (I’m fortunate to work from home) without the hassle of going to a gym.
Resale value is solid. Great purchase but they are pricey. Health is the real wealth.
Six motorcycles in 2 years
I thought I was crazy with a beginner bike into a fast naked bike within 12 months lol. What are they?
I still think of myself as a beginner but I am obsessed with doing everything I can to be as safe as possible, thankfully I also think learning safety is fun!
In October 2022 I bought a 2001 Kawasaki w650, that was my first bike since I briefly tinkered with dirt bikes about 10 years prior. I sold that this spring.
That same year in November I picked up an 82 Kawasaki ke100 and a 2004 KLR650.
This spring I picked up a 2019 Kawasaki z900rs and a 2017 KTM 125 SX.
A few weeks ago I picked up a KLX300, which is the first new thing I ever purchased, and I just finished putting the 650-ish break-in miles on it yesterday, so I’m really excited to take that on the trails now.
I think what I’m finding is riding very different bikes in different ways teaches you all kinds of different skills that are transferrable to all of them in subtle ways.
What are you riding on now?
My first bike was a 2006 Suzuki GZ250, a little beginner cruiser bike with just enough power to keep up on the highway with it pinned in top gear. Comfortable and fun, especially around town.
After 3500 miles on the GZ, I made quite the jump to a 2012 Triumph Street Triple R. I wanted something sportier but still fairly comfortable (vs something like an R6, where there were plenty available near me). I didn’t want something heavy or something that I would grow out of soon. I’ve only had it for about a month but so far I’m loving it! It’s incredibly fast (to me ofc; can’t even imagine what a literbike feels like), I really need to be careful with it lol
The funny thing about bikes is they’re all so fun. I put over 300 highway miles on my klx300 over this past weekend and that hardened my nerves way more than the capabilities of my z900 did!
The great thing about higher performance bikes is that, while they can certainly go way faster than we should ever ask them to, they can also maneuver way better than we should ever ask them to.
They all bring me so much joy in so many different ways. I absolutely appreciate my sport bike like an engineering marvel (I’m pretty simple), and getting slightly naughty on it when no one is around is definitely thrilling, but honestly the bike rides so nice that even low speeds feels so good, and high speeds don’t actually feel so high. The little bike is kind of the opposite in a way that’s also fun anyway. It feels naughty even when it’s not haha.
Anyway I hope you’re staying safe out there. It’s the best way to have fun for longer!
I get the thrill of going fast on a slow bike like the GZ250. I have dragged pegs and asked it to do ridiculous highway trips (once 80mi of highway in one go, on a bike that can barely do the speed limit), and I even tried offroading the poor thing. (I dropped it a couple times lol)
The Street Triple is a whole different beast. One that tempts me to go way too fast. Luckily, I can (usually) resist those temptations and just cruise along.
I am being safe. I keep any slightly naughty things away from traffic, and I am ATGATT. It’s weird how unsafe some riders are, just today a bald man on a cruiser passed me on the highway with no helmet.
Ya a lot of folks make a lot of poor choices. I’m sure I do too.
I like to take note of any way I could have done something better in a ride, even if it’s just something simple like getting passed by a car before I knew it was there – a mild reminder to always be checking the 360.
How many do you have now?
After selling one and borrowing a dirt bike for my kid, 6 are in my possession, but the one I’m borrowing is grown out of now.
I have an 82 Kawasaki that needs minor engine work, and to get sold, a newer retro sport bike and an older klr650.
I’m thinking next year I’ll sell the sport bike and klr and consolidate on a larger adventure bike, taking my fleet down to 3.
One mx bike, one klx300 that is capable on dirt and road, and one sportier adventure bike. That way my kid and I can ride trails anywhere and I can do some nice trips too. We can kinda trade off depending on how we feel like riding.
