Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The Other Side

After my post on everyday frugality, it is only fitting that I list all the non frugal things we indulge on.
  • French antiques consisting of a sideboard, wardrobe and bibliotheque ($5500)
  • a Mont Blanc fountain pen, a Lancel purse, Hermes scarf & Gucci sunglasses ($2300)
  • a 2880 sq ft principle residence for 2 people ($285000--about $142000 owing)
  • a 700 sq ft cottage 3 hrs away by car ($83000--$0 owing)
  • a 279 sq ft ski condo 3 hrs away by plane ($78500--about $51000 owing)
  • a 1 1/2 week trip to Europe (usually France) each year ($4500 total including spending)
  • 2 flights out west to ski each year ($2600)
  • driving to the cottage about 2 times a month (cost of gas--round trip half tank)
  • ski lessons ($245 per yr)
  • tennis lessons ($25 per class)
  • attending 3 -4 plays a yr ($200)
  • a trip by myself each year (2009 Alaska--$2618, 2010 South America--$3400 approx)
  • a world phone ($149 US for phone plus time used)
  • yearly membership at local sportsman's club ($220)
  • seasons tickets to local junior A hockey league (husband's--$300)
  • season ski passes ($1354)

Well, there it is. Everything on the list is either budgeted for or has been paid fully on time.

Our goal is to create and enjoy "retirement life" now, while we are both working in order to test things out, see if it works, how much it costs, fine tune if necessary; so that when we do retire, the transition will hopefully be seamless.

7 comments:

  1. It's all about balance! It looks like you have found the right balance for you! Good going :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this!! Good to know you can still enjoy life even while living frugally. That is how we choose to live life too. I am working on a blog post of how we manage our money in my household.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you both for such encouraging comments!

    This was a tough post for me--admitting my materialistic side.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You have quite a list of property there thats great.
    Enjoy them while you can you only live once.
    Andrea

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Andrea;

    Yes, we plan to. Now, if I can only squeeze a piece of France into the mix...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm the same. I choose to be frugal in most areas of my life so I can indulge in my passions of travel and photography. Great list. I really ought to document my frugal and non-frugal choices.

    ReplyDelete