2) I always eat all of my dinner at restaurants and sometimes I pick at my wife’s leftovers, not usually because I feel like I need to get my money’s worth, but because I like to eat and I have very little self control. But I would be even more likely to eat it all if I paid a lot for it and I would probably give my wife grief if she left too much on her plate.

I always regret paying more than 5 or 6 bucks for a meal because nothing beats spicy chili cheese dogs, which I can do at home for about 2 or 3 bucks, and because I don’t really have any money at the moment. I do like the experience of eating out but money is most definitely an object. I can’t imagine ever spending more than about 55 bucks for a meal for two. I often wonder if this will change when/if I have a little extra money. Probably.

I think the only recent exeption to my practice of cleaining my plate was an IHOP breakfast that was just ridiculously large.

If I ever have a house I would like to furnish it with well-constructed, classy furniture built by a craftsman, not a factory. The extra cost wouldn’t bother me much because it would be going to a craftsman, not a corporation, and I would be getting something worth keeping. Sure, corporations are made up of people that need money, too, but they also have overpaid silver spoon CEO’s.

First chance I get, I’m getting you a brown suit as a present.

http://www.americanstandard-us.com/Tools/BestFlush/default.aspx?video=1

I’m disheartened that you (and others) would treat a gift (the car) as little more than currency. What’s wrong with the world today that people are unable to appreciate gifts for what they are– tokens of love and respect– and are willing to trade on that love and respect? I’ve gotten many bad gifts throughout my lifetime but I’ve never once decided to return one for the money or for a different item. In fact I make a point of using that gift in the presence of the giver (no matter how ugly the tie, sweater, lawn ornament, etc.) in order to reciprocate that love and respect. That rant is a bit off topic but it was part of your initial qwery.

As for the car it would have to be a Bentley Continental GT convertible and, regarding the meal, I always leave what I can’t eat (unless it’s meat loaf) and I always stop eating when I feel full. What I spend on the meal is a sunk cost so what I leave on the plate is irrelevant.

The problem with purchasing quality is that most poeple don’t know how to identify it and price is too often a bad indicator of quality. For example, I worked my way through school in an electronics store that sold everything from computers to appliances in all price ranges. When it comes to electronics I know where I can get the best quality for the lowest price. For TVs Pioneer is worth the price but Hitachi and Sony are not. For audio equipment Denon and Bose are just expensive names and Yamaha is the best value. Speakers are a taste issue and price does not always translate to quality. Your refrigerator should be KitchenAid (even if you want a built-in). Your dishwasher should be KitchenAid/Whirlpool or Maytag. Ranges/cooktops by GE/Monogram offer the best quality and features (Wolf, Genaire, and Viking are little more than names). Your washing machine should always be a Whirlpool product and now that Whirlpool has finally wizened up on the latest designs so should your dryer. But when it comes to furniture and home furnishings I haven’t the first clue what I’m doing. We recently built the home we currently live in and we made a number of bad decisions. We have young children with a propensity for plugging toilets so for all the common and kids’ bathrooms we purchased expensive, high volume toilets sure to mitigate voluminous quantities of TP and other detritus. Those expensive toilets are the first ones to overrun while the cheap, bargain-basement, $75 toilet we put in the master bathroom has yet to be plugged depite our children’s best efforts. My daughter’s bedroom set which cost us an arm and a leg (at a time we couldn’t afford it) still looks brand new even thought it’s 10 years old while our dining set, which cost almost as much as some new cars, is falling apart after only two years. I know that if I were a plumber I would have been able to make a better decision on a toilet and if I were a carpenter I could have made a better decision on furniture. The problem is that I’m neither so I make bad decisions and so would most others.

I don’t know many people who buy expensive items purely for the pride of ownership however I do have an employee who drives a BMW M3 purely as a status symbol. The guy is stretched to the hilt to pay for it but he gets a tickle out of driving a BMW while his boss (me) most days drives an ’88 Acura Integra to work. That car functioning only as a status symbol is especially sad considering that our work campus includes a private air field that allows us to take our hot rods out onto the tarmac from time to time– a privilege he’s never once exercised. That car was created to go fast and his refusal to allow that car to fulfill the measure of its existence is an affront to Our Father Above. I also suspect that he’s worried that my $40k Mazdaspeed6 (highly modified) will toast his $70k BMW and completely invalidate his status symbol. If I had $180k to spend on a car I would, not because of what it says about me but because I appreciate exceptional engineering and performance. If I could get a 0-60 time of 3.5s and a sub 12s quarter mile out of a $15k Ford Focus that’s what I’d buy but I cant so I’ll have to pin my hopes on being able to afford a Porche or Ferrari when all my children finally leave the house.

2. Restaurants with great service and nice facilities are always more enjoyable than restaurants with lots of food. I usually find the former serves smaller, but adequate sized plates and I usually eat all my food. I’m glad when there is a garnish I can leave on my plate to make it look like I didn’t actually lick the plate clean.

After 33 years of marriage and raising 4 children I find I’m still trying to afford the nicer things in life. I love artwork but know that I can’t afford great art. I have been able to purchase some reasonably priced art recently while traveling abroad. I can only afford to travel abroad because I have family living abroad where I get room and board for free. Almost all of my clothes were purchased on sale but at mid-to-high level quality stores or mail order houses. My recent trips abroad have allowed me to buy custom tailored clothes but at deeply discounted prices.

In summary I really do believe – not just because it’s what I can afford – that a Volkswagen gets me to the store as fast and as safely as a Bentley. I also believe it is important to spend our money on high quality but it is even more important to understand that high prices do not automatically equate to high quality.

Seth R. hit it right on. Although I rarely buy quality and yet most of my stuff still manages to last longer than said quality stuff.

Why buy Oakleys when you can get cheapo glasses for a couple of bucks. Sure, they have the brand name and replacement guarantee, but isn’t way more hassle then just buying a new chep pair?

I find it interesting, Russ, how many of your posts are about finances.

Car :Lexus LX 600h L hybrid

“Can you put your mind in a place that doesn’t care about how much you…” HAVE?

But me talking about getting a Benz is pretty downright silly. It ain’t gonna happen.