First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all! I had a conversation with a friend yesterday which got me thinking about spending styles and specifically things that I would never spend money on. This same friend and I are neighbors and walk together at least once a week. I don't know great details about her financial life (my philosphy is not to ask, only discuss what someone else brings forth) but I do know that she was very happy last years cause her DH took a new job and it came with a significant bump up in pay. She and I have recently been discussing finances on a pretty superficial level - I mentioning many times how I wished DH would get a job soon and I was tired of living off our savings. She said they would be in trouble if her DH lost his job cause they had almost no savings. About two weeks ago she participated in a family wedding and told me when all was said and done they had spent close to $1000 dollars on this (bridesmaid dress, flower girl dress, ring bearer tux, hair for girls on day of, hotel for two nights etc.) I was somewhat amazed but did not say anything. On Monday she was complaining to me that they had to ask her dad for a loan because they were "out of money". Then on yesterday she was telling me how she went to a warehouse store and bought a veggie tray to take to the thanksgiving dinner they were attending. She rationalized it to me that with the cost of fresh veggies it was almost the same price. Now she knows well how frugal/cheap I am and mentioned it with the excuse already in place which I thought was rather funny. I proceeded to tell her that she could have easily hit the local produce outlet which is cheap and high quality. She claimed not to have the time to get over there nor to cut up veggies. I found this interesting cause she then proceeded to tell me that she had to kill about 1/2 hour while running errands before she could pick up her son (in the same general area as the produce outlet mind you). After we got off the phone I started to think about all this and it got me thinking about what people will and won't do with their money and how much people care about what others think of them. I am not knocking my friend in any way - she is a good friend and will remain so, I just find her choices interesting in light of her situation. I know she is very concious (even worries) about what others think of her. I personally have reached the point where I do what is best for my family and myself and don't worry about what anyone else has to say about it. If we cannot really afford to spend the money on something, I don't do it just to "fit in". Anyway, getting to my title, the whole conversation and my subsequent train of thought has gotten me to yet another list (I have always liked lists). This time it is a list of things I have never bought cause I just refuse to spend the money on them.
1) Premade fruit or veggie bowl or tray. I love fruit and veggies and frequently serve trays at parties, I just prefer to make them myself.
2) Store made birthday cakes. I have made all of my childrens birthday cakes (44 so far if I am counting correctly). I just refuse to spend what they charge for a cake.
3) Starbucks coffee - nothing against it, just will not spend what they want on it. I actually just had my first ever cup of Starbucks a few weeks ago. My daughter was at a birthday party and the parents had brought a take out "box" of coffee to share with the guests parents.
4) Cleaning service/person for my home. Nothing against this either, I actually have a small commercial cleaning business (offices etc) that I do on the side. I even went so far as to interview someone once but when I found out what they charged and thought about everthing else I could do with that money, I would rather clean myself.

Okay, that is my short list. I may or may not come up with more. I would be interested to see what others have also never bought.