Worth the splurge: A near-£3,000 projector and quality treats

£3,000 projector and Santoña anchovies: where spending makes sense

There comes a point when the belt tightens so much that one forgets why it is being tightened. Even those who pride themselves on thriftiness eventually need a small treat. The conversation started with a direct question: where is it worth spending money on luxuries, and where is it not? Three years later, with an update dated 2024 under the heading "updated ideas," the answer remains unique. It does, however, leave a very precise map of where the money hurts less. And where it hurts just as much as always.

How much is spent on the most expensive luxuries

The largest outlay shown is a projector costing nearly £3,000, with which its buyer set up a 200-inch screen to watch cinema, play games, and trinc the Champions League with friends in what he himself calls his "den cave." At that scale, the luxury stops being a whim and looks more like a home improvement project.

It is not the only one. Another line states that what is enjoyed daily is the house: rather than admiring the bathroom of a luxury hotel, putting that bathroom in one's own flat. Watches, shoes, clothes, electronics, gym memberships, and art objects also appear. The logic repeats: if something is used every day, the extra cost is diluted. If it is just for a photo, it is not. In the 2024 update, haircuts, cinema, and trips return to the catalog, the usual list with new prices.

Santoña anchovies and the oil that ruins the product

The gastronomic vein occupies much of the exchange and has its own dogma. Good anchovies are preserved in sunflower oil, not olive oil, and even less so in extra virgin: olive oil kills the flavor. Some add a splash right before eating them, never before. Those who defend the thesis have been going to Santoña to buy for over 30 years and boast of eating those anchovies more than 10,000 kilometers away, paying for international shipping.

The rest of the list is a pantry catalog: Iberian lomo sausage, mojama with its roe, bonito with tomato, fried almonds, olives, acorn-fed ham, salmon, coffee, whiskey. One comment summarizes it bluntly: eat less, but better. "A good Iberian lomo sausage compensates me more than 100 ice creams," it reads. The roster of that pantry allows for a long list, although without prices.

Paying £300 a month for a home cook

The expense that raises the most eyebrows is not the most expensive, but the most intimate: having someone who cooks at home. The bill for a professional cook two days a week is around £300 a month, with a double-door fridge full of Tupperware and a dishwasher at the end of the process. The defense is that it compensates for comfort, quality, and variety, without lifting a finger and with balanced menus already planned.

Beneath lies an uncomfortable idea: money buys time. The case of someone with sufficient wealth to avoid queues, not ask for quotes, and refuel without looking at the price is described. The one telling it admits that he, even earning well, retains a poor mindset.

Modifying the scooter, the fishing rod, and the perfume

Small luxuries have their own logic. A 45-year-old enthusiast buys and assembles every possible gadget for his Xiaomi M365 scooter — 14 mAh battery extension as they said, front and rear suspension, USB holder — a project that started as a gift for his daughter and got out of hand. Another admits he went for 8€ weights and came out with a Grauvell TC Surfcasting 450 rod reduced to 160€, having already had one that cost 300€ at the time.

In perfumes, the recurring recommendation is two classics: Dior's Eau Sauvage and Armani Code. Books and wine are also cited, a 30-year-old port, massages, plants, and a monthly visit to the physiotherapist. And a manual defense: extending the shower and wasting hot water as a form of domestic luxury.

The expense that does not hold up

Not everything is good times. One comment recalls the era when they skipped dinner to buy records and how now they skip dinner for other reasons, while the expense goes to paracetamol and ibuprofen. Another admits that before he spent on paid company and that now, married, he lives worse in every way. And a part simply does not move: same habits as three years ago, with less margin.

The evolution of the matter is that of a society that has learned to distinguish between the luxury that is displayed and the luxury that is used. The best expense, almost everyone agrees, is the one that avoids daily annoyance or turns a Tuesday into something decent. With that rule, the £3,000 projector and the £300 for the cook fit; the luxury hotel, no longer.