Thursday, November 13, 2008

Random post.. the little things.

I'm not a person that spends money on nice things, or things in general. My savings rate is over 80% and we have (literally) zero debt, which is why my wife and I can thrive in this economic situation. The last time I bought a new shirt was when I was in Italy and decided it would be cheaper to throw my dirty shirts away instead of wash them and bought new ones from an Army surplus store for 1 euro. The check out girl at the thrift store knows me by name. There are a few things though that I do spend money on...

Boots. There's maybe nothing finer than a really well made pair of shoes. Not running shoes- which are disposable- but finely crafted, handmade foot wear. I have several pairs of very nice boots but these are by far my favorites: Frye engineer "Gauchos". The way that I came to own these- they retail for $199- is I watched e-bay for months waiting for a pair of new Frye boots to be listed. Eventually a pair of brand new women's Fryes came up that no one bid on. So I bought them for $89.00. Then I took them in to Boulder to a high end shoe store that sold Frye. And I exchanged them for these boots.. straight trade, so I got my $199 boots for $89.00.


My son's hand print tattoo on my arm. This was expensive, but worth every penny. Nuff' said.


My wedding band tattoo.. extremely painful, relatively inexpensive. I'll never lose it and I can never take it off. When I came home with it the first time- my wife actually said to me "kind of permanent don't you think?". :0


My signed first edition of "Running The Lydiard Way". We were at a huge book sale and this was buried in the bottom of a box... 50 cents.


Good face lotion. More guys should use good face lotion. I also splurge sometimes on good hair conditioner when my hair is long. I may look like a redneck mountain man from time to time but I don't have wrinkles and my hair isn't dry. I'm dreading the day when I drop my son off at school and his friends say "Man, your dad's OLD!". I'll not go gracefully. My goal is to look like Dave Scott (who is over 50 years old), when I'm 40.


A few smaller things... Pinot and Merlot. I don't buy the $50 bottles, but I will buck up and spend an extra $5-$10 on a good bottle of wine. Same goes for beer. A good Porter is worth the money over cheap beer. Tires on my car- with Ben in the back seat it's simple to justify new tires.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

just want to to say, i really like your blog...enough to put a link on my family's website. ds

Dave said...

couldn't agree more on the boots. I have had the same pair of boots for 15 years and they fit better every time I put them on...not the lookers they used to be though:). Also, wine and beer are an absolute must. I'll spend a great deal of money not to have that 'cheap wine' headache I got used to in college!

GZ said...

What? What? Politics are out but economics are in? ;)

I have never needed face cream ... I seem to be able to still provide my own supply. :(

Conditioner needs are overcome with a good razor.

And we can MAKE that porter you like sometime. It is actually cheaper by that bottle and will taste better and you will find it more enjoyable when you make it.

Lucho said...

Damn G... next thing you'll be telling me is that you do your own tattoos!
Agreed on the razor thing.. I either have long hair or a shaved head. I have clippers and always prefer the shaved head in the summers. I'm going mountain man right now though... icicles in the beard baby! If it ever gets cold here!! I've seen you sporting the "chinsulation" with icicles.
Home brew is too complicated for this mind.. but I can guess that the beer is even better when it's been a labor of love.

Dave- I usually think boots look better the more beat down they are! I have a pair of vintage cowboy boots (maybe 30 years old) that are awesome. Brand new boots look too... new?

Matt said...

The ring tattoo is very appealing. Brilliant. I lost mine this summer and just got it replaced (she was pretty pissed despite my brilliant rhetoric). Great idea, Tim.

We're like you guys . no debt. Definitely a little liberating.

Good wine, good beer. I love it too much. Great call.

Age is gonna have to do some speed work to catch us!

Freakin' great post.

Anonymous said...

Watch this for a laugh.
It's 1960's Uncle Scrooge (Cartoon)explaining money. Most Americans can't grasp these concepts, glad to see that you have.

part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcIszzV-WrY
part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfr8gwL5UkM&feature=related

Lucho said...

Runcolo- Ya- I think were worth our salt.. great videos. I may save those and have Ben watch them.

Matt- I would hate to think about losing my wedding band... that would HURT! And yes- I too love the wine toooooooo much right now! I always rest as hard as I train ;)

ds- Thank you! I am truly appreciative that you would do that.
Tim

Anonymous said...

You're a man after my own heart. I have a titanium wedding ring we bought on E-bay for three dollars.