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Mar
16
In 1999 I was living in Portland, Oregon, and JB was living a couple hours south in Corvallis. We were driving up and down I-5 on a regular basis to spend time together; I got my first speeding ticket barreling past Salem in a fever of anticipation.
JB’s workplace had an office in Corvallis and one in Las Vegas (they designed slot machine bonusing systems), and when the company decided to consolidate operations to Vegas they offered JB a job, all relocation expenses paid for the both of us. Graebel Moving came to my little city apartment and packed up all my shit in one dizzying afternoon, and then JB and I drove our cars to Nevada, chatting on walkie-talkies purchased for the trip.
We lived in a rental house in the suburbs, where we planted a lemon tree and installed a kiddie pool to make the 100+ degree afternoons more bearable. Cat prowled the yard and occasionally attacked the big dopey pigeons that perched on the fence. JB got a promotion and I found a marketing job at a crazy, dysfunctional dotcom. We lurked on the Strip on the weekends, hiked in the desert, visited the Grand Canyon, and drank like fish.
About halfway through our stay — we left for Seattle a year after we arrived, after I lost my stupid dotcom job and we realized how much we missed the color green —JB saw an ad for a local LASIK center offering a 50% savings on the procedure. Both of us were spectacularly myopic, we both wore contacts that dried to a husk in the windy, arid Vegas weather. We had a little money to spend at the time. So we booked back-to-back LASIK appointments.
I remember we sat for quite a while in a waiting room that broadcast video of the preceding patients’ surgeries on a TV, which was initially horrifying but after you saw three or four in a row the effect slowly wore off. They gave everyone a Valium, which lent for a slightly boozy atmosphere in the room, we started cheering when someone we’d been sitting with came back from their procedure giving the thumbs up.
The procedure itself doesn’t hurt, although it’s not exactly pleasant. I remember sitting in something like a dentist chair, my eyelids held open with surgical tape. The suction ring on my eyeball, most uncomfortable of all. The clatter of the laser, and the tiny twist of smoke coming up from my cornea and the smell — something like burnt hair.
We took a taxi home and sat around our house wearing big goofy goggles, and I remember the moment when I glanced through blurry halo’d vision to the VCR and realized I could actually read the digital clock display. From a distance where normally without glasses or contacts I’d see nothing but smears of color. Amazing.
I can’t recall how long it took to completely recover, I know we both had troubles with night vision for a while—but not much worse than what I already experienced with contacts. For months I found myself reaching up to push back the glasses that were no longer on my face, a ghost reaction whenever I got out of the shower.
Today I have something like perfect vision, or if not perfect, then close enough. I don’t get dry, itchy eyes from contact lenses, I don’t get headaches and a sweaty nose from wearing heavy-lens’d glasses. I can just see, as though I had good vision all my life.
In terms of sheer everyday use and appreciation, I’m pretty sure LASIK has been the best thing I’ve ever purchased. It is, as my mother (a LASIK fan) once said, damn near the only miracle you can buy.
Tell me your story: what is the best thing you ever bought?
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99 Responses to “Money well spent”
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Stuff I Like:
Eureka Enviro Floor Steamer.
Why did I not buy this YEARS ago? WHY? OH MY GOD MY LIFE IS FOREVER CHANGED.
Neutrogena Healthy Skin Clear Skin Cream.
Maaaajor difference in my skin since I started using this. I alternate with Pond's so my face doesn't get too dried out.
Magic Bullet.
I use this almost every single day to make a smoothie. Really a surprisingly awesome little kitchen tool.
Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm.
Amazing lip balm that gives natural color and somehow makes your lips look more full.
Voluspa Candle.
Discovered via Jennie. These candles smell wonderful (at least the Goji/Orange scent does), and I love the pretty tin.
NARS Flamenco Lipstick.
Whoorl was right, this is the perfect red lipstick.
This is tough.
I guess I’d have to say my week in the hospital making sure the baby didn’t come 10 weeks early. That was a huge-ass bill, and insurance should cover most of it.
Quickly followed by the epidural I had when he was born two weeks ago. Hell to the yeah. I think it was, like, $5000 or something but dude, worth every penny.
Hmm. I don’t know, exactly, I haven’t made a bunch of big purchases.
I do know that after reading this story, however, I really want laser eye surgery.
I’m nearly blind without my contacts, and the idea of reading a clock from far away is oddly titillating. Am nerd.
In December of 2005, I also had LASIK. And yes, it was the best thing I had ever done for myself. I went from having 20/400 vision with an astigmatism, to having 20/20 in both eyes. I could never do contacts and was forced to wear glasses.
The doctor and staff were wonderful during the entire process.
Also, this past December, I got tattoo of a seahorse that I just love.
Gastric bypass surgery. I paid $10k up front, but got it all back in the end from insurance. In hindsight, it would’ve been worth ten times that. You can’t really put a price on being able to wipe your own ass in a public restroom, which I couldn’t do 125 pounds ago.
Honestly, the $75 we spent on our first beagle. She was 3 months old so she was less expensive even though she was a purebred. She brought us 13 years of love and joy. Yes, there were times she drove us crazy, but looking back, she gave us a million times those $75 in love and laughter. (After she died, we rescued our second beagle, so he was free or I’d have to count him too.)
That picture you had of the neighbor with all the beagles made me smile but one beagle at a time is plenty.
My two nose jobs.
When my husband (then boyfriend) and I first moved in together, we each put a dollar a day into a box, saving up to get a dog. We’ve had Paddington for just over three years now, and I couldn’t imagine life without him.
My teeth!
Years of medications for Crohn’s, combined with then-undiagnosed Sjogren’s Syndrome, ate away at the enamel on my teeth. My once perfect teeth had literally turned gray and were falling apart. No one could give me a straight answer as to why, but at 36 I was having root canals like some people get Botox. I finally said, “Enough!” I was spending money on these procedures and still my teeth were dying and ugly and I rarely smiled in public anymore. I saved up money (insurance paid 50%, so they wanted the other 50% up front) made an appointment and had them all yanked.
I spent the next year wondering if I did the right thing (it takes a full year for the bone to heal enough to get the dentures re-lined so that they fit perfectly — until then it’s a lot of adhesive and uncomfortable-ness). After the reline – and since – I love them. They’re perfectly straight, white, and never hurt.
And I don’t miss dentists one bit.
I had LASIK too in Nov. 2006. I hated wearing glasses (I only wore them to drive I hated them so much) and never wanted to try contacts (I had bad astigmatism).
I have 20/20 vision now, my eyes still get dry here and there and I still have glare at night and during the day. I also now have wonderful floaters in my left eye, which has nothing to do with the LASIK, they’re just annoying.
The coolest thing for me is now being able to see detail in everything, tree branches, leaves, rocks, clouds etc. etc. It still amazes me a year and a half later.
Totally agree with the LASIK purchase. I had glasses before 4th grade and lived with 20/400 vision until last November. I have 20/15 now and still pinch myself when I can read the alarm clock w/o flopping around blindly for glasses. And yes, it was pretty damn funny to get the valium pre-op and suddenly become BFF with everyone else in the waiting room!
Oh–I have two:
1) The money we spent in 1998 on our Golden Retriever, Casey. Looking back, it seems funny that there was ever enough money in the world to buy this dog–to us, she’s priceless.
2) Money spent in 2003 on an insulin pump–mostly covered by insurance. I’ve been type 1 diabetic since 1986 and now have better blood sugar control and freedom of what I eat and when I eat due to the pump. Plus, no more insulin shots.
You know, I can’t think of any one thing that I’ve purchased that would qualify as the best thing I’ve ever bought. The best recent purchase I’ve made has to be my Nikon D70. I was inspired by the pictures that you and Dooce take and I wanted a “real” camera. I still can’t take pics as well as you two but I’m having a blast trying. I took some spectacular pics of the Phelps twins (Weasley twins) at last years’ DragonCon; add to that the pics I’ve taken of various soccer games, Scout events and church functions and I’d definitely say it’s been my best recent purchase.
My husband wants to buy Lasik for me SO bad, he is always up my crack pressuring me to go get it done. If only all wives had husbands as spoiling + bomb as mine. I’m scared to have it done, but feel better about it after reading this. . .
I didn’t pay for it, but braces? What a boring answer.
Did you see that Real Sex with the people who made machines that have sex with you? I wanted to be totally pervey + say one of those, but my mind is farting + I can’t remember what they’re called.
I KNOW you + JB both know what I’m talking about! ;)
My husband wants to buy Lasik for me SO bad, he is always up my crack pressuring me to go get it done. If only all wives had husbands as spoiling + bomb as mine. I’m scared to have it done, but feel better about it after reading this. . .
I didn’t pay for it, but braces? What a boring answer.
Did you see that Real Sex with the people who made machines that have sex with you? I wanted to be totally pervey + say one of those, but my mind is farting + I can’t remember what they’re called.
I KNOW you + JB both know what I’m talking about! ;)
Oh wait, here it is. . .
http://dnn.thethrillhammer.com/
I must say with great anticipation that I hope it will be the $4000 we are spending out of pocket for me to have this upcoming baby at the birth center (which the farking insurance does not cover, of course).
I would pay a MILLION times that (if I had the money anyway) to avoid what happened last time… Although it was only a $200 co-pay out of pocket for the hospital HMO birth, I also got a “free” episiotomy (as I was literally saying to the doctor “I DO NOT consent to this” and so was my husband) which brought me almost a year of excruciating pain and tears during sex.
So yeah, I’ve got to go with the birth center birth on that one.
Don’t even get me started on how my HMO won’t cover a birth center birth (which includes all prenatal care and costs $4000) but they will cover a hospital birth (which costs at least $10,000 – not including any drugs or c-sections)…
I think that women should be able to make the choices they want for their own birth (as someone above posted, they loved their epidural – not my choice, but I support her right to make it) but our rights are severely limited by a$$face insurance companies. BOOOO!
My first would have to be the IUI for the conception of my son (I have PCOS and a “hostile” cervix). Took on the first try. He just turned 9 in January.
My second – in 2000 after being told by my eye doctor that I was going to make myself blind (I was a terrible contact wearer) I decided to have LASIK. Best decision ever! Your moment was the VCR clock – mine was being able to read the numbers/logos on the uniforms of the winter Olympians from across the room on a 27 inch TV.
LASIK is so inexpensive as of late it’s very affordable. I’ve thought about it. But I like my hot-nerd glasses. LOL Plus I’m not sure I could sit still for the procedure… so I’m not sure it would really work for me. Anyway I think about it occasionally, might do it at some point.
Interesting story, though, well written. I can’t say yet what’s the best thing I have bought. I probably haven’t purchased it yet.
Tivo was by far the best material thing I’ve ever bought. Best non-material thing would be therapy that helped me get over anorexia.
My fiance got LASIK this summer and it’s been so great for him.
My husband is getting LASIK next week actually. We’re both blind as hell without contacts, but since I’m pregnant again, they want you to wait a year after having babies or when you KNWO you won’t be getting pregnant, because apparently the hormones can change your vision and can make the procedure less than perfect. Oh well.
The best thing I bought for myself, as dumb as it sounds, was creating a “window” in the wall between our kitchen and living room. It made such a huge difference in a house that felt so small, that even though it cost 3K because it was a supporting wall and there was heating ducts and electricity in it, has been so worth it.
I also plan to get the extra skin removed from my stomach and thighs from losing 120 lbs three years ago. I’m 22 weeks pregnant with my second baby and wanted to wait until I was done having kids before “fixing” my body. I was 250-300 pounds for many years and that skin will never go back. That us a purchase I also look forward to.
Recently, I bought the lap band procedure for weight loss. Absolutely the best fifteen grand I’ve ever spent. Like Amanda, I’d agree to end the embarrassing horrors that come with being obese are worth any price.
And all the infertility drugs in the world it took to make my second son.
I’d love to have LASIK but can neither afford it now and also am just a tad of a scaredy cat……but maybe someday!
I’m gonna say my best purchase has been a used piano. Didn’t cost much at all, but it’s the first thing I’ve bought just for myself in a very very long time. It’s a great stress reliever and I can go off and play (or pound, depending!) in my own little world. Love it.
I would say my Tivo, and in a close second place, my kitchen shears. I use those things for EVERYTHING, from cutting open a bag of lettuce to hacking up chicken breasts to trimming my rosebushes.
The best thing that I ever bought was three bus tickets out of San Bernardino, CA. I was married to a man that beat me daily and would not leave alone even to go to the bathroom for about 6 months. The first time he left the house, I picked my kids and went to the Greyhound station. I bought tickets to Eugene, OR because that was as far north as we could go with the money I had. Never, ever regretted my decision in the 30 years since. That was 1980. We did not even speak English well. In 1985 I got my law degree, in 1990 my sons left Eugene to come east–one to Harvard, one to MIT. Happy ending for all!
The best thing that I ever bought was three bus tickets out of San Bernardino, CA. I was married to a man that beat me daily and would not leave me alone even to go to the bathroom for about 6 months. The first time he left the house, I picked my kids and went to the Greyhound station. I bought tickets to Eugene, OR because that was as far north as we could go with the money I had. Never, ever regretted my decision in the 30 years since. That was 1980. We did not even speak English well. In 1985 I got my law degree, in 1990 my sons left Eugene to come east–one to Harvard, one to MIT. Happy ending for all!
If I may offer two…
1) My two bachelor’s degrees and my master’s. I received federal financial aid and academic scholarships, but I had to pay for the rest on my own. I knew from the time that I was 10 that if I ever wanted to go to college (and oh, did I ever want to), I would have to pay for it myself. I am very happy to say that I did it on my own and graduated magna cum laude to boot!
2) My wedding. My husband and I paid for our wedding by ourselves, and it was so nice to not have to deal with the pressure from our parents–sure, it would’ve been nice to not stress how we were going to pay for what was considered a scaled-down wedding, but I discovered, yet again, just how great it is to be able to financially stand on my own two feet and to look around at my wedding and know that we had put it together ourselves.
I reeeeally reeeeally want to have the LASIK procedure. Every SINGLE person I know tells a similar story as yours…BUT, for some reason I’m still terrified of it! I am such a jerk. I have had boob implants, liposuction, (yes, I was a tiny bit vain for a while…), had a baby, DONE surgery on eyes (like, I’ve REMOVED EYEBALLS from dogs and cats before)…but no matter how many times I see one of those videos of the procedure, it remains equally horrifying.
I guess the best money I’ve spent so far would be the 85723462534.52 I owe on my student loans.
I should have said 30 yrs approximately.
I would say the 25k we paid our Reproductive Endocrinologist who helped us have our child:)
As a small business owner with about a dozen employees, the best money I spend every two weeks is for a payroll service. It takes me 10 minutes to get my numbers together and send it to them. All taxes are paid correctly and on time and the w2s show up like magic in January.
For a couple hours after I had LASIK I was in so much pain I actually wanted to die. Still the best money I ever spent.
Also, I had the same guy who did Tiger Woods. That makes me cool, right?
I had RK done on both eyes in 86 (back when insurance would cover it) and it was one of the best things I have done. I went without glasses until 2002 (old age sucks).
My Lap Band.
In January06 I weighed 338 lbs. On March 29 2006, when I had surgery, I weighed 312 lbs.
Today I am down to 240 lbs, and still losing!
I used to be busting out of size 4x tops and 28 pants.
Today I wear 16/18 or XL top, and 18/20 pants.
In the space of a few months I had vision surgery (I did the “no touch” one, not lasik – can’t remember the actual name), and paid my ex to get the hell out of my life.
Both painful, both well worth it.
Any money spent traveling has to be right up there too. And I have to say, traveling without contacts (and without my ex) is a huge improvement.
LASIK is the bomb. But WTF?? Everyone else I know got PILLS when they got theirs – I didn’t get shit except for numbing drops! But it has to be one of the best things I’ve done. Contacts were driving me insane with the dry eyes and headaches, and glasses were NOT CUTE.
LASIK, really, LASIK?! Do you know, like Danell, I’ve been far too scared to do it, despite not being very squeamish at all about most things. But DUDE, it’s my EYES. And I’m scared! So scared! TOO SCARED GAH OMG.
As for the best thing I’ve ever bought ahhhh … I’m going to go with my dog. That sounds creepy, I don’t know why, but yes. The dog. I mean, barring boring things like medical care.
It sure as all shit wasn’t my house in Florida that I’m currently renting for at a loss. Bleach.
I can’t get LASIK. Something about my eyes being too different and them just degenerating after the surgery. Sigh.
So, the best thing ever bought was either my Nikon D40 because it is my favorite thing ever, or my college education. But in all fairness, I didn’t buy my college education, my parent’s did. But graduate school? Well, that’s all on me, and hopefully it will be my new favorite purchase!
Our adopted baby — yes, it cost a lot of money to adopt him, but we would adopt again if we could.
I might have to also say LASIK. I don’t often spend that much money but it was 100% worth it.
Not to be all bitter or obnoxious about it, but… my divorce. I thought he was The One, but he lied to me about who he was, and what he wanted, for 6 years. After all the lawyer bills were paid, I was out a bunch of money… but I had myself back.
I very recently told someone that the two things I spent a considerable amount of money on that turned out to be worth every penny were LASIK and the Mirena IUD.
I had the eyes done 8 years ago (and still perfect vision) while I was still covered under a COBRA program that paid half. The other was totally out of pocket but virtually no periods is SO worth it!
My college education (which, hopefully, will continue to a masters program in a couple years). I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to continue my education. Even if I will be paying it off for years to come…
I very much want to get laser eye suger but it freaks me out everytime I read about it. I’m thinking the “no touch” surgery is the way to go. But first I must pay off my massive student line of credit. Which at this point is the greatest thing I ever paid for (er, borrowed for). Hopefully I’ll start making money soon so it can pay for itself.
I really love my KitchenAid mixer. I can’t quite admit that’s the BEST thing, but heavenly things do emanate from it.
Also, all the plane tickets and hotel nights and money spent seeing the world.
gastric bypass surgery (paid by insurance except copay)
scuba lessons
tubal ligation (also insurance)
two divorces (worth twice what I paid)
face lift (out of pocket)
nikon d80
damn I’ve spent alot of money huh?
I remember the first big windfall I ever got (my employer pays annual bonuses). It was 1998. I paid off a huge credit card balance and then bought myself a CD recorder so I could make mix CDs instead of mix tapes. Oh the joy. And then, iPods. Ecstasy.
Trips to Europe before we had kids probably rank up there on best money spent too.
The best purchases I’ve made all have to do with my son – the swing (the one you hate with the music that goes off so suddenly), the Amazing Miracle Blanket, the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, and the Britax Marathon car seat. We bought so much stuff for him when he was tiny, in an effort to shut him the hell up, that whatever worked is still my favorite purchase, lo these three years later.
I’d be scared to death to have that done!! The best things I’ve ever bought were my IPOD and my TIVO. (not hugely high priced items, but lifesavers, nonetheless!)
Reading your account of how you came to live together, after living several hours away, I must ask– is there a story of how the two of you met in the first place? And if you’ve already addressed this years ago, I apologize–I must’ve forgotten. Just nosily wondering. :-)
Best thing I ever bought…not really bought but paid for: out-of-pocket midwifery services for the homebirth of my first baby. The experience was so awesome that we are going to do it all over again, even though the midwife’s prices have gone up. =D
The best purchase I ever made was for two movie tickets to a showing I never went to. I used the ‘extra ticket’ excuse to call a co-worker, and ended up leaving a voicemail on his cellphone inviting him to the movies with me. He felt bad that he missed my call, he invited me to the same movie a day later. We had dinner, and five months later we were engaged.
Hubby and I have been married for 4 and a half years. That $16 or so was well-spent… although it took a lot of courage too for a hugely pregnant chick to ask someone out (and for an introverted geek to date her).
i want lasik so so bad, im saving now for it, unfortunately the car is likely to die first….
damn, im jealous!
Okay, let me be sure to phrase this correctly. I did not buy a baby, but the $35,000 in adoption attorney and agency fees was the best money that I have ever spent. It bought me the most incredible, beautiful, Guatemalan blessing of my life. And I say that while she is 3 1/2 now and tried to put me in time out yesterday for sayiing “bitch” to a friend. Bossy, bossy, girl. But after Bella, it was definitely the Lasik. The relief and convenience of never having to wear contacts or glasses again still amazes me.
The $60 I paid for renter’s insurance in 2001. Less than a month after moving to a new apartment out of state, the whole building burned down. I’m the poster child for renter’s insurance among all my friends and family.
1. $200 for our cockapoo, Molly. From the humane society.
2. $100 for what we learned later was a custom-made lightolier sputnik chandelier. we didn’t know it at the time, but now it’s probably worth 10x that. happy surprise!
3. my college education, even though i’m still paying for that.
4. citizens for humanity jeans. :)
I’ve been considering Lasik for a few years, but am too chicken! Especially after my last eye doctor told me I was “borderline” (my eyesight is so bad some doctors would refuse to do the procedure).
I don’t really have a “best purchase ever”, but the best purchases I’ve made would have to be my minivan (yuppie motherdom, here I come!) and my house.
I just remembered about my LASIK procedure. I am SO glad the doctor told me that I would be blind temporarily while the laser did it’s thing. I think I would’ve freaked out at seeing something come at my eye. LOL. The hardest part was not being able to turn away or blink while having the bright light shining in my eye.
But it was all so worth it to not be nearly blind and helpless should I lose my glasses and be stuck somewhere.
My best purchase was our first house. We paid $149,900 in 1996 (this is DC, so that’s a bargain!), and renovated the heck out of it for ten years. We sold it last year for $520,000 – enough to leverage ourselves, and three kids, into much, much more space. In the same neighborhood.
The obscene amount of money we spent on our honeymoon to Anguilla 9 months ago. It was the best 15 days of our life, filled with food, drink, and tons of fun. We could have used the money to take us completely out of debt, but instead, we have memories and souvenirs from the most gorgeous and friendly place on earth.
Oh, and, in about a week, we’ll receive our last souvenir from Anguilla when I FINALLY pop this baby out.
Oh I so want LASIK…the best $$$ I spent….my $150 copay for giving birth.
A plane ticket to Australia, a vacation from which I never returned. (Okay, it was a year or so later.)
I do hope you’re writing creative nonfiction essays to submit to journals, because you’re good.
And I hope the Lasik people paid you, because they should.
Hmmm, 2 things I can think of:
1. And this may be TMI, but I’ll say it anyway. Laser hair removal. Love it. No shaving…so awesome.
2. My inordinately expensive rescue dog. Between the adoption fee of a couple hundred bucks, treating him when I found out he had heartworm, glucosamine for the arthritis he has from his rough past, routine vet bills, and tons and tons of treats, I’ve shelled out quite a bit for him, but I wouldn’t give him up, not in a million years.
I’m so glad other people are scared! scared! scared! about LASIK and I’m not just a freak of nature. Honestly, its my eyes that they are slicing open and lasering! GAH!
Money well spent has to be the purchase of our home in 2006. I still get that little girl giddy feeling that I have my own house to do whatever I want with! I would also add in the bedroom set my husband and I purchased when we bought our home. I LOVE being in our bedroom and could not pick out a better set for us! It still makes me happy after almost 2 years :)
For me, it was a plane ticket. You see, I met my husband over the phone, before it became fairly common to meet people over the Internet.
I’ll wait while that sinks in.
I’ll spare you the details of what led to the phone call but it began a fledgling long distance relationship between us while he was in chef school in Kentucky and I was a freshman at Univ. of Kansas. Because of the long distance, he was starting to get cold feet, getting frustrated that he couldn’t just take me out on a date because of the distance, and he hemmed and hawed a little bit about stopping the phone calls.
In a scary and desperately stalkerish attempt to keep from being dumped, I bought a plane ticket to visit him for a weekend over the winter break. He was happy to see me, and the visit solidified what we knew had been happening over the phone for two months. We were falling for each other. Two years later, he graduated chef’s school and moved back to the St. Louis area where he grew up and I decided to transfer schools to be closer to him. That was 11 years ago and now we’re married with two kids.
I’d say that plane ticket changed my life. But really it was the phone call that started it all.
My LASIK was probably the best money ever spent, as well. I always felt so self-conscious with glasses on, and the contacts had starting giving me wicked awful eye infections/irritations like every couple months or so.
Plus I got veneers on my two front teeth last year, and that was pretty awesome – I got to have the dentist modify the teeth to look more natural – my two front teeth have always been bigger than the others, so to have them shaped down and match the rest a bit more was pretty awesome.
Can’t say I’m a big fan of the assembly line Lasik, seeing as how they started cutting on me before I was numb then snapped at me for twitching. But the best money we ever spend is the $90 or so that we pay to AAA each year for our roadside service. Came in real handy when Husband locked his keys in the trunk of the car while out of town.
The $24 or so I spent on a Flickr Pro account. Within a year, I’d moved in with a man I’d met via Flickr.
I don’t know, really. Maybe my cat?
I’ve always been intrigued by LASIK, but the horror stories I’ve heard have made me chicken out. Plus my vision is god-awful, I’m afraid I’m unfixable– but maybe I’ll give it a second thought, because I would LOVE to be contact free, and be able to see in the morning, and not get headaches from my glasses (I have really bad vision) when I do wear them.
In chronological order:
1) braces (okay paid for by the parent but so worth every penny)
2) therapy….. lots of it (the braces may have been the only good thing the parents gave me)
3) my bachelor’s degree. Didn’t get it until I was 28 and I had scholarships but worth 10x the money I paid
4) my house, which I never thought I’d be able to get. It’s little, but its mine, and even in this lousy market it’s worth more than twice what I paid for it.
5) lasik!!!!! The freedom to take catnaps without removing the contacts is highly underrated. The only thing that really weirded me out about the procedure was the smell. They didn’t warn me about that.
6)Both my rescue dogs–the old guy who needed daily medication and the most recent girl who I had to have flown up from California. Rediculously expensive sometimes but wouldn’t give them up for anything (despite recent PITA doggy spring fever).
Bébé Sounds Angel Care, which is this marvelous thing you put under the baby’s mattress and it alerts you if your baby stops breathing. Love it. Saves me from hovering over him whenever he sleeps. Of course I recommend people take infant cpr classes in the event the gadget beeps to let you know your baby has actually stopped breathing.
All the taxes I pay in Canada… sounds crazy but when I needed major surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation — when you least expect it of course! — not to mention all the drugs…. it was nice not to have to pay one red cent out of my wallet. Ever. Being sick is stressful enough… I don’t know people cope with money pressures on top of it.
In the more mundane category, the $150 I spent on a 12 foot inflatable pool for our garden. We had summer after summer of having our own resort… at one point I was home with two older kids and baby, and we would hook up the baby monitor when he napped, and play all afternoon in our pool just twenty feet away. The two older kids would have been SO cranky being stuck at home with a baby, but for the pool. Great family memories.
1) First, I guess, would be my law degree. I quintupled my salary the first year out.
2) My sexy italian racing bike. (Bicycle, that is). Hours of joy and bragging rights when I beat all the men up the hill.
3) My 2 dogs rescued from death row. $200 for the sweetest, best family members I could ask for.
4) My plasma tv. I’m embarrased about how much I enjoy it. Only the aforementioned bike keeps me from full blown couch potatohood.
Oh, this one is pretty easy, so far. In 2004, I was pregnant with our first kiddo, Matthew. At the time, my husband was working as a research technician for the state, and I was a postdoc. We did not exactly have much in the way of disposable income, and we were sleeping on a mattress that I inherited from a friend of my mom’s when I was in college. So that was…8 years prior, and who knows how old it was before that. It was not in good shape, and we were waking up regularly with backaches.
Around November or so, I decided that I was NOT going to do pregnancy with a crappy mattress. So we went off and bought a $1500 Simmons Beautyrest pillowtop. And to this day, one of us will comment to the other on how awesome our mattress is–we still don’t take it for granted, 3 1/2 years later. In fact, my husband now travels for work quite a bit–and gets to stay in nice hotels. That used to be a big treat for us, and now he says that no matter how nice the room/bed is, he can’t wait to get home. (I’d like to think that was because of me, but I think it’s really the mattress!).
I will be getting a new car with this pregnancy. Again, we don’t have tons of money, but the current car honestly can not fit 2 carseats. So maybe I’ll be posting again in a couple of months about my awesome car. Ha!
Definitely our house. It was the crazy cat lady’s and had a blood stain under the tile in our future bedroom, we had to put $20k into it immediately, and it is still under renovation (and will be for a looooooooong time) but man oh man was it worth it to get the hell out of our last apartment!
Second to that the cumulative amount of money I have spent on wool/fleece/knitting/spinning. That shit just makes me so damn happy!
I’m scared to death of LASIK. I feel like I would do anything to be able to see without the hassle of contacts…except that. It sounds horrifying to me, but I am also very squeamish and prone to fainting.
Best money I’ve ever spent — well, top 3:
(1) The (rather steep) fee for our dog. He’s purebred (I KNOW, next one will be a shelter dog), and once we saw him we would have paid pretty much anything for him, and those feelings are exponentially greater now that we’ve had him for five years. We also had to spent an assload on medical bills when he broke his leg, but I’d do it over again in a heartbeat.
(2) We paid for most of our own wedding, and that was money VERY well spent. I wish I could relive that day over and over again. It was incredible.
(3 – still pending) Whatever money we spend in adopting our daughter from Vietnam — and in spite of all the waiting and emotional turmoil — I know it will all be worth it, and we’ll want to do it over again and again for future children. Related to that, the money I’ve spent traveling to Vietnam — years before I even thought about children of my own — was well worthwhile, since I fell in love with the country and those trips led us to where we are now, waiting for our daughter.
I’d have to say that IVF is another miracle you can buy. Insurance paid for most of it, but we did have to pay some out of pocket – all worth it for our now 2 year old son. Every penny. I’d do it all again – hey, wait, I *am* doing it all again! Trying for a sibling.
My husband had LASIK done about 8 or 9 years ago. He paid about $5k (I think it’s a lot cheaper now) but he says it was worth it to have those years of good vision.
The other thing I would say that was money well spent was our two trips to Italy, the first in November 2001 and the second in October 2004 (our honeymoon). I think money spent seeing the world is well invested.
By far, it has to be the $35 dollars we spent buying a swingset/fort/play structure thingy off some dude on Craigs*List. His kids were too old for it and he just wanted someone else to come disassemble it and take it out of his backyard. We had to replace two pieces of wood and we went ahead and replaced all the nuts & bolts since some of the old ones were a little rusted. But both my kids absolutely love it and it prevents me from having to take them to the park every day when I just don’t have the energy to do so.
Best money ever spent: a photosafari to Africa after grad school.
About LASIK: I’ve had it twice, and both times my eyes have healed from the surgery and become nearsighted again, almost immediately. They WARN you – it is sometimes less successful for severely nearsighted people, and I’m proof of that the warning is necessary. (My correction factor was -9.0 pre surgery.)
The $125 I spent at Seattle Animal Shelter to adopt my beautiful, sweet, joyous, loyal, quiet, well-behaved, socially appropriate, courteous, tactful, well-trained (by previous owners, not me) pointer-labrador mix. PERFECT dogs are waiting to be adopted or euthanized at your local animal shelter right now.
Probably the $30/month since I was 17 that I’ve spent on birth control. Not having to worry about babies = awesome.
Hm, I’m not sure I would have thought of it if you hadn’t put it out there, but laser eye surgery (PRK in my case) has to be right up there for me too. PRK is more painful and has a longer recovery time but I’d do it again in a heartbeat even so.
Hm, I’m not sure I would have thought of it if you hadn’t put it out there, but laser eye surgery (PRK in my case) has to be right up there for me too. PRK is more painful and has a longer recovery time but I’d do it again in a heartbeat even so.
Wow I have been fortunate enough to have many fantastic purchases. In order:
1) Breast Reduction Surgery: it was very nice to finally have people talk to my face, not my tits. Oh! And button up shirts are nice too. I hadn’t worn one since I was 12.
2) My Education
3) My Home: purchase for $229,000 in the best neighborhood ever 4 years ago. Now worth closer to $750,000. Can we say economic boom?
4) My defective Westie.She was expensive yet worth every penny.
5) A trip to San Fransisco 29.5 months ago that ended with a day of tequila drinking and sex and 9 months later my son.
Definitely the money we spent on the IUIs that resulted in my currently being 35 weeks pregnant. None of it was covered by insurance, and it was worth every penny.
I’m almost ashamed to admit it because I know this sounds shallow, but I really love the implants I bought myself with my first job out of college signing bonus. I didn’t have a low self-body image but I had a nice ass and nothing up top (AA cup) to balance it, so I gave myself some small C’s to curve things out.
I love them and given a chance to relive my life, I would definitely get them again.
Reading other comments, I feel kind of lame, but oh well.
My first iPod in February 2006. It was white, 30 GB, video. I had always carried around a ton of CD’s in my car. After my iPod (which I named Daisy because I’m a winner), I was able to put my CD collection up.
I got an iPod touch for Christmas (love being spoiled!) and again, it’s quite possibly my most favorite thing ever.
Question: I’ve read several mixed reviews about the iPhone. I just recently (in November) switched to a mac notebook (LOOOOOVE!!!) and clearly love the iPods… so, is the iPhone totally worth it? Please let me know! :)
Off the top of my hat, probably all the money we’ve paid to have me be in the country. Not that where I came from was bad, but paying thousands of dollars and putting my life in limbo over and over has meant that I got to be where my husband was. All of it a huge, fucking pain in the ass – and totally worth every second.
I would love to get Lazik or equivalent, but I’m very nearsighted, plus I have bad astigmatism in both eyes, AND they haven’t stopped changing, so I don’t know if I’m a good candidate. But this summer I finally got new lenses for my glasses. I spent $520 for fancy-pants ultra-thin transition lenses, and I love them. I also love never having to lose another pair of clip-on sunglasses again.
A canoe. Weeks before I graduated from college and got married my fella and I bought a Mad River Canoe. It cost him a lot of money.. (only him because I had $76 to my name). It has brought us so much joy, freedom and closeness. We love river tripping and it has taken us many places that you feet just cannot take you.
Wow, what uncanny timing, I had an app for a consultation for Lasik in January and just this week we sat down to work out what we need to spend money on this year. I am still on the fence with regard to getting it done only because I really don’t have any problems with my contacts, I have been wearing them for nearly 21 years now. I might just get the husband to read this post anyway as it might help us make up our minds!
Well, objectively speaking, the best thing is probably the still-ongoing dental work to replace two extracted teeth with false implants. It’s ongoing because I was born with a cleft palate, and it turned out that getting the implants required some additional repair work, including a bone graft, which apparently will save me from losing more teeth. Insurance covered most of the actual bone graft surgery, but I had to pay for the braces (second time having them) preceding the surgery, and I’ll have to pay for the actual implant work and false teeth. Maintaining good healthy teeth, and finally having permanent replacements and not having to wear a retainer all the time, will definitely qualify as best thing ever purchased.
But you know, when you ask that question I don’t think of all that dental work. No, when asked “what’s the best thing you ever bought,” I immediately think of my first-generation 5-GB iPod. I bought it within a month of them being released, first used it on a bus ride from Boston down to NYC for Thanksgiving at my sister’s, and have loved it ever since. It got me across the country when I moved to Seattle, it got me through many commutes, some long nights at work, plane flights back home for Christmas… in terms of money spent to immediate gratification as well as longevity of use and sheer enjoyment, it’s definitely the best thing ever. Or at least it was, until I got my first-generation iPhone… (Note to Misti: yes, the iPhone is totally worth it. Go get one now.)
I’ve thought about getting laser eye surgery, which would also be great I’m sure, and my only hesitation has been concern about whether it’ll be effective for me or maybe make my night vision worse. Well, also I haven’t had the money to spare – maybe after the dental work is finally done…
Neat post today and great testimonials from you and your commenters!
My “best purchases” are things that resulted in life changes for the better. First one is my education – BS/MS/MBA (spread out over 20 years). Second one is my very nice Bianchi road bike, which motivated me to get out and actually ride it, which led me to discover how much I enjoyed riding and led to a whole new fit lifestyle.
1) My law degree-I will be paying back my loans until 2037 (seriously!) but I doubled my previous salary.
2)Our Sleep Number bed purchased right after we got married. It was probably three times the cost of a regular bed but it is SO WORTH IT.
I am SO PUMPED to read all of these positive things about LASIK! WHEE! I’ve been considering it but my husband is being a Fussy pain in the ass about it.
I think the best money I ever spent was on my masters degree.
i spent $75 10 years ago for a 1962 schwinn hollywood bicycle. it is still rolling, and it’s older than me! i love the looks i get when people realize that i am riding a bicycle you would normally see hanging from the ceiling of a tacky chain restaurant.
I have a few:
1) My study abroad trip to Australia. Five weeks, and experiences that were just so wonderful.
2) My custom orthotics, which have saved my feet.
3) My MoonCup, which is just amazing. I spent $30 about eight years ago, and that’s the last time I ever spent money on my period. That’s just one of many benefits, and I freaking love the thing!
Hmmmm … well my first bag of pot was a life changer. God only knows what sort of dysfunctional, stressed out bastard I would have grown into had I not had weed to chill me out during my volatile teen years.
I got a five dollar pocket pussy that was similar to your surgery in that it was damn near a miracle of science. But now I have to shave my palms, and I’m blind.
I would say my shotgun. I quasi-legally purchased a twelve gauge shotgun from … this guy I know, and I have to say there is no feeling in the world quite like blowing the living shit out stuff with a near deafening explosion that bruises your shoulder. It’s probably a guy thing, so if you don’t get it, don’t worry. I don’t get to shoot it very often, seeing as how it’s pretty much illegal for me to have one at all, let alone a quasi-legal one out in the woods, but when I do, it’s fucking awesome. Imagine having butt sex with a T-rex, while flying on speed, in free fall. That’s kind of what shooting guns feels like, but better.
The $1400 plane ticket I bought to spend 8 months studying abroad in Salzburg, Austria. All the loans will kill me soon enough, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
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