Before sharing my input, as a preface, I’d like to highlight the fact that I thoroughly enjoy living the « good life » regardless of whether I’m accompanied or not. I like to indulge myself with lifelong memories and I always strive to impress myself first and foremost.

On the other hand, I genuinely and strongly believe in the idea that happiness is meant to be shared and, as such, I usually have no resistance when it comes down to kindly treating others in mutually living those moments together.

With that being said, please find below a few items that come directly to mind:

  • Approx. $2k for a private helicopter ride in South East Asia
  • Approx. $2k for an evening which included a high-end restaurant and premium lounge bar with live jazz music
  • Between $10k and $15k in one quarter on top-notch restaurants (e.g., last-minute reservations with the maître d’s for the chef’s table)
  • Approx. $1k on flowers over the course of 1 week
 

You guessed completely wrong.

To give you a better idea on my demographics, I am the first one in my family that purchased an apartment.

So no, when I was younger, on weekends I did not fool around with lacrosse buddies in the Hamptons and did not go après-ski in Switzerland wearing Loro Piana head to toe. Worked as a pizza delivery guy during holidays and did the dishes in restaurants in the evenings.

 
IncomingIBDreject

This is the Jean - Georges dinner?

Yes it was. You know all the Isaiah trivia questions. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
Most Helpful

Met this beautiful Tennessee belle while in Mexico City some years back, and we immediately hit it off. I think I dropped $800 on a nice car rental for the week, another $1k or so on a 4 star hotel, and probably another $1500 on food during that time. All of which I would not have done if she wasn’t there, I was hostel hopping at the time lol.

Would definitely do it again. She was exquisite; well educated and very beautiful, and could hold meaningful conversations on any topic for hours at a time.

Alas, it didn’t work out, but she paid me back in kind a few months later when I went to visit her in NYC. She’s married to a fine gentleman now and is quite happy, and while it pains me a little to see what life could have been like with her, I know it would never have worked out, and we are still in good terms and catch up every now and then.

 

Often times most people are pleasant in small doses because they want to show their best selves. Then when they are more comfortable or complacent they regress into their true selves. Sometimes it's not very different, sometimes it's dramatic. Such is life

 

lumber_cruncher

Met this beautiful Tennessee belle while in Mexico City some years back, and we immediately hit it off. I think I dropped $800 on a nice car rental for the week, another $1k or so on a 4 star hotel, and probably another $1500 on food during that time. All of which I would not have done if she wasn't there, I was hostel hopping at the time lol.

Would definitely do it again. She was exquisite; well educated and very beautiful, and could hold meaningful conversations on any topic for hours at a time.

Alas, it didn't work out, but she paid me back in kind a few months later when I went to visit her in NYC. She's married to a fine gentleman now and is quite happy, and while it pains me a little to see what life could have been like with her, I know it would never have worked out, and we are still in good terms and catch up every now and then.

Thanks for sharing - your story brought back oceans of sweet memories from my memory palace and likewise I’d relive them in a single heartbeat with no hesitation.

At that time, were those expenses sound financial decisions? Most probably not but it doesn’t matter as those unique moments were priceless and my happiness doesn’t have a price tag.

The vast majority of my day-to-day activities require laser focus analysis combined with rational decision-making to continuously aim for optimized financial outcomes towards my clients.

But I myself have no interest whatsoever in showcasing single digit year-on-year growth on my personal finances. I consider life to be too short and precious to extend the following mentally draining exercises into my life sanctuary: budgeting control, scenario analysis (e.g., calculating the opportunity costs of my expenses versus if I had instead invested those amounts for a x% ROI, or whatever textbook concept on Amazon’s top choices there exists on how saving daily on Starbucks coffees could make one financially independent with passive income via compounded interests through investment opportunities in niche areas), etc.

 

I’m in a similar boat to you, my job requires a lot of intense concentration to ensure the objective gets met, though in a very different profession than investing.

I’ve found that spending money to make lifetime memories is the best way to spend it, I’ll never forget her or that week. It also gave me a lifelong friend and that worth is immeasurable.

At the time, it was probably more than I should have spent, but it had negligible impact on my long term finances- I went into it from a position where I was able to spend that and I’m glad I was able to spread the joy to someone else. One of life’s great pleasures is being able to give said joy to someone else and experience it together, it doesn’t matter how much or little you spend.

 

Serious question - if you yourself believe that inefficiency allows room for happiness in life, why are you working on bringing efficiency (and by extension less happiness) on others people’s lives? Whether that be an efficient cost profile (more work, less pay meaning worse working conditions, and less jobs after realized synergies) or an efficient revenue profile (think REITs and pricing rentals in a way that forced people to work harder and have less savings).

Array
 

Unfortunately I have several “ones that got away,” with far more tragic and interesting stories. With this girl it came down to the fact that we knew we wouldn’t work out long term. She was a little older than me and was ready to start a family; that was several years ago and I’m still today probably a decade away from wanting to have kids. We had our fun together and cherished the moments, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

 

I was going out with a girl for a couple months and her car got pretty messed up in a hit and run. Insurance wasn’t much help and she was a healthcare tech trying to go back to nursing school. She needed a car so I threw in 15k. We went out for a few months longer and I moved on after.

 

1500 over the course of 3 weeks (5-6 friday+saturday nights) in uncesserasy bar tabs at one specific bar to impress the bartender chick who was still in school and using me for tips (which she had to split with the other 2 bartenders). Those were some great bar nights and the staff and her treated me like a king, but never really had any interest in seeing me outsider of the bar. Her and I exchanged phone numbers and social media and talked often on there, but she never confirmed a date with me. I even offered to purposefully "forget" my credit card at the bar for her to take it shopping. I'm an idiot. 

We're not lawyers. We're investment bankers. We didn't go to Harvard. We Went to Wharton!
 

To help cheer you up, I think $1.5k is a bargain for lifelong memories on feeling like a king in a kingdom governed by a beautiful queen you were in love with for 6 magical nights that will be forever engraved in your memory palace.

 

greatsak

To help cheer you up, I think $1.5k is a bargain for lifelong memories on feeling like a king in a kingdom governed by a beautiful queen you were in love with for 6 magical nights that will be forever engraved in your memory palace.

What the hell is this comment? Dude got drunk and the bartender took advantage (aka did her job) to make more in tips.

 

Sometimes, when I close my eyes for a moment after having asked during an investor call some input regarding projected growth drivers which, for the life of me, I completely don’t care about I am in an immersive voyage where I am taken back to that magic night where I enjoyed in the company of a goddess at a chef’s table in his private kitchen the craftsmanship of a master chef designing for us poetic dishes tailored to our wishes and personal tastes. I can still hear resonate within me the recitals of the sommelier on the best Chablis and its heritage to best pair with our meals.

 

Sometimes, when I close my eyes for a moment after having asked during an investor call some input regarding projected growth drivers which, for the life of me, I completely don’t care about I am in an immersive voyage where I am taken back to that magic night where I enjoyed in the company of a goddess at a chef’s table in his private kitchen the craftsmanship of a master chef designing for us poetic dishes tailored to our wishes and personal tastes. I can still hear resonate within me the recitals of the sommelier on the best Chablis and its heritage to best pair with our meals.

 

Sometimes, when I close my eyes for a moment after having asked during an investor call some input regarding projected growth drivers which, for the life of me, I completely don’t care about I am in an immersive voyage where I am taken back to that magic night where I enjoyed in the company of a goddess at a chef’s table in his private kitchen the craftsmanship of a master chef designing for us poetic dishes tailored to our wishes and personal tastes. I can still hear resonate within me the recitals of the sommelier on the best Chablis and its heritage to best pair with our meals.

 

Sometimes, when I close my eyes for a moment after having asked during an investor call some input regarding projected growth drivers which, for the life of me, I completely don’t care about I am in an immersive voyage where I am taken back to that magic night where I enjoyed in the company of a goddess at a chef’s table in his private kitchen the craftsmanship of a master chef designing for us poetic dishes tailored to our wishes and personal tastes. I can still hear resonate within me the recitals of the sommelier on the best Chablis and its heritage to best pair with our meals.

 
ADTIBE

Let my previous girlfriend live with me for 2+ years rent free (and some other expenses), so fair market value/payment in kind would be [conservatively speaking] $75,000+. Tier 1 city, class A building.

Did you break up with her? How was that?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

No, I found that if you go with such a name brand place the size would be small. Better to go with a small guy in the diamond district and then have an independent guy review the stone. Best bang for your buck, and if you’re super into prestige just get a cartier box!

 
Mr_Agree_to_Disagree

Paid

haha thought same thing

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I once bought a girl a $650 diamond butterfly necklace then broke up with her weeks later. FML.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
Isaiah_53_5 💎🙌💎🙌💎

I once bought a girl a $650 diamond butterfly necklace then broke up with her weeks later. FML.

I would argue that if you regret that decision then it means that the necklace was more a gift to yourself rather than her as you seem to attach more value to it.

A true gift is about giving without expecting anything in return.

 

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The important thing is never to let oneself be guided by the opinion of one's contemporaries; to continue steadfastly on one's way without letting oneself be either defeated by failure or diverted by applause.

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