Don't read this if you like having money in your bank account

When it comes to being financially responsible I’d categorize myself as reasonably responsible. I generally wait at least a year before buying any big ticket item. If I can remember that I still want something a year later, then that’s a sure sign I actually want it and it’s not some frivolous purchase.

Could I be better with my money? Absolutely. Can’t we all?

My main unnecessary purchases come in the form of food and travel. But hey, they both count as experiences, not material goods, and the experts say you should spend your money on experiences. Who are these experts anyway? I don’t know, but they’re justifying my spending habits, so they must be right.

Generally speaking I’m not much of a material objects kind of person. I genuinely hate shopping for clothes, shoes, purses, etc., but I also admittedly have an addiction to buying stationary. I don’t feel guilty about my unnecessary stationary purchases, despite my entire box of unused cards, because I know I’m going to send them off to people I love and hopefully make their day. Granted if it’s a birthday card I can almost guarantee it will arrive a few months late, but hey, let’s not get sidetracked here.

Even when I’m on a solid streak of being financially responsible, there are still a few splurge-worthy items I simply can’t resist. Worthy every penny in my opinion.

Le Labo - Santal 33

I would bathe in this stuff if I could afford to, but again, I’m fiscally responsible. They do make a shower gel, but at $54 a pop, I’ll kindly pass. I find you get the most bang for your buck if you buy their scents in lotion form. Something about the lotion makes the scent stay on you longer. Believe me, I’ve tested it.

I became familiar with Le Labo while living in NYC. I mainly enjoyed the smell of the shop as I fought my urge to enter and instead strolled on by. I knew I couldn’t possibly justify spending $82 on a tiny bottle of perfume, so I shouldn’t even entertain the idea at all. Fast forward a few years and here I am doing just that.

Let me explain.

While living in NYC I would often catch a whiff of this amazing scent, but could never pin point who it was coming from. I didn’t know the source, but I knew I loved it! After a weekend at The Foundation Hotel in Detroit, my sister came home smelling exactly like this mystery scent I had been trying to track down for years. I immediately interrogated her and to my relief finally had the answer to end my hunt - Le Labo Santal 33. The relief was short lived when I googled it and found out just how much it costs. Alas, my willpower had finally run out and I decided to splurge on a bottle, which I still do not regret. In fact I’d like to make one request for when I die - please have them infuse this scent in my embalming fluid so I can go out smelling just as good as I ever have! Too much?

PARACHUTE BEDDING

If you’re lucky enough to get a full eight hours of shuteye each night, then you spend approximately one-third of your life in your bed. Yes, this is the exact reasoning I used to justify my bedding purchase from Parachute. And if I’m being entirely honest, now that my bed is so damn comfortable I probably spend more like 50% of my life in my bed. I regret nothing about this… well, maybe just the fact that I didn’t pull the trigger and buy this bedding earlier in my life.

When I first saw the prices of the bedding online I was like “oh, no thank you, these sheets from Amazon are totally fine.” Then right around my birthday I decided to have a little treat-yo-self moment and bought the set I had been eyeing for quite some time. And now I’m all like “shut up and take my money. How did I even live before I had linen sheets? Oh that’s right, there’s a difference between being alive and truly LIVIN’ YO BEST LIFE".” I haven’t lost a wink of sleep stressing about the price of these sheets. In fact, I sleep like a little angel baby every single night.

art that makes you happy

Remember at the beginning of the post how I said I usually wait a year before making a big purchase? Yeah for this next item on the list I’m going to need you to go ahead and scratch that policy.

One day I’m in some kind of Instagram black hole leaping from one rabbit hole to the next when my thumb is stopped instantly in its tracks. Before me is a piece of artwork that I known in that moment I just need to have. It’s a simple, minimalistic drawing of my favorite thing on this big beautiful earth - the ocean. So I slide into the DMs of the artist and a few emails later he’s packing it up to be shipped to me from France. The fact that it’s coming from this gorgeous French man is just an added bonus. Not my most responsible decision, especially considering I was not in a financial position to be dropping really any amount of money on art, but again it was a need not a want. And one day when I’m insanely rich I will own a whole collection from this artist. Mark my words.

All images sourced from Instagram: @the_minimalist_wave — @parachutehome — @lelabofragrances