10 Things Worth Forking Out For

While I am the biggest advocate of not having to pay full price for anything, here is my list of the things I will spend the money on.

(This list is in no particular order) 

Upgraded travel services

My first train trip ride on VIA Rail was really terrible with cramped, worn-down seats, no food, loud passengers who insisted on talking loudly on their phones for 4 hours (both ways), and people who thought that watching videos without headphones was totally acceptable.

Perhaps I would have thought that the train was okay had I not stepped into first class by accident; thought travelling by train was really lovely; then gotten shafted to the economy class.

So the next time I travelled by train, I upgraded to VIA 1 (I had a coupon), which is like the business/first class of VIA RAil, and man, was that nice. I waited in the lounge instead of the huge long lineup to board on the train for the free-for-all, enjoyed a nice newspaper, food and drink throughout the ride, and the joyous silence of patrons who also did not want to be bothered by others. I highly recommend VIA 1, especially if you’re travelling alone.

I also recommend the business class of South African Airways. I got upgraded once. It was swank. 

Swanky hotels - even if it’s just once

Although he says he was paying it off for quite a while, there is a particular hotel in Miami where my husband proposed to me. It was a small luxury boutique hotel with only 9 floors and maybe 30 rooms in total. The butler-like service was the best I’ve ever had in my life, and though he probably got nickel-and-dimed for stuff, I’ve never stayed anywhere as gorgeous. Our suite had TWO bathrooms, with the bathtub in the main bathroom overlooking the ocean.

And that is why we just did it once and have the memories to last us forever.

A hotel as opposed to a Bed and Breakfast

For years and years, my sister and I had this tradition of staying in a different B&B for our annual sisters’ trip.

At the last B&B, we were awoken at 7:18 a.m. on a Saturday (AND Sunday) morning by this woman blasting Il Divo on her stereo system. This nosy/overly chatty woman insisted on having breakfast at 8 a.m. with a dining room table of guests who were forced to make strangers’ small talk. And that was the last of our B&B experiences, because in the past, we’ve put up with:

- too few or shared bathrooms
- the bathroom is next to your room, and you have to listen to (# of guests x 2 in night/morning) showers
- forced conversation with weird hosts and strangers
- dust
- weird decor
- driving around in the dark looking for an unmarked residence
- dictated schedule
- being told that we parked in the wrong spot on the driveway

Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had fantastic experiences on these trips, but I think we’re done for B&Bs without recommendations from people we know.

A Mac

I actually bought my iMac out of spite because I had so many problems with my PC laptop in a short span of time. As I recall, I had to reformat the thing twice in 6 weeks since it just went haywire. I still use my laptop, but limit the number of applications on it, and keep its use to a minimum.

Macs seem to be fairly user-friendly, and knock on wood, I haven’t had any problems with mine, and I bought it in September 2008.

Macs never go on sale, but you can get Aeroplan points if you buy through the Aeroplan store.

Heinz Ketchup

Strange, I know. While I think it’s probably the same deal with bottled water as all the same ketchup goes into differently-labelled bottles, I dunno. I tried a generic brand once. It had a weird taste to it, so I switched back to Heinz.

Heated car seats

My friends outside of Canada won’t relate to this, but heated car seats are part of the winterizing packages available here. Even if you don’t turn on the car’s central heat (sometimes I don’t to keep myself awake), toasty buns make the ride much sweeter.

A new toilet - if you need it and can afford it

For all the stuff that home ownership makes you pay for, a new toilet is like a reward. There’s just something glorious about a new toilet that hasn’t been used by anyone but you. (And the plumber, if he was testing it out.)

We have ONE new toilet in this house, and then had to shell out to have the insides of the others replaced. The silence is much preferred to the sound of fairies splashing in the bowl.

A satellite navigation system

It’s just so much easier to know where you’re going with the aid of a sat nav.

Good bed sheets

Higher thread counts sometimes CAN really make a difference. Hubby loves this one particular set that we bought on clearance somewhere. (I had written something else here but I don't remember what it was.)

A personal/digital video recorder (PVR/DVR)

The catch is that once you’ve bought one, you’ll never go back. It totally saves having to look for VHS tapes and blank DVDs. You can set up series recordings and record two things at once.