Best money you've ever spent

Just curious as to what items, events, trips, etc., have made y'all step back and say 'Yeah that was well worth it.' In my case, while building the mega deck, the Paslode CP325Li(nail gun) qualifies.

8 dollar universal exhaust hanger. Fixed a rattle at idle that was driving me nuts. Close second is likely the 3/8s drive flexhead ratchet

Hiring movers comes to the top of the list. Our honeymoon a close second. Any dollar I've spent on a concert, Blackhawks, or Cubs game is up there as well.

Honeymooning in NZ. I want to go back sooo bad.

My maxjax gets delivered on Monday. that might qualify, but I don't know yet.

In reply to bluej: your bak will thank your maxjax

$20 on a fixable RC hovercraft, best deal ever, had so much fun with that until a thrust motor burned out.

I guess my crowdfunding preorder on an RCP Mk1 turned out to be a pretty good deal, $300 for a Serious Business data logger. It's at least $500 for anything with similar capabilities these days.

Our house. While the house itself is far from perfect, we simply could not have bought it at a better time, in a better location, or for a better price. Every day I think about how lucky we got with it, and at least once a week I thank my wife for making me agree to that we should at least take a look at it. She seems to have the golden-instincts when it comes specifically to making big purchases, both pulling us into what end up being good ones and backing us away from would have ended up being bad ones...

Ok, now that I think about it, maybe I need to change my answer...To my wife's wedding ring.

Rhino ramps.

Sandblasting cabinet was well spent money that surprised me. I thought it would be helpful, but didn't know just how much.

Yup. Bought my first house in 1995. Six years later sold it for a nice 50% profit. Payment was more or less what I was paying in rent previously. No major repairs while I lived there. Total win.

Im with several others - Real Estate. More specifically, the land that our house is built on. A developer went under after having paid for the road to be laid, the water and electric ran, and EPA licensing done...then, went belly up. Bank was tired of owning empty land, and dumped em on the market for practically what they owed, which was about half of what similar lots were on the market for. We snapped one up, and used the land equity as a big hunk of our Construction loan financing.

Second is guided tours when on vacation. One year, while visiting Chicago, we were on the Pier and were looking for something fun to do after dinner. We just happened to be walking by the launch area of a guided river tour, at sunset. They had room for a few extra bodies, and told us they would do 2 for 1 tickets for us just to get the boat full. On a whim, the 3 hour tour (hehehe) was one of the most fun parts of the trip. We both kind of like architecture and design, and that was a lot of the tour, as well as learning fun facts about the city. Now, we try to get in a guided tour of any city we visit. Charleston SC was another really good one, this time on horse drawn carriage. The Battery and harbor area are really cool, as well as all the historical homes, churches, cemeteries etc.

Paying someone else to teach my Manhattanite wife how to drive.

Cold beer on a hot day.

LASIK. Hands down the best thing ever.

Bookended interestingly by another cosmetic surgery. The worst investment, by miles, was boobs for the wife. That one cost me high six figures all told.

um... The led tubes in the car port, or electricity in the carport in general.

Yea probably that. There's other things that come to mind, like the AK47, moving to Cali, the pig head at that restaurant in Cleveland, but for life changing AND usage, I think the electricity in the carport wins out, I use that everyday.

CPAP machine. Sleep is great.

KyAllroad wrote: LASIK. Hands down the best thing ever. Bookended interestingly by another cosmetic surgery. The worst investment, by miles, was boobs for the wife. That one cost me high six figures all told.

that story still makes me genuinely sad for your situation.

Cheap HF angle grinder. I have used that on so many miscellaneous projects in the past year, I don't know why I didn't get one 10 years ago.

Up until now I was using a either a hacksaw like a caveman or a dremel to cut metal things. While effective, it took a lot longer and in the case of the dremel you just burn through the cutting wheels like crazy.

LASIK by far.

In reply to failboat:

Seconded. Also the Gerber Shard. When I got it, it was $3 on Amazon. I keep it on my key ring and use it multiple times a day. Value/$ is through the roof.

EAA Oshkosh. 25 years. Some years I spend more, some less, but worth every penny. There are planes I've seen and people I've met that I couldn't ever otherwise.

Have you seen and heard an SR-71 fly? Met Joe Engle? Because of Oshkosh, I have.

First and foremost, building my own house. Nothing else even comes close.

I did also bought a really good air cooled 911 at just the right time.

One other good decision that really sticks out though, is that I bought a new Accord for my wife when my daughter was 12 years old. I knew that when she turned 17, I'd be looking for a clean, well maintained, four or five year old car with a known history. I decided to buy that car new and essentially sell it to myself five years later. That was also at a time when you could choose if you wanted front airbags only or front and side. We chose all of them... which turned out to be a wise investment about eight years later.

ICD, internal cardio defibrillator. And life insurance, luckily bought before being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Now I sleep knowing I may be around for my family if my heart decides to stop, or at least support them if I die.

Until then, I make sure to enjoy every minute I have with family and friends!

The $10.60 I spent to have my year old spare bowling ball redrilled to match the new ball and having it high polished. Less hook, now I can hit 10 pins!

The first Makita cordless drill my wife bought me. Hundreds of projects with that drill.

I'm old so I was alive when all drills had to be plugged in. Plus a keyless chuck? MIND BLOWN.