Is $100 a significant amount, a lot for you? A threshold?

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

There is a post on TUG about someone spending $100 for the first time on Lunch.
(I didn't want to hijack that post, so I started this separate thread.)

$100 is a number I think about often.

So, the TUGger spent their first Lunch at that number...... I haven't spent that much yet.

I play GOLF often (not that well, but immaterial) ..... $100 is a number that I set as a MAX for me. Inflation has made this difficult, as I have played golf for more than 50 years. I have done well with that threshold, but it is simply a matter of time............... there is no "penny candy' anymore....and no Phone booth 10 cent call......etc.

I spent $95 (+ tax = $100) in the 80's once.

I had friends bring me to their Private Course..... we never discussed how much....so I gave then $100 each for me/DW.

A recent vacation I paid $125 for DW....but I was 'comped'...... so I have never paid "more than $100" for golf for ME.

A different $100 story. When Larry Holmes fought Marvin Frazier, a friend braggingly said Larry would lose....I thought that was absolutely an unlikely occurrence. He confidently said if I put up 4-1 odds, his $25 would cost me $100 if I lost . Again, $100 was a LOT for me, but with an audience present, I wanted to WIN this bet. Fortunately for me, 2 minutes 57 seconds later, I (actually quite humbly) was in the process of collecting his $25. Let's just say the crowd was happy that I had accepted his 'bravado' body language that he often portrayed. That was more of my motive.....I certainly didn't want to lose the BIG number of $100.

One last $100 story.....I flew into the Arizona airport.....and had a few minutes to go into a sports store. At the front of the store....marked down....a Cowboys Leather jacket!!! Originally $299, now $100.

That remains the FASTEST $100 I have ever spent.

So TUGgers, it may be a different amount of money for you than $100....perhaps $10, $25....$500, $1000..... but what are your stories of a particular threshold or limit for YOU.?

Sorry about the long post, but I hope it generates some fun reminiscing.

 

[TUGBrian]

think it used to be... however now its pretty hard to go out to dinner with a family and spend under 100 bucks.

 

[CPNY]

I just had dinner delivered for one..... it was 100 bucks lol. which seems to be the norm these days. Not so many years ago I would order delivery and dinner would be around 45-60 dollars. not it seems I cant go below 75.

 

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

I didn't want to limit $100 to food.

How about going to a Concert, a sporting event ticket, ....a Sports Jacket.... a Nice Tennis Racket, ...Cable TV/Internet Bill....etc...............

 

[dioxide45]

For a meal for two of us, $100 is still a lot. Though I cringed the other day spending $45 including tip. The cringe was because one of the meals was completely free. Our $100 splurge is steak dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse. I only get it down to about $100 because we are able to use discounted gift cards along with discounts in the restaurant which works out to about 30% off.

A sub $100 electric bill would be nice again. I had that not all that long ago, but now that I am at home a lot more now, vs traveling, the bill has gone up considerably. We haven't been to a concert in a very long time and I don't remember what we paid when we went.

 

[JudyH]

$123 to fill up my 2013 Suburban with regular gas. We don’t have a trailer anymore, but it’s safe when I drive the 5 grandkids around.
Usually I don’t let it go below half so it’s not so painful.

 

[TolmiePeak]

spent $95 (+ tax = $100) in the 80's once.

I had friends bring me to their Private Course..... we never discussed how much....so I gave then $100 each for me/DW.

When you are at the golf club again tell them charge it to Underhill....

 

[PeakSeason]

TLDR: Years later, I never remember the price I paid but I remember the way the experience made me feel

My 2 cents, no matter the price of anything it’s never actually about the number itself. $50,000 sounds expensive until you say it’s for a house in a nice, safe neighborhood where you can raise your family, then it’s a steal.

So the question is how much value do you put on the thing in question, and I always judge that based on how much I’m going to remember the experience itself.

I’ve probably spent upwards of $300 for dinner at Monkey Bar in NYC for just my wife and I bc I enjoy the ambiance, the food is amazing, and it’s a magical part of our annual December NYC experience. It’s one of the things my wife talks about all year and if you would have asked me if I would buy my wife that excitement and anticipation for $10,000, I’d have said yes with no hesitation, so $300 is a steal.

So $1,000 for dinner in an ice castle under the Aurora Borealis, wouldn’t even think twice. $6.99 for greasy fried pickles from a chain restaurant, too expensive for me.

 

[Shiba]

One hundred is a lot for me, I am frugal and it pains me when we go out to eat. A lot of the times the food isn't good for what I am paying. My spouse gets tired of me saying I can make this at home and better, but I do get tired of cooking. I bring my lunch to work, because that's getting ridiculous too. I remember one trip we took to Vegas years ago the kids each ordered OJ and got a refill. Each OJ was $6 a glass. I paid $24 for OJ! To keep costs down these days we all order water with our meals.

I will splurge and go out to eat for special occasions. Thoroughly enjoyed Prime in St. Thomas, USVI for our anniversary. Great views, great food and ambiance. Paid over $200 and had leftovers.

 

[pedro47]

One hundred dollars for lunch is a lot for us. But spending over $100.00 for dinner is average the meal, plus wine and the tip is over $100.00. IMHO

 

[FL Guy]

Not sure I've ever spent $100 for a meal for 2 people. Rarely go out to eat more than twice a week. Most of the time when we eat out, we go for the $9.99 off-the-menu special (you have to ask for it) at Applebee's; burger or chicken sandwich, fries, and a soft drink. Can't beat it for a table service meal, $25 for two people, including the tip.

 

[linsj]

$100 is what I'd pay for 3.5 or 4 meals, so it's a significant amount. I could not justify spending that much.

 

[rapmarks]

I pick up my three grandsons from school and often their friends. My joke is that costs me a lot for gas ( it’s an hour of driving to three different schools), but the real cost is stopping at Culver’s or other places. That’s easily $100 for snacks each day. If I take them out for breakfast, that’s $100 easily. The bad part is , they are finished before I even start; they inhale food.

 

[clifffaith]

One hundred is a lot for me, I am frugal and it pains me when we go out to eat. A lot of the times the food isn't good for what I am paying. My spouse gets tired of me saying I can make this at home and better, but I do get tired of cooking. I bring my lunch to work, because that's getting ridiculous too. I remember one trip we took to Vegas years ago the kids each ordered OJ and got a refill. Each OJ was $6 a glass. I paid $24 for OJ! To keep costs down these days we all order water with our meals.

I will splurge and go out to eat for special occasions. Thoroughly enjoyed Prime in St. Thomas, USVI for our anniversary. Great views, great food and ambiance. Paid over $200 and had leftovers.

You brought back a childhood memory that I carried forward into adulthood life. My parents would take us out for breakfast (pancakes) several times a year. The rule was “drink your orange juice at home!” I can only remember ordering oj out twice. Years ago Cliff and I were in Las Vegas and eating in the hotel coffee shop. Decided to splurge at breakfast and ordered juice. OMG it was fresh squeezed and fabulous! Went to repeat the experience at the same coffee shop the next day and it tasted like “regular juice”. Asked the waitress about it and she basically scoffed and with attitude said “this is Las Vegas!”, like I was some hick from Ohio or somewhere (born in Ohio). Sadly, even when we had three orange trees in the backyard, my stomach no longer allows me to drink orange juice.

 

[AwayWeGo]

It used to be $50 or so to ship a French horn most of the way across the country via USPS or UPS or FedEx Ground.

Now it's $100+ just to send 1 to Virginia Beach VA.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Tia]

It really depends on one's income/assets if $100 is a lot imho.

 

[Elan]

Family went out to brunch for my wife's birthday about 4 weeks ago. I'd noted on the menu that fresh OJ was $5 or $6. I explicitly told everyone to order whatever they wanted -- don't worry about price. When we were mostly through with our brunch, the waitress came back around and asked my youngest if he wanted a refill of his OJ. He said "sure" assumedly because he's used to free refills of soda at restaurants. Of course it wasn't a big deal, but it made me chuckle at the naiveté of youth, at times.

With respect to $100 being significant, it just depends on what it's for. I'm a pretty avid golfer and, for the most part, I'm way done with expensive golf. $100 for greens fees, even with cart, no longer sits well with me. IMO, there's not a lot of added value in most $100+ courses over my local muni where I get unlimited golf for a little over $2k per year. The objective is to hit fairways and greens, so the waterfall by the tee box, or the massive Tudor style clubhouse just doesn't add much of anything to the actual experience. Aesthetics and exceptional customer service are worth maybe 10-15% add, at most, IMO.

With respect to dining out, $100 would be the expectation for a nicer (not fancy) meal for 2, all in. $12 cocktail, $25-30 entree and a tip is around $50 each.

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[dioxide45]

Another question is, when you go to the grocery store do you look at or are concerned with price? We know someone who isn't. They go, put stuff in their cart and pay. They don't worry about the price, they get what they want. It seems when you have a certain level of wealth, those things just aren't as important. What is the difference between a $300 shopping trip vs $400.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

It depends. I was surprised to see $50 for 2 margaritas including tip at a local taqueria. $17 - $24 cocktails seem to be the norm. Ouch!

OTOH we paid $100 each including tip and 1 drink each for a 4 course gourmet dinner at CIA - good value.

 

[Elan]

Another question is, when you go to the grocery store do you look at or are concerned with price? We know someone who isn't. They go, put stuff in their cart and pay. They don't worry about the price, they get what they want. It seems when you have a certain level of wealth, those things just aren't as important. What is the difference between a $300 shopping trip vs $400.

We do it a little differently. We typically look at the weekly ads and digital coupons and meal plan / shop around what's on sale. Whether we have chicken tacos, BLT's or ribeyes for dinner tonight isn't a big deal. We'll have the ribeyes when they're on sale. Also, by doing this it allows us to "splurge" on certain other things without regard to price. The $2 difference in Chobani creamer vs Coffee-Mate over the 10 days that it lasts us isn't significant enough to think about, particularly when the $2 has been saved elsewhere.

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[rickandcindy23]

One hundred is a lot for me, I am frugal and it pains me when we go out to eat. A lot of the times the food isn't good for what I am paying. My spouse gets tired of me saying I can make this at home and better, but I do get tired of cooking. I bring my lunch to work, because that's getting ridiculous too. I remember one trip we took to Vegas years ago the kids each ordered OJ and got a refill. Each OJ was $6 a glass. I paid $24 for OJ! To keep costs down these days we all order water with our meals.

I will splurge and go out to eat for special occasions. Thoroughly enjoyed Prime in St. Thomas, USVI for our anniversary. Great views, great food and ambiance. Paid over $200 and had leftovers.

Man, this is me! We no longer work, but we pack lunches and sit at a table at Disney parks and enjoy our lunch instead of those $15 blah burgers. I would rather have a 60-cent sandwich. With potato chips it's an additional 30 cents. I enjoy that sandwich so much more.

I like to eat out, but Rick doesn't like it at all, and he will cook to avoid restaurants. Food is not a big deal to him, and you can tell by looking at him that food is unimportant in his life.

 

[joestein]

I didn't want to limit $100 to food.

How about going to a Concert, a sporting event ticket, ....a Sports Jacket.... a Nice Tennis Racket, ...Cable TV/Internet Bill....etc...............

I just spent $400+ per ticket to see Kill Tony at MSG a couple of weeks ago.

I also spent about $250 a ticket to see Weird Al at PNC Bank center in July - but that included VIP Club and VIP Parking - probably around $175 without

I also spent around $200+ a ticket to see Daniel Tosh at the Hard Rock in June.

So, I am ok with paying more than $100/ticket. Really depends on how badly we want to see something. I would have passed on Kill Tony at that price - but my wife REALLY wanted to go.

I refused to pay $550+ per ticket to see Zac Brown Band at the Hard Rock last year. It wasn't even good seat - Zac Brown takes the entire floor and made it standing room only - not happening.

 

[jp10558]

I think I agree with @PeakSeason - it really depends on how you value whatever it is. I didn't blink at $100 for a meal for 2 15 years ago when it was good. My cousin and I would regularly go to the Capital Grill in Philly when I'd go down for the weekend and it'd be $100 a person. The food was good, and it was a lot of fun.

Today, "everything else" has gotten so much more expensive that I don't love paying $100 a person just for one meal, but that tends to be a threshold for 80% chance of it being good food. Too often at $40 a person it's only 30% good, so that doesn't feel worth the "risk" to me often. I tend to like to pay $15 a person if I'm likely to be disappointed by the food.

I also find that more things are just ... not at a value point for me anymore. For instance, I used to regularly buy my sister $200 Coach bags at the outlet. But the bags are less well made, and they haven't really had designs update in a way that is interesting to us. Many of the bags are only "worth" $75 to me now, and so I don't buy.

There are masses of tech gadgets that I probably would try for $50, but they're all $120+ now. IDK if getting older does it or just the other things I'm doing, but many things are not meeting the value level for me anymore - like McDonalds for instance. And here it's not just that it's expensive, but it's not even fast or convenient anymore. I feel like the skimpflation makes me less likely to want to pay more for things, whether it's massively worse service or worse quality of the end item. So the value to me went down as inflation rose the price.

 

[jp10558]

Family went out to brunch for my wife's birthday about 4 weeks ago. I'd noted on the menu that fresh OJ was $5 or $6. I explicitly told everyone to order whatever they wanted -- don't worry about price. When we were mostly through with our brunch, the waitress came back around and asked my youngest if he wanted a refill of his OJ. He said "sure" assumedly because he's used to free refills of soda at restaurants. Of course it wasn't a big deal, but it made me chuckle at the naiveté of youth, at times.

This has gotten me enough recently that now I have trained myself to ask - are these free refills. And often if not I'll say I'll just have water. It's worth $4 to me to have lemonaide vs tap water at pretty much any meal, but it's not worth $4 per cup - maybe I drink too much, but that would get me to $12 pretty easily in an average meal.

 

[joestein]

Not sure I've ever spent $100 for a meal for 2 people. Rarely go out to eat more than twice a week. Most of the time when we eat out, we go for the $9.99 off-the-menu special (you have to ask for it) at Applebee's; burger or chicken sandwich, fries, and a soft drink. Can't beat it for a table service meal, $25 for two people, including the tip.

We have friends who always are spending crazy amounts going out. They wanted to try a new place; Mezcal. We had said no because we knew it was very expensive.

However, after my FIL passed, I was trying 'retail therapy' to get my wife's mind off her loss, so I arranged dinner with friends at Mezcal.

It might be the most expensive dinner of my life. $375 per couple and the food was mediocre.

We can go out and spend maybe $100 - 150 for dinner for us, especially if we have a cocktail, but going to dinner for just us under $100 is not unusual either.