Amusement park—the kind with roller coasters and the like. Super dumb and childish, but I really enjoy it.
High-end restaurant. Specifics will depend on where you live; I just went by what was recommended in a newspaper.
Spa day. I’m not super fond of the massagey side of it, but just going to a nice building and spending a day cycling between sauna / swimming pool / hot tub was very nice.
Higher-quality bed sheets. Also clothes, but bed sheets are probably the more money-efficient place to start.
Contemporary artsy things—gallery openings and the like. Modern circus, if there’s one in your town. These are very hit-and-miss, but you can buy a bunch of them for $100, and even if you don’t like it you get to feel enriched and snobby.
Classical music concerts. Protip: listen to the music a few times before you see it live—you appreciate it more when it’s something you know. At least, I do.
Commissioned art on deviantart or similar. I think I enjoy the “feel like a rich big-shot” effect more than the piece itself.
Elephant in the room: drugs and hookers. Plenty of cached thoughts against them, but I suspect rationally they’re worth trying at some stage.
Okay, dog lovers love dogs, but be careful with this one. Getting a dog is the worst thing that has happened to me in my 34 years on this planet and my only real regret (not exaggerating, I just have a very easy life elsewise).
I thought I was highballing the cost of not being as able to have nice things that don’t get destroyed, sleep interruptions, tethering to home, and most underestimated (not the biggest cost just the biggest difference from expectation, which was about zero) amount of daily interaction with feces.
Ymmv of course, but seriously, think REAL GOOD AND HARD about this. Playing with other people’s dogs can be fun, but did not inform my decision as much as I expected. And apart from the several thousand dollars it will cost you (not including what you give the breeder, which for all I know may only be the $100 from the op for some breeds), you will have to live with your decision for a decade or two.
Just advice I wish I could give past-me from the future.
Good points. Some animal shelters (we adopted a cat from one in a small town in PA) will let you return an animal if you have to. Although I would feel guilty about doing that without giving another donation. We were happy with the cat by the way, so that didn’t come up. Some people manage to foist pets off onto friends or relatives with an excuse like “my new baby is allergic”, we got a cat that way. I suppose “I didn’t know what I was getting into” would be a much harder sell, unless you have dog-lover friends, in which case maybe not so hard. Having an exit plan would probably be a good idea.
Things I’ve enjoyed:
Amusement park—the kind with roller coasters and the like. Super dumb and childish, but I really enjoy it.
High-end restaurant. Specifics will depend on where you live; I just went by what was recommended in a newspaper.
Spa day. I’m not super fond of the massagey side of it, but just going to a nice building and spending a day cycling between sauna / swimming pool / hot tub was very nice.
Higher-quality bed sheets. Also clothes, but bed sheets are probably the more money-efficient place to start.
Contemporary artsy things—gallery openings and the like. Modern circus, if there’s one in your town. These are very hit-and-miss, but you can buy a bunch of them for $100, and even if you don’t like it you get to feel enriched and snobby.
Classical music concerts. Protip: listen to the music a few times before you see it live—you appreciate it more when it’s something you know. At least, I do.
Commissioned art on deviantart or similar. I think I enjoy the “feel like a rich big-shot” effect more than the piece itself.
Elephant in the room: drugs and hookers. Plenty of cached thoughts against them, but I suspect rationally they’re worth trying at some stage.
I like the way you and lucidian think. Here are my top-10s that haven’t already been mentioned.
hot date—especially if you have steady romantic relationship(s) but haven’t done this recently
a dog
phone call to someone you’ve kinda lost touch with and don’t want to
canoe trip, or whatever other outdoor/nature experience appeals
flight lesson—regardless of lack of desire to actually become a pilot, I just like flying in a small plane
Obviously lots of the above is of highly variable value depending on your personality.
Okay, dog lovers love dogs, but be careful with this one. Getting a dog is the worst thing that has happened to me in my 34 years on this planet and my only real regret (not exaggerating, I just have a very easy life elsewise).
I thought I was highballing the cost of not being as able to have nice things that don’t get destroyed, sleep interruptions, tethering to home, and most underestimated (not the biggest cost just the biggest difference from expectation, which was about zero) amount of daily interaction with feces.
Ymmv of course, but seriously, think REAL GOOD AND HARD about this. Playing with other people’s dogs can be fun, but did not inform my decision as much as I expected. And apart from the several thousand dollars it will cost you (not including what you give the breeder, which for all I know may only be the $100 from the op for some breeds), you will have to live with your decision for a decade or two.
Just advice I wish I could give past-me from the future.
Good points. Some animal shelters (we adopted a cat from one in a small town in PA) will let you return an animal if you have to. Although I would feel guilty about doing that without giving another donation. We were happy with the cat by the way, so that didn’t come up. Some people manage to foist pets off onto friends or relatives with an excuse like “my new baby is allergic”, we got a cat that way. I suppose “I didn’t know what I was getting into” would be a much harder sell, unless you have dog-lover friends, in which case maybe not so hard. Having an exit plan would probably be a good idea.
A dog is going to cost you a lot more than one or two hundred dollars.