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Money best spent

Joined
13 April 2005
Messages
5,482
Location
Vegas/SoCal
Here's something I thought would be interesting. What do you consider the one purchase where you got the most value for your money? I mean the absolute best value and why.

I have a few I considered but I think one I am reminded of and appreciate most frequently. Several years ago I had laser eye surgery. I was mildly near sided but still required the use of glasses and contacts. I was never able to find a pair of comfortable glasses. Also some sports were impossible with glasses. Contacts were a clinic on frustration. Vegas being so dry, my eyes were constantly irritated and the hassle of the cases, drops, cleaning... ugh. I can't tell you how many times having to wear glasses or contacts ruined some event or occasion. Contacts falling out. Forgetting to pack solution and making last minute dashes to buy some. Not being able to find my glasses or crushing them. Falling asleep with contacts in or having a bad reaction to the solution. Temple or bridge of the nose pains for wearing glasses too long. The list goes on and on.

I spent a bit over $5,000 for my laser eye surgery, but I went with the most deluxe equipment and procedures with the most prominent Dr in my area. The process was quick, painless and not as bad as I thought it would be. As for the result... simply amazing and I don't know how I lived life without it. I was 20/15 the first year out and settled out to 20/20 and have been there since. No complications and nothing but perfect vision. I can't begin to describe how amazing it feels to just be able to see perfectly all the time. Even though I spent $5,000 I feel like I have gotten my money's worth at least 5 times over. If the procedure cost $25,000, knowing now what it's like, I wouldn't hesitate on spending it. I think I would spend upwards of $50,000 if I had to.

So, if you've ever considered it and you are eligible, I highly recommend doing it. It's something that worth every penny and the sooner you get it done, the more value you'll realize from it. Every day that goes by is just another reminder of how amazing and well spent that money was.
 
Congrats !!! I would bet that is the best money spent. I have a hearing issue and to be honest I would drop $25K in a heartbeat to fix it. I am waiting for that day to come. If you are able to have your eyes corrected from that procedure I look at it as a blessing. 15 years ago it was unheard of.

I have been blessed with 20/10 vision from birth. I honestly cant even understand what 20/20 is like, I find the simple things easy to read and at times forget I have "bionic" vision lol
 
I had lasik done 10 years ago and had similar results. 20/15 afterwards and settled to 20/20 over time.

Fast forward to this year.....I had to get a prescription for glasses again. But being glasses free for 10 years was definitely worth the money. I am no longer a candidate for lasik anymore but can do PRK if I wanted to. I'll wait a couple of years before I decide.
 
I honestly can say that my NASA Membership is the largest "Bang for the buck" thing I have ever bought and I continue to purchase this item every year.

I began tracking when I had a mostly stock Honda Del Sol at the age of 19, living on my own, working full time, I saw track as a way to get out of the street racing scene at the time and gained so much more than I ever thought possible over the years. I have made so many friends, business connections and it has always kept me on the straight and narrow.

Most of my friends growing up were all into drugs or alcohol, Track has always been my motivation to keep those negative things out of my life. I have since removed a large majority of those friends from my life and replcaed them with people that enjoy the hobby I have come to find so irreplaceable. Most of the month I am just trudging through, but when that magic weekend comes up and I adorn my NASA Safety Tech Shirt and Helmet...everything is right with the world.

Driving on track (now with my NSX) is an experience that I wouldn't trade for anything, for that NASA will have my $50.00 every year without fail, even if I don't get to use it as much as I would like to.
 
I had lasik done 10 years ago and had similar results. 20/15 afterwards and settled to 20/20 over time.

Fast forward to this year.....I had to get a prescription for glasses again. But being glasses free for 10 years was definitely worth the money. I am no longer a candidate for lasik anymore but can do PRK if I wanted to. I'll wait a couple of years before I decide.

Why can't they touch up your vision with Lasik? I'm disheartened to hear that it's not a lifelong fix. I don't want to spend $5K to end up wearing glasses again in 10 years. :(
 
Here's something I thought would be interesting. What do you consider the one purchase where you got the most value for your money? I mean the absolute best value and why.

Sorry...I have two:

Paying the surgeon who ripped the cancer out of my colon--that was a pretty good expendature. Going on 7 years with no further issues in that area...well...as long as I stay away from a certain Mexican restaurant.

The cheap 1/3 carrot engagement ring I bought Sandy back when I was a poor Airman 1st Class.
 
Dual discectomy surgery 1.5 years ago. :smile:

I was couch bound for 9 months with back pain. The most amount of time that I spent standing up during this time was the 5 minutes it took to take a shower. I was near giving up. I tried anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, and Two cortisone/epidural injections. Nothing worked. No relief. I dreaded the thought of back surgery but I was willing to do anything to be normal again or at least be able to walk to the bathroom without being brought to my knees.

Long story short. They wheeled me to the doors after surgery, I stood up from the wheel chair and was 100% pain free. Have been ever since. Total cost: $46,000. I paid about 4,000 after insurance. I would have paid anything knowing what the result were going to be.
 
Ditto, Vegas.

I got my eyes done my Junior year of college. About 3 weeks before spring break.

Stepping onto the beach in Cancun...with perfect vision. :eek:

Priceless. :biggrin:
 
Feel pretty good about buying the NSX too.

Gonna have to go with the NSX as well -- by sheer dumb luck I bought it in 2000 with the proceeds of stock sales, right before the market crashed. The stock all went to zero, but the car has retained its value pretty well.
 
For me its my Bose headphones. They vastly improve the quality of the music i listen to, so every song was alot more enjoyable. Every movie was improved, ever video game was improved. Since i listen to music very heavily, the headphones have been invaluable over the last 4 years. Well, well worth the $150, which i initially thought was too much for headphones. When they broke a month ago, it was like part of me died, its like i couldnt listen to music anymore and i started to loose my mind, so i bought some AKG headphones to replace them.
 
For me its my Bose headphones. They vastly improve the quality of the music i listen to, so every song was alot more enjoyable. Every movie was improved, ever video game was improved. Since i listen to music very heavily, the headphones have been invaluable over the last 4 years. Well, well worth the $150, which i initially thought was too much for headphones. When they broke a month ago, it was like part of me died, its like i couldnt listen to music anymore and i started to loose my mind, so i bought some AKG headphones to replace them.

Bose, really??? That's the LAST thing I'd expect to read here...they're often ridiculed for WAY over-priced garbage... :biggrin::biggrin:

My best purchase ever - my graduate degree.
 
1- $15.00 I paid for the marriage license almost 22 years ago.
2 - $7500 I paid for my first son because we had no insurance.
3 - $2.00 co-pay for the vasectomy that allows me to have all the sex I want worry free !!!! lol
 
Spending my last $125.00 36 years ago on my wifes engagement ring. Nothing has brought me more happiness :smile:!

Happy New Year to All!
 
my professional degree. nothing else comes close in return, both monetary, job satisfaction, job security etc.

i also had lasiks, and eventually needed glasses. now i'm 20/80 10 yrs later... but BEFORE the lasiks (which put me at 20/20), i was "3 fingers/3 feet"... which meant i could tell how many fingers you held up at about 3 feet... but not much else. So it is still wellworth it to me. i can drive just fine (but have trouble reading street signs.. that's about it.)
 
Lasik here too and funny that so many people feel similarly. I had always thought of that as kind of a personal perspective.
Best bang for the buck for sure,
 
Besides the marriage license, it would have to be money given to needy others when you know it will help them out and make a difference in their lives.

Dave
 
Hmm. Eye surgery, eh? I sure would like to ride my bike without glasses. I may look into that.

Off the top of my head, I'd say the money I spent on my '01 Honda S2000 was the best spent. Before that I was driving a '98 Honda Odyssey van, toting around my kids and German Shepherds. It was the first fun car I ever owned and it opened me up to another S2000 and then my NSX. I was thrilled and hollering top down when I drove my '01 S2000 home. I'm still excited with my '05 S2000 and my '05 NSX.

OTOH, the Enbrel shots I take for rheumatoid arthritis cost Kaiser a small fortune ($1750 a month) and they have kept me pain-free for almost 2 years. Without those, I wouldn't be enjoying my life very much.
 
Why can't they touch up your vision with Lasik? I'm disheartened to hear that it's not a lifelong fix. I don't want to spend $5K to end up wearing glasses again in 10 years. :(

Sorry for the late reply.

When I got my procedure done, the technology wasn't as good as it is today. There was no computer tracking the movement of my eyes. In those days, the dr. told you to stare at the red light and don't move at all. I do recall that I wasn't completely still in my right eye. I know that the astigmatism in my right eye was not completely corrected at the time. So, it's kind of my fault for it not being corrected 100%.
As for why I'm not a candidate for Lasik again, I cannot tell you why. I didn't ask the dr.

But again, even if I do wear glasses today (and I don't wear them very often), the $4k spent back then was definitely worth it. I used to have 20/400 vision. What that means is what a normal person sees from 400 ft away, I had to be 20 ft away just to even see it.
 
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