What else would you blow your "Pony Fund" on?

[glitterball]

I had some envelopes with Christmas / Birthday money that I had not yet banked, it added up to a significant amount. Hmmm, should I go crazy and justify buying a Munchy and a Mimic? 

After observing the recent threads regarding "Rare ponies on eBay?"  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,394754.0.html
and "Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?" http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,395286.0.html
I still (personally) cannot justify spending so much on a single pony and am happy with less expensive flawed ones or customised baits. Of course, fair-play to those who do buy the expensive or rare or minty ones or MOCs - you are collectors with a passion for ponies and finding your grails gives you much joy and satisfaction    plus you are lucky to have those extra funds! 

Anyway, this post is about the other things that we love, ponies aside, that we are prepared to spend our piggy-bank funds on. What are your other passions? What do you like buying?

I have always had a love of vintage - be it chandeliers, dramatic clothing, sparkly jewellery, candlestick telephones, swirly-framed mirrors etc. One of my dreams was to own a genuine, old chaise-longue, oh, to recline on one whilst sipping a cocktail in my fantasy, silk-wallpapered boudoir!

Anyway, last week I was browsing ebay (dangerous!) and found a few, they set my mind spinning at how lovely they were. I then found one which was my ultimate dream shape (although I would have preferred it in a different colour). It was so far away and the seller said "collection only". I saved it in my Watch-List to keep an eye on it and look longingly at the photo and sigh sadly some more.    A couple of days later, after thinking about hiring a van and working out the logistics of getting there, I thought it was worth just sending a message to the seller to ask if they would consider a courier to deliver to me etc. They replied saying that they would deliver in-person for a certain fee!!  My heart jumped. Could I own this? For real? I saw that more ebayers had started watching it. No, no, no, it SHALL BE MINE!!!

Anyway, this beauty was bought with a B.I.N. and delivered early this morning! I am absolutely thrilled with it. It came from a retired lady who used to be a hairdresser and was down-sizing her possessions, she has owned it from the 1950s but the ceramic castors indicate that it may be Edwardian or late Victorian! No odours, velvet fabric in great condition, original horse hair stuffing (so I sort of bought a bit of "real" vintage pony, LOL)    she had other vintage hairdresser things too, these have ended up being bought by a local film studio for genuine props. 

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  so snug & curvy

I love it soooooo much! Maybe being a red-wine velvet colour would have been my ideal, but I am getting used the the classic green already! Nope, I don't think I'll re-upholster this  It brings me much joy!

So, not bad considering I could have spent the same amount of money on rare ponies instead? 

So, what special, non-pony things have you bought?

[Taffeta]

As an academic, I greatly appreciate your in post referencing

Also, that chaise is really pretty <3

I haven't even bought many ponies this last year. I did buy one MIP one recently with proceeds from my recent pony sales, after putting a bunch in savings.

I don't really have a pony fund as such this year, but imagine I did...I still want to go back to Japan, so I suppose in some ways I'm saving for that on and off.

But if we're talking about a THING...

I am still debating whether or not I want to buy a kindle/ebook reader. I like real books but I have too many of them and no space. So it's a growing thought in my mind that at some point I need to consider this.

I admit I sometimes look at all the pretty stuff in some of the local antique shops or even charity shops (where I live there are a lot of Japanese and Korean families, which means fun stuff, especially pretty and fiddly ceramic things) appear in the charity shops as well, but thus far I have resisted...as my London room is really not big enough for treasure

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I don't tend to have too expensive tastes, but i'm sure if I bought every patch and pin on etsy that caught my eye I'd need thousands. 

[lovesbabysquirmy]

My mortgage. I am boring.

[EnaRocketQueen]

Ear piercings. I have five (soon to be six!) in my right ear

[Shaz]

I love your chaise longue! I have a cream one, though mine isn't vintage.

In the past, my money has mostly gone on ponies (obviously), dolls (especially Monster High), antiquarian books (and repairs to the books I already own), and craft supplies (I like scrapbooking). But at the moment my major weakness is for dolls house miniatures that my dolls and ponies can use. It just amazes me all the lovely mini things that are available! Basically if something exists in full size, someone on eBay or Etsy probably has a doll-sized version for sale! I just bought a cute 12th scale Batman comic with actual printed pages . And there are sellers who sell teeny-tiny cat toys and cat food packets, just the thing for making adorable dioramas with Kitty in my Pocket cats!

[tikibirds]

stationary, or anime figures, probably..or maybe a nice dinner somewhere if I lived at home. But since I am currently in China, I am saving about 80% of my pay for my trip tp Japan when my contract ends, assuming I don't decide to stay here. I like being rich significantly more than being poor in NY. so I might stay for another year.

[MerryAnvil]

Most of the time, if I don't spend my 'spending' money on ponies, it goes towards emergencies/bills >u<; We have been very unlucky over the past few years with vet bills. But on the occasion where that isn't an issue...

I do like to take my family out to a nice dinner sometimes <3 I also enjoy playing video games so pony money will occasionally go towards subscriptions/game time (I also have an extreme weakness for dark elves so I'm always looking for dark elf books, miniatures, etc). But I generally don't buy much else. I'm the sort of person who would collect everything if I could (aka packrat) so I have to keep myself focused on one thing and one thing only, lest my room become even more cluttered with random shelves of objects than it already is, hehe!

That being said, I do have one other weakness: Swords. Swords and knives. I buy nice knives whenever I find them (I got a really nice Ka-bar knife at an estate sale for $7) because they're usually worth picking up, but I've only allowed myself one sword at the moment because swords are expensive.

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This katana cost me $100, which was actually a lot lower than it should have been (it's an eBay custom by Swordsmith668, circa 2013). I really oughta do more cutting practice with it, been too busy lately to put time into it. Maybe someday when I make enough money to justify it I'll buy more. I would love to get a nihonto someday (for display only of course), preferably a wakizashi, but that's a pipe dream ^u^

[brightberry]

Tree trimming, raised garden, a bee hive, new fence and so on.

But I probably have to get a new car. 

[banditpony]

Ok I'm a big saver so let me talk first how I come up with my extra funds.

Out of my check:
1) reoccurring necessary monthly bills (mortgage, gas, insurance, etc)
2) medical bills
3) emergency fund (aka savings) -- split between a safe and bank.
-- ^ always same amount. never flexible. only for the purpose saved for.

V leftover money
4) spending money into my checking account. this tends to be more for things for the family like clothes as needed, maybe going out to eat, house stuff, target buys...
---
And at the bottom. EXTREMELY low tier.
5) extra stuff for pretty much non essential purchases like collections. this money tends to not be funded by my job check but rather by things I sell, gifted money, or some kind of alternative income.

Tends to be craft stuff (needle felting, drawing supplies), video games, manga books, figurines, conventions, blah blah blah. literally for me only stuff.

[bright rabbit 1]

I spend my pony money on Barbie dolls, and Switch games

[glitterball]

It's so interesting to read what other things, besides ponies, you like to get   

Keep 'em coming!

Update:
this afternoon, I pinned a temporary, fitted cover on my chaise longue in silver-grey crushed velvet velour, to match my current decor. The original woodwork remains exposed, I just pinned directly over the green bits! The original fabric is preserved beneath, I just needed a quick-fix to make it match my room until we move house, you know, "setting the stage" for viewings etc 

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[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

I collect other toylines besides MLP (Monster High, Ever After High, Barbie, Shopkins [especially Shoppies dolls], Furby, Care Bears), and I also collect music, both in the CD and vinyl formats. Mostly CD because I have more space for those and I can directly rip them to mp3 for listening on my phone. I especially like collecting progressive rock/metal.

[BlackCurtains]

That is a gorgeous chaise! Congrats! I like the grey better than the green

For me, ponies are already kinda low budget things, as much as I love them. I haven't broken $90 for a pony that wasn't a custom.

As for where my fun money goes, PC parts and consoles + games. I need to upgrade my CPU and want a new motherboard for my computer and I still need a Nintendo Switch

[Ragamuffin]

I really need a mattress! I've gotten nerve damage, it's painful to sit on my bed, it makes my legs burn...