Grann of 6 you are not foolish at all. These machines are giving you the tools to create quilts for everyone. Allows you to be creative and others to get your beautiful quilts. Double bonus. In my eyes much better than spending the money on fancy cars.

Amen. Amen.

Thank you. I watched my dad pinch and scrape so he and my mom could have a decent retirement, and he never lived long enough to enjoy it. I watched my DH do the same for me. I have decided that life is too short to worry about the "what ifs". So my feeling is if you want it and can afford it , you should have it. And we don't have to explain it to anyone.

Ladies, I have read all of the above and what I have to say is this, life is too short not to have what you want if you can afford it. I have worked hard all my life and I am to a point where I can afford it and I want an expensive embroidery machine and last year the local Brother dealer had machine on sale with no interest for 3 years and I jumped on it and got an Inovis 5000 Isadore Laura Ashley which I call her Izzy and I love her. I say GO FOR IT

When my son was about 10 he asked me if we were rich. Math and numbers were not (and are not) his thing, so I told him that it depended on what he meant by "rich". We probably were by many peoples standards, and we had enough to buy anything we wanted. But there were 2 things he needed to keep in mind... I said 'anything' and not 'everything' - once you spend a dollar it's gone and you can't spend it on something else. And I am careful about what I 'want' - we can't afford a yacht - but if we don't want one why would we care. That being said, before I retired I bought a Janome 11000SE and a Koala cabinet to fit it... Much better than a yacht although I can't embroider on that one either. (just haven't figured it out yet).

sometimes ridiculous can be filled in surprising ways. A good friend from college always joked that she would be rich when she had a chauffer driven Mercedes. She was rich long before I was because when their car died the most economical replacement they could find was a 20+ year old Mercedes, with about 200,000 miles on it. Since she didn't know how to drive her husband chauffeured her everywhere. She felt rich, while qualifying for food stamps.

It is all in what works for, and is important for, you and your family.

Who would criticize that? And why? It's no one's business but yours. Life is short. If one can afford nice things, go for it and enjoy to the fullest.

linkd: When I taught, I used to point out that a child was rich if they had friends, or a lunch, or a book to read. Rich is about needs and wants, but it's also about point of view. Interesting discussion.

It seems to me as if adult children might be giving you a hard time about a purchase. If you can afford what you want, go for it. Undoubtedly, you've made many little and perhaps big sacrifices for your family along the way. Don't feel guilty, feel quilty!

I always say I married DH for his money and he says he married me so I could spend it. LOL

That's my thought with machines. If I want it and can afford it, why not? I've enjoyed both my Bernina 1630 and my Artista 180 immensely. I've sewn tons on both of them and feel that I've totally gotten my money's worth in enjoyment.

I have only vintage and antique machines - none of them worth a lot of money except to me. I gifted my "newer" 25 yr old machine to someone who needed a machine because it was too new for me after I started using the vintage babies. That 25 yr old machine had been bought new and survived several Army moves but didn't fit me or my needs any longer.
Could we afford a new close to the TOL SM? Probably but I don't want one. I do all my quilting on the older gals and am happy to have machines I can fix when something goes awry. Hubby happy if I am so we are good. We also drive older cars too - again by choice.

I say to each their own and no one should question why someone buys a basic machine or a TOL one. Their money = theirs choice.