When confronted with a "how much" kind of question, my ex-MIL would always give a ridiculous answer - either high or low, depending on her mood and her feelings at the time toward the inquirer. And then the "glare."

When I bought my (all carbon - $$$$) bike, my sister was looking at the instruction book that came with it, and said, "Oh your receipt is in here too." I just said "Don't look." We both have a reputation for being very frugal so I'm sure she was appalled at my extravagance and that the subject was discussed at her house after I left but she never said a word to me. Fast forward a couple years, and she does sometimes make remarks like "Well my bike didn't cost near as much as yours..."

Well I'm not married, have no children to put through college, and have already bought all the graduate school I will ever need. If I smoked cigarettes, I would have spent half that amount in just a year's time so that's my justification. Besides, I still go into the bike shop 2 yrs later and tell them again how much I love my bike. It gives me more pleasure than smoking ever did.