One irony between investing and spending is that people often use "investment" to refer to a big expense whether it provides a return or not. It's a dangerous mindset.
It's an "investment" in the sense that you are getting some conceptual return on it, even if the return isn't financial. For example, a $300 pair of boots is an investment, because you expect to get more than $300 worth of utility over the life of the pair of boots.