Do you have luxuries?

[syracusa]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

Our big luxury is not having to have jobs. That's plenty of luxury for us.

Lynda

None of you? How do you do that? That's my dream luxury!

[Broken Arrow]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

Right now, I have PSP (portable game machine) and about six titles.

I'm thinking about selling it back though... not sure if I want to keep up with it. But then, besides the occasional hot bath and eating out, I don't have any other luxuries so... I don't think I'm over-stretching my budget on luxuries or anything.

[poundwise]

Re: Do you have luxuries?


Broadband Internet service. And not the "lite" (slow) variety either.

[MonkeyMama]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

I am big on luxury myself. LOL.

Frankly, I try to be frugal so I Can afford more, and well for financial security as well.

BUT my dh has a dedicated home theatre in the house, loves his cable and movies - that's his luxury. (The frugal part is that I know plenty of people who paid more for their t.v.s than he has for his whole theatre system. The DVD player and surround system are ones he bought AGES ago - he has never upgraded. For the longest time we used an old hand-me-down couch as seating and a blank white wall for a screen. Discount theatre room - the size of the picture is what is important and the quality of the projector - everything else is cheap - LOL).

For me it's a car - I Am saving up the money for a 2000 t-top camaro or something like that. The frugal aspect is I have loved this car since 1999 and I am willing to wait a few more years for it - hehe. Plus we have hardly ever spent money on our cars. I had a fun car once and traded it in when I had my first baby - couldn't afford the insurance though it was fully paid. But I look forward to having my fun car back. For now I have other priorities. IT will have to be a 3rd car so may be a while. IT won't cost more than 5k so it is not a huge thing to us. The avergae we have paid for all of our cars.

For the last 12 years money has either been SO tight or we have been saving saving saving every little penny that last year when I got a big raise we immediately hired a gardener and later put my son in preschool. Luxury perhaps, but they are both worth their weight in gold - I would work extra to pay for them. These are the monthly expenses I look at as pure luxury.

You know my parents brought me up cheap cheap cheap/frugal frugal frugal, and then when I Was around 10 my aunt died in her 30s very suddenly. My parents from that point really loosened up a little and decided to enjoy a little more. So I Take that attitiude from them. Just the other day my parents were both telling me I Was doing great and to stop being so stingy - and I Am thinking I learned it from them - HA! (OF course they think we are insane to hire a gardener). But I try to find that balance in the most frugal way possible. & of course there were many times in my life where there was no room for luxury, so I appreciate it when there is.

There are so many things I would never spend a dime on though - I Could give you a list a mile long. We don't spend money on the stuff we don't value and so there is that much more there for our luxuries.

[dossin1]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

Not unless you count basic cable and internet!!

I take back what I said. I do have one luxury, it's my magazines, I get copies of just about every women's mag out there. I keep saying I'm going to cut back because they are mostly advertising, but they are my little treat.

[Ima saver]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

My two big luxuries are eating out and having a sports car. I have always liked sporty cars!!

[tabbycat31]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

I think we all have luxuries in one way or another. My luxuries might not be Joe Schmoe's luxuries and vice versa. They're what keep us happy.

Mine are
1) cellphone (ok no landline, but I would rather have one private number where I can be reached by voice or text all the time. I pay less than $40 a month for it).
2) Ipod (it was a gift though). I have to have music playing
3) Personal care products. I have a moral issue against using products tested on animals, and most of the drugstore products are. I'd rather have a high quality product that reflects my moral values

[kealina]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

i think everybody has luxuries... since we're on a tight budget i really only have small luxuries. usually stuff like clothing, make-up, purses, etc that i get at garage sales...
just checked my spending log and since the beginning of August i've spent $12 on stuff for myself from clothes to shoes to makeup items and etc... seems like it should be more than that considering all the cool stuff i have bought and am enjoying...

[jodi]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

Dark chocolate covered coffee beans - definitely not a need, but something I really enjoy. Dark chocolate anything, for that matter.
Scrapbooking stuff, although I have cut myself off from buying any more until I use up some of what I have.
Every once in a blue moon (twice in my life, so far), I spring for a massage

[lgslgs]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

None of you? How do you do that? That's my dream luxury!

I worked. We lived frugally. We saved & invested smartly. We kept our eyes on early retirement and on every purchase thought about whether it was worth it if it meant working another hour, day or week. There just weren't that many material goods that were worth more to us than getting out of the work force.

I retired at 45. Hubby was already a stay at home spouse - taking care of our land.

We're a year and a half into retirement now. We're busy with our land, animals, interests, enjoying each other's company, and we each have small home based businesses that we work at when and if we want to.

I wish I had been more aggressive with savings when I was in my 30's. If I had we could have done this a couple of years sooner and there's nothing like the feeling of truly being the owner of your own time and your own energies.

We're still quite frugal. When the enticing item of the moment catches our interest we automatically build in a period of time to think about it before spending. And while we think we raise the question of whether it would be worth having to go out and work at a job for however long it would take to earn the purchase price. In areas with high impulse buying allure (like a wholesale club when we consider buying a grocery item that is not actually on our shopping list) we'll go so far as to go out to the parking lot to think about it for a few minutes.

I guess one of the ways we can do this is by being very adept at only buying what we really want - not buying what advertisers and merchandisers would like to convince us that we "need".

Lynda

[bigsaver]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

Eating out once a week, going out to baseball games.

[PRICEPLUS]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

It is kind of funny when I think about luxuries. When I was a kid I would look at someone like me and think WOW!

I have a house. I have 2 cars. I have 2 bicycles. I have 4 TVs on the ground floor. I have a stereo system. I have portable radios. I have a back pack and a sleeping bag. I have a movable tool box and I have power tools. I have my own computer. I have all the clothes I need. If I am thirsty I can have any sort of beverage I want. If I am hungry I can pretty much eat what I want.

I have a large set of Dept. 56 Dickens Village houses. I have a few firearms so I can go shooting at the range. I have a huge set of CDs I have collected over the years. I have tons of books on a variety of subjects.

I am extremely lucky to have all that I have but I was never so happy as when I was a kid and I had next to nothing.

So I guess my whole life at this point is nothing but luxury from the standpoint of where I came from!

[Broken Arrow]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

Interesting line of thought.

Although I have severely cut back, I am also glad that I did. Before, luxuries were more or less the norm, and not only was I bleeding money, but you kind of get used to it, and I kind of took it for granted that it's there.

Now that it is severely restricted, I have found that I enjoy what little I have a lot more... because they were carefully chosen after much scrutiny and budgeting. No longer becoming the norm, they also become much more distinctive and special in my eyes.

That and it helps me save money of course.

[PRICEPLUS]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

What happens in life is that we spend the firsr part of life acquiring "things". Then when we have too much "stuff" we look to divest ourselves of it! Maybe if I had a different outlook but when you are poor and frugal by necessity you justify your decisions when a little success comes. It is insidious but you allow yourself things you don't need because you can. It has taken me a while to work through this.

[starving_student]

Re: Do you have luxuries?

Only drink bottled water imported from New Zeland or Italy.