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What do you think of as luxuries?

(112 Posts)
MamaCaz Tue 29-Oct-19 18:47:47

Yesterday, there was disagreement on another thread about whether a car is a luxury in modern life.

It got me thinking, and I thought it would be interesting to see what things were generally considered luxuries when you were younger, and whether you still think of them as luxuries, or if you now see them as necessities, or at least in some cases, depending on individual circumstances.

For instance, as well as cars, do you still think of central heating, washing machines, a phone in the home, a TV set and vacuum cleaners as luxuries, and why (not)? Feel free to add to that list - it's just to set the ball rolling.

And what sort of things do you now think of as luxuries that might not even have existed when you were younger?

Callistemon Mon 04-Nov-19 21:18:04

A hairdresser to come in each morning and blow dry my hair so that I can face the world.

Mistymorningstar Mon 04-Nov-19 21:15:48

For me it would be a fortnightly pedicure, and a weekly aromatherapy and reflexology massage. If you haven't had one you may think it trivia, but if you have and it was done well, then you know what utter bliss is. No longer working no longer available.

annep1 Fri 01-Nov-19 20:02:45

Polnan re your post about toilet roll. I still marvel that I can buy it in bulk and use as much as I want!

annep1 Fri 01-Nov-19 19:59:04

Oh, and my Hotel Chocolat batons.

annep1 Fri 01-Nov-19 19:55:06

I'm not poor, and I consider myself very fortunate in that. I have been poor in the past.
Eating out is a luxury. There are people starving in the world.
Sending my bedlinen to be laundered is a luxury I enjoy.
Having my holiday mobile home is a luxury.

It's amazing what we take for granted nowadays.

Daisyboots Fri 01-Nov-19 19:38:56

I am the same as many on here that what would have been luxuries had they been available when I was young are now just what we have in everyday life.
Someone upthread said that everyone has central heating nowadays. Unfortunately many people in rented accommodation are still without central heating even in quite new property. Usually everything in these properties are electric with electric heaters on the wall which are expensive to run. Add to that they have to have pay as you go meters so not at the best electricity rates. So central heating would be a luxury to them.
I do have a wonderful cleaner and my husband has taken over most if the other jobs in the house while I cant do them but he isnt a cook. So a luxury for me would be to have my dinners cooked for me every day by a good cook.

SalsaQueen Thu 31-Oct-19 16:11:33

For me, luxury would be having someone to do my ironing. When I came home from a holiday one year, I actually had my ironing (there was a LOT) done by an ironing company, and it all came back the following day, all on hangers. It was quite expensive, so I couldn't make it a regular "treat"

gallusquine Thu 31-Oct-19 15:33:30

My pink Pifco Princess Hairdryer was my first taste of luxury.

MamaCaz Thu 31-Oct-19 15:14:09

On second thoughts, cheese on toast is now a treat, not a luxury.

MamaCaz Thu 31-Oct-19 14:19:25

I've put of having my top oven/ grill repaired for nearly two years because of the cost (cheese on toast has become a luxury only eaten elsewhere), and i know from past threads that lots of gransnetters have to prioritize other things over either repair or replacement of appliances when they break down.

BradfordLass72 Thu 31-Oct-19 06:51:26

We can now all go out and purchase a 'fridge, washing machine, cooker should they break down

You surely can't beleive that EllanVannin?

My fridge was 2nd hand when a kind friend, returning to the USA gave it to me 14 years ago.

If that, or my washing machine (also over 15 years old) broke down, I would have no way of replacing them.

And I don't even have a bath any longer in which to tread my smalls grin

Theoddbird Wed 30-Oct-19 23:53:48

My choice was to buy a narrow boat to live on. It has none of what many would consider luxury. It is full of necessities. It has things that many could not live with...a toilet cassette that I have to take to an emptying point every week, a water tank that has to be filled with a hose once a week. So what is my luxury? I would say the peace of the river, the swans and ducks that visit to be fed, the joy of sitting watching the fish swim around in the clear water. My luxuries are the simple things in life and I treasure them....

Callistemon Wed 30-Oct-19 23:18:00

A TV, a fridge and a washing machine were considered the height of luxury when I was a child although I do remember a rather cumbersome Hoover being wielded frequently!
We did have the TV, twin tub and small fridge by the time I was a teenager as far as I remember.

There was never a car, a telephone or central heating but there was always a warm coal fire in winter.

Now we do take all those things for granted.

I don't consider a freezer a luxury as we freeze a lot of our own produce.
As for the height of luxury today, perhaps fresh, ironed bedding changed daily (that was what my mother always said she would have if she could too), to travel business class with a chaffeur driven limousine to whisk me to the airport.

And a cleaner!

4allweknow Wed 30-Oct-19 22:23:08

Peace and quiet in garden in summer, having access to aeroplane without having to go through check in and security when going to visit DGS, someone to sort out my wardrobe for every season are not only luxuries they are fantasies really. Central heating, electricity, car, vacuum cleaner are not luxury items for me now. Washing machine, fridge , dishwasher I could do without but life would be awkward if not difficult

Merryweather Wed 30-Oct-19 21:39:21

Things I have that I consider a luxury: microwave, tv, multiple electronic devices, central heating (it doesn't get used), tumble dryer- doesn't get used, air conditioning.

Things I think are necessary items and have: mobile phone, internet, washing machine, daily showers, inside clean toilet, my car as I live fairly rural and the train station is a mile away - there's only four trains anyway. The bus stop is half a mile away and only two busses a day and I can’t wheel myself up hill that far, chocolate.

Things I think are luxury but would like: to have my health and not be stuck in bed or in a wheelchair, fresh sheets of Egyptian cotton 500+ thread count daily, to be able to do more physical activities with my girls, to own a house, a dishwasher my 39-year-old one is handsome but misses bits- regularly, peace and quiet - it's half term and my girls are tired and grumpy, a cleaner, holidays abroad - as long as there's a proper western style toilet.

grapefruitpip Wed 30-Oct-19 20:56:13

time.

newnanny Wed 30-Oct-19 20:48:56

Fenjal in a very hot bath and a glass of wine to boot.

GeorgyGirl Wed 30-Oct-19 20:46:45

Perfume, chocolate, fresh cream, strawberries, avocados, jewellery, fresh flowers used to all be considered luxuries decades ago and yes owning a car and having a telephone.

RomyP Wed 30-Oct-19 19:48:47

More than anything I would like a life without pain, and not just for myself, that really would be a luxury.

Eleph Wed 30-Oct-19 18:58:51

I consider a dishwasher a luxury and a cordless vacuum cleaner both of which I don’t have and desire to have even though life goes on with themsmile

MamaCaz Wed 30-Oct-19 18:58:33

We once had an old car that had heated seats. We'd had it a long time before we found out. I was driving along one day when suddenly I felt warm as if I'd wet myself - not a nice feeling when it comes out of the blue! grin

123kitty Wed 30-Oct-19 18:36:32

Heated car seat.

NotAGran55 Wed 30-Oct-19 18:30:44

When I was a child we had a pot of double cream once in a blue moon . To this day it always feels decadent to buy one once in a while , usually for birthdays or Christmas .

MiniDriver56 Wed 30-Oct-19 18:17:52

Compared to growing up, I would say I live a life of luxury. Things were not around growing up, so they were not available!

Kalu Wed 30-Oct-19 17:22:04

Private jet. This luxury would enable me to, top of my list, make the journey to Australia to visit DD2 and my son in law. The long haul flight is out of the question for us now sadly.