What will you never economise on?

Our dogs and their care and the cat/chickens/sheep
Books
Loo rolls
Gin

I could produce a long list of things I will not economise on. I did something similar when I stopped work when my first childe was born. That was in 1971.

But faced with the rampany inflation of the early/mid 1970s, it was amazing how quickly these 'non-negotiable must haves , quickly became 'can do withouts, when the pips really squeaked.

This is why I am not posting a list of things I will not economise on, and I have one. But although we are fortunate to have a very comfortable retirement income and I cannot see us finding money very tight - yet, yet, yet, I am just not prepared to offer any hostages to fortune because in the present fraught ecomonic and political situation, anything could happen, - and I am not going to get caught out twice.

I would give up everything ahead of a car. Independence is everything to me.

Private Health insurance.
PS We are not wealthy.

Forgot wine! How could I forget that, but at £3.79 a bottle, I consider it a reasonably priced indulgence

Butter, I will never use marg

and organic veg

I don`t need to economise on any of my hobby stuff. I have been stashing for many years and my cupboards are full, my machines are well maintained and whatever happens I will be able to carry on, carrying on with my very important hobbies. Sewing, knitting, spinning, cycling

Jaxjacky

Forgot wine! How could I forget that, but at £3.79 a bottle, I consider it a reasonably priced indulgence

I wish I knew where to get wine for that price Jaxjacky!

My DH says I am really tight-fisted as I check out prices and rarely spend on luxuries, whereas his list of unmissables would be very long and include top brands, fizzy water, lots of Hellmans mayonnaise, a daily glass of port, lots of heat in winter.
However I have no intention of not going to the hairdresser though I might stretch it an extra week.
I will pay my choir subs, and buy petrol to get to rehearsals.

Holidays and staying in decent hotels - we had many years of B & Bs, camping and staying in basic hotels; we were not at all comfortably off and both of us grew up in poor households. Fortunately, in our 40s DH built up a successful company and we are now in a good place financially. So we now treat ourselves to staying in luxury hotels. But old habits die hard - I do struggle to be indulgent (not with the children, I'd give them my last penny!) and could quite easily revert to living very frugally.

Crumbs, so much! But I suppose that could change.

A warm house
2 cars
Good butter
Fresh flowers
The butcher
Lots of light

I won't give up my haircuts, but will stretch the time between visits, and will no longer have any colour done, a fair compromise.

We won't give up decent coffee; we only have ne pot in the morning anyway, don't drink tea or instant coffee.

Soft loo paper is non-negotiable, but will be offset by buying cheap shower gel to use as handwash in refillable pump bottles.

A decent ish bottle of wine; would rather drink less than buy headache inducing chemical infused wines.

Dog food; nothing to be said here, the dog will get fed well and looked after as always.

If there was only one thing it would be fresh flowers every week. I can pad out quite a small bunch to get two or even three vases and am reminded of late DH who bought me flowers for over 60 years.

Otherwise I agree about good butter and coffee. Most other things can be avoided or substituted in my book. Each to her own.

kittylester yes, lots of ? light and good ? specs

Good quality ground coffee
Butter
Haircuts (from mobile hairdresser)

My dog would always come first, no matter what. Other than that, I'm prepared to economise on most things. I've stopped having my hair cut and coloured at the hairdresser and now only get it cut there (stretching it longer between cuts too) and doing my colour at home out of a box. We grow quite a bit of our own veg and we're lucky enough to be able to buy fresh, completely free range eggs from a local smallholding. I do confess that I like 'good' ice cream, but I do tend to buy it only when it's on offer, and some of Aldi and Lidl's own stuff is almost as good.

Coffee
The ?‍⬛ two kittens
Free range eggs

Mine are;

A quality shower gel.
Ground coffee for filter machine.
Welfare of my cat.
Seeds for my tiny garden.
A book now and again as well as reading books from charity shop.
Giving to charity.
Having coffee out with a good friend twice a month, with cake.
My political party membership.

And butter. Surprisingly how many of us eat butter. Went back to butter about 13 years ago.

Dentist
Visiting relatives abroad

My cat's food
make-up (Nothing fancy but I wear it most days and wouldn't not buy it)
boxed hair dye

My cats, obviously
Books
Lurpak
Red wine (although it may have to be cheaper red wine!)

Anything that my cat needs ( I pay monthly for insurance and pet club which includes her checkups and fleet/worm treatment) so think that works out cheaper anyway

Having my hair cut/coloured - hate grey hair

Organic milk and eggs

Occasional visit to podiatrist ( am diabetic and look after my feet)

My car - we live quite rurally but I only do longer journeys a few times a year so usually a tank of petrol will last me a month

My car I wouldn't dream of driving the Batmobile as GD calls it.
Hairdressers once a six weeks.
Chanel perfume and lipstick I'm allergic to most.
Fairy washing gel DH is allergic to Bio.
Good steak and Venison now and again.
Petrol to visit the DD's and family.
Lavazza coffee pods.
Olive oil for cooking.
Being able to wash the sheets and towels at least weakly.
Glasses from a good independent optician we have.
A few pieces of really good clothing and a pair of shoes each session.

Jaxjacky

Forgot wine! How could I forget that, but at £3.79 a bottle, I consider it a reasonably priced indulgence

Three cheers for Aldi. ??

Im arthritic so need to maintain at least 1 room properly heated
Reliable broadband (I run an online business)
Fruit
A nice bottle of wine once weekly
The occasional taxi as I dont drive.

Dont care about clothes or hairdressing as I rarely go out and cant recall when I last wore makeup.