What is or is not a “necessity” for you.

I suppose I could get used to being without anything if I had to
but my phone and iPad would be the worst to lose everything else I could work round obviously I d work round them too if I had to but they would be the hardest to be without

Children’s happiness

Solitude

Books

Warmth

Fresh air and bird song

Delicious food.

A distant view, my kindle, cheese.

Gold stud earrings, no other jewels needed

My spinning wheel, to make more yarn for the woollen shawls that are so useful. I could not have done without one around my jaw when tooth pain was almost unbearable

My full set of seeknit curve interchangeable needles, the best I ever had and very compact. I use them daily

My sewing machines and fabric stash, to make all my clothes

Dark chocolate

BIAB nails - not for appearance (although that's a nice side effect) but because my own nails are so weak - and have become even worse with age - that without resin based coatings they split vertically into the quick. It's incredibly painful.

Recorder on my Tv ( I cant get it to work now )
My Radio
Sounds on BBC Radio
I Player .

Alcohol completely unnecessary for me, I'm teetotal. Chocolate is essential just because it is, books are also essential. I have arthritis in my hands and no launderette in my town so the washing machine is also essential but I don't buy as often as chocolate.

CariadAgain

Warmth - in every shape and form. One of the things I promised myself as a child was that I would never be cold again. Yep....one of my mothers economies was she simply wouldnt keep the house warm enough (a combination of things - she didnt want to go back to work and I think my father really only got her to do so finally when her youngest child was a teenager and she couldnt reasonably refuse any longer) and she did want to save (to an unreasonable extent). There was also the little point I could have studied much better if I'd had a warm bedroom - rather than giving up the struggle freezing my arse off there trying to study and heading down into the sitting room to get distracted by her always having the tv on and refusing to ever switch it off. All the better to make sure I'd not get many qualifications and wouldn't leave the town when I grew up (cue for 20 years old saw me move to Denmark and 60 years old saw me move to Wales).

So I promised myself - as a child - I would never go short of a decent number of clothes to choose from, a warm enough house, enough bedding on my bed and whatever I needed to get it warm (hot water bottle or whatever else), plenty of fresh fruit once I was an adult and in charge of my own life.

So - basically down to all the promises I made to myself as a child and I've fulfilled them all. So now - I've got loads of bedding on my bed and whatever I've decided on to warm it up, I've got loads of clothes (albeit part of that is I have 3 sizes worth = my own size, the next size and the size I'm currently wearing), fires all round the house to top up the central heating if need be and grow quite a bit of fresh fruit in my garden.

I also have to buy a lot of books - darn it. Reason being because I only bought the books I wanted to keep (ie reference books). Since moving to a small town = I've lost the unofficial arrangement I pretty much had with my last library (ie a decent size city library in a university city). That arrangement was so handy - that any time I wanted to read a book just the once (and it would always be a non-fiction one on a topic that interested me) I would just go to that library and order it. If they didn't have it already (ie because it had usually just come out) - they would usually buy it and I'd be the first borrower of it and then it would be there for anyone else that wanted a read thereafter. That usually included some of the library assistants themselves and I hadnt realised that until one of them commented to me - "Ooh you do pick such interesting books that you want to see - so we often read them after you". Hadn't realised I was pretty much their unofficial "chooser" of non-fiction books LOL. So I only had to buy ones that I wanted to keep as reference books for myself.

Since moving to a small town in Wales = one of the downsides is that they've never ever got any of these books (they put in a Wales wide request - but won't do a countrywide one) and they won't buy any at all for me. So it's so rare for anywhere in the whole of Wales to have/or decide to buy even what I estimate will be quite a popular book - and I land up having to buy a lot of books that I only want for one read....

So - yep.....pretty much every single month I'm having to buy 3 or 4 books - of which I probably only want one to keep as a reference book for myself. Fiction ones - I manage by buying cheapie ones from charity shops, a charity stand in one of the other businesses round here and resign myself to them always being the "lighter weight" fiction. I won't pay more than a couple of £s for a fiction book and I never keep them and they go straight back into the charity shops, etc here when I've read them. Also all the reference books I've decided to read/but not keep head into the charity shops here too.

I give books I don't want to keep to the library. If you do that many people can benefit.

Oreo

Books, either paperback or Kindle books.

Me too.
And ever since the first lockdown, knitting yarn.

1) Anything my 2 Frenchbull dogs need.
2) Anything my 2 Birman felines need.

3) Obviously we live in an enormous Urban City ( The Madrid Capital of Spain ) and can go out to lunch and have tapas for dinner out as well. HOWEVER, we do enjoy home prepared lunches and dinners too - so it is imperative to have a full freezer available at home.

4) Cheeses !! We are grand appreciators of a wide assortment of Spanish, French and Italian cheeses and a wide assortment of cracker breads.

BREAD !!!!!!! And sandwich fixings ..

Of course our enjoyment of lovely wines and ciders from Asturias ( SIDRA ) ..

That’s interesting Allira
I think that happens now but we’re more aware of it. President butter was missing from our supermarket for about three weeks when it was back in stock it had gone up by nearly 50p.

Kate1949

Well mine is a real hair 'system' which has a realistic looking 'scalp' and attached to your head with glue (harmless glue). I wouldn't come off in gale force winds. My system is a life saver. Literally.

Thank you Kate. I have never heard of this and can see how valuable it would be to people in your situation and similar.

OldFrill

Loo roll

I remember the Great Toilet Roll Shortage of 1973!

According to reports now, it was driven by panic buying but that is not strictly true. The shelves were empty of toilet rolls for quite some time yet there were stores of toilet rolls in warehouses - I know that because a relative worked in the offices of a haulage company.
When they reappeared on the shelves, the price had gone up by quite a high percentage.
It was a manufactured shortage resulting in higher profits for companies.

OldFrill

Loo roll

Oh yes. The very thought of running out is scary. When you look at things in that light it is interesting. The Loo Roll Test

The first thing I thought about to test was perfume. I love it, wear it every day (different scents for different moods) and don't feel dressed without it, but would I prioritise it over loo roll? Not likely.

Paper hankies in cube boxes. I have them in kitchen, living room and bedroom.
Rimmel lipstick in” amethyst shimmer” - I have worn the same colour for about 50 years! I always have my lipstick and hankies in my right hand pocket!

My iPad,specs.painkillers for arthritis,ibrubrufen gel, ready meals sometimes,walking stick

Loo roll

Romola

When does a luxury become a necessity? I would find it hard not to have my paper delivered every morning. A digital version isn't the same.

Do they still have paperboys and girls?
I thought they were a thing of the past (my DS was a paperboy)

When does a luxury become a necessity? I would find it hard not to have my paper delivered every morning. A digital version isn't the same.

IPad, iPhone and iMac are all essentials to me. Likewise my kettle and microwave. Medication. Sketchers shoes and thermals another one here with Raynauds.

Mollygo. A kettle for me too, only mine is a small one, and they are now difficult to get, except on, guess where - Amazon

My very expensive hearing aids are a lifesaver for me.

Books, cat food, thermals, pet insurance, ground coffee, dishwasher and washing machine.

Books, Tea & Music

I’ve been racking my brain to think of something but I think this is a difficult question. There are so many things I would replace if I needed to but are they essential?
My DH is pretty important but I wouldn’t think I could find a replacement for him very easily!