What do you consider a treat?

I don't always think a treat is about the cost. I love been able to sit outside and have coffee, wine, food and to me that would be a treat even though it's low cost.

Buying fancy wines to try or going out to a nice restaurant, bottomless bruch etc would also be a treat as would going on a nice shopping trip, holidays ect.

Buying a coffee on the go or a takeaway is normally for convenience rather than a treat.

Shopping for household items is just a necessity so I wouldn't class that as a treat.

I often travel via train and normally upgrade to 1st class which sounds like a treat but is more done so I can ensure a comfortable journey so I wouldn't consider that a treat.

I think everyone's different and each will have a different interpretation of a 'treat'

That’s really lovely practical support! I think a lot of new mums would give anything for this kind of quality time! Very happy to read this and your mil sounds fabulous. ❤️

Anything enjoyable that I don't do every day either because of the cost, lack of time or because its not good for my health. So it could be anything from a weekend away to a whole day reading in the garden, to a bag of battered chips.
Buying a chopping board wouldn't qualify because I'm not interested in them. I don't like takeaway coffee, so that wouldn't either. A 'basic chain lunch' might if I had something enjoyable but unhealthy.

@coulditbeme2323 , I've now taken a look at some of your other threads: the one about how money you spent doing nothing at the weekend, the one about your DC's private school skiing trip to Canada, the one about how landlords are running a business not a charity, you being a landlord, naturally.

Living in a wealthy area of the south-east, I regularly come across wealthy people. I notice that, particularly with those who were not born wealthy, how much in awe of their own wealth they are, often terrified of being cheated or their possessions being stolen or damaged by 'peasants'. Where I lived previously, every time I saw one neighbour at a social function, I would hear her telling someone that her house had three bathrooms. Another friend would do the same about the road she lived in which was known as the most expensive in the neighbourhood. I overheard a mother telling her 7 year old, that no, they couldn't stop at Tesco's because 'Tesco's is only for poor people.'

Of course, there are honourable exceptions.

@coulditbeme2323, are you one of those people who is obsessed by their own wealth and good fortune, and hungry to compare yourself advantageously to 'the poor'?

Do you direct any part of your wealth, or your charity to those in need?

You must be spending a great deal of your time on MN at the moment. What do you hope to learn from these threads?

The M&S The Big Daddy peanut butter chocolate bar.
A trillion calories and huge fat content but oh sooo delicious.

Home cooked food that I didn't cook is always a treat. Thanks Mum, because its almost always Mum.

Any food I've not made

Just someone bringing me food I've not had to cook, whether it's a cafe, pub, friends house etc. That's a treat

I asked my grandchildren age 7 and 10 what a treat was and they were dumbstruck. My dad at 91 years said his best treat was getting a bedside lamp as a teenager as it meant he didn’t need to get out of bed to put the light out. Changed days indeed. 🤣

I dont consider things I can buy as treats, but 2 hours lying in bed with my eyes shut listening to audible during the day with NO INTERRUPTIONS is a weekend treat that i manage maybe once every couple of months.

A takeaway coffee grabbed on the way from the train station to the office - not a treat.
A takeaway coffee to enjoy while going for a stroll on a nice day - definitely a treat.

Taking the train instead of driving so I can cram in some work or household admin - not a treat.
Taking the train instead of driving so I have an hour or two to read a book - definitely a treat.

Plopping down for lunch in a cafe while keeping one eye on my emails or prepping notes for a meeting - not a treat.
Plopping down for lunch at the same table while chatting to a friend or just watching the world go by for half an hour - definitely a treat.

Same thing, same cost - different context, totally different experience.

Books 📚 are my treat and I indulge far too often

This. As well as ‘poor baiting’ the op also posts a lot on other threads about how blended and ‘broken’ families damage kids and how happy she is she’s not in one…..doesn’t smack of happiness does it….

Not food or drink - Unless is a particularly nice restaurant (We use chain restaurants all the time)

A treat for me is something outside of my usual routine. A holiday, a weekend away, a spa day, a festival, ascot, even an afternoon in a beer garden with the girls.

The logic applied in our household budgeting would be:

Eating/coffee out = non essential = treat

Chopping board = essential = not treat

You can get into the nuances of whether you're just replacing a perfectly good existing chopping board, or whether the old one had lived out it's useful life, but that's not for today.

A treat for us (because we don't eat out), would be buying top quality ingredients and cooking a favourite meal (bouef bourgignon) for my wife and I, then enjoying a really good wine - CNdP or Rioja, then finished off with a posh dessert (ready made, because I don't have the skill to do a decent one).

I guess so. I genuinely need to put weight on so I eat them for calorie density and because it's soft and my teeth are fucked. Haha. But it just so happens they're delicious! What's your fave?

I love cream cakes. Or syrup sponge and custard!

I think it's sad if a treat stops being a treat because you do it more often. A hot bath with lovely bath salts and a candle is always a treat for me, even though I do it at least twice a week!

Almost anything- I’m really good at extracting pleasure from the day! Clean bedlinen, ironed pyjamas, new pair of knickers, long hot shower, library book and an early night. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending money too (have just ordered a portable aircon unit and I am having dinner in a nice restaurant tonight), but I’ve had plenty of skint times and have found it’s worth cultivating the cheap or free treats if you’re not going to be miserable.

My "treats" are:

A slice or two of artisan sourdough bread. I don't eat bread very often (used to be daily) since I discovered its effect on my blood sugar, so I only buy it occasionally and keep it in the freezer.

Dressed crab. I've enjoyed the taste of crab since childhood and I buy it as an occasional treat for myself. It's £5 for a single portion, so I only have it a couple of times a month.

Decent chocolate, from Montezuma's or from Rye Chocolates.

Having my hair cut by a hairdresser instead of cutting it myself.

I was reading that thread -for context you said you spent 500 to 600 quid on a weekend without going anywhere, or doing anything, how is that possible?!
Then it turned out you'd done a full week's shop, bought fancy chopping boards, gone out for takeaway coffees etc 😁
Anyways, a treat for me would be buying an actual magazine and a bar of chocolate.

I think cakes etcetera are a daily treat.

I would call the first things you mention as an indulgence not a treat. 🙂

I see the point you’re making.
I would say you’re talking about a particular sort of treat which someone has gifted you. In the example you give. They’ve gifted you their time, which is a treat for you.
But we can also treat ourselves when we choose something that isn’t useful or productive but we enjoy it, and treat ourselves to it from time to time.