What do you consider a treat?

to me it's a nice wine and cheese 🤤

Time in the house on my own is a treat. It’s rare but valuable.

To me, a “treat” isn’t really defined by price, rarity, or how “special” something is.

I’m comfortable financially and we earn around 140k, I still budget very carefully.
That’s actually part of what makes something feel like a treat, it’s not about spending freely, it’s about choosing something deliberately and knowing I can comfortably afford it without it impacting anything else.
A treat can be something as small as a takeaway coffee, a nice lunch, or even something as ordinary as a new mug if it genuinely improves my day or brings me a bit of joy. I don’t really separate “functional” and “treat” in a strict way anymore. If it makes life nicer in a meaningful or enjoyable way, then it counts.

What I like about this way of thinking is that it keeps “treats” accessible. It stops them becoming these rare, big-event things and turns them into small, regular moments of enjoyment. Even simple choices can feel like a treat if they’re intentional.

I think a treat is really just anything that feels like a small “yes” to myself or my family, something I’ve chosen, I can afford, and genuinely enjoy in the moment. I think it’s a mindset tbh.

I don’t think I would like somebody who couldn’t see something as a treat unless it was expensive, tbh. It says something unpleasant about their priorities in life. Taking pleasure in small things is a mindset, irrespective of your bank balance.

A long uninterrupted shower with enough hot water and potions and a warm towel to step into. In an ideal world someone would take care of all my body hair (shaving, shaping, shampooing, etc as appropriate) and ALL I would do is stand there.

It depends on the day and how I'm feeling! Sometimes the simplest things feel like a treat - getting out in the sunshine at lunchtime if I've been stuck inside, an Ella's oat bar as a dessert - but other times it's a meal in a nice restaurant, getting my nails done, upgrading to a nicer hotel or airline seat.

Coffee and cake. Going out for a meal. More so now, because these days I mostly begrudge the prices and don't do it as often.

Chocolat. I don't care that I have it as dessert every day- it's still a treat because 1. I don't need it 2. It makes me feel good
Atm it's Lindt intense 85% that does it for me.

Really delicious lunch out, could be the special Thali at my favourite Indian restaurant or something more "elevated", but must include not having to drive, so I can have a glass of wine.
A Reflexology session.
Full body massage.
Facial.
Wander round a local market.

I see it as a choice, not a treat.

i would see it as a bit of a treat if say i was a carer for someone 24/7 but someone had offered to 'give me a break! So I could do that, but I'd see the treat as what the other person was doing for me & the activity just as a choice.

I'd say a treat is something that brings you pleasure and is out of the ordinary for you. It can be something planned or unexpected, big or small and what it is is going to depend on your lifestyle, including but not restricted to your income. When my DC were very young the biggest treat for me was a lie in at the weekend and that cost nothing! Everyone's definition is different but I think for most people it's something that makes them think "ooh that was nice" and which isn't a completely regular part of their life, and it's typically something that is not absolutely essential.

I love nice chocolate. However, I am always disappointed by Tony's.

I grew up in poverty so I struggle to "treat yo self" but I do love a good coffee. Which I enjoy approx once a month

A paid for treat for me is something that I cannot make better at home. I can make excellent coffee and tea at home, this isn't a treat. I can make fantastic pizza from scratch at home that a takeaway pizza can be disappointing.

My treats are my roots being done every 3wks at the hairdressers. I can do this at home but not better than my hairdresser, she has better quality dyes and doesn't miss parts of my hair or stain my bathroom/ clothes. I also treat myself to a full body massage every couple of months, my shiatsu massager isn't the same.

For me it is time. I'm so time poor that time that is entirely my own and I get to decide what I would like to do (rather than have to do) is a real treat.

In terms of consumables, it would be a good massage or facial. Something along those lines.

Finding 30 minutes uninterrupted time for Piano practice.

On a sunday morning i make myself a large bacon bap using lovely thick smoked bacon. Break out the ground coffee and cafetiere (i use instant the rest of the week!) and then sit under a blanket with a good book and read for at least an hour before the rest of the household namely DH and the cat emerge and need attention. i look forward to it every week and it is so good for my soul!

Anything non-essential feels like a treat to me. Even expensive ingredients for a more luxury home cooked meal. I can afford it and could afford to eat out every weekend, buy coffee out or buy new clothes but I get genuine enjoyment from not being wasteful and actively enjoying those experiences when I have them. I’m not tight but also not frivolous.

I was raised relatively poor and have spent much of my early adult life needing to be careful with money. I don’t take any of it for granted, I also enjoy watching my savings go up. My youngest siblings have been raised with buying whatever they fancy and enormous expensive birthday/ Christmas piles as the norm. I think as adults they will probably see a meal out as functional and nice designer clothes as a basic need.

Flowers, I love them. I buy them, my husband buys them for me, I get them for birthdays and Xmas. Currently I have a beautiful bouquet of peonies and roses. I hate gardening though!

SixtySomething
I replied to your other thread, too.
Convenience is a treat. If you're hard up you have to do it the hard way or go without.
Things designed to make life more convenient are luxuries and always tend too be more expensive.
IMO you've come to take these luxuries for granted. Did you grow up like this?

I don’t agree with this, I’m on mw and the other day forgot my lunch and wasn’t going to sit miserably for the day with my stomach rumbling and used the last of my account to buy it out.

On mn that makes you the lowest of the low because why didn’t I save that five euro (see thread on even the lowest paid could save 50 a week). Most people won’t go hungry or will go convenience unless there’s zero in their account or it means eg the mortgage comes out. Acting like someone getting a coffee anyway regularly is equivalent to throwing away all their money and being frivolous is ridiculous and just pits people against people (plus the cafes etc benefit from people buying coffees out)

A drink on my own, sat at the bar of a fancy hotel, at the end of a work day.

A hot chocolate from a coffee shop because they're so expensive.

I eat chocolate daily so does that mean it's not a treat?

I would consider something like a nice cake or cookie a treat maybe.

For me treats are very dependant on money available.
So when I was earning good money, a regular manicure and pedicure were just maintenance things. Eating out once a week was a normal activity.
Now my income has dropped, a manicure OR a pedicure would be a lovely treat. Eating out would be very special.
At the moment my 'treat' is (supermarket) wine on a Friday. A choc chip cookie with my tea. Simple things really.

Depends on the day. For me and DH we like a nice pint, game of pool or darts at the pub, occasionally a trip to the casino with our pocket money, and even more occasionally a trip to Wendy’s to get a baconator or maybe a maccies trip. These are like occasional, cheap treats that we both enjoy.

When we are feeling a bit more fancy we will go out for a nice meal or go to this lovely wine bar we like, but obviously these are more expensive than the above.

For me personally it can be a lot of things - coffee and cake, getting my nails done, I am currently on the hunt to find the best grapefruit soda so sometimes I’ll order some fancy ones online. I don’t really consider flowers a treat because he always buys them and tops them up and has done since we started dating because he says it’s an “easy fix if you’re in a mood” 😂.

Basically anything frivolous is a treat, especially anything that’s adult focused and doesn’t revolve around the kids. Our kids get a lot of treats and to be honest I enjoy going out to eat with them sometimes but a real treat for me/ for us is something just for grown ups.