Which of these would you consider a luxury?

[randomfemthinker]

Curious question for discussion.

Which of these would you consider a luxury? Why or why not?

1. Having a gym membership
2. Owning your own home
3. Going on an overseas holiday
4. Having a pet with out goings such as a dog or a cat
5. Eating out at a sit down restaurant with full course and alcohol
6. Paying for internet access at home
7. Having children
8. Having a wedding
9. A night out drinking with friends
10. Being married
11. Ordering a takeaway
12. Owning a car
13. Having a cleaner
14. Having Netflix or some other extra extra TV channels beyond the basic
15. Buying tickets to go to a concert

Thoughts?

All depends on your definition of luxury. And also what should be and what is. For me I'd feel a lot of them are discretionaries and luxuries. I wouldn't consider owning your home a luxury, id consider it a disgrace that more people don't/can't. And that's a sad state of affairs rather than a reasonable status quo. I'm not saying it should be easy to buy a house but it shouldn't be as difficult as it is.

I'd say having children and owning your own home are necessary (for me). Ditto having the internet at home, I suppose. A car might be, depending on where you live (not necessary for me - in fact, a car would be a pita). I'd say all of the others were luxuries, though all my money was blown on school fees, which I considered to be necessary.

This is also a weird question as only people who are in poverty would not literally have enough money in the bank for some of the things on your list.

Most working adults could spare £20 for a takeaway, even if they would choose to spend that money elsewhere, as they likely have £20+ in their bank account. Everyone has their own definition of affordable or luxury, but I don’t think this survey will really get quality results as the questions are flawed.

Foreign holidays, pets, eating out, cleaner, Netflix / Sky & concert tickets are all definitely luxuries.
Gym (if your work is sedentary), internet, a car (if you don’t live in a city) are all essentials.
Weddings & children are lifestyle choices.
A trip to the pub or a takeaway are small treats.

Yes to all. Most are lifestyle, not necessity.

Also I think everyone is using their own definition of luxury eg synonym for opulence vs non-essential.

On face value none are luxuries but I suppose most have the potential to be e.g. overseas holiday can be pitching a tent in northern France which whilst fun is hardly luxurious in the way flying first class to the Caribbean and staying in a 5 star resort would be; my cat came from a shelter but I could have got a maine coon from a breeder; a wedding could a quick registry office job or a lavish multi day destination affair. Etc etc.

I don’t really get what your point is tbh, the OP is pretty vague!

I've had all of them at some point but never considered any of them a luxury, just things I wanted and could afford. I don't have them all now.

I think having a cleaner is a luxury. The others no. However, there are varying degrees. When I was growing up I can’t remember my parents going out for dinner. When my dcs were young we hardly ever went out for dinner, only for very special occasions such as Mother’s Day. Going out for say Sunday lunch was unthinkable due to the expense.
Having a car- we are down to one car due to the cost. However due to lack of good public transport where we live we have to have a car. Dh cannot get to work without one and works shifts. I sometimes need the car depending on where I have to work. Again, I cannot use public transport.
I can see how owning a pet is a luxury.
Having a child- I believe the way things are going that certain groups will not be able to afford to have children. Unfortunately this group would often make great parents it’s just they have to work for a living and cannot afford the childcare.

Internet access isn't a luxury.

For a car, it depends on where you live. For me, it would be a luxury, but for certain jobs and areas it's pretty necessary.

Being married is an odd one - it's actually a pretty big expense even to do a basic 2 witness paperwork-only wedding if you are broke, so probably, yes.

And children is a tough one, because it's something you only have limited control over and people manage even in terrible financial circumstances. People very rarely decide to cut back on their expenses by giving up their kids, while they would give up a car or a house or a pet. So I'd say no to that.

Everything else, I'd class as a luxury.

It’s all relative isn’t it. None of these are luxuries to me, the only one we don’t have is a cleaner and that is down to choice as I work part time so it doesn’t seem necessary.
A luxury to me now would be healthy children as one of mine has cancer, but I’d never have given that a second thought before. It’s all down to personal circumstances and what we feel money can buy.

Yikes. I would only see #3 as a luxury. 🤔

Not interested in 1, 13 and 14

I don’t think anything on that list is a luxury , they are all fairly normal things that many people do / have within their own budgets .

Agreed. These are all part of normal life for us and for nearly everyone I know, not luxuries. Maybe a cleaner is to some but it's a necessity for us.

• Having a gym membership. No
• Owning your own home. No
• Going on an overseas holiday. No
• Having a pet with out goings such as a dog or a cat. No
• Eating out at a sit down restaurant with full course and alcohol. No
• Paying for internet access at home. No
• Having children. No
• Having a wedding. Yes
• A night out drinking with friends. No
• Being married. No
• Ordering a takeaway. No
• Owning a car. No
• Having a cleaner. No
• Having Netflix or some other extra extra TV channels beyond the basic. No
• Buying tickets to go to a concert maybe

What's your actual question?

Not many of those things are "luxuries", but equally not many of them are "essentials".

TBH, if you are asking what things that state benefits should reasonably be able to provide, I'd say internet, being married (which costs very little for a legal ceremony and nothing ongoing), and the right to have children (but I think a cap of 2 is fair). The other things are a higher standard of living which most working families save or budget for unless they are very high earners.

None. Although compared to what/ who? Compared to some people in a third world country they all are. Compared to average Joe Bloggs none are, although owning your own home might be difficult for some (although not impossible)

I don't see 2, 6, 7,10 or 12 as luxuries. The rest are.

That's my perspective based on where I live. For many a car would be a luxury but living without public transport it becomes an essential.

All except internet access and owning a car. That’s based on where I live - rural, no public transport, no shop/doctors/school etc.

Interesting, I don't agree about the right to have children because if you need to rely on the state to "provide" them, then they're likely to be growing up in poverty and more likely to have poor outcomes in life.

Same

All of them except being married and internet will all be luxuries to some people.

Technically all of them, having said that I have all but a wedding and a cleaner and I live far from a luxurious lifestyle. Well so I thought...

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