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?

3 & 13 the rest are fairly normal here.

1, 3, 13, 15 are the only ones I consider to be approaching luxury.

The rest I would say should be achieveable by a family with two working adults.

Internet, marriage, children and a car are all very important to life happiness and accessing work, life necessities such as doctors and food ships etc.

Everything else is a luxury, but some are more extravagant than others.

Also, depends a bit on age. As a student I had none of those, but I had security of housing and food so considered myself reasonably well off although I had almost no cash and couldn't afford a thing on that list.

I see your point, and I don't necessarily disagree with many ending up in poverty. However, I don't feel remotely comfortable with denying people the right to be a parent based on finances. I actually think in many cases, having a child is the absolute making of people. However in my experience those that go on to have 3+ children on benefits aren't doing it for the right reasons, and, in the working population, most people have to limit themselves to the number they can afford to support, which in reality is less than 3+. So 2 children seems a reasonable cap to me.

None of them they are asspirational but not luxuries, in that I would like to have them one day

They are all optional.
For me the ones to prioritise would be children, internet access and owning a home (as cheaper in the long term than renting).

You can exercise for free so don't need to join a gym, holidays don't need to be abroad and food can be cooked at home.

I’d regard most of them (1,3,4,5,8 (except a basic legal ceremony in a registration office), 9,11,12,13,14 and 15) as “luxuries” in the sense of discretionary spending that could be reasonably cut.

Owning a home isn’t a luxury as such and is often cheaper than renting, but it’s probably an indicator someone is reasonably off, or at least not in poverty (depending somewhat on if you mean owning outright or having a mortgage).

Internet access is a fairly essential utility these days, I don’t really see what being married has to do with anything, and children aren’t a “luxury”, and they’re certainly not discretionary spending once they exist, but I don’t think it’s sensible or reasonable to deliberately choose to bring children into serious poverty.

They are all optional Optional does not automatically make things luxury. Having childen is a basic human desire, socialising is part of normal human society.

In the USA, 6 and 12 are essentials.

most are luxuries.
Not owning your own home, which is cheaper than renting, not internet, which is necessary for normal life, not having ror being married.

All the others are luxuries, some are extreme luxuries - foreign holidays, cars, concert tickets, etc

Are you asking the right question? Do you mean what is essential v non essential? Luxury means comfort or elegance involving great expense . None unless you go high end are luxury. But nearly all are non essential

Having a gym membership - yes
Owning your own home - no
Going on an overseas holiday - yes
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 - yes
Paying for internet access at home - no
Having children - no
Having a wedding - no, if it is a simple one - a big wedding definitely
A night out drinking with friends - yes
Being married - no
Ordering a takeaway - yes
Owning a car - no
Having a cleaner - hell yes
Having Netflix or some other extra extra TV channels beyond the basic - yes
Buying tickets to go to a concert - yes

Going with my gut here.

1. Having a gym membership - essential for my mental and physical health.
2. Owning your own home - already do.
3. Going on an overseas holiday - depends on where you go. I like to go further afield and travel around a lot, so not something I can afford to do every year. But I have already travelled extensively, so not bothered about going away every year.
4. Having a pet with out goings such as a dog or a cat . Have a cat, and he's a pain in the arse, not a luxury.
5. Eating out at a sit down restaurant with full course and alcohol - not interested in this.
6. Paying for internet access at home - would struggle to live without, so not a luxury.
7. Having children - not applicable to me.
8. Having a wedding - not applicable to me. But if I were to get married, I'd do it cheaply. Can't see the point of spending thousands on just one day.
9. A night out drinking with friends - cheap for me as I don't drink alcohol that often.
10. Being married - hardly a luxury.
11. Ordering a takeaway - try to eat healthily so more of a treat than a luxury.
12. Owning a car - a necessity for work.
13. Having a cleaner - not interested in having a cleaner.
14. Having Netflix or some other extra extra TV channels beyond the basic - Guilty as charged.
15. Buying tickets to go to a concert - my concert days are over.

I’m on the borderline of just about scraping through and don’t consider owning my home as a luxury. My mortgage is cheaper than I could rent my house for, by about £400 a month. It would be different if I was starting from scratch and saving up for a deposit, but if I ditched my home it wouldn’t be a cost cutting exercise as my monthly outgoings would increase.

I’d say they were all luxuries apart from 6, 7 & 10.

Having internet, children or being married is a basic and shouldn’t be seen as a luxury (although still not a necessity).

I was answering from the point of view of, what things should everyone have access to (therefore not a luxury) and what are added bonuses (luxuries).

1. Having a gym membership Yes - can exercise at home or go for a run
2. Owning your own home No - secure accommodation shouldn’t be a luxury and most people don’t qualify for council housing
3. Going on an overseas holiday Yes - nobody needs this
4. Having a pet with out goings such as a dog or a cat Yes, unless they’re an assistance animal
5. Eating out at a sit down restaurant with full course and alcohol Yes
6. Paying for internet access at home No - some kind of internet access is essential
7. Having children No - optional, but not a luxury
8. Having a wedding Depends on what you do!
9. A night out drinking with friends Yes, there are cheaper alternatives for socialising
10. Being married No - optional but not a luxury
11. Ordering a takeaway Yes - cooking is generally cheaper
12. Owning a car Yes if public transport is good where you live, no otherwise
13. Having a cleaner Yes, unless you’re disabled and can’t do it yourself
14. Having Netflix or some other extra extra TV channels beyond the basic Yes - this is not essential
15. Buying tickets to go to a concert Yes - this is a nice to have rather than something that anyone needs

I mostly agree with this. I personally view Internet and Car as luxury in my personal circumstances (I don't need a car and I live 10 mins from a library with WiFi). But I can see that they would not be considered luxuries for everyone. Some people need a car to work, or manage disabilities etc.

None of them for me but acknowledge for many people, quite a few of them would be.

Other than having a cleaner as I’m quite capable of doing my own cleaning, going abroad as I don’t particularly feel the need to travel abroad and being married as I like being single I have or do the rest and don’t see them as being luxuries, just living a comfortable lifestyle.

I see, for example, a luxury as having a second car for Sunday best or a second home for holidays. Or as above paying someone to do something which can easily be done yourself.

Other than a cleaner, I don't think any of those are a luxury. Some are essential (depending on circumstances) some are treats. That list shouldn't be extraordinary for normal people.

For myself i think all its my essentials. I have it all and i dont consider myself have rich and can afford luxury.

They’re all luxuries really, with the exception of being married which most definitely is not!

I wonder if you're thinking about whether VAT should be charged on these things, an extension of the argument for VAT on private education.

None are essentials. I would argue a car is essential here but we do have a neighbour who doesn't have a car and hitchhikes everywhere (no public transport for 5 miles). Not that I want to hitchhike or walk 5 miles to the bus stop!