Injecting a little luxury into life, without breaking the bank

[Sodthesystem]

I recently treated myself to a fancy coffee and macarons in a designer department store. Cheaper than buying anything there, but still felt luxurious :)

Thought it might be fun to start a thread on how people get their little fixes of luxury without spending a fortune.

Garlic bread.

(It's the future.)

I treat myself to lovely chocolate from Cocoa Black. The past 2 Easter’s I’ve been on my own as family have been away so I have ordered chocolate Easter eggs from Gabriella Cugno which are very indulgent but so delicious.

Yes to cut flowers. Supermarket ones are great value.

I don’t like hand cream but a little squirt of perfume really lifts my mood

Putting in my headphones and listening to music while I do boring house jobs

Yes to butter 😋

Seasonal food treats - right now it’s asparagus, fresh podded peas, new potatoes, strawberries although bit hit and miss yet.

Smelling the roses in other people’s front gardens, planning to buy a new rose for ours. Rose shopping basically 😁

I'd love to try the Lampe Berger house fragrance , @Sgtmajormummy , do you have a favourite you can recommend? And atomiser/burner/candle?

Thank you!

I have small luxuries, like butter, good loose leaf tea, virgin olive oil and proper dairy ice cream.
Occasional flowers and essential oils, for scenting house or self.
A local pub does an excellent Sunday carvery for £15 per head.
Every so often, I have a bigger splurge on theatre or music tickets.

I think your post is not in the spirit of MN - yer supposed to share helpful hints not keep secrets to yourself! 😊

Now, in the spirit... who is this designer?

I have gel pedicures every couple of months - I like nice looking feet, particularly my own!

@Westfacing 😂. When in doubt, look for nice jewellers (as in making and selling, not H Samuel) on Instagram and keep eyes open for sample sales basically! I follow quite a lot of them, aspiring to buy everything I see and hope I can afford things.... There's another I love but her samples are still well out of my budget.

Every so often I give myself a 'holiday at home'. I work quite hard, both OOH and self employed, so just having a whole day with nothing planned is quite a luxury. I buy something a bit special to cook for my tea - M&S ready meal and snacks - and take myself and the dog out for a walk somewhere scenic, then come home to a clean bed, clean PJs and my M&S special. If I'm really pushing the boat out I'll take a cup of tea and some posh biscuits up to bed with me and lie and read a new magazine for a while.

I have simple tastes...

Me too. This kind of thing makes me feel very content and happy.

I used to go with my mum to the big designer shops up in London to try on clothes. The shop assistants knew we weren't buying anything, but we clearly treasured the experience so much that they were very happy to help us. The sort of place where they offer you a glass of bubbly on arrival... We tried on some mink coats - the softest thing my hand has ever touched.

I also like browsing the F&M website - there are lots of things at a fairly reasonable price, so I might send something over to my mum for a fun surprise.

Also saving up to buy quality items, such as pans, rather than buying the cheapest then needing to replace. Little pleasure every time I use them.

I've also finally succumbed to buying not the cheapest toilet paper. Although given the price of the latest shop, I think I need to go back again. At least I can enjoy about 16 rolls until then...

I bought myself some clotted cream and shop bought scones the other week and did a cream tea at home - it was lush.

Lol I just thought of a random one which is a bit niche but, I've been playing the Sims series since I was a kid. It's a game where you can build houses and play in them, to simplify.

And normally I build small, simple inexpensive houses that are easy to manoeuvre around. But on a rare occasion I build really expensive swanky places in sunny world areas and switch to first person mode (so it's like you are seeing the world through your controlled characters eyes) whilst my sim lounges around the pool by some palm trees and swans about her fancy vila, in a designer looking dress.

Probably the closest I'll ever get to being rich haha.

Lunch out when shopping.
Chocolate covered pistachios.
Occasional afternoon tea

Which sort of clubs are good?

Chocolate covered pistachios?! I need these (even though I've only just become aware of their existence). Where do I get them from?

Decent bath stuff: Badedas for everyday and Rituals for a treat
Decent skincare
Good meat and fish

Slightly bigger ticket- the best mattress and bedding (floofy down duvet and lux pillows plus high thread count well ironed covers) you can afford.

@Oneearringlost I just go with the promotions!
The lamp was a gift, just a simple glass cylinder with the mechanism, carrier liquid and lavender essence.
Since then I’ve gone with floral, but “cut grass” was a nice change or “fresh linen”. There is a huge variety and actual shops will let you sample them.

I like the idea that it’s cleaning the air as well as scenting it (and not wasting metal spray cans) but the flame can be a bit scary the first time!

When out for the day in another town we head for the nearest posh hotel and order coffee and cake. The price is normally not much different to a greasy spoon and often cheaper than MaccieDs but the service ,surroundings and more importantly the toilets are well worth any increase.
I love that the doormen open the doors and hail taxis for everyone - even sub £10 customers. You don't get that at spoons 😁😅

Every January, I start religiously using up all the hand creams, shampoos/conditioners, body lotions, soaps and shower gels that I have and don’t particularly like. There are always loads somehow - usually presents. I counted the tubes of hand creams this Jan and there were 8 - all presents over the past year or two. Anyway, I use everything up which takes anything from a couple of months to the whole year depending upon the type of product, and I don’t allow myself to buy anything in that category until it is all used up. Then and only then I allow myself to buy a replacement and the replacement can be whatever I like - any brand, any price, just as long as I really want it. So I generally get to around this time of year and most of the crap is used up and I have the luxury of using lovely posh shower gels, soap, conditioner etc for most of the rest of the year, guilt free. (Apart from hand creams - I swear getting through that lot is going to take me all the way to 2027).

Currently using these nice things after using up things I didn’t like much: Redken shampoo and conditioner, Figs and Leaves soap (from Lush), a nice Frank body wash, some form of expensive looking almond scented body lotion from TK Maxx. They boost my mood every day.

A Diptyque candle at all times is my little luxury. DH buys me a new one every few months. We’re embarking on a a big Reno so are saving like mad and our house needs so much work to get it how I want so I take pleasure in lighting my little candle and snuggling on the sofa.

Nice chocolate from m&s - about £2.65 a bar and I have a square every day.
A chiropodist, dental hygienist, and a massage - planned every 6 months. 3rd one more enjoyable than the other 2!

Ages ago I read on a few posts that M&S Big Mix chocolates are much nicer than Roses or Quality St. I got a box and they are far far better. Also DH and myself liked each one instead of having lots of hard toffee ones left so that made them much better value. I will get another box soon.

Going to the farmers market and getting something tasty and in season. Last week I got some £4 strawberries from the people who supply Wimbledon from a small place near our house. DP was saying “if these aren’t the best strawberries I’ve ever had I’m driving back to get our money back” yap yap yap… They were actually sooo delicious. I dreamed about them. Didn’t share them with our kids either, terrible parents.

Most of these aren't cheap.