What luxuries do you have that your parents wouldn't have?

[GrabtharsHammer]

Following on from my thread about the reasons younger people can't buy houses due to iPhones and sky telly?

We have Sky Q and iPhones etc but I'm really thinking of things that would have been available in the 70s/80s but were real luxuries.

Mine would never have had a second car. We went out the the Harvester on special occasions, always the early bird menu and only about twice a year. Holidays were camping although we went to France twice to stay in a friend's house.

Day trips to Chessington etc were very rare, once every couple of years. We had piano lessons but that was our only 'extra', we wanted to ride horses so had to wait until we were old enough to work on a yard (12/13) and earn lessons.

I don't think we ever had a takeaway, the closest was a family bucket from KFC once in a blue moon.

Having said that, my dad smoked sixty a day until we were in our teens, and my mum always had a bottle of sherry a week.

What else? Black and white telly until we were about seven or eight (so 86/87). We had a video recorder but it was a huge luxury.

My dad had a computer but he was the only person we knew with one.

Once a fortnight we'd rent a video.

We had one pair of school shoes, one pair of trainers and wellies. I remember being bought a pair of red patent shoes for a party and thinking all my Christmases had come at once. Mum made most of our clothes.

How different is your experience of modern life to your parents? And so you think things are much cheaper or that priorities are so different?

I think both of these threads just show how the prices of various things have moved at different rates in relation to wages.

No time to search and link myself, but have a look online for a 1980 or 1976 Argos catalogue, you'll be shocked at how expensive things were.

I was brought up in 60s and 70s.
Central heating, there was no heating at all in bedrooms and bathrooms.
After school activities and days out. When I was young we only ever went swimming, or to Brownies.
More clothes and toys.
Lots of shoes. We had 1 pair, plus slip on black pumps for PE
A car
Holidays abroad
Wine - when I was young wine was expensive and seen as for posh people
Ready made meals
Gadgets, colour TV, etc. When I was growing up we had a black and white TV and that was it.

Born in '71.

No car until 1978
No phone or washing machine until 1979
No central heating until 1992.
No takeaways at all. Chips on a Saturday night while watching Dallas - thy cost 10p or 12p for a large portion.

Once I moved into my own homes I've always had central heating although I'm quite frugal on the heating front.
Takeaways most weeks.
While we have 2 cars now because we live further outside city I didn't have my first car until 10 years ago.

Actually I know the answer to the soft play question. They let us go out and play. We had a large field at the end of our culdesac and I recall being quite younger but spending the whole day playing with friends only returning home for lunch. When I asked DM about this she said I would have been "3 or 4". Great days. For all they have materially, I at times feel sorry for our kids today.

Love threads like this. Reminds me of these guys:

By the time I was in my teens, my parents had a reasonably well-off lifestyle, so two cars, a large 5 bed house, more than one TV (although we were late adopters of colour!), trips abroad (with school or family) and so on. They also got home from work about 2 hours earlier than we do now and never worked on weekends. They definitely had an easier life.

However, they were still frugal in some ways, no really deep baths, sandwiches when out, hardly ever going to restaurants (though they do now).

We have a lot more devices/technology than them, each person in our house we aim to equip with a laptop, decent phone and a tablet (ok, most are reconditioned or second-hand but still). That probably feels extravagant to then, as does getting a takeaway, for some reason fish and chips doesn't count as a takeaway in their eyes!

Ah yes, 'nice food'. My DM was (and still is) a great believer in false economies. We were brought up on food which was chosen to be economical rather than palatable. Often it wasnt but DM was convinced that home made was always more economical and therefore better. Taste didnt come into it.

I forgot about eating out. We only ate out on very special occasions as a kid. Our family though eat out once a week.
Also takeaways. As a kid getting fish and chips was a major treat.
Decent bathroom. When I was younger we had a shared outside toilet and no bathroom at all
Bigger house. We lived in a room and kitchen. Basically a family in 2 rooms, and that was it.
Running hot water. We did move and get this, but for part of my childhood we only had cold water.

I think back then there were sharper divides in terms of housing. Lots of families still lived in genuine slums that hadn't changed much since Victorian times, while others were buying nice houses. There were more people doing low paid jobs that do not exist any more,and middle class people with jobs like teacher, or even just clerical staff, tended to be better paid than now. It is why living standards from jobs then are not really comparable.

Well.....real basic stuff like, central heating, washing machines, dishwashers, fridges and freezers, definately microwaves, convenience food....bloody hell even supermarkets! But then I'm an ancient grandma, so it was the dark ages when I was young and lived with my oarents!

I grew up in the 70s and 80s in a solidly middle class family, and it was a different world from today.

Furniture - never replaced unless it was broken. Same with carpets, cushions and curtains, never updated for "fashion" only if they were torn etc.

Clothes, one set of school uniform (change of blouse), jeans that were bought too big and turned up and let down as you grew, patched if they tore. A couple of t-shirt/sweaters and a "best" outfit. A pair of school shoes, and a pair of trainers. School shoes doubled up for "best". Some clothes like nighties and dressing gowns and my gingham summer school dress were home made. Things were repaired not replaced until they were well and truly grown out of. They'd then be passed on if possible.

Adults also only had sufficient sets of clothes, and only replaced when worn out. Definitely no overflowing wardrobes with multiple outfits.

Obviously no "modern" appliances like microwaves and mobile phones. What we did have (washing machine, tv, hi-fi) was repaired (by my dad, who worked in an office and had no electronic/mechanical skills) if it went wrong. Never replaced unless unrepairable. Same with household maintenance, my parents turned their hands to it if they possibly could, never paid a tradesman unless it was unavoidable.

The phone was only used for necessary calls. No long chats etc.

Bathing/showering once a week for kids. No idea how often my parents bathed, presumably more often. I doubt it was every day though, I'd imagine more likely it was 2/3 times a week with wash-downs in between.

We had two cars, one was my dad's company car and that was replaced frequently. My mum, however had the same (old) car throughout my whole childhood. It was replaced when I was about 16 as I learnt to drive on the "new" secondhand car.

Food cooked from scratch. Lots grown in the garden, or picked from the wild. Sufficient food was cooked with no waste. My mum walked around various shops to save a few pence here and there. No takeaways or meals out. We did seem to have a better range of affordable meat than now though - duck, lamb etc as well as beef, chicken and pork.

We had toys and books, but not loads. We kept them and looked after them, they were often bought second hand, and sold back on afterwards. Nothing was disposable, everything was valued.

Holidays were in the UK, once a year for a fortnight. Even then we didn't eat out etc. It was all about beaches and walks in the country etc.

My parents worked very hard, and we were relatively comfortable. They worked less outside the home (my mum not at all) than we did. Food, clothes etc were much more expensive relatively then than they are now.

Loads more new clothes these days- and most things I buy my DC I buy to "fit" and not to "grow into".

Way more interesting food. I was a child of the 80s, and I don't think we ate much other than crispy pancakes and chips from one year to the next. I certainly never ate anything like curry or fajitas as a kid.

Plus all the usual stuff that hadn't been invented such as iPhones and Netflix yadda yadda.

My grandparents had a much better standard of living than we do tho. They bought a house and enjoyed many holidays on my GF's single modest salary. Nan was a housewife. They had a dishwasher and a shower back in the 80s. We don't have those things now.

Double Glazing
Central Heating
No phone line until I was 10
Foreign Holidays.
Eating out

no car until later on, dad used to cycle to work. Never went abroad (unless you count Wales) and holidays were always camping. Rayburn in kitchen was only heating, except immersion heater that went on at specified times for weekly bath. Remember twin-tub washing machine arriving, before that was an electric boiler and mangle. B&W telly, couldn't get BBC2 for ages. All food cooked from scratch, 4 pints of milk a day, one gold top. Mum and dad had a record player we were not allowed to touch, though had posh mates who had one in their bedroom. Lived in the country with no bus service in the evening to walked to cycled to and from nearest town. a takeaway meal would be fish and chips once or twice a year, never tasted anything 'foreign' til I left home. Most clothes were hand-me-downs, until as a teenager started money fruit and veg picking in the summer when we could buy our own. 1 pair of school shoes, hand-me-down sports kit for school, likewise a pair of wellies.
However, once the teenage years kicked in, drinks in pubs were in pence (1st pint of legal cider was about 22p) and you could buy a packet of 20 No 6 fags for 26p. Entry to clubs, cinemas, gigs etc, much cheaper relatively. First room was £5 a week in a house share, for comparison the equivalent today in the same town I went to college is about £100.

when I got married in the late 1970's we went to the launderette to do laundry and our first washing machine was 2nd hand from our next door neighbour when they got a new one. My mother almost keeled over from the extravagance that someone would buy something new when they had a perfectly good one already. I think things lasted longer so we mended more and didn't expect to replace something every few years

Another here, who was a kid in the 60's and a teenager in the 70's.

My parents had their own phone line. Lots of our friends/neighbours either didn't have one (and had to queue at the phone box which usually smelt of urine) or, they shared a "party line". This was a line split between two households (!!). So, you'd pick up the handset to make your call and hear a conversation in progress. You'd then have to either interrupt or, put down the receiver and wait, to try again.

I was a child in the 80s. We had two holidays abroad in my childhood, both to Malta. My parents paid for me to go to private school so couldn't afford luxuries.

We had two cars, although my dad's was a company car. We never had Sky or cable, and didn't have a VCR until 1989. I had a CD player when I was 14 that my dad's friend was getting rid of to buy a new one.

We went out for meals occasionally and had two caravan holidays a year. Neither parent smoked and only occasionally drank, we didn't go to pubs or social clubs (I used to go to a working mens club with my friend and her dad).

I was born in 1971. No TV till I was 8 (for ethical reasons, for money ones). Mum made all our clothes. We had lodgers to bring in extra money.

We went on caravan holidays - to Europe from when I was 11. Didn't go on a plane till I was maybe 14.

We had to do chores for pocket money - more than I expect my dc to do. No designer brands.

Much less spent on us at Xmas - my gran gave us an annual each and £5. And we were happy with that! Much less materialistic.

No days out to theme parks or anything.

Pub meals out (scampi in a basket kind of thing) was the only eating out we did - maybe twice a year.

We had toys and books but weren't bought things randomly. We had fewer things BUT looked after them and appreciated them.

Dad always did all the work on the cars, never sent them to a garage, so he was often out working on them (old cars).

Mum stayed at home till I was 12 then returned to work - but only in school hours.

Mum never outsourced cleaning, ironing, gardening or any other house stuff - we do.

Interesting thread!! Life was much simpler when I grew up. I could quite happily throw my dd's mobile and the iPad away. I think they're doing huge damage to children's imaginations and ability to amuse themselves. But that's another thread!!

I buy clothes instead of making them myself.

We have 2 cars, and I learned to drive.

We eat and drink loads of things that were precious treats growing up. Fruit juice daily instead of squash, spaghetti Bol made with fresh ingredients instead of canned mince and onion mix, things like that.

We got central heating and double glazed windows when I was 12, right to buy council house, new build. Before that it was a struggle to keep warm, although we never had a problem with mould thanks to the wind drafts in pre WW1 flats.

All of us, 4 in the house, have mobile phones and computers.

We eat out, that never happened. I don't like take away but DCs can do things like order Dominoes or go to McDonalds. Growing up I didn't know you could get a take away until much older siblings started working, going out on the razzle and coming back with a take away.

There must be much more that I'm overlooking.

We hardly ate out as children and my mum would always take sandwiches for us if we had to be out for the whole day - which in my memory made for lots of picnics in the cold and rain! My parents do now go out for meals but paying for a cup of tea or coffee when out is seen as a huge extravagance as it is never strictly necessary and you could always just wait till you got home. Luckily my dh is very much a believer in coffee and cake when we are out - one of my favourite things about him!

I was 19 before I realised some people bought all their children's clothes brand new, sometimes even more than one item at a time! We had jumble, handmedowns, charity shop treasure, and home made stuff.

We did have - nice house, long holidays, exotic food, a microwave and computer long before most people did.

We didn't have - nights in hotels, meals out for no special reason, colour tv, bought food on road trips (picnic and thermos all the way, we even brought a cool box and picnic on a plane to America once!).

We did have what is now a luxury but was normal then; one parent at home nearly all the time. Second parent finishing work at five and home by 5.30 every night. Both parents around all weekend, plenty of time together as a family. The ability to take three week long holidays. A small mortgage relative to the value of the house.

My parents I suspect think I'm profligate for the amount I spend in coffee shops. They'd still not dream of sitting in one long enough to order a second drink, or of buying sandwiches rather than packing their own.

I use my dryer more than they do, and I spend proportionally more on meat to ensure higher welfare. I use butter not marge, even when cooking, and chocolate not scotblock for baking.

They heat their house warmer than I do, but more alcohol than I do, and travel far more than I ever could, or would want to.

My mother made the vast majority of our clothes; I make the occasional outfit for special occasions.

Oh - and I drink (non-alcoholic) far more than they do - it's still juice and tea for breakfast, morning coffee, coffee after lunch, afternoon tea, coffee after supper and then maybe another hot drink before bed with them. I'm gasping for water after a day with them! So maybe drinking water is a luxury!

Cocktail Queen - my experience was very similar to yours. I also remember we only had one record player in the house for many years so if you wanted to listen to music you had to get the approval of everyone else! No shutting yourself away with headphones. We didn't actually have many records but my dad used to take us to the library every Saturday and we would borrow them.

Grew up in the 70's and 80's.
Eating out & takeaways are the ones that come to mind. We very rarely if ever ate out and apart from an occasional chippy visit no takeaway meals.
I didn't go abroad until I was 16. All family holidays up to that point were in the UK, usually camping.

I was brought up in the 70s. Many of the things people mention as "luxuries" either weren't available or they were but much more expensive relative to salaries then than they are now so only the very rich had them. My parents are and were well off and their house was much bigger than ours is but we didn't have things like central heating, few holidays abroad (and the ones we did have were camping), more than one television or phone etc. Also, people just didn't go to restaurants or have takeaways much in the 70s compared with today, regardless of income.

The internet and social online friendships.

We were better off as kids then we are now: spare bedroom, 3 cars, annual foreign holiday, private education.