What do you consider a treat?

[coulditbeme2323]

What do you consider a treat?

No right or wrong answer here - because it will mean different things to different people.

On another thread I have stated that a takeaway coffee or a basic chain lunch is more functional than a treat for me. I am not saying that it isn't a treat to others.

It was even suggested because I went shopping for a chopping board it was a treat.

So what does a treat look like to you?

I buy books 📚 that's my treat 😊

You’re just posting thread after thread stealth boasting about how well off you are. Take a chill pill and enjoy your riches

Being left alone.

For me, it’s time to myself. I have a full time job and two small kids so any time I’m on my own (not working or cleaning) it’s a luxury.

Last week I went out and sat in a cafe for 45 minutes and had a lovely cake and coffee. It wasn’t the food and drink that was the treat (although it was delicious!).

So….Your thread was posted so you could revel in the fact that things that are a treat to others aren’t to you. And you want them to list them so you can ‘understand’ the poor people’s lives? Because you’re well off. Read the fucking room love.

I am desperately trying to get my sewing mojo back. I have a lovely sewing machine too. Any tips or inspiration you could offer?

OP, a treat for me is something that isn't a regular purchase/occurrence.
It definitely wouldn't be a coffee on the run, but a coffee in an independant shop, accompanied by something hugely calorific would be - with the calories being the treat.

Any drink, meal or snack that I've not had to prepare or wash up myself is a treat.

Same for a breakfast out or a pub lunch - it's a treat to not have to do the labour of buying the produce, prepping and cooking the food, clearing plates and washing it all up.

A supermarket cake is a treat but a "real treat" is a hand baked flapjack.

When I say "ooo this is a real treat" it's fancier, it's a restaurant with mains over £20, it's cocktails or a decent glass of wine in a delicate large cold glass in the sunshine. It's a posh hot chocolate from melted chocolate not powder by a log fire on a cold day.

I like this. I’m closest to version 1, I consider anything a treat if I enjoy it, do it mindfully, and it’s not necessary. So meals out, unless they’re for work or in transit. A nice coffee and a cake sat down in town would qualify, but a coffee in the train station probably wouldn’t. I don’t agree it’s relative to baseline cost or has to be uncommon, like others a hot chocolate curled up with a dog in front of the fire in winter or a glass of chilled drink in the garden in summer are both definitely treats despite being something I do as often as possible!

As someone with a 10mo baby, a treat for me is no longer about cakes or takeaways or chocolate…it’s time. MIL comes round every Thursday night to do his bath, bottle and bed routine so my boyfriend and I either go out, or stay in and spend our evening doing quizzes together or watching a film. That to me is the biggest treat!

Do you not get bored of posting threads about how rich you are and looking down on everyone else? Considering you've admitted on a previous thread that you grew up with parents who didn't have very much and all your money has come from your husbands generational wealth, you don't seem to remember that not everyone has as much as you

I've even seen you go on to threads where people who are struggling financially have posted about their small budget, and you've told them how awful their life must be and you would hate to live like them and have their life

But what would be wrong would be if the person who buys a coffee at the station every day starts say 'wah, it's so unfair, I never have anything nice, I can't afford to treat myself', when they're spending close to £100 a month on coffees.

They are having something nice, and if it came to it, they could have less coffee, if they wanted to buy/do something else instead, eg buy some non essential shoes, go on a spa day etc because most people couldn't afford to spend endlessly on coffee and go on spa days whenever they wanted to, they'd have to see what money they had available and prioritise accordingly and a daily coffee could well mean they can never afford a spa day, but if they cut their coffees in half, they could probably afford a spa day a few times a year.

All my treats are to do with time. A lie in. Reading in bed. A leisurely browse through charity shops. Having nowhere to be by a certain time.

Now, if you add marmelade toast and a pot of tea to the lie in and reading in bed you've basically found my heaven 🤣

Quite. It’s ironic really, because I was just thinking how I would hate to have OP’s mentality. The raging status anxiety, the self-consciousness and hyper-awareness of how much things cost and where one stands in the perceived hierarchy of socio-economic worthiness…it sounds exhausting and miserable. And misery loves company, hence the deliberate baiting.

Yes! Just owning the book is a treat in itself, it sitting there all full of worlds or knowledge. I love it!

Hardback books and the time to read them. Expensive perfume. Expensive clothes, beautiful handbags and shoes, lovely stuff to put in the bath.
I do see take away coffee/cake/ lunch in M and S cafe as a treat but they are a different level of treat. All very spare income dependent obviously.

I eat things like cakes, chocolate, biscuits etc every day so they're not a treat.

A meal out would be a treat. Either lunch or dinner. I always like a couple of drinks with the meal but I'm not a massive eater. It still costs minimum £30 so I wouldn't be able to do that often.

A trip to lidls is a bit of a treat as it's not within reasonable distance of my house. I'd need a taxi there and back which cancels the savings. But if I need to go somewhere near it then I can stock up. All the others near me are small supermarkets like Tesco express.

I see the point you’re making.
I would say you’re talking about a particular sort of treat which someone has gifted you. In the example you give. They’ve gifted you their time, which is a treat for you.
But we can also treat ourselves when we choose something that isn’t useful or productive but we enjoy it, and treat ourselves to it from time to time.

I would call the first things you mention as an indulgence not a treat. 🙂

I think cakes etcetera are a daily treat.

I was reading that thread -for context you said you spent 500 to 600 quid on a weekend without going anywhere, or doing anything, how is that possible?!
Then it turned out you'd done a full week's shop, bought fancy chopping boards, gone out for takeaway coffees etc 😁
Anyways, a treat for me would be buying an actual magazine and a bar of chocolate.

My "treats" are:

A slice or two of artisan sourdough bread. I don't eat bread very often (used to be daily) since I discovered its effect on my blood sugar, so I only buy it occasionally and keep it in the freezer.

Dressed crab. I've enjoyed the taste of crab since childhood and I buy it as an occasional treat for myself. It's £5 for a single portion, so I only have it a couple of times a month.

Decent chocolate, from Montezuma's or from Rye Chocolates.

Having my hair cut by a hairdresser instead of cutting it myself.

Almost anything- I’m really good at extracting pleasure from the day! Clean bedlinen, ironed pyjamas, new pair of knickers, long hot shower, library book and an early night. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending money too (have just ordered a portable aircon unit and I am having dinner in a nice restaurant tonight), but I’ve had plenty of skint times and have found it’s worth cultivating the cheap or free treats if you’re not going to be miserable.

I think it's sad if a treat stops being a treat because you do it more often. A hot bath with lovely bath salts and a candle is always a treat for me, even though I do it at least twice a week!

I guess so. I genuinely need to put weight on so I eat them for calorie density and because it's soft and my teeth are fucked. Haha. But it just so happens they're delicious! What's your fave?

I love cream cakes. Or syrup sponge and custard!

A treat for us (because we don't eat out), would be buying top quality ingredients and cooking a favourite meal (bouef bourgignon) for my wife and I, then enjoying a really good wine - CNdP or Rioja, then finished off with a posh dessert (ready made, because I don't have the skill to do a decent one).