Things your parents led you to think were 'special' or 'expensive' that you now take for granted?

[VladmirsPoutine]

for the po-faced

Growing up my siblings and I were wary over using too much kitchen roll - we'd get a sheet and fold it in half to tear before using, the faff was a PITA but to this day I still get a bit territorial over my kitchen roll.

We also had 'special' China plates, cups, cutlery, that sort of thing. Only used when we had guests or at Christmas - I didn't carry that into adulthood but whenever I visit my DM I still fondly look at the unit containing all those 'special' cups

My dad died when I was relatively young but prior to this death he used to always take us (siblings&I) to our weekend clubs when we were young, on Saturdays one of my sisters and I attended clubs that finished at similar times and it was always Saturdays that mum worked nights so the 4 us: dad+siblings would always get McDs and think it was basically gourmet dining.

I didn't have a deprived childhood by any definition but I do find those quirks quite funny looking back.

Recognition at lots of these - comfortable MC upbringing with very frugal parents born at the tail end of the war.

I do think eating out/coffee shops are luxuries, though - they've become much more 'normal', low-level luxuries, but they're still luxuries. We eat out around once a month after church (whole group of people go, it's like a big family lunch) and on top of that for celebrations/special occasions (birthdays, good school reports etc) and on holiday. On most day trips we won't visit the cafe, although we might buy an icecream or some street food (often for the dc only) at some point. And we always take several refillable bottles of water out with us. Buying bottles of drink is last-resort behaviour. (Dh is a lot more liberal than me in that respect and I always find it a bit ).

I still consider taxis hugely wasteful unless absolutely necessary. Knowing about branded food/groceries versus own brands has stood me in good stead in terms of being able to shop frugally. I still very rarely go for the premium brand unless it's offering something a) over and above the own/'ordinary' brands that b) is worth the price premium.

Clothes are something that has changed massively in my lifetime. I remember the sheer giddy excitement of going to Woolco (remember them?) to buy a top and skirt set and a tracksuit Very different now. When my dc go through the knees of their trousers AGAIN it's much cheaper/less hassle to replace than to attempt some kind of acceptable patching/mending (I am not gifted with my needle). We do do hand-me-downs and second-hand clothes, though - less so as they get older.

Putting the heating on.

Same here Gobby. And it's carried on into my present life.

At this time of year I have a huge sign on the central heating boiler that says "PUT A JUMPER ON" for when people start messing with the central heating.

carouselfish, My parents also hated undercover shopping malls - i remember taking them with my son ( who was only a baby at the time ) and suggested we stopped for a drink. They were appalled - kept moaning about the cost of everything and how the place ' wouldnt have enough fire escapes in the event of a fire' - we ended up going home after half an hour for a drink at home. They never ate out at all and the idea of a place like mc donalds sent them over the edge!

Oh, kitchen roll... Didn't have it at home growing up. Reuseable dishcloths all the way. Now we get through lots, and I flinch inwardly and often make a small comment when I see my 12yo using about 6 sheets to mop up a small spill. It's not so much the cost as the environmental impact that bugs me, though.

Izal toilet paper

My god, that stuff was awful! Totally non-absorbent! Just slipped off your bum.

We used to use the purple tissue paper the Christmas satsuma was in to wipe our backsides - it was the height of bottomly luxury!

Anyone remember Pez? When I was a kid you could only get them in the airport and it was a very lavish treat indeed. Was never allowed the refills as they were too expensive so you had to really ration them.

Pets. (I'm surprised no-one's mentioned them so far!) We were always the ones who had to say we didn't have any when everyone at school would say what pets they had. My brother begged and pleaded for them, and was eventually allowed a couple of mice when he was eleven. I think our parents settled for that because mice don't live very long!

Some years later, when I was a young adult living on my own, a work colleague pleaded with me to take a beautiful cat which had invited itself into her house, and would eat her own cats' food. I took a lot of persuading, thinking about my parents' views about how high maintenance pets are, especially cats and dogs. More than ten years later, the cat is still with me!

Televisions with remote controls - DF thought such a thing was the height of laziness.

I am a similar age and appear to have a very similar background, and very similar attitude to luxuries as haybales.

Viennetta has been mentioned. All that fancy swirlyness fools my DC into thinking it’s posh too!

Me and my brother having to share 1 individual glass bottle of Orangina as "it was expensive"

Raisin bran.

I have NO idea why!

Food! Clothes, anything at all.

Our family had plenty of money but my Grandmother would never part with it.
My Grandmother who raised me served wartime ration portions "just in case". One of those thin long chipolatas each and half a boiled potato with oxo in water for gravy is an example.
This did for everyone even my grandad who worked full time. He added to his food and bought lunch outside of the house as he was so hungry.

Also . Never had anything to eat outside of the house. My grandmother was of the opinion that she would not buy any meals or food outside because she could cook at home.

We never went on day trips but had holidays at her sisters where all meals where....cooked at home by her sister! We once walked 6 miles back to her sisters and on the journey were kept going by talk of dinner waiting, cooked by her sister, when we got there. Buses passed us on the journey but my grandmother said "we don't want to go on a bus do we".
As for ice creams, well I was constantly told "we don't want an ice cream do we" whilst I wistfully stared at the ice cream van or pictures of them outside the sweet shop that I wasn't allowed in.
My grandad once got sent back to the paper shop on a Sunday because whilst collecting his paper he had purchased a block of ice cream for after Sunday dinner. He had to return it as it was "a ridiculous extravagance and we don't need that sort of thing, why on earth would you buy it".
I wasn't allowed clothes until they were so tight it was uncomfortable and then she got some used clothes from next door, from the vicars wife who collected for the jumble sale.

It has left me with an inability to buy anything at all including guilt at buying food. My husband is very good and buys really good quality things on my behalf and goes with me for clothes so I spend decent amounts of money.

Ice creams, pop corn and Kia-Ora too expensive at the cinema.

My mum would wrap ice pops in news paper to have in the interval.

I can remember if she packed scissors or if we had to bite the end off.

Learning to drive with my Dad. If you steered on the spot, without the car moving, it would “cost 50p in extra tyre wear”

My parents were born at the tail end of the war but were well off and I didn't want for anything.

However somehow I was convinced that a McDonald's was a huge deal. despite regular holidays abroad it was the McDs that really impressed me.

These days I'm tighter than my parents ! Heating on in October ? Not a chance.

More the other way around for me & dsiss. Our parents were yuppies & we would go to buy new winter/summer wardrobes, we had to have party shoes & in winter 'pixie boots' were an essential item.
Now my 2 sisters & I consider kitchen roll a luxury item & even now (i could afford kitchen roll), I've trained myself so well that I never remember to buy it.

Never allowed ice cream from ice cream van. We used to chant “it’s not fair” whenever we heard the jingle. Viennetta was special treat.

Never ate out, except for Pizza Hut on birthdays (maybe).

Heating on was limited to the depths of winter.

Used to drive rather than fly on holiday, even to Italy. Most holidays in UK or holland, staying with friends/family. Can’t remember ever staying in a hotel other than occasional motels on journeys to France /Italy.

New clothes were a massive treat. Had a lot of second hand from friends and my brother and sister had to wear my hand me downs.

We were not poor and lived in a big Victorian house but my dad had big fluctuations in income year on year (self employed).

I do worry I let my dd have it too easy!

@Snipples yes! Pez! I remember my bro and sis (slightly younger) being obsessed.

Playdoh - I remember getting a set for my birthday (the hairdresser!) and my mum being very clear that if I mixed it up or left the lid off and it went hard there would be no more. Roll on to many years later and looking to get some Playdoh for DS, I was astonished at how cheap it is! Although I suppose it may have been relatively much more expensive in the early 80s. I am still a bit obsessive about keeping the colours separate and the lids on tight though.

I too have become a bit tighter than my parents. I find it personally gratifying if I can limit the heating to 4 months a year.

I also thought Schloer was something only rich people had. We only ever had this at Christmas and you had to sip it slowly as you were only allowed one glass. I always feel a bit lavish buying it now (ridiculous I know).

Orange juice, it used to be listed as a starter!

Yes orange juice!

Chocolate spread. Cake other than for Sunday tea. Crisps and non plain biscuits. Pop other than for special occasions. Takeaway. I got a Chinese takeaway for my 18th birthday - it was thought to be so expensive and indulgent. Ready to drink cartons. We always had a big bottle with some squash made up from the main bottle at home. We were hard up though, my mum was a lone parent and money was tight. My grandparents used to get chips at the seaside but they took sandwiches to eat with them to save money on fish. My DH doesn't get it as his family was doing well in Thatcher's Britain and they had things like kit kats and monster munch every day

Strawberries.
About 3-4 tines in a summer we’d go to a pyo farm and get one punnet between the four of us. That was it. Till the next year. We never bought them in the supermarket. Ever.