For FUN!! What's the 1 "luxury" you find hard to give up when budgeting

[Sinderelly]

Luxuries? I thought these were necessities

internet
Disney vacations/cruises
Starbucks frappucinos
Disney Dooney and Bourke purses
Color/cut every 6 weeks

 

[pryncess527]

lunches out at work. There some really great restaurants across from my job and I can resist them most of the time, but when we are in serious budget crunch mode it's really hard for me to not go out to eat at least once a week.

Spa trips for my wax are a close second, but since those require an appointment it gives me more time to talk myself out of it. The lunches are such an impulsive choice it's where I'm weakest when we are in strict mode.

 

[ceemys]

I have given up a lot to save for my house!
I have to have internet for work...so that must stay
I gave up cable a year ago and with netflix and Hulu we are pretty happy.
My kids violin lessons. If I absolutely have to give it up, then I will, but if I can swing it, then it stays.

 

[crisi]

The one thing I've learned about myself is that I can cut out pretty much everything - but I can't be alone in the sacrifice. If I'm cutting so that my husband can spend, I get cranky. If I'm cutting so that my husband can give his mother or brother gifts, I get REALLY cranky. (To his credit, he doesn't recognize the cause and effect here, he doesn't see me making sacrifices and doesn't think when he spends - making the money balance out has always been my job.).

Hard to give up. Chocolate. Books (although the library works if I have time).

 

[kirstenb1]

I did notice...and thats why I went back and stayed

Disney Kim, someone who understands me!! I keep seeing how other creams are supposed to be as good, but I love my EL cream in the blue jar!!!

 

[gracie1]

I have given up a lot to save for my house!
I have to have internet for work...so that must stay
I gave up cable a year ago and with netflix and Hulu we are pretty happy.
My kids violin lessons. If I absolutely have to give it up, then I will, but if I can swing it, then it stays.

You have done a fantastic job saving for your new house

 

[FINFAN]

Internet, flavored coffee creamer, m&m's and Oberweis chocolate milk for DS

 

[buckirj1]

I think I miss eating out the most when I'm in serious "gotta save more" mode. It used to be books and music, but technology has made that much less of a frivolous expense than in years past.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Color/cut every 6 weeks

Yes...I feel your pain on this one. I have dark blonde hair that gets really light on the ends. I've gotten highlights since college so that my roots match my tips. Years ago I gave up my cut/highlight appointments and started buying a "box of blonde" at the CVS to save money. Well lets just say "box of blonde" is really "box of orange". After a year and a half my DH told me I should go back to the salon for real highlights from now on. He really didn't like the orange tint. So now I try to stretch the appointments out to once every 3 months and cut my bangs myself in between.

The one thing I've learned about myself is that I can cut out pretty much everything - but I can't be alone in the sacrifice. If I'm cutting so that my husband can spend, I get cranky. If I'm cutting so that my husband can give his mother or brother gifts, I get REALLY cranky. (To his credit, he doesn't recognize the cause and effect here, he doesn't see me making sacrifices and doesn't think when he spends - making the money balance out has always been my job.).

I love your honesty...and I had to laugh because I feel the EXACT same way!!!

 

[nalajms]

The one thing I've learned about myself is that I can cut out pretty much everything - but I can't be alone in the sacrifice. If I'm cutting so that my husband can spend, I get cranky. If I'm cutting so that my husband can give his mother or brother gifts, I get REALLY cranky. (To his credit, he doesn't recognize the cause and effect here, he doesn't see me making sacrifices and doesn't think when he spends - making the money balance out has always been my job.).

How do you save or even budget then? Do you just get cranky?

DH is like that. I've tried saving myself and just giving up. Neither seems to work. We save some but I'm cranky all the time. And now that I have given up, we just eat up our savings. DH still does not bother cutting down on the spending.

 

[pryncess527]

How do you save or even budget then? Do you just get cranky?

DH is like that. I've tried saving myself and just giving up. Neither seems to work. We save some but I'm cranky all the time. And now that I have given up, we just eat up our savings. DH still does not bother cutting down on the spending.

Has he seen it in black and white?

My husband used to have quite the coffee habit. It would drive me nuts that I'm packing my own lunch and he's spending $3-6 a day on coffee without seeming to realize how it added up. It made me quite cranky but mentioning it to him never seemed to get my anywhere.

When we started our zero-based budget in May, that was the first thing he noticed and volunteered to cut without me saying a word. The clarity of the trade off just suddenly made the coffee not seem as necessary to him, he'd rather get to allocate that pot of money to another category.

 

[nalajms]

Has he seen it in black and white?

Yes. Sadly he's the one paying the credit card bills but I look through them each month.

DH is the same, several dollars on coffee at work. Then snacks and lunches at work. I've gone as far as packing the K-cups and creamers in a bag for him at the beginning of the week (they have a k-cup brewer on his floor).

We have yet to "save" for a vacation, he just buys the airplane tickets and I try to find some way to cut other spending... like saying no to eating out, or not buying junk food when we go grocery.

So when we go over our stated budget, he just asks me to write him a check! (we have a very complicated finances with his, hers, and joint accounts).

 

[DSNY4ever]

Quality food. We buy organic/natural/local/mainly vegetarian. I know we could save a bundle every month by just going over to Safeway and filling our cart with junk, but I study a lot about food ingredients and the FDA etc. and like they say "ignorance is bliss!" So true, once you know what is in your food, it is hard to go back to the old way of eating Financially, if we had to, we would. My husband looks at our food budget skyrocketing each month and asks if maybe once a week we could eat junk

 

[Lisa71]

Travel and good shoes for my kids. We shop sales but I like shoes that last and have support.

 

[LilyWDW]

So, I replied on this before but don't remember what I said that time. Since then my life has become MUCH different and budgeting is going to be much more important. Even though I KNOW this, it has been so hard for me. Spent money today I shouldn't have in fact. Ugh! I think it is an emotional and boredom thing.

Anyway, there are things I will NOT give up.

- Good foods for cooking. Especially meats. I will not give up my yummy beef and lamb straight from the farm.

- A once a week lunch or dinner "out". It is not always a sit down type place, but I need to have that for myself.

- Books. I have to have something to read and our local library is horrible.

- Netflix. It is my main form of entertainment.

- Internet. Though not sure it is a luxury anymore in today's world.

 

[AquaDame]

In order of foot stomping:
Organic/whole foods including good healthy food for our pets
Internet (need it for work when I am on call, so not sure if that counts)
Coffee runs
Hula lessons. Really its fun!

 

[scbelleatheart]

Internet, landline phone, a generator and a reliable vehicle that deals with snow.
I live in the country now (we always have) and when we bought this house 3 years ago we had..
No internet
No cell phone reception
No TV
No chance of a landline
No chance of the county clearing our road.
It is a fairly new house built in 2003 but the people who owned it never wanted those things.
Mind you. I am only 8 miles from a fairly large town, 60,000, 1/4 mile from 2 State highways. Would you even ask if those things were available when purchasing a home?
So dumb!

 

[barbmouse]

For me...getting my hair done and like others have said I have stretched it longer when needed. Also pedicures...not weekly but on occasion and I do give them up in cold months,
For DH... Cable/DVR package

 

[charming23]

Mine are

Cable/internet
Good ice cream
Quality cat food

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

This is purely for fun, I've notice that threads have gotten, shall we say tense really quick lately so let me say, I don't mean to imply any thing but some good natured silliness.

Anyway our "emergency" cash took a serious hit this year. Roof had to be replaced, every single appliance in our house had to be replaced (except the dishwasher, but don't say it too loud-it might hear you and decide to break). We got a 7K IRS bill and now I need new tires.

So we're back in super saver mode around here. Dh and I always think of ways to trim the budget and we usually are in agreement until he suggested I not get my hair colored once a month.

I seriously think I blacked out for a moment. Call me vain, entitled or whatever but the thought of me letting my grays come in naturally and letting the roots return to a state they haven't seen since 1980 was enough for me to consider hari-kari

So do you have a little some thing that life as we know it would end before you'd give up. Maybe it's the chocolate cookies you sneak into the grocery cart even though you're trying to cut the food bill or the pedicure to keep you tootsies from resembling Mustafa's claws.

Confess

Wow! I must be really materialistic!
I will not give up:

Every 5 week hair appt
Every 3 week mani/pedi
Going out to eat at least once a week
Date night with DH at least once a month
Pool membership
Internet
Smartphone
Cable
A vacation at least once a year
My addiction with white house/black market ( though an outlet store did just open near me)
Nice clothes and tennis shoes for the kids
Forgot one: international delight french vanilla coffee creamer