People dont understand what luxuries are anymore. amirite?

Also convenient <> necessity

by kaileyhoeger 4 months ago

I can afford Doordash sometimes. I never use it. It is absolutely not necessary.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I admit I'm 100% guilty of Ubereats instead of picking it up myself when I'm at work. Right now, it's just too cold for me to go out, but i will be going out to get lunch once the weather is warmer.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

If you can afford it and it's worth it to you, great! The point is that it's not a necessity. People have to go out in the cold all the time, using paid services to avoid it is a matter of convenience.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Thing is, I can't really afford it ,but the cost of Uber eats is balanced against the potential cost of medical bills if I get sick again and cause acute rejection of my lung transplant. What may be convenience for one person may be a necessity for someone else.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Do you have a job where they don't let you bring a packed lunch?

by True-Clerk 4 months ago

I need high calorie lunches and the stuff I can order at restaurants is 3x higher than what I can make at home. A 400 calorie sandwich v. a 700 calorie lunch makes a difference for me.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

It's necessary to give my burrito a private taxi

by Several_Tip_8157 4 months ago

when I was young my burrito had to walk to school

by Anonymous 4 months ago

And thanks to cuts in education, and entitled parents, we have a lot of younger?ish) people without the sense or means to know the difference.

by Cautious_Release_730 4 months ago

The problem really comes in at the fact that luxury is now CHEAPER than priority. Used to be the other way around. Rent would be ~400 where as your tv was 1000. Now you can get a tv for 200 and rent is 1000. Luxury now is being able to afford to pay your bills and buy your groceries. And in this day and age where everything around us (in America) is SO vile, people latch onto anything we can to feel happy and get a bit of normalcy.

by Professional-Beat 4 months ago

If the average house price was 1.9x the average salary, it would make sense to save, cut out luxuries for the obvious and attainable goal. I'm not living on pasta and oatmeal for 25 years to save up a deposit.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I find the necessity vs luxury thing fascinating when it comes to groceries, in part because they're an example of where luxuries can be cheaper than priority. I think that when it comes to food, it's at best cheap/healthy/convenient: pick two.

by Distinct-Town-4212 4 months ago

My parents house cost less than their car when they bought it in the 70's. I'd definitely get a house over a car and rely on public transport if it was the same case.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Boats are so freaking cool but cost so much money to own, store, rent, maintain. The yacht community is insane, but my heaven is cruising through the San Juan Islands to hit up Penn Cove for the best mussels in the world. If I had the money I'd buy a decent 50' Bayliner or something. We had a 46' ocean Alexander growing up and that was way more badass than the other guys dad who chromed out a Ferrari. Money is fun. But it costs.... Money

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I really get what you say - a distant relative of mine was a doctor and inventor (made some money on the side off patent royalties) and his ‘splashing out' thing was his boat. IIRC he had a 42" sailing boat, and he lived for that thing, even though he was spending an unhealthy portion of his salary on it.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Ehh kinda. But idk, even as a kid I was a scrooge. I naturally hold onto valuable things. If anything as I've gotten older I've become more liberal with my spending. The whole "you can't take it with you to the grave" mentality. I'm not saying your wrong, just that its not that simple

by Anonymous 4 months ago

If you're poor and you stress spend you will remain poor. People need to realize that it is ok to be poor but that being poor is a transitional state if you make good financial decisions

by Inside_Highway9556 4 months ago

This isn't true, though. In order for some people to be rich, most people need to be poor. Upward mobility is a privilege - and I say that as someone who was born with that privilege.

by marvinangelita 4 months ago

Did you mean "…and get lucky"?

by Ok_Sail_2648 4 months ago

except it does take luck, knowing the right people makes a huge difference. Sure hard work can get u more opportunities, but luck definitely plays a factor if u actually get over hurdle.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I think people often forget that some individuals also need some semblance of daily happiness or peace. How much of each they need, and what brings that varies greatly from person to person. "Be less happy now so you can be happier later" is not always a comfortable or even feasible option sometimes. I could have soooo much more money than I have right now, but I would have had to give up many minor and some major comforts and experiences. Hard to say what the balance should be, especially when it is a stranger telling another stranger what they need to be happy.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

whats weird is that were equating being happy to buying luxury items that you cant afford

by Efrenmurazik 4 months ago

Well I didn't specify luxury items, but why on Earth would that be weird to you? Sounds incredibly understandable. Nice things make people feel nice. Seems weirder to tell people what is OK or not OK to find happiness in. You have literally spent money on things you enjoyed...who gets to say whether the money you spent on it was OK or not? I am not defending stress-spending or splurging as a financial success strategy. I am just saying some people want to be happier now compared to potentially being happier later. I do firmly believe in financial responsibility and accountability so I am not going to be an ear to complain to when someone overspends, but I sure could understand why someone would be compelled to.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I think people understand and don't care. The social contract was broken. The idea that if you work hard and study hard and do a good job you could afford a house and run 2 cars and go on holiday. On one salary. That is less and less the case. So the idea of cutting back on luxuries to save for something long term becomes less and less appealing. This isn't just anecdotal, the age people leave home is increasing because they can't afford to. If even when saving the thing you are trying to get is pulled further and further out of reach whats the point.

by EnvironmentQuirky 4 months ago

Exactly

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Coming from a UK perspective myself we do have the unique situation of being screwed by normal stuff like house prices and general goods. As well as getting screwed by the costs of energy and water, run by companies terrible at their jobs.

by EnvironmentQuirky 4 months ago

This is true, but this is like drinking poison and hoping it'll affect another person. The only person screwing themselves over is the person who keeps overspending with a nihilistic attitude.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Is it overspending if they are covering their needs? Is paying for happiness now worse than paying for it later?

by EnvironmentQuirky 4 months ago

All my life I saved aggressively but now I'm almost in my 40s and I rather enjoy my money now. Granted I barely spend aside from groceries but I will def be getting a ps5 this year. mostly for GTA6 and upcoming resident evil games. I work 2 jobs so I deserve to screw off a little and enjoy the fruits of my labor

by Bobbiehalvorson 4 months ago

Same. Haven't had a PS since my PS4 got the white line of death, but GTA6+PS5 is an essential spend. I will wait until it comes out and probably a month or two after for the extreme hype to die down. I will not buy at scalper or inflated prices.

by Extension-Initial410 4 months ago

i would advise buying before cause believe it or not alotta ppl are holding out just like us and when GTA6 hits they'll be running to get em

by Bobbiehalvorson 4 months ago

You can't scalp prices on something there is an infinite quantity of. Unless you're talking about the hardware, but the vast majority of people who were ever going to purchase a PS5/Xbox series X have long since done so. We're far into this console generation lifecycle, so supply won't be an issue.

by Free-Heart 4 months ago

Consumerism intentionally takes advantage of people's psychology/mental health

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Larry, I'm on DuckTales

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Cool. Cool cool cool.

by Jermaincartwrig 4 months ago

It's because these days luxuries aren't expensive when compared to cost of living. Spending $2,000 on a trip used to mean a lot. It still does but now that a down payment on a house is like 100x that, it's maybe not so bad.

by Several_Tip_8157 4 months ago

I just bought a tv a couple weeks ago and was feeling guilty for spending the money, then I realized I could buy 17 tv's for the same cost as my rent so it felt like barely spending anything.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

You know, plenty of places won't require a $200k down payment.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Caleb?

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I watch my co-workers around me everyday complain about their situations and then proceed to spend $35-50 a day in door dash/starbucks runs. It's kind of baffling.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I mean, haircuts aren't not important. You need to look decent to feel ok about yourself.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

And on a material level, looking "presentable" is important for finding a job.

by Anaiscassin 4 months ago

True, but i think they meant the +100$ ones, perms, blowouts, rainbow dying... expensive luxury cuts. Hell, just dying gray hair is technically a luxury. If people didn't do it as commmonly, people wouldn't care about it as much.

by Queasy-Menu-7012 4 months ago

just dying gray hair is technically a luxury. Not if you want to get a job or stay employed or be considered for a promotion in an ageist industry/society :..(

by GreenNearby 4 months ago

I'm not saying to not get a haircut, but I see broke people going for the fancier places that cost like 6 times as much as the cheaper ones.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I cut my own hair and those of my husband. It's easy to learn how.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

For men, cutting the fade in the back could be the hardest, if not almost impossible. What about when cutting the end lines with a razor blade?

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Haircuts aren't a luxury

by Anonymous 4 months ago

But some will continue to pay $$$ for specialty hair care rather than a low-maintenance trim. I guess they "need" it? Some workplaces do have an expectation for hair, nails, clothes, jewelry, and the rest. Not keeping up appearances could signal that you're struggling, and that could make you less worthy (in their eyes) for a promotion, etc. My older friends feel this every day.

by cheyennewehner 4 months ago

Dude I already feel guilty for treating myself to a haircut 3 times out of the year that I actually have to pay for. My other cuts I have to beg my buddy to do for me because I'm broke 😭

by Anonymous 4 months ago

That's why they're broke.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

It's the combination of increased exposure to advertisements in almost every digital space and mentally of "keeping up with the peers to not feel like an outsider"

by Gottliebayden 4 months ago

This is all very reasonable as a vent, but when I was a kid, a console cost as much as a month of rent. Nowadays, you can buy 4 consoles a month and still spend more than that on rent. So there's that.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Nah you gotta just sit in an empty room looking at the wall

by gustfeeney 4 months ago

OP also doesn't account for that sometimes, situations change. I bought a PS5 a few years ago (at MSRP, no scalpers) - we were fine financially. Fast forward to 2023 and I was laid off for 4 months. We were "broke" for a bit but I still owned a PS5 because it was a luxury I could afford at the time.

by Willamurray 4 months ago

I just love a pair of cozy socks.

by walshraleigh 4 months ago

Me too. That's my number one on Christmas wish list.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Larry, I'm on Ducktales.

by Fragrant-Security701 4 months ago

I think you nailed it. We want comforting and convenience all the time now and it's costing us big.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

People dont understand how much their 'Little Treat' costs them in the long run. I was drinking one diet soda from work a day. That was $2.50. Okay yeah a day doesn't sound bad. I work 3 days a week (I work 12 hour shifts). So end of the week that was $7.50 end of the month, that's $30 give or take because sometimes I'd get sleepy and buy two. It was more than that when I worked four days a week. That's a tank of gas in my car. I still buy one now and again but people need to do the math. If you can afford it great. Problem is, most people can't.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Food delivery is a luxury service that people treat as if it should be free. Having your meals hand-delivered to your home by an on-call personal assistant is not something that should be cheap. It's a luxury service and should be priced as such.

by Howellmelvin 4 months ago

It's amazing how having a smartphone is a very affordable thing as opposed to owning a home, once considered a necessity is now only for the wealthy

by EmployerOk6640 4 months ago

I mean. One could argue buying a ps5 and 1 game you can sink 1000's of hours into could save you money in the long run.

by One_Instruction 4 months ago

It's a mix of consumerism , and necessities getting more expensive while luxuries get cheaper. Too many people see certain consumer products as necessary and I'll admit I'm also guilty of overspending on things I don't need. But (just using your example) you can do your own nails yourself for like £5 now , not every nail set is a professionally done £60-200 job, my partner gets her nails done once every 3 weeks or so for £35. As necessities become harder to get luxuries become more and more attractive , it's a vicious cycle.

by Heidenreichglen 4 months ago

I had a coworker who always complained about not having enough money for her, her young child, even once asked me if she could do an advance on her paycheck or if there was any company that could give her her paycheck early. (???) Countless times she came in reeking of weed and would have fresh manicures, the full acrylic works that in my area is $70 +.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I've known very working class women who don't have a great deal to spare who get manicures every two or three weeks. People who are a broke but use Ubereats or Doordash because they're "too tired to cook" or whatever. Some people are just frivolous.

by Complex_Poem 4 months ago

Counterpoint that you may be included in the "people" from your statement. At least in the US, the changes in prices for different items compared to inflation varies wildly, and what was once considered a luxury may now be a good or service that is actually fairly standard, such as a smartphone. You're not completely wrong, as others have pointed out there are many people that are simply bad with money. But poverty is far more complicated than most people want to make it seem. If someone says they are struggling financially and yet you see them going to get their nails done, it could be that they can afford to do so while also having financial difficulties that would be entirely unaffected by that decision.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Well people really don't, because when you say fast food is up 200% in x many years they start screeching that it's. Luxury so it doesn't matter. But we all know pizza should be close to 50$ for delivery. And to be honest, food cost in general is up so much it doesn't really matter distinguishing groceries vs restaurants and take up because they're up about the same amount which is to say a crap load. Living expenses are far past the inflation rate. Things like luxuries are actually keeping the rate down. By living expenses I mean, housing, rent, utilities like electric, food and childcare.

by Ok_Ingenuity_6942 4 months ago

I mean that PS5 is a great alternative to going out and spending a bunch of money eating out and drinking etc etc

by Anonymous 4 months ago

If you constantly see PS5 on social media, first it creates fomo, then it creates the illusion that it's common. Just like preparing lunch or buying gas

by SprinklesStrict 4 months ago

We merely adopted the materialism. The iPad babies were born into it. Molded by it. They didn't see the real light until they were already grown, by then it was nothing to them but blinding!

by Anonymous 4 months ago

It's turned purely into a marketing term that's slapped onto anything and everything. No wonder it's confusing

by Qquitzon 4 months ago

I mean, it's relative. My entire life doing your nails has never been considered a luxury, despite them being considered a luxury by you when you were younger.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

When I was a kid, I was taught a stereotype of poor people always having a big color TV in their broken-down shack of a house. (I'm old enough that color TVs were not the norm at the time, much less big ones.). From what I could see there was some truth to the stereotype. But as I got older, I began to think of it more like this: if you're struggling financially, maybe having a decent TV meant you spent zero dollars on entertainment and going out. And so if you're going to be stuck inside your broken-down shack, you might as well have something in it to enjoy.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I think what's been considered a luxury has just changed. I.e. manicures have become commonplace and cheap, so they are no longer a luxury.

by judy67 4 months ago

I agree. There's been a real inflation of what's considered the baseline. And just general existence and participation in society and culture have gotten a lot more expensive. When I was a kid we had a tv. And as long as you could afford a tv (or get a hand-me-down), you could watch whatever everyone else was watching. Then came cable, which had to be paid for, but the majority of people didn't have it. Then all the premium channels, etc, up to today where you need a tv or other device plus to pay at least one streaming service or tv provider. You need a phone, an internet and phone plan, and all that just to participate in any cultural conversation. Obviously people can and do live without TV or Hulu, but at one point it was much cheaper to be at the baseline. And social media drives a lot of these luxury expectations, from $6 coffees to fancy nails to trendy clothing or accessories. So while I find some of the decisions people make to be very silly, I do have sympathy for the pressures people feel to "keep up" and to feel like they're "in the club."

by Anonymous 4 months ago

On the other hand, if you have 'luxuries' before going broke, its no real use selling them. So many people complain that broke people have a ps5 or whatever and don't seem to understand that the $200 that you get for selling it won't get you far, and takes away the last bit of happiness you have in a low income household.

by Cultural-Donkey-2015 4 months ago

i mean every past generation can say that. People before u didn't have private toilets, some people of color weren't allowed into libraries. Before then some people couldn't read or write. People before then couldn't. U can say that about every generation before. The problem in thinking that way, is that we are suppowed to progress as a society. Sure this may be a negative of that, but i would rather not see us lose some of these privileges unless it's absolutely necessary.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Soda was once a treat

by sgerlach 4 months ago

"Thank you for teaching me the difference between needs and wants. It's come in handy many times." - one of our adult children early in marriage. I know the cost of living is different now, but we lived in small houses without cable and internet and had one family car growing up. Our expectations were much different than they are now.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Luxury means different things to different ppl tho Not saying i disagree w/ your examples, but what some ppl consider a luxury some might consider nothing & what some ppl consider a necessity some ppl may consider a once a month (or once a year) splurge

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Most people are living better than Kings of the past.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

"Luxuries" actually used to be expensive when compared to income, food and housing costs. In the 1980s you could buy a decent house for the magnitude of like 50 Televisions(50x1,000$). Nowadays that ratio is much closer to like 5,000-50,000 Televisions per house (50,000x100$; 5,000x1,000$). Ive seen the actual numbers somewhere but those are just the relative magnitudes, rounded to multiples of 5. Basic necessities are much more expencive and a lot of what was once luxury is now relatively affordable. That does not mean there still isnt true luxury, its just not "having enough disposable income to own a spartphone but not a house"

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Did you mean to use a word that means expensive or overpriced instead of convoluted

by Dessie80 4 months ago

I think the issue is that people act like $40 a month in "luxuries" is what is keeping someone from living a financially stable life.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Yep. If you aren't saving at least 10% of your take home income, you can't afford it. Downsize your life until you can save that much, otherwise you're just screwing your future self over.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

Basic manicures are self-care. They are expected for some jobs. As a stylist and receptionist, I was expected to have carefully coiffed hair, a full face of makeup, and manicured nails. As a caterer, I was expected to have manicured but polish-free nails.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I agree, but how? I'm not trying to be a jerk. I only read a book if I can turn the pages. Ask me anything

by Next-Marionberry3210 4 months ago

People think they are too good for a free cup of brewed coffee from the break room. Humans were not meant the have daily 30 oz whipped cream shakes with a thimbleful of espresso. That is a once in a long while treat. It's like having a banana split on your morning break every day. Not good for you.

by williamsonleo 4 months ago

There are "needs" like food, clean water and shelter that you need to survive. You literally will die without them. Then there's everything else. Those are "wants". Cars, phones, computers, internet, fast food, a social life. These are privileges for people that can afford them. It's time for people to reset and live within their means. If you can not afford food but can afford to have your hair and nails done, something is seriously wrong with you. If you can not afford insurance on your vehicle but can afford rims or tires or a light bar or some other accessory for it, something is wrong with you. Back to basics yall.

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I don't care if it's a single person doing this, but my biggest pet peeve that I see SUPER often is single women with children getting all dolled up and buying boat loads of clothes while they're asking on Facebook if anyone has any EBT cards for sale or if anyone has any extra formula they can have. So ridiculous lol.

by Professional-Beat 4 months ago

Agree 100%

by Anonymous 4 months ago

I'm gonna disagree that phones and social lives are "wants". A phone is essentially required to have a job nowadays, sometimes explicitly with jobs making you download special apps for certain responsibilities. And humans are social creatures, having 0 social life is really detrimental to mental health.

by Pure_Competition 4 months ago

Just like a lot of poor people always have money for cigarettes and/or alcohol.

by Quirky_Mulberry_6418 4 months ago

Yup, people's "cigarettes and alcohol", just change depending on their preference.

by sipeskeyon 4 months ago

A 30 dollar manicure isn't going to put a dent in my 16k student loan. So I get the manicure. Just like not having avocado toast or a Starbucks isn't going to get me a house, or make me a millionaire. Boomer take.

by Medium_Option2699 4 months ago

Honestly, people who are struggling but still buy things that aren't absolutely necessary are annoying( they become needy when things get tight and hint for people to help them out). Like I'm drinking only water and going to the library to save money for future stability and these jerks won't do the same. Saving for a rainy day and all that.

by Anonymous 4 months ago