3 Luxuries I couldn’t live without & 3 Luxuries I Just Wouldn’t Miss

I have been looking at various ways to cut my budget and one of the ways I have been looking at doing this is to reduce my spending or eliminate it all together on certain luxuries. Now I know everyone defines what constitutes a luxury in different ways - the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as … - for me, however, it is an item that I enjoy having but that is not essential to my basic standard of living. While I’ve been looking at the cuts I can make, I have come up with a list of three luxuries that I would find it tough to live without - but that I could definitely cut down on - and three that I just wouldn’t miss.

5 Luxuries I Couldn’t Live Without

1. Cell Phone - While not having a cell phone would definitely impact on my overall standard of living, I don’t think I can really argue that it is essential to maintaining my basic standard of living. However, I think I would find it near on impossible to cope without my cell phone. I have one that doubles as a PDA and that I can sync with my laptop every night, so it helps me keep track of my calendar and To Do list as well as all the basic phone functions. I have just switched to a Blackberry - not very cost cutting of me I know - and it runs my life.

2. Dining Out - This is definitely a luxury, and it is definitely an area where I can reduce my expenditure. However, I know I would really miss going out for dinner with my friends at least once a month. I’m not a great fan of clubbing, pubbing or drinking in general and this is one of my favourite ways to spend time with friends. I am going to look at ways to save money as well as just cutting down.

3. Online Movie Rental - I have had a online movie rental subscription for about 12 months now and I think it has proven to be one of the best Christmas presents I ever received. I don’t have TV (see below) and using the online movie subscription I get to watch what I want, when I want to - a win, win in my book. My annual subscription costs less than my TV license for the year, and I hardly ever go to the cinema anymore (apart from to see the occasional art house film), something which seems increasingly overpriced.

5 Luxuries I Just Wouldn’t Miss

1. TV - This is the one that seem to surprise people the most, but I haven’t had TV for over two years now. I do have a TV in the house, but I only have it hooked up to a DVD player so I don’t have to pay the TV licensing fee (currently £X per year) and I don’t have the constant temptation to upgrade to Sky etc.

2. Clothes Shopping - In the past I have been slightly addicted to clothes shopping. What this means now though is that unless I suddenly put on a ton of weight, I have enough clothes (with the addition of a few basics) to last me I don’t even know how long. Since I have stopped constantly clothes shopping, I have realised that I don’t even miss it that much and that I can still have a ton of fun coming up with new outfits from my existing wardrobe.

3. Owning a car - While I’ll be the first to admit that there is very little need to own a car if you live in central London, there are thousands of people who would vehemently disagree with me. I have never had my own car, and have never really felt the need to have one. I have been lucky to have always lived in reasonably large cities with decent public transport, but even then the vast majority of people still drive everywhere. As it is I don’t miss having a car in the slightest. I am always able to hire one if I want to go away for the weekend, something which works out far cheaper than all the costs associated with owning and running your own car.

What are the three luxuries you just couldn’t live without and what are the 3 luxuries you just wouldn’t miss?