Comments on: Have Necessities Become Luxuries Because of the Recession?

By: Jenn in Michigan

Jenn in Michigan — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:42:15 +0000

Everything is really a luxury, except a car for many. In most areas of Michigan public transit is not a viable option if you work on a regular basis. Dial-A-Ride is available for the elderly & those with disabilities, but to use it on a daily basis to commute to work for the average joe is not possible. I have tansit available where I am, its just not convenient (add at least 45 min to every trip end if I don’t transfer) and it is limited where I can go. It really exists to serve the large university population.

I have almost all these luxuries x 2, many of which I purchased years ago when I bought into the “More is Better” Philosophy, It was quite apparent when I started writing where all my time and money has been disappearing. Of all these things, if they died I would replace only the car & AC:

microwave – did without for years, can’t remember how I ended up with one.
clothes dryer – use it all the time. My “justification” is the long winters and lack of sun in my back yard.
air conditioner – this is both saftey & health reasons. It helps the asthma but also, I live alone in a one story bungalow and I can’t leave any windows open at night.
dishwasher – I may not be quality but I am free
television – I have a small one in the basement I borrowed a couple of years ago from a friend I watch when I work out.
cable – nope
computer – I have three, an old laptop, I haven’t recycled yet, my current desktop and a netbook.
cell phone – Pay as you go in case I breakdown somewhere and need to call a tow
iPod – Love my iPod, I spend more time using it than anything. I download news Podcasts and listen to them at work and walking the dogs. I also download guided meditations.
High speed internet – slow DSL
flat screen tv- I have one, its plenty big and I don’t watch it that much. But at the time I was disappointed I couldn’t afford an even bigger one, silly me.
Automobile – I have a 10+ year old car that I’ll use till it can’t be repaired. Then I’ll get a cheaper used.

By: Sue in Atlanta

Sue in Atlanta — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:47:13 +0000

I find most of these things to be luxuries not necessities. I think modern life has left a good portion of us with little understanding of what truly constitutes a necessity. Food, shelter, clothing, clean water and clean air those things are true necessities .. everything else is a luxury. People have become very jaded and tend not to appreciate how many wonderful things we have now. Considering those wonderful things to be necessities is a sad comment on our current civilization in my opinion.

By: Colleen G.

Colleen G. — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:05:41 +0000

•Microwave oven… Got it as a wedding present 10 years ago not planning on replacing if it quits
•Clothes dryer… Must have, large family plus chronic illness, not enough physical energy to do without, although have gone without short term when we could not afford the propane to run it
•Air conditioning at home… never had
•Dishwasher… it broke, cannot afford replacement, kidss bigger can start helping
•Television… mostly used for watching dvds, outdoor attenna broke could not afford replacement
•Cable or satellite television service… Recieved a two year gift subscription from a relative wanting to give us something fun due to our income losses, not planning on continuing once gift lapses
•Home computer… if it dies, cannot afford replacement, we use them until they go
•Cell phone… only have a pay as you go for when hubby needs it
•iPod… not even interested
•High-speed Internet service… too rural besides too costly
•Flat-screen television… bought on with tax return before latest set of job craziness kind of a grown up reward for doing so well with finances
•Automobile… must have but we never buy new and then run them until the quit

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:58:28 +0000

I have to say I was a bit shocked that anyone would consider a flat-screened television a necessity. It seems like a lot of people have trouble distinguishing a want from a need.

Our home has all of the items on the list, well, we have a TV, but not a flat screen. For me, not one of them is a necessity.

Microwave oven-nice to have to reheat, defrost and cook frozen veggies. Could do all this on top of the stove though.
Clothes dryer-I really dislike hanging laundry, but I could if I had to.
Air conditioning at home-we live in the south so I love A/C!
Dishwasher-we could do dishes by hand.
Television-tends to be a time waster for me. I could really do without this and would actually probably do better without it.
Home computer-I love my computer, but I use it for social networking, blogging, research etc. I don’t need it and could use the one at the public library if I did need it on occasion.
Cell phone-I have one that I use for emergencies only.
iPod-nice for working out. Could definately do without.
High-speed Internet service-I love, love, love my internet, but I don’t need it.
Flat-screen television-Still confused why anyone would consider this a necessity.
Automobile-I am a stay at home mom, so I don’t really need a car for myself. We do have to have one for my husband to get to work. Public transportation is too far from our home to be practical. There are some days I do need to go places, but on those days I could drive my husband to work, go where we need to go, and pick him up at the end of the day. So for our family, I would say yes, one car is a necessity. For me personally, I could make do without.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:09:49 +0000

A lot depends on where you live, but here is my personal list:
1) Mircowave: no necessary, don’t own one
2) dryer: yes, despite having a clothes line, you can’t use it for much of the year due to weather.
3) AC at home. I have it, but don’t use it too often, so not really necessary
4) Dishwasher: nope, I can hand wash just as easily
5) TV, not at all, I really don’t miss it
6) Cable. I grew up without it.
7) Computer: for me it is necessary for work and staying up with my industry.
8) Phone, a necessary evil in most cases.
9) Ipod, nice but I could live without it
10) High speed is part of my phone and beats having to have a phoneline, so yes
11) Flat screen TV: unless you have blueray players and/or HD TV, I find the picture worse than the old tube TV. It will take me years to convince myself to get one.
12) Automobile: I def need this one. You just can’t transport things via public transportation if you have that option at all. Unless you live IN the city, you are hard pressed these days without a car (I speak of the US).

Jeremy

By: Stacy @ Moderate Means

Stacy @ Moderate Means — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:17:56 +0000

This was a really interesting article – I’m going to link back, if you don’t mind!

The things in life that we have decided are important are:
~the car (no public transportation options)
~the air conditioning (no justification for this one except selfish ones – I hate being hot)
~the cell phone (child with a chronic health condition – staying in touch is very important)
~computer (I have an online business and need a computer to work)

I know that we’ve reduced our luxuries over the past few years and assumed that we weren’t alone because of the economy, but it’s heartening to see that other people are starting to move away from the ‘must have’ mindset.

Stacy

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:49:10 +0000

I spent the last 20 years of my life in New York where the public transportation is reasonably good. As a matter of fact, we have organized our lives around not having to have a car, and life has been simpler and much more pleasant as a result. Now we spend much of our time in Vienna, Austria, where a car is absolutely unnecessary, and many of the modern conveniences such as micro-waves and dishwashers are simply not used. Air conditioners are rare even though the last few summers in Vienna have been much hotter than average. People are willing to simply suffer more, and get through the day without. When I return to the United States I am simply amazed by what people consider necessities. On the other hand, we live most of the year in Moscow, in Russia. Here most of the population live with very few “necessities.” However, the automobile is considered a status symbol so you can simply imagine the chaos on the streets. Moscow has one of the best subway systems in the world, but people will sit on the streets in their cars spewing fumes into each other’s faces simply because it is considered higher status to own a car than to take public transportation. Pedestrians, unfortunately, have no rights at all. I have spent hundreds of hours waiting on the sides of roads for cars to let me cross. I have inhaled their fumes all my life without complaining. I have been splashed by passing cars and cursed by drivers. Doesn’t anyone care about the clean air? Doesn’t the thought of spewing CO2 into the atmosphere simply make people sick and horribly guilty? I see nothing on people’s faces – not the slightest concern. Since when is driving and even flying a necessity? We take trains everywhere because we only travel when we have time to spare (two days and nights from Moscow to Vienna). We forgo the long and short haul flights unless there is an absolute emergency. After all, we have chosen to live in Europe and that requires certain sacrifices. We simply give up a lot of convenience and we miss out on telling our friends about the absolutely amazing sky holiday we took over the weekend. But aren’t there more important things in life than convenience, and keeping up with the Jones’? We make do with computers and cell phones and that’s about it. Otherwise we read together at night and believe me it’s a great pleasure.

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:10:48 +0000

Well, let’s see….

microwave – used only for re-heating coffee or food. Certainly could do without it.
clothes dryer – yup, got one and consider it a necessity as I don’t want to hang out my underwear. lol
air conditioner – needed for health reasons.
dishwasher – I married mine. And he does a very good job, too.
television – we have a little flat screen not hooked up to cable. We never watch it except for me and my old (1930s – 1940s) British movies.
cable – yes, for internet service. A must have.
computer – I love it! I need it! I go into panic attacks when it is down.
cell phone – No. I need my privacy. And I don’t like to talk on the phone anyway.
iPod – just what IS an iPod anyways? Guess I don’t need one.
High speed internet – yup. I’m impatient. A necessity.
flat screen tv. Got a little one to watch old movies. I need my old movies.
Automobile – we hardly ever go anywhere except shopping but I really think it is a necessity. Snowshoes are out at my age.

By: Tabatha

Tabatha — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:30:42 +0000

my car is a necessity b/c i don’t feel safe riding my bike to work at 2 am or 3 am in the morning. microwave i could live without but it belongs to my boyfriend and he won’t get rid of it. i could probably live without a computer or internet but i would have to drive out to the community college everyday to do school work or take the bus. we have a tv, a big screen but no cable so we just watch movies and play video games(mostly by boyfriend does the games). i could live without the TV though. we don’t have a washer or dryer, i use a small pressure washer and use a clothes rack to dry my clothes or i go to the laundry mat.
i just shut off my cell phone service. i do have an Ipod which i like having but i could live without it if i needed to.

By: Megami

Megami — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:39:34 +0000

Wow, we don’t have
* Microwave oven… decreased 21 percent.
* Clothes dryer… decreased 17 percent.
* Television… decreased 12 percent.
* Cable or satellite television service… decreased 10 percent.
* Flat-screen television… increased 3 percent.

We have heating, so almost air conditioning. Not sure you would call our internet ‘high speed’. For many years we lived without a dishwasher and could do again. And our car is rarely used. And we are not really what you would call ‘crunchy’.