Guilty pleasures.....

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-21-2003
Guilty pleasures.....
11
Thu, 04-07-2005 - 5:49pm

What are the guilty little pleasures that you are not willing to give up in the name of becoming debt free??

Me….I have a few, but the two that come to mind are my gym membership and cable TV.

The gym is a women’s only place that I love, it’s just on the pricey side. I could find a less expensive place, but it too me sooooo long to actually get myself motivated to go work out I don’t want to mess with it!!!

The cable is a big expense every month, but my husband and I are really TV people. We next to never go out to eat, or see a movie at the theater so I justify it as part of my “entertainment” budget!!!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-1999
Thu, 04-07-2005 - 6:12pm

I agree with the gym membership. I, too, belong to a "women only" gym and have been faithfully going for 5 years...although I do have to drive 15 miles one way to reach it. It is great, I have met wonderful people, its nice and clean and a fun environment. When I add the membership $ along with gas & wear & tear on the vehicle it is pricey. But I am in the best shape and health at 41! I'm just not willing to give it up.

We also enjoy going out to eat once a week, usually on Fri night, so we don't have to cook. It's just my husband and I so we eat for $20, not willing to give that guilty pleasure up either.

Have a good week!

cindylee

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2004
Thu, 04-07-2005 - 6:24pm

Hmmmm... I don't consider my gym membership a guilty pleasure, it's more of a necessity. I only pay $35 per month and I feel it's a bargain for what I get.

I have a lot of expenses I can't cut because they are necessary. But the one's that are guilty pleasures are probably clothes, gifts for dd and eating out. I'm single and I am no longer willing to go years and years without buying new clothes. I don't go nuts, I look for sales, I try to buy smart, but I do buy. For dd, I probably go a little overboard on her birthday and Easter (she's also a big part of the Christmas budget, but I don't spend much on decorations, I don't buy gifts for anyone but dd, including myself) and I also always buy her a new Easter dress and a birthday dress every year (she is a very girly girl). DD and I eat out once a week. The week she is at her dads I get her one night for a couple hours, so we eat out that night. Then when she is with me on Saturday's we go to Whole Foods, get something from the deli and eat there before we do our grocery shopping. I also take turns with my bf going out, so I usually buy one dinner every other weekend (we only go out when dd is with her dad). I think it would be hard to cut back on clothes and eating out while I am single and dating. Peanut M&Ms from the vending machine at work would also fall into this category, sometimes I notice it is 3pm and I have to have them.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-20-2004
Thu, 04-07-2005 - 9:10pm

when i realized i was broke and needed serious corrective action:
i turned off: phone, cell phone, AC, dental insurance, sold what
could be sold, etc etc etc. Internet...

Everything but basic satelite TV. I tried that, actually went crazy.

The gym is 25/mo which includes weights, stuff, pool, karate, i would
never cut that out or i would get a new and improved price (they do it
as once in,always in)

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 04-08-2005 - 12:55pm

Well, when we first started our journey three years ago, dh was making very little money (his annual income was about three fourths of our debt total), and I got a job working nights to bring in extra income while he stayed home with our son. At that point, there was almost nothing we didn't cut out. But, of course, what is necessary is always subjective--we still had phone service, and electricity, and still ran the air conditioner in summer (we're in Charlotte, NC, and it gets HOT). We also still had Internet, but that was basically a work expense--I freelance on the side, and need the Internet when writing articles and so on. The loss in income for not having it would have been higher than the cost of Internet. But no meals out, no cable, no new clothes (that changed only after dh's promotion when his boss told him he needed to start dressing more like a manager lol), no outings except to the park. We moved from our inexpensive duplex into a super cheap apartment, refinanced our car for a lower monthly payment (would have sold it, but turned out this made more sense), sold everything that wasn't nailed down (except some very nice furniture we had purchased in Thailand, a luxury, I guess, except it would have cost us as much to replace it with cheap Walmart stuff as it cost to buy it in the first place), and cut our budget to a point where we were spending more in debt payments each month than we were living on.

Now, however, with dh making approximately twice what he was, plus extra bonuses, and with my income higher from freelance (I no longer work the bar at nights--thank goodness, that was a chapter of my life I was HAPPY to leave behind), we do include a few luxuries. Still no cable--we just don't care much about television. But we do both have cell phones (no landline though, and his work pays for his phone), we eat out once in a while, and we eat a LOT of fruit--as in, I buy about fifteen pounds of fruit (I shop all the loss leaders, and never pay more than a dollar a pound, usually less) every two to three days. This has represented an enormous change in our food budget, which used to always be under $200 a month, but it's a health thing, and we feel better for it.

Other luxuries--yard sales. I budget $20 every two weeks to go yard saling, and I get my shopping bug out. It's fun, we find useful things (most of my clothes are yard sale finds, and I'm endlessly getting compliments on them--I have a great "The Sak" purse, $1; a dozen or two pairs of terrific name-brand shoes, $1 a piece; lots of jeans and pants including Levi's and Duck Heads, $1 or less a piece; and so on).

And gardening. Dh and I each get a personal allowance each month, and I spend mine almost exclusively on soil amendments, tools, accessories, and plants. Eventually, I hope this will be a savings, as I've planted a lot of berries and other fruit plants, as well as a vegetable garden, so we won't have to buy so much of our fruit and veggies. And it's great exercise. But mostly I do it because I love it. :)

I think that's about it. Great question.

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-22-2004
Sat, 04-09-2005 - 10:54am
Tivo. Could not imagine life without it now!
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2005
Sat, 04-09-2005 - 6:38pm

My df keeps saying I should get rid of my gym membership but I NEED it. Plus I have to have a chocolate croissant once a week.

Plus I have a thing for trying new mascaras and hair conditioner.

Kelli

Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 04-09-2005 - 8:10pm

Hands down - TiVo.

All my best,
Danni

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-21-2003
Sun, 04-10-2005 - 11:53am
ME too!!!....I don't know how I watched TV without it :)
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-20-2004
Sun, 04-10-2005 - 6:07pm

I gotta look into this tivo thing LOL

You are right though: Do not give up your gym membership!

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-24-2004
Mon, 04-11-2005 - 2:47pm
I have regular cable with HBO and internet. The package is $135.00 a month. My roomie and I are on a budget, so there are plenty of nights when we grab some take out and watch "On Demand" movies. I don't belong to a gym right now, but I will join again soon. I tend to use workout DVD's because of my hectic schedule. I would rather be a the gym because at home there are too many distractions.

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