15 non-essential expenses I could live without if I really needed to

[Packratona!]

These are things I currently splurge on, that I could live without if I needed to:
1) Our cat
2) Our car (would walk, use public transport, bike, or bum rides)
3) Meat (use other protein sources exclusively)
4) Our washing machine and dryer if they broke (washboard, tub, hang dry)
5) A lot of decorative items and keepsakes that increase the size of home we have to have to hold it all.
6) The TV ""
7) Internet at home (would bike to the library or wherever there is public wifi)
8) House phone (would just use the tracfone)
9) U.S. dental care (cheaper to just fly out of country to get the teeth done)
10) New clothes (I would just use what I have)
11) Hot water heater if it broke (boil on stove/solar heat for dishes)
12) Paper towels, napkins (use old cloths, newspapers, etc.)
13) Hotel rooms (camp, couch serf, or stay home)
14) Restaurant/fast food (always pack a lunch)
15) Too much food (I could eat half as much as I do and be perfectly healthy)

[catherine]

I could purge:


Cable TV
Health insurance: seems drastic but I'm pretty healthy (knock on wood)
Eating out
cigars and alcohol (speaking for DH here)
New store-bought clothes for every day use
Smart phone (ooh.. that's a tough one)
One of our cars: I vote to keep the Prius; I'm sure DH would vote to keep his Honda Fit.
Christmas gifts that are store-bought
Subscriptions to internet newspapers & journals
Our 1900 sq ft home
Costco membership (I'm scraping here.. looking for 15 things)
Meat
Land line (why didn't I think of that earlier?)
Internet (another tough one.. but I suppose I could rent an apartment within walking distance of the library)
I am only putting my dog last because I guess in theory I could give her up if I have to, but it's not a happy thought

[Packratona!]

I could purge:


Cable TV
Health insurance: seems drastic but I'm pretty healthy (knock on wood)
Eating out
cigars and alcohol (speaking for DH here)
New store-bought clothes for every day use
Smart phone (ooh.. that's a tough one)
One of our cars: I vote to keep the Prius; I'm sure DH would vote to keep his Honda Fit.
Christmas gifts that are store-bought
Subscriptions to internet newspapers & journals
Our 1900 sq ft home
Costco membership (I'm scraping here.. looking for 15 things)
Meat
Land line (why didn't I think of that earlier?)
Internet (another tough one.. but I suppose I could rent an apartment within walking distance of the library)
I am only putting my dog last because I guess in theory I could give her up if I have to, but it's not a happy thought



Good job Catherine; only things on your list that I currently splurge on, are internet in my home, land line, meat and gifts. We have health insurance but it is free. Oh I thought of another thing I could do without, but don't want to: some classes I take in a personal interest area, that include a textbook. Pricey!

[LDAHL]

There are plenty of things I could dispense with if I had to. Basic Training and college come to mind as pretty low-overhead periods. Mark Twain had something of a point when he referred to civilization as the endless multiplication of unnecessary necessities. But I'm very fond of many parts of civilization, and see no particular virtue in minimizing my impact on the universe. If that's the benchmark, the greatest achievement would be swallowing a dose of organic hemlock from a borrowed cup and fertilizing some deserving weeds.

I think the worthiest challenge is in figuring out what's worth your time and pursuing it. That may or may not involve earning and spending money.

[iris lilies]

I would never go without health insurance and we barely use health services.

health insurance is a way to protect your assets. It is a financial thing, not a health thing.

there are about 856 things Imcould do without. So what? Perhaps a more pointed discussion would be:biggest bang for the buck items to give up, or a "Find $100/month" challenge.

[catherine]

I would never go without health insurance and we barely use health services.

health insurance is a way to protect your assets. It is a financial thing, not a health thing.



My thinking was just risk it until I get to Medicare age, which is just 9 months away. But of course I'm not going to do that. In fact, the next thing on my to-do list is make my $1567 monthly payment. >:(

[ApatheticNoMore]

health insurance is a way to protect your assets. It is a financial thing, not a health thing.

yes of course there are enough loopholes that even then (a lot of those declaring medical bankruptcy supposedly have insurance), but better than nothing.

I have my doubts anyone can really eat half as much as they do and not be chronically hungry, yea there are techniques to reduce one calories consumption without chronic hunger (eat healthier food of course, sometimes eat less) but half ... doesn't sound likely.

[Float On]

I already gave up:
1. 4 magazine subscriptions
2. home internet
3. home phone
4. deep freezer (even being small it used more energy than I thought it should)
never had:
5. cable TV

would like to give up:
6. cc debt (working on it slowly right now)
7. truck loan (accelerated)

will probably be giving up in the next year (due to expected death):
8. very old dog
9. cancer kitty

I wouldn't mind giving up:
10. our home/property upkeep (I'd love to go smaller than our 1500 sq ft house and 800 sq ft shop/studio)
11. our ford escape but I'd probably replace it with an older used 4wheel dr truck (sometimes DH and I fight over who gets the little truck for the day)
12. dryer (I like line dried clothes but DH doesn't)
13. microwave (I don't use it)
14. piano (I rarely sit down and play it, could just play keyboards in the church when I wanted)
15. sofa (it just feels too long for my living room, I'd keep the love seat and add another occasional chair)

[Ultralight]

1. Dog food for my dog. He likes all kinds of food, including spinach raw
2. My car
3. My freezer
4. My dishwasher
5. The W/D in my apartment
6. My coffee table
7. My bean bag chairs
8. One of my blankets
9. My laptop
10. Cheese grater
11. About half my silverware


I dunno... that is all I got.

[LDAHL]

I would never go without health insurance and we barely use health services.

health insurance is a way to protect your assets. It is a financial thing, not a health thing.

there are about 856 things Imcould do without. So what? Perhaps a more pointed discussion would be:biggest bang for the buck items to give up, or a "Find $100/month" challenge.

I think you're quite right thinking that way. Properly understood, I think about half of Finance at the government, corporate or personal level is risk management. Another big chunk is getting a good handle on marginal utility and return on investment to assess your bang-to-buck ratio.

I sometimes think this would be a better world if more people got MBAs.

[rosarugosa]

There are plenty of things I could dispense with if I had to. Basic Training and college come to mind as pretty low-overhead periods. Mark Twain had something of a point when he referred to civilization as the endless multiplication of unnecessary necessities. But I'm very fond of many parts of civilization, and see no particular virtue in minimizing my impact on the universe. If that's the benchmark, the greatest achievement would be swallowing a dose of organic hemlock from a borrowed cup and fertilizing some deserving weeds.

I think the worthiest challenge is in figuring out what's worth your time and pursuing it. That may or may not involve earning and spending money..

Well said, LDAHL. There are plenty of things in my life that are not strictly necessities, but I see no reason to eliminate them as long as I can afford them and I truly get value from them. However, I do think it is worth challenging anything that uses your time, energy or money to make sure it's worth the cost. The equation will differ from person to person.
It's also a good idea to have a general handle on one's wants vs. needs, so that adjustments can be made when/if necessary.

[Packratona!]

1. Dog food for my dog. He likes all kinds of food, including spinach raw
2. My car
3. My freezer
4. My dishwasher
5. The W/D in my apartment
6. My coffee table
7. My bean bag chairs
8. One of my blankets
9. My laptop
10. Cheese grater
11. About half my silverware


I dunno... that is all I got.


Love the list. Look around and add 4 more things ha ha!

[Zoe Girl]

I am not sure I could come up with 15 however it was interesting to think about. I am thinking about things that cost money to buy or upkeep, not purging things I have

1) haircuts, could trim and go back to long hair
2) my weekly starbucks trip
3) some of the foods I don't need like ice cream
4) TV, but it is included with my internet and that I cannot give up for many reasons


I really don't have much outside of regular bills, if I had to I could give up weekends for additional work.

[thinkgreen]

1. One of our cars
2. Dryer, we mostly air dry anyway but I would definitely keep the washer
3. New clothes, we could wear out what we have
4. paper towels
5. Take out or restaurant food
6. Store bought bread
7. Alcohol
8. Video rentals
9. Mouthwash, use salt water
10. Swiffers & wipes
11. Crock pot
12. Rice Cooker
13. Electric kettle
14. Toothpaste, use baking soda
15. Liquid hand soap

Lots of bits & pieces that we buy aren't necessary but are convenient. For example cordless phones, decorative items, cleaning products, small appliances, etc. I agree they do add clutter and appreciate the reminder to think about these things and not buy them in the first place.

[jp1]

.

Well said, LDAHL. There are plenty of things in my life that are not strictly necessities, but I see no reason to eliminate them as long as I can afford them and I truly get value from them. However, I do think it is worth challenging anything that uses your time, energy or money to make sure it's worth the cost. The equation will differ from person to person.
It's also a good idea to have a general handle on one's wants vs. needs, so that adjustments can be made when/if necessary.

I agree. As long as I have food, clean water, some sort of clothing, and shelter to keep me from freezing to death in the cold/boiling like a lobster in the sun my necessities have been met. Everything else are wants. Do I want to live with only my needs provided and none of my wants. Absolutely not. We stumbled across a tv show while on vacation a few months ago called "Naked and Afraid" or some such. Basically they'd drop the participants in some remote, inhospitable place naked and, ahem, afraid, for 21 days to see if they could survive. I don't particularly want to do that, certainly not long term, but plenty of people managed it just fine. Give them more time and they'd likely make better shelter, etc, and do fine in the long term.

But this is all nitpicking about the title/concept of this thread. Perhaps a better name to the thread would just be to eliminate "non-essential" from the title since so much of what we consider essential is really not essential at all, at least if one only considers "necessary for survival" items as essential.

[BikingLady]

I was thinking this morning for some reason when I got up of the few times in my life where I ran scared and did things that were a reduction, a weird plan ahead or savings plan, or just wild change because I felt I had to or should to A: change the world, B: something bad was going to happen. All these times brought a learning experience to my life. I know what I "could" do if need be. I now however have rested knowing I am not saving the world or the apocalypse probably isn't not going to happen. AS long as one can afford and wants something it's all good.

Cable is my favorite reduction. Once again the big wasted item in the house sat idle for 6 months. I never turn it on, but husband likes TV for about 1/2 hour at night. I turned service back on last week, again realized nothing new was on it.

[JaneV2.0]

I could easily jettison my smart phone, and I'm plotting to ditch my cable with an antenna and streaming device at some point. I would eagerly trade in Chez Albatross for a smaller gem of a dwelling. I'm not much into self-denial though, so these are just the easy eliminations. Oh, and shoes, I suppose. At the rate I'm wearing them out, I'll have to take the ones I have into the Great Mystery with me. Enough, I suppose.