Sara @ On Simplicity wrote a post today about what 3 splurges are still worth it in this economy. I think this question might have been easier to answer a few weeks ago. Since Dan lost his job though the question is a bit harder – we are trying to spend our bare minimum these days. We found a TON of things we simply didn’t need to buy, thank goodness, and this has helped us save some money. But some things we’ve held on to that are probably considered splurges:

1. Our netflix account – I thought about canceling this but for $12 a month we have cheap at home entertainment. Since our cable plan is so cheap ($10 a month) we aren’t already spending a lot on “the same thing” – in fact, we get only VERY basic cable, i.e. no movie channels so it really does still make sense. I also thought about canceling our cable plan but we’d actually lose money – some fee would be charged for only having internet (which in this day and age we need) that costs more than our cable bill! Now, all those decisions would change if he remains unemployed for a long time, but at this point, we’re holding those splurges.
2. Some things at the grocery store come to mind that maybe we don’t need but we’re currently still buying (for now) – like Greek yogurt (we use the heck out of our Greek yogurt though – it’s in all sorts of the things we cook). I hope we can still justify another tub of greek yogurt the next time we run out. We cut out a lot of things in our grocery lists, which I think make space for the things we really love and use – but it’s nice to know there are still things we can cut out the day we decide we need to save more.
3. The cost of gas to visit friends and family – when we don’t know how much longer we’ll be living here, it makes sense to visit people while we can – and it’s cheaper than going to the mall, that’s for sure!

Things like fair trade coffee, Yogi tea, going out to eat, expensive gadgets – those are nice, but they are just nice and at the end of the day, we don’t really need them. It’s almost comforting to know that though. In good news – Dan has a phone interview tomorrow with a company that is only one hour away in a town we could afford to live in if we decide the commute is too much – so cross your fingers for that one!

What three splurges are worth it in your lives?