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mary theresa
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| Posted: July 23 2009 at 7:21pm | IP Logged
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juststartn wrote:
4.OOOo. Tough one! A 15 passenger van. A second *summer* kitchen, with a humongous basement. Two 50s model 'mom's fun cars' with all of the modern amenities...(a hard top for winter, and a convertible for summer, lol). A vacation by myself. A Select Comfort mattress for our bed. Full size bunk beds. COmplete kitchen overhaul--incl reflooring the kitchen/dining room/mudroom/bathroom. Bumping the front porch out all the way down the front of the house. Reroofing the house with a standing seam metal roof....
LOL
Rachel |
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I could go on and on like this too!
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Mary Theresa
mother to 3 little girls --March '06, Dec '07 and Jan '10
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SusanJ
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Jenn I LOVE this wine column and I look forward to it every week. Dh and I just agreed that as soon as we can afford it we will take their advice and buy wine by the case to start learning more--I almost put that on my list!
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Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
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amyable
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| Posted: July 24 2009 at 7:35am | IP Logged
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After two days with only spotty internet access due to a dying router and now on my dinosaur barely working desktop, I want to change my answer #1 to good computer, preferably laptops, with high speed internet access! My life and our schooling is apparently based around that and I didn't realize how much until now!
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 24 2009 at 8:10am | IP Logged
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SusanJ wrote:
Jenn I LOVE this wine column and I look forward to it every week. Dh and I just agreed that as soon as we can afford it we will take their advice and buy wine by the case to start learning more--I almost put that on my list! |
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We've never done a case...just enjoy a bottle at a time. I love their column, but their books are even better.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 24 2009 at 8:12am | IP Logged
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amyable wrote:
| After two days with only spotty internet access due to a dying router and now on my dinosaur barely working desktop, I want to change my answer #1 to good computer, preferably laptops, with high speed internet access! My life and our schooling is apparently based around that and I didn't realize how much until now! |
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having just upgraded my computre, after struggling for a long time, I heartily concur!
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Lavenderfields
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| Posted: July 24 2009 at 1:53pm | IP Logged
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This is very interesting and kind of hard to answer these questions, but here goes.
1. What is one thing you spend money on that many consider a luxury but you don't?
Paying for a private college for dd19
2. What is one thing you splurge on even though you consider it a luxury?
Multiple dance classes and recital for dd12 and dd9
3. What is one luxury you would never pay for even if money were no object?
Religious Education at our Parish.
4. What is the first luxury you would acquire if money were no object (or the first one you can think of anyway!).
I would want my husband to only work from 9 - 2 M-TH instead of his normal 70 - 90 hrs week, understanding that that would be impossible with the job he has now. And a housekeeper every week.
God Bless
Robynn
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MrsM
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| Posted: July 24 2009 at 11:35pm | IP Logged
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1. Curriculum and books
2. Starbucks coffee and Coffeemate. Between the two I think we spend about $50/month. 
3. Phones/Computers/Video Gaming Systems/etc. for the kids.
4. A big house out in the country with lots of room for roaming and nature study.
Great topic!
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Lynn in California
Homeschooling dd13, dd11, ds10, and ds8
Mom to Miracle Baby ds3
Mom to darling Elizabeth and Francis, held in Mary's arms and always in my heart
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crusermom
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| Posted: July 25 2009 at 7:23am | IP Logged
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1. Books and fabric
2. My horse and good beer
3. TV
4. A home on acreage for my kids to explore on that has big windows so I could watch kids and aforementioned horse while I did the dishes. The house would not have to be huge - just big enough for all the books and fabric!
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Mary
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: July 27 2009 at 9:00am | IP Logged
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I've been reading this thread with interest ever since a friend mentioned it to me.Id never have clicked on it on my own, not thinking myself the luxury type  .I identified immediately with Susan's introduction. I often feel judged when I'm with my extended family. They all seem to devote a great deal of time, energy and resources to looking "just so"--from their houses, to their cars, to their clothes. I tend to feel a bit like a dowdy church mouse. And I have always "felt" judged.
After reading this thread, I'm not so sure. I read through the thread, feeling pretty certain that no one here intended to judge. And yet, as the wife of a man who directs television shows that appear almost exclusively on cable TV, and the mother of children who work up a great sweat in the middle of the winter playing Wii, and a woman who just blogged about a pedicure, it was hard not to feel judged negatively.
Someone new to the board reading this thread might think that everyone here is opposed to TV, video games, and pedicures. But at least one of us isn't. 
I come away from this thread with a different perspective on those places where I formerly felt judged. Perhaps those people whom I thought were judging have made choices that work for their families and their state in life and perhaps when the differences between them and me become obvious, they are just that: differences and not a litmus test for anything. Maybe they're not judging me at all; maybe they're just being who they are.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Martha
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OH my not me! I'm not judging anyone who has those things!
We have Wii, Xbox, DSi, Netflix...
and I do think those are all luxuries.
I'd never pay for cable because I hate commercials on reg tv and it's hard enough for me to find a show I'm interested on with reg tv. There's lots of people who have the tv on no matter what - background noise, kwim? And that's not me.
I'd never again pay for a pedicure or a manicure because I am VERY hard on my hands. It's just a total waste to ME when by the time I wake up the next day they are chipped, paint peeling and so forth already.
I'm sure many people think that a lot of what I have or do is waste of our limited funds. Maybe so. But they also don't know that we've probably never paid more than 50% on anything we own. Dh is an awesome bargain shopper and negotiater. And since we view it as a luxury, we'll wait it out for the price to be right, kwim? We even did this on our house 2 years ago. for many years we were a family of 7 - 10 in a 1100 sq ft home because we wanted to wait for a the right price on a bigger home. Even with this recession, we paid 45K LESS than several housees are going for in foreclosure in our neighborhood right now. But to someone not knowing that, they might think our house is a luxury.
I was thinking of this thread this morning ... as I was making fabric softener "sheets"... this makes a Sam's club bottle of liquid softener last us approx 9 months to a year and our laundry comes out great. But it's a luxury and if I really wanted to save money I'd just not buy ANY fabric softener. right?
And I was bathing our newest family member, a 5 wk old kitten. (she fell asleep in her tuperware bowl of kitty litter and came out looking like a cement kitty! ).. if I really wanted to save money, we'd not have any pets at all.
And yesterday I got an awesome deal at Michaels on prisma color pencils (2 24 ct packs for $42!!) but if I really wanted to save money, I wouldn't have bought them at all. Or any colored pencils at all for that matter. NO matter how I try, I can't imagine that colored pencils of any kind, much less artist quality are anything other than a luxury.
And my dh just started a batch of home-brew beer. Costs approx $50 - 75 for all the ingredients and yeilds about 2.5 cases of bottled beer. I KNOW many think that a stupid use of funds of an unemployeed man, but I tell you what homebrew is one awesome bartering tool and gift! A couple 6 packs of his home brew have paid for our yard to be mowed when the lawnmower broke and he was out of town (a $75-100 job). It's been exchanged for an entire sonlight core 5 + science 5 curriculum package. It got the oil changed on my van. So we do not view home brew as a luxury in this house! It's like brewing money to us!
Would I starve to own these things? No. Would I risk loosing our house b/c I couldn't pay the mortgage for spending money on these things? NO. Would I make my dh get a second job to afford these things? No. Would I go in debt for these things? No.
But if we can otherwise attain them, then I'm not going to feel guilty about it.
I didn't get the impression this htread was judging, but I can see how someone else reading it might think that. I think it's more of a light-hearted comfession of our indulgencies. LOL I have often felt like I'm not "crunchy" enough for many on this board and that I'm the only person who doesn't own a goat and some chickens. (both of which my city won't let me have or I would!)
So I sure am not judgeing anyone for having things that I wouldn't have or that I think are a luxury. 
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Martha
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: July 27 2009 at 10:01am | IP Logged
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So, Elizabeth, would you say that cable television is "one thing you spend money on that many consider a luxury but you don't? " or "one thing you splurge on even though you consider it a luxury?"
My husband, the economics major, refers to all these types of choices in the frame of "opportunity cost." Choosing one thing inevitably means not choosing many others!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: July 27 2009 at 10:04am | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
So, Elizabeth, would you say that cable television is "one thing you spend money on that many consider a luxury but you don't? " or "one thing you splurge on even though you consider it a luxury?"
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No, I would say that Cable TV is the one thing that pays for every other thing we have, whether it's a necessity or luxury. Our paychecks have logos of Cable TV networks in the corner of them. Around here, it's not a bill; it pays the bills.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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guitarnan
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We love our TV (satellite, but I think we are switching soon) - for the sports, mostly. I'm not much on sitcoms and reality TV, but I totally enjoy baseball, football, Olympic sports, etc. TV sports are a huge stress-reducer for my husband, as well - a real change from endless meetings and airplane flights. (It's probably good for airline PR that they don't put live sports events on airplane TV - my dh would make so much noise that other folks would be annoyed...LOL!)
I would get rid of a lot of other things - actually, I have, including magazine subs, new clothes, and books from bookstores - before cancelling our TV service.
Go Orioles!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: July 27 2009 at 10:19am | IP Logged
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oh if they ever let us pick and choose what we wanted on cable.. we'd probably be very tempted.. there are things we both love to watch but not enough to pay as much as we'd have to, to get the things we want.
And I think I'd love to get manicures etc.. BUT not get my nails painted.. I've done that before.. and it was nice to have someone else shape my nails and such. manicure does not = wearing nail polish
but those are neither luxuries I'd never get nor ones I get and don't consider "luxuries".
There's just so MUCH out there to choose from.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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mary theresa
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| Posted: July 27 2009 at 10:23am | IP Logged
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Martha wrote:
I didn't get the impression this htread was judging, but I can see how someone else reading it might think that. I think it's more of a light-hearted comfession of our indulgencies. LOL
...
So I sure am not judgeing anyone for having things that I wouldn't have or that I think are a luxury. |
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I agree with this. I think it is interesting to see the things that people choose to "splurge" on or to have as part of their lives versus the things/amenities that they would not choose. It's all about the priorities, opinions and personalities of individual families and it's intriguing to me.
I, for one, did not feel judged when people put in their "never have" category things that I would definitely like myself. It's all just fun.
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Mary Theresa
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 27 2009 at 10:24am | IP Logged
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Susan started the thread listing 1 thing for each question, first thing that comes to mind. We do satellite tv, and it would fit into the #1 category. We live in VA, dh and sons are Steelers and Penn State fans. I think it's important to watch the games as a family, instead of dh leaving home to watch elsewhere without his sons.
That's reason #1 for satellite. Then getting the extra channels that have worthwhile programs instead of network tv. We don't watch very much network TV, but enjoy old movies, sports, information shows, and EWTN. Could I live without it? Yes, but we would miss it. Do I condemn it? Not at all.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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stefoodie
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Oh, I'm like the others. I'd subscribe to cable if we could just pick and choose instead of having to pay for everything! And I would so *love* a pedicure, if only it didn't mean I would have to arrange for child care, that I would be able to sit still long enough to really enjoy it, etc., plus to be honest I'm really rather embarrassed with how my feet look and would be afraid to have somebody close enough to scrutinize them
We also have a Wii, we just waited a few years to finally get one -- and we're still always on the lookout for "worthy" games, and not very successful at that either.
So yeah, not judging anyone here at all! We've also been on the receiving end of that and *that* is not fun. And also I can get highly sensitive depending on the situation and feel judged even if people weren't actually judging me and I have no tangible proof of it, so I totally get what you're saying. 
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stef
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Becky Le
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You can put us down as a cable (well FIOS) watching family. We have drastically curbed what channels the children can watch but we would all miss NatGeo and Animal Planet if we canceled it altogether, so much so that we've been discussing canceling it for 3 years but haven't been able to pull the plug yet. The more we use Netflix for documentaries though the closer we get, not for any moral reasons mind you, it's simply a $$ issue.
We also own a Wii and use it together and individually. It is practically our PE program in the cold, winter months.
And since we're on the subject of media I'd have to add our XM subscription as one of our luxuries. The kids and I love listening to the Catholic channel together and I like being able to listen to Dr. Laura during those few times I find myself alone in the van.
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Becky, loving wife to Chris and mom to Stephen (11/99), Elizabeth (04/01), Catherine (08/04), Natalie & Samantha (10/07)
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crusermom
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| Posted: July 27 2009 at 11:12am | IP Logged
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I don't think there was any judgement meant - just you wouldn't spend your money on it. We have TV on and off over the years - because my husband wants it for sports. I think this thread was just supposed to be fun and wishful thinking......
My boys have Wii and Xbox live. But they are certainly not my luxuries!
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Mary
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TracyFD
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Wow, it never occurred to me to judge others by their answers and it didn't even cross my mind that others might feel judged by everyone's answers. I just thought, "Different strokes for different folks!" It's interesting to see what different values people here have.
I tend to assume we moms are generally good stewards of our family's money and try work our budgets to include what we most value. We could all be doing other things with the money we spend homeschooling so maybe as a group we tend to be a bit pickier with the money we have left. Some families have more disposable income than others but keep "things" in their proper place. Some families have plenty of money but live a life of voluntary poverty. Some make do on very little and have a talent for stretching dollars.
Some items on my list (like Wii) might seem like a luxury to me now, but necessary at another stage in my life. For instance, I might be re-thinking the Wii issue on a Minnesota February day!
Thanks for speaking up with this sensitivity alert, Elizabeth! I would guess that the sensitive nature of this topic is why Susan asked it in the first place.
I would love to hear if the replies have helped you Susan. Sometimes family members of older generations raised their families much more frugally than we do today. I know I often feel judged by my MIL for spending money on things they did without. When it comes to money, I always feel more judged by my mother and in-laws than I do my peers.
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Tracy
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Topic: luxuries
