Little Luxuries

This is a list of things which are currently a bit of a luxury for me; things I'd like to be able to afford, but currently can't.

• When I'm grocery shopping, and I have the choice between buying the store brand, or the named brand, I'd like to be able to buy the named brand.


• I'd like to be able to buy pre-grated cheese without having to argue with my conscience about it.


• I'd like to be able to go grocery shopping without needing to take a calculator along.


• When the weather turns cold this winter (as it's already starting to do) I'd like to be able to turn on the heater the first time, rather than reaching for another jumper, jacket, scarf, gloves, blanket, thicker socks.


• I'd like to be able to wear two layers rather than three.


• I'd like to be able to afford clothes which weren't skimpy as all blazes (at present, my main shopping site is Best & Less, and while they're good for cheap clothes, their winter-weight stuff is only really winter-weight in Darwin)


• I'd like to be able to afford shoes that didn't leak, and kept my feet warm.


• I'd like to be able to afford to own/run a clothes dryer, rather than using a drying rack inside the house, and hoping I can dodge around it for long enough for things to dry out.


• I'd like to be able to pay for some of the online news services I use.


• I'd like to be able to take time off from the housework.


• Attn: The minister for Social Security and the minister for Human Services: I'd like to be in a financial position where an extra $10 per fortnight wouldn't make a discernible difference to my state of mind and standard of living.

PS: This is more a meditation on the nature of luxury, and the ways it can be defined when money is tight. It isn't actually a request for help, although I would like to thank those people who did offer assistance of a financial kind. I am more grateful for it than I can say, even though I'm also not likely to take you up on it.