What Are 3 Luxury/non-essential Items U Just Can

I have a budget of £100. Which non-essential items that cost under £20 should I buy to make my life far easier?

1. Buff multi-functional headwearThese are awesome. Here are all the ways how you can use one:I use them during cold weather to keep my neck and ears warm while I’m travelling by bike (as a Dutchman, that’s my main source of transport). They’re also useful in summer to protect your neck against the sun.2. Firesteel / magnesium stickThis is a magnesium stick that you can use to start a fire in almost any weather condition, even when it’s raining. They last about 1,500–12,000 (!) strikes. Obviously, they’re incredibly useful for any outdoor activity and they’re fun to show to people, but you can also use them at home in case you run out of matchsticks.3. A powerbank to charge your phoneRunning out of battery will never be a problem again. Get yourself a powerbank (these are about 20–40$) and you can charge your phone to 80% in about 30 minutes.4. A yoga matStart doing core stability exercises at least 3 days per week, especially planking. This targets both your abdominal as well as your lower back muscles and reduces the chance of (lower) back pain later in life. Essential if you have a desk job.5. A hand grip trainerI wrote about this before: Bas Leijser's answer to What is something that is absolutely worth the money?It helps you get a strong grip which is useful in many situations and will make life easier for you. You’ll leave a better impression when you meet people (as long as you don’t crush their hand!), you will be able to open cans, it helps for self-defence and it works well against cold hands. Recommended if you spent most of your day typing.Total costs: £20 + £15 + £30 + £15 + £10 = £90Spend the remaining £10 on coffee and chocolate! Wait scrap that, just spend the entire £100 on coffee and chocolate. Can’t go wrong with that.

What is your favorite non-essential (extra) camping gear?

Multipurpose lantern. Hi/Lo brightness, AM/FM/weather radio. It has rechargeable batteries that can be charged by the sun, or by USB, or by hand crank. It also takes AA batteries. I don’t take this on long backpacking trips, but it sees a lot of use on short trips or at campgrounds. Mine has illuminated a lot of card games.Its especially wonderful for winter camping. It’s cold, there’s maybe 9 hours of daylight. Once the sun goes down in the afternoon it starts to get really cold. Huddling in the tent to stay warm often has more appeal than sitting out by the campfire.That can mean a long time inside the tent.The lantern makes a light that feels more homey than my headlamp. And by taking advantage of the solar recharge, I don’t chew through my stash of headlamp batteries as quickly. The hand crank hasn’t seen much use, although I have used it while looking for a misplaced headlamp in the dark.The weather radio has clued me in to times that the incoming winter system would be a bit more winter than I had originally planned for. That has been helpful.I didn’t think I’d use the AM/FM much — I prefer to listen to the sounds of nature when I’m out in the wild. But when hunkered down in the cold, the only natural sound is from the winds, and you know you’re the only person around for miles? I learned the radio provides a welcome break from solitude so stark that it began to feel like isolation.

What is the difference between luxury and non-luxury goods and services? Is it in the details?

Let me rephrase the question. You want to say what is the difference between a want and a need in products and services.You see anything you do not need is a want and every want is a luxury.But what is a ‘need’ to somone is just a ‘want’ , a luxury, in other words to someone else. So wants and needs are relative to the demographic of people.Now let us take an example.Transportation is a need if you need it to go to work and make money to survive right?So public transportations and Uber services are NEEDs because they represent the bare minimum.Yet public transportations and Uber services are luxury to somone who live a walking distance from work or if their workplace provide a transportation service for free.Now, let's say you had to have a car because public transportations make you late to work and Uber is too expensive.Buying a used car vs new car is also the difference between want and need. The type of the car if you don’t have a family and you buy an SUV is also a want a luxury.In other words luxury (wants) can become a NEED if it is a must for your survival.

What is so special about luxury cars? What are some of the unique features that stand out in comparison to other cars that make these cars "luxurious"?

This is a great question. Fortunately, I have had the chance to experience both high end and normal range cars and boy are they different. I usually drive a Ford. Always loved it because of it's simplicity and the power it delivers. Pure pleasure. Driven a couple of others like the Hyundai Santro, VW Polo and Maruti Swift.The high end cars I had the luxury of traveling and driving (though for a very short duration) were the Mercedes C Class and the BMW 7 Series. The most obvious difference I noticed was the ride comfort. A road bump is felt really properly in the normal cars, but in the luxury cars? You simply glide over them. The suspension and its setup is unbelievable at damping out any shocks.Then comes the question of the engine. Even though these luxury cars are heavy (like really heavy), the acceleration you have when you mash the throttle is astounding. The power and torque numbers are jaw dropping. And I thought my Ford was a real beast! The Beemer was a diesel engine and we all know that peculiar sound of a running diesel engine. You start the Beemer and you probably won't even hear it running.If we talk about the interior, the BMW had hand stiched leather seats, the driver seat had three settings for seat shapes so that you could save the setting of the seat that makes you comfortable as you drive along. The seats even had heating and massage options!Another cool thing was the interior lighting. You could choose from a variety of options. Rear legroom was enormous, really comfy seats. A/C vents for the rear passengers, a little box in the middle where you could keep your drink and glasses and finally airbags all around the car.A lot of other features these cars have but many other low end cars might have was the special headlight cleaning jet, boot lid that slammed shut automatically once you give it a nudge and an automated skylight. These cars are called luxury cars because they are meant to deliver luxury. But it comes at a steep price. The mpg is terrible, the servicing costs are huge and you need to service them regulary when the car's computer tells you to but the joy of owning such a brilliant piece of engineering far outweighs any  other cost, if you can afford it.

As a frugal person, how often do you shop for clothes and buy yourself luxurious goods?

I am almost always shopping. The problem/challenge with thrift stores is that you never know what you will find. So it’s important to know what you need (or will need). And thrift stores tend to have cycles in reverse of the seasons - for example, lots of sweaters in the summer. So you really do need to be shopping for future needs.You have to watch prices - sometimes something new can be found cheaper than second hand!As far as luxury goods are concerned, I see the value in spending on the things you wear every day. Don’t skimp on your glasses, for example. I wear a decent (three figure) watch. I carry a decent (three figure) purse. My jewellry is solid gold, classic style, and never removed.Most other items of clothing I view as short-term. I may stain it, rip it, lose it, grow out of it, shrink it, wear it out, etc. So I buy that stuff cheaply, and don’t stress when itmdies (nothing worse than a husband throwing a new cashmere sweater in the dryer!).Personally, I feel that some decent standard goods can be the base for a waredrobe that is quality and versatile. The classic little black dress can be formal with a string of faux pearls and a cardigan, or it can be ‘girl’s night out’ with neon tights and a flashy necklace, or it can be ‘Easter dinner’ with an apron and a lace undershirt.All of those things can be found at second hand stores…although my current ‘little black dress’, I got ten years ago, for $40 at Winners.Frugality is a personal concept. Steve Jobs didn’t pay a lot for his jeans and turtleneck uniform. He had better things to think and care about. But fashion is also a personal concept - It’s what you like to wear feel good in, and in that sense, the cost shouldn't matter (either high, or low).As a ‘frugal fashionista’, I hate it when people buy ugly designer goods because they were costly, as if costly makes them less ugly! And then theyngo around mentioning how much they spent.The goal here, really, is to just not be naked. That is fairly easily achieved. From that point on, you balance your own values (Steve Jobs or Imelda Marcos or Warren Buffet?). You decide if frugality and fashion can be friends, or not. I did.