The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury.
- Charlie Chaplin

The word 'luxury' suggests all sorts of tactile nonsense: foamy soapy, bubbles; soft, furry coats; gloopy, rich, chocolates; brandy; fragrant blue smoke from Cuban cigars; even the leather and walnut interiors of vintage cars, Jaguar XJSs etc. It might just be this sad Researcher's fantasy (or age) but 'luxury' is a word that's got a 70s or 80s feel to it. It makes you think of old magazine adverts, wavy-haired models wafting about in roll-neck sweaters and silk blouses flirting over cocktails (Editor: You can stop fantasising now and get on with the Talking Point.)

Do you have any luxuries in your life? They might not remotely resemble the slightly clichéd vibe above; your luxuries might be something more ephemeral like ways of spending 'time'. Whatever they are, this week we'd like you to think about the little luxuries in your life:

• What single luxury could you simply not do without?

• Is there a particular luxury you've hankered after for years but haven't quite felt you've deserved yet?

• Is there something you'd describe as a luxury in your life that you actully feel guilty about? To the point of maybe not even enjoying it?

• Are there luxuries that you're thinking of giving up or have already given up? If so, why did you do it?

• In these days of financial worry, are luxuries the first thing to go out the window? Or they at least partially retained to help sweeten the bitterness of hard times?

• Do you think there's something a bit pathetic about the concept of 'luxuriating'? Do you feel it's all a bit soft-bellied, slack-waisted and generally mushy over-indulgence?

• Or are you less, say, austere in your view and believe that life is for enjoying, indulging, luxuriating?

• Is your luxury expensive? In fact, is cost a defining factor in what actually constitutes a luxury in the first place? Or is luxury less to do with actual stuff and more to do with how we spend our time doing stuff?

• What is the impulse behind the concept of luxury driven by companies, marketing and ad agencies selling us stuff and a life-style perception to go with it? What does it say about us?