Cars are a significant one. Most people spend way more than they have to on cars for luxury features they don’t need for transport.

Personally I opted for no car even though I can easily afford it. It’s a huge amount saved and honestly the lifestyle of walking to places is nicer anyway.

Living somewhere I didn't need a car would be way more expensive for me than owning a car--even if I didn't care about the lack of mobility.

That wasn't how it worked out for me. The average cost of a car in Australia a few years ago was $10,000/year factoring in everything with the car value depreciation. This is much worse now with the increase in fuel and car values.

Your increase in rent would have to be over $200AUD/week to be more expensive than owning a car. Not to mention the fact you benefit from living in a much more desirable area and everything else that comes with.

It depends.

I live in an exurb of a major US metro on the East Coast. It's hard to compare costs directly as I own a house but anything remotely equivalent in the city on public transit lines would be much pricier. As for desirable? Well I have forest trails right out of my house. Don't care that much about walking to cafes and restaurants.

It's about keeping up with joneses more than an specific item like iPhone, which is just an example of this phenomenon.