to wonder how the heck this guy manages to afford all this stuff?!

[FedupofbeingtoldIcantusemyname]

I know a guy who posts a lot on FB.

He often posts about the things he has bought, and there are a lot of things! Such as:

He is a bit of a movie buff so often buys expensive blu ray movie memorabilia/collectable box sets of films and TV series', as well as movie props, signed photos etc.

Super huge swanky TVs and sound systems to watch them on (he has a 50in in the living room and has just bought another for his bedroom - in a 1 bed flat).

Lots of new clothes/shoes.

He goes out quite a lot too, trips to the cinema, out drinking, dinners out etc.

Thing is..the works part time as a cleaner in a school! He can't be earning much above MW, how the bloody hell does he afford it all and can he give me some tips on how to make my money go further

I know its none of my business and he can spend his money on what he likes but AIBU to just be curious how he does it? Any suggestions?

Fwiw he is single at lives in his own flat.

[WordGetsAround]

He's single! There's your answer! Before we had children we could afford to spend on ourselves!!

[HolditFinger]

If he's in a one bed flat, it's probably not costing him much. He may also get some sort of assistance with being on a low wage.

Maybe he lives on beans on toast, never puts the heating on and saves up? Or maybe he's won the lottery and not told anyone..

[ithinkitstimeforanamechange]

If I had a one bed flat and no children I'm pretty sure I could afford that and I have a pretty average income!

[Orda1]

Depends where he lives really, a 1 bed flat (presuming renting) can be 350-1000+.

[brummiesue]

He may have a wealthy family, savings, anything....either way it is none of your business

[SpaceKablooie]

Well, if he owns his flat (or only has a small mortgage), he'll have a lot of disposable income. Or maybe he just prioritises those things over other things.

Nonetheless, it isn't really anything to do with you.

[WellThisIsFun]

Inheritance?
Won the lottery?

[Thebrowntrout]

I know a guy like this. Fascinates me. I reckon he's a male escort!

[runningincircles12]

TV could be on repayment plan (Brighthouse or whatever it's called. When people on benefits appear to have expensive electrical goods, it's most often on lease or long term repayment and they are being hugely shafted by these companies).
Clothes could also be from somewhere that does credit like Very
Oh and maybe he has a few credit cards and is just making minimum payments.
Maybe the bluray stuff is from ebay.
Who knows....

[expatinscotland]

Maybe he's a prostitute. Why don't you ask him since you're supposedly his friend?

[noisytoys]

He may be in a shed load of debt. I had a reckless few years - holidays, gadgets, designer clothes, latest toys for the children. I was in A LOT of debt. Thankfully it is all paid off now but to the outsider I would have been living above my means.

[FedupofbeingtoldIcantusemyname]

Even when I was single I couldn't afford to spend money on the sort of stuff he does, obviously being single he doesn't have to buy for anyone else but he also doesn't anyone to split the bills with.

Not sure how much, if any, assistance you get as a single person with no children so I can't really comment on that. I would have thought that rent & bills would have swallowed up at least half his monthly wage though.

Lottery win you say Finger? Never thought of that, that could be it If he does live on beans he suppliments it with frequent meals out in restaurants, maybe be doesn't eat at home at all?

[FedupofbeingtoldIcantusemyname]

Ahh yes we do have a Brighthouse Running bloody place, that could well be the source of the elecrical stuff. Really isn't worth it IMo but everyone is different.

Clothes and Blu Ray stuff he tends to post about it in the shop while hes buying it so not bought online.

He's been working only sporadically over the past few years but I guess that savings aren't out of the question. His family (parents) are still around and don't seem especially wealthy but you never know do you!

Definitely doesn't own his flat, its a council place.

[araiba]

he's your friend and you dont know, how on earth am i supposed to know?

[StarUtopia]

I know loads of people like this!

Cheap rent. Probably on quite a bit of tax credits. To give you an idea, when my husband earned minimum wage we were given quite a bit of tax credits every week. He's now on £24k (not massive but a much better wage) and we are £400 a month worse off than when he was on minimum wage. I sometimes joke to DH that he should sack his job off and go and get another minimum wage job.

It pisses me off actually when people gripe about min wage jobs because I know how much better off you can be than those stuck in the middle.

[MissTurnstiles]

IME, sometimes people with these sorts of interests do a lot of 'churning' - buying stuff and then selling it on, often at a small profit. He might not be keeping a lot of the collectors' items.

[Pinkheart5915]

His single so his outgoing probably aren't that high especially in a council place I imagine the rent won't be too high so he has more disposable income.
Could have savings.
Could all be on credit

[Pipbin]

I'm guessing a combination of debt and selling stuff to the likes of CEX. It's easy to trade in a load of CDs, Blu rays and games for a box set.

[Alfieisnoisy]

He won't be getting much (if any) tax credit as a single man.

[Voteforpedr0]

Rent boy

[Andrewofgg]

Private means?

[HackerFucker22]

You sound incredibly judgemental OP.

Maybe you should shop him for benefit fraud you know just in case he is on the fiddle.

[pinkspideruk]

maybe he does competitions and wins a lot of stuff? I won a brand new 42" super intelligent smart tv (I have no idea half of what it does) last year. Also he could be reviewing for amazon? If you get selected as a vine reviewer on there you get allthe latest stuff they sell for free to review

tbh its not really any of your business how he affords it tho - his money his lifestyle choices not yours. I have really expensive sounding holidays every year and people always moan at me how I can afford them. For me it's simple - I book everything myself, I look around at flights and hotels comparing them and using various sites to get them - I sell a lot of stuff on ebay and down at booties and we go without a lot of stuff - lots of our clothes and toys and games come from charity shops, bootys and ebay. I get furniture and bits from freecycle which I up-cycle for our hoe so it looks like I have new and designer stuff but its actually cost me very little

[SaucyJack]

Is he selling the answers to algebra equations to university students?