What’s one small thing you could give up that would save you a LOT of money long term?!

My hair. I spend a lot of money on it.
holidays - would save an insane amount of money.
Coke Zero.
I could stop buying my sons Lego - he has all the major big sets, builds and then displays them - this would also save lots of space. Also save money on husband building elaborate shelves to showcase them.

In truth, I’m not going to give up any of them!

My child 😂

We could cut our takeaways as we have 1-2 a week at the moment but after the summer holidays it will likely drop down to 1 a week if that.

I would never spend money on coffee.

But by doing your own hair and stopping beauty boxes you will have saved potentially £1000s which will cover a lot of gigs (unless you see people like Oasis a lot!) so that makes the gig tickets free.

My father in law buys everything from Amazon. He's a bit flash so goes for brands. Unfortunately it's Amazon so what often turns up is dodgy. I've had to pour 3 bottles of expensive gin away because it was obviously fake. My husband has a difficult relationship with him so all we can do is just smile and say thank you. Whilst being angry that he keeps getting ripped off.

Crikey that adds up doesn't it? Its nearer £2400 though...! I deliberately don't have hair treatments that have to be maintained by someone else as I can't warrent spending that much on myself!

You can take my cleaner from my cold dead hands...

I started cutting my own hair during lockdown and have carried on. So much money saved. I've weaned myself off (mostly) my addiction to beauty boxes/advent calendars. The stuff never gets used.
If I gave up buying concert/theatre tickets I'd be a very rich woman, but they're my joy. One day everone I want to see will have give up touring/died.

Gin is nice isn’t it? 😁

I was helping my daughter with her paper round and was shocked at how much papers cost now! One person was spending £12 a weekend on them plus whatever delivery was. Obviously the more /bigger papers you ordered, the smaller your postbox.

Same here but we stopped for overseas kid relatives too and our local relatives announced they weren’t buying for us so that became very easy!

My elderly relative’s niece insist on buying her something so she keeps sending them gifts (they are 45+) this years gift was a box of chocolate biscuits from Amazon, clearly made for an overseas market and relabelled for here, they taste stale and have no flavour and no sell by date or eat by date.

Relative won’t eat them, I assumed they were a 99p special but no they cost almost £7. What a waste!

Oh yes, I forgot about daily meal deals. I'm vegetarian and have decided to avoid dairy so that significantly reduces my choice anyway so Ill have to make my own lunch.

I have an elderly relative who decided to sell her home because she wanted to release equity. I have been trying to help her. Initially to sort the house to sell but now to sort her finances.

she was spending over £1,000 a year on newspapers, over £1,000 on having her hair done, a lot of money on servicing debt, she would tip the delivery driver from the pharmacy (with a note not coins) her house is full of stuff that has never been used or worn. I could go on and on.
however council tax eats up about 15% of her income, BT seem to have upsold her endless plans for her TV which she never watches, this is her second largest bill.

she has a spending problem not really an income problem she has enough to live off if she would just live like someone on a pension not someone with a trust fund.

We’ve stopped the papers, stopped the haircuts, rationalised what we can (still have BT to go) but it’s been hard to get her to understand that she needs to stop spending. It’s amazing how quickly it all adds up.

I stopped my own coffees a few years ago, we have a coffee machine at home now!

For my relative and her family it’s actually really sad, she has been left enough money (nothing excessive) but enough to live a sensible frugal life without worry but everything has been frittered away partly on funding her boyfriend’s lifestyle and partly on endless shit (so much needless home maintenance painting, repainting, new sofa, another new sofa because she didn’t like the colour, new garden fence, another new garden fence because the old new one wasn’t what she wanted. SO MUCH SHIT!

I am certainly going home with an attitude to change things in my own life.

I often have this conversation with myself and it would be wine, coffees and food out, takeaways, books. I am very low maintenance on my hair, nails, make up, clothes, shoes.

But you know what, I really enjoy them and my life would have less joy if I gave them up. And we all need some joy.

I’m with you on the coffee OP. Paid £4.05 for a flat white at a hospital Costa a couple of weeks ago and then £4.50 for one on a day out with the kids. We live in a very rural part of Wales! Coffee at a cafe in France is about €1 😒

Oh me too. Family agreement only to buy for kids under 21 now, nothing for anyone older than that. Everyone's happy with that. The "just" over 21s don't care as they don't have to buy for anyone else either, and I don't think they are that interested in Christmas much anyway apart from time off!

Gin

Gave up the annual Greedfest of Xmas, years ago.

There's not a lot left to give up tbh. Not spending 40 quid on a microwave meal in a pub anymore.

Wine....about 30 quid a week, appalling I know. £1,500 per year.

Not that small, but my David Lloyd membership. I joined only for the pool, and told myself I’d go twice a week to get at least some of my money’s worth. I do manage twice sometimes for my 20 lengths, but fairly often it’s just once, or not at all if ‘stuff’ gets in the way.

However, if it was a case of going to the public pool - a drive (parking charge) or 2 buses away, (the DL is much more convenient] where you now have to book, I would probably find excuses never to go at all.

And at least at DL there’s no soggy towel to take home.

Reading through the thread and gin came to mind. DH topped up on the ferry last month as it was so cheap. We probably drink 20-25 bottles a year which is £1k.

i am addicted to the Kindle Daily Deal. Yesterday I bought 12 Dick Francis books! Even if they're 'only' 99p it mounts up.

buying lunch at work - have started bringing in my own lunch which is costing me approx £10 per week instead of the approx £10 per day I was spending

Getting a meal deal for lunch instead of just preparing my own packed lunch the night before!
PT sessions at the gym (£152 a month totals up to £1824 a year!)
Curly hair products

Clothes - I've just deleted clothes apps and next is to stop following all those influencers on Instagram who make me feel like I need new stuff.

Books - Amazon. I've promised myself I can't buy a new book until I've read all the ones I've already bought but am powerless to resist. Am going to be found crushed under my "beside the bed" tower of books soon.

Stuff for my skin / face - keep falling for expensive foundations / makeup when I just return to a cheapy rimmel BB cream.

Otherwise am totally low maintenance. Dye my own hair, have terrible nails, don't drink anymore, use YouTube to exercise, no cleaner, WFH so rarely buy coffee. Blimey like I am still in lockdown.

Mounjaro…. Fizzy drinks…. Hmmmm.

Totally agree there needs to be a support group for Vinted addiction 🤣.