To think budgeting culture has become joyless?

Was budgeting culture ever joyful?!

Because a £4.50 hot beverage 5 days a week for 48 weeks a year would be £1080.

One hot drink because I was cold and thirsty would be a treat. £1080 would pay most of my council tax.

This is the kind of attitude I was referring to. People in general just don’t understand the coffee thing.

I enjoy budgeting 😂

I have so many friends who hide their head in the sand about finances and then say I've got no money followed by do you like my new bag it was a bargain at £200!

Budgeting is about working out what your priorities are and just a bit of self awareness especially in a tap and spend culture. It doesn't mean you have to feel guilty for a hot drink but if your getting 2 a day 5 days a week out that's soon going to add up quickly.

Totally depend ternats on how much you care about what other people, particularly internet randoms, think of you. So long as I don't go into my overdraft before pay day, I don't give a monkeys!

Little treats that bring people some happiness are never “such a waste of money”.
I find that sort of attitude quite distasteful, actually, because you can bet there will be something that these people spend money on just for a little bit of enjoyment that’s not strictly required for basic survival. One persons “waste” is what gets another person through the day.
It’s only a waste if it genuine cannot be afforded without debt or endangering the payment of key bills, IMO. Other than that, life is for living.

Where's the joy in spending five quid on a cup of coffee? More like a mugging

Absolutely! We should all reintroduce the comfort and joy into our lives by buying what we want, when we want it! We should splash out, treat ourselves, indulge to our hearts desire. Wack the heating on full blast and open the champagne! I genuinely can't think of a single reason why people don't do this. Just boring joyless fun sponges I expect.

I think this too - different people too have different priorities- whilst spending £4.20 a day on a coffee might seem frivolous but for others is an enjoyable start to the day, or end of days work, others might find £12,000 a year on holidays frivolous or needing to constantly change houses/decor or having their hair coloured every 8 weeks etc.

Was about to say the same. They get more expensive when you start adding things like oat milk and syrups too.

I think a lot of people had gone far too much into 'treat yo sel'

Buying so much frivolous crap then being broke by pay day and blaming everyone but themselves.

A place I worked what we spent in the cafe came out of our wages every month. Mine was usually €20 to €30 per month. I had colleagues spending €400+ per month buying several daily coffees/ scones/ sausage rolls/ smoothies then complaining about the fact they couldn't save for a deposit. These same people often bought lunch daily from €7 - €12

Starbucks, Costa, Nero - all over £4 for a standard latte.

You didn't have a problem in the same way that alcoholics do, that's a ridiculous statement.

Well hot drinks are probably necessary sometimes, for instance if you get delayed somewhere and it’s cold, but, even if you do make a regular thing of it, they are probably less expensive and less harmful in various ways than smoking/vaping, alcohol or drugs which are also optional.

Budgeting isn’t necessarily fun but it is necessary for me. There’s space in there for a coffee if I want one, I don’t think every purchase needs to be justified and carefully thought through. There’s space are things I buy that I’m sure I’d be judged for, and I’m no stranger to being judgy either.

The reality is fundamentalism isn’t great, whether that’s in politics, religion or money management.

‘How many takeaway coffees do you buy a week?’ is usually the go-to question when people complain they don’t know where their disposable money is going and someone else is trying to be helpful. Buying coffee in coffee shops has become almost demonised these days. Yes I can make my own coffee at home for a fraction of the price, but that’s not the point. Same with eating out and having basic meals. We all have our priorities.

Where are people paying north of £4 for a coffee? £3.50 is the average in my city.

I am on a low income (UC) and even I get a coffee when out. You need to have some little pleasures in life. Sitting down with friends in a cafe and having a catch up means I have left the house and am interacting with people, so that is 2 wins for me... so I deserve that coffee.
This is about once a week so not a daily occurrence.

I must say it's more joyful seeing a healthy bank balance and a cup of coffee drunk at home in peace where you don't have to dodge crowds one handedly or be in a noisy clackering, screeching cafe playing some awful music. 😁😁

I love my spreadsheet. I hate wasting money and I get pleasure seeing my retirement pot growing.

If I fancied a posh coffee/hot chocolate from costa I'd buy it, my spreadsheet/budget wouldn't stop me but it isn't something I often do. If there was a larger purchase that my budget couldn't accommodate, then that would stop me.

I was in a lot of debt when I was younger, took me years to pay it off. I vowed never to go back there. My budget keeps me sane.

I think this is just because of how expensive hot drinks are when out now. They used to be £1 which was a big mark up on home (maybe 2p) but still cheap and cheerful.

Now a drink is £4-5+…. That just feels like a complete waste of money because it is not worth that amount. It just seems like chucking money down the sink.

You would hate us - we have a spreadsheet with a budget for everything from stationery to holidays. Managing finances is important to us regardless of our income.

Coffee tea hot chocolate hot milk hot squash apologies this it’s is incomplete

if someone is complaining they are short of cash for a pint of milk and spending money on none essentials then I will judge ( looking closely at BIL)

if someone is judging me because I tend not to buy hot or cold drinks out and about i will tend to judge them back

if you don’t want to be judged don’t judge others
and learn to ignore pointless judgement from others

I agree there are some people who make a hobby out of budgeting and perhaps get a bit obsessive over it.

But so what? it’s not hurting anyone as long as they aren’t judgy about others who are not following the same path, indeed it’s good for the world to have people who deliberately consume less.

Some people get joy from spreadsheets 🤷‍♀️ especially spreadsheets that show their savings going up and their retirement age coming down

I think it's just a matter of how much wiggle room you have. I've had times where budgeting to buy hot drinks/sandwiches out at a cafe would have been unmanageable. I've had other times when I could spontaneously go out for dinner and not have to worry about it.

It's really hard work having to budget every penny, and it is joyless. But in those times, joy has to come from something that's not consumer capitalism. I still feel that getting a coffee out is a real treat. But my DC are used to being able to get a hot chocolate whenever they want. I don't think they get half as much joy from it as I did.

I think budgeting and not being able to afford things has always been joyless. The difference is that most people never really felt that they had to budget for a coffee, they would just make these micro-purchases mindlessly and they would be a little treat that would bring joy to the day. Now where a coffee is in in some places breaking a fiver, there are fewer and fewer guilt free treat purchases people feel they can enjoy.

Every item and transaction becomes something you need to rationalise or account for. There is no relief.