What’s an “unpopular” spending or money decision that actually works well for you?

What's the benefit of keeping it in your current account? You're missing out on interest and it's more vulnerable in an account which you frequently use a debit card for.

Do you mean literal, paper cash? Or just money in easy access savings account?

We do not book our holidays 2 to 3 months in advance or less . I know others book years or at least lots if months but as a family of 5 we often just decide last minute . It has been working for years and after actually booking in advanced last year for the first time it was actually more expensive this way .
we also have cryptocurrency as savings and for us is a long term investment but we use it as a emergency fund so we don’t touch savings , until now we only spend the profits of its

Out of my pretty significant savings, 75% of it is in cash. I don’t care I could get better growth in investments, I like knowing I could pay the mortgage off, and the final 3 years of school fees and still have enough cash to last about 5 years. I worked really bloody hard to accumulate it and I’m not risking it on the markets.

We use car finance. Cars aren’t assets to us, we’re not worried about depreciation, I’d rather pay a monthly cost for a new (or new-ish) car and know where I am with it. I’d rather pay monthly than dip into savings for a large purchase. The payments are an insignificant amount of our take home.

I’m also a car snob. I like driving a nice car with all the bells and whistles.

I pay over the odds for a milk delivery because I save more by not going into the shop as often.

Separate finances with DH. Works perfectly for us.

Ooooh that is an unpopular one.

This has been a good thread.

Are you paying for this financial advisor whose advice you're ignoring? 😁

I don’t shop around for electricity and internet and insurance and everything. I find a reliable provider and then mostly stick with them unless they go up outrageously. I don’t think saving a couple of pounds a month is worth the time and hassle.

We bought a house under our budget, even though we could have had a more expensive house at the time.

Neither of us drive/own a car, though sometimes I wish I could!

Separate bank accounts.

I only buy something if we truly need it (we currently need new pots and pans because the non-stick coating is coming off of our old ones.) Also, they’re dented after DP dropped a few of them.

I repurpose things, if I no longer need them for its original purpose. I have a wicker plant pot, which has been repurposed to a waste paper basket in the lounge. Plus. a used candle jar, which replaced our toothbrush holder in the bathroom (after our old one smashed.)

I bought the biggest, most expensive, over the longest term house we were approved for. I love being at home and save loads of money by not going on days out or holidays.

I SPEND on coffee 😂 very unpopular advice indeed! But I love having a hot Americano or cappuccino when I'm out and about, feels like a treat

DH and I have never followed a budget, either. Through a combination of good fortune and natural saving tendencies, we've never actually needed one. (Sorry if that's considered a brag, but it's definitely not what people advise you to do, nor what I'd suggest myself, really...)

We prioritise spending on hobbies over spending on travel. We enjoy our hobbies every day, more or less, so it's a better deal if you're not particularly motivated to travel (which we're not).

We tend to drive used cars bought outright and kept long after others would trade them in for something else.

We use credit cards all the time for the rewards, but always pay them off right away so we pay no interest. (Not groundbreaking, but considering how many people carry credit card debt, it's also not typical.)

I’m retired, I have a guaranteed income, and I’ve given up saving. In fact, I’ve started spending my savings now.

We have a cleaner despite the fact I’m a SAHP.

some people think it’s an absolute waste of money. For me it’s worth it, and I’d sacrifice everything except food, shelter and heat before parting with her.

Some weeks it gives me the freedom to be lazy, on the weeks when DD has countless appointments, isn’t at school or DN isn’t at nursery because of his struggles it means I don’t have to think about basics and the house doesn’t get out of control.

Don’t really see many of the things posted as being unpopular choices tbh, but that may just be me.

I don’t do direct debits. The only one exception is mobile sim card. I use an IFA. Small house zero mortgage. Older, second hand car. No tv/ subscriptions.
No finance/hp/loans etc. everything is saved and paid for at initial purchase. No holidays - prefer days out and craft workshops.

Don’t do Xmas or birthdays unless I really really really really have to. Like on pain of being made redundant or death type really.

I actually stopped celebrating xmas for a few years after the boiler broke one October and cost hundreds to fix.
I decided xmas was a drain on my money that I was happier not bothering with.

Same here. Morgage free in a smaller house has worked well for us.

"I don't need to budget because I spend less than my income" is surely the new "how can you eat more than a single lettuce leaf, I'd be full for a week if I saw a slice of cucumber" when it comes to the Mumsnet Moral Hierarchy 🙄

DB laughs that we go to the airport for a long haul flight on public transport and a colleague once said to DH that he's the type who would barter with a taxi driver over 50p then give him a pound tip.

God, I've got one of these.

My husband got annoyed in Thailand because he "overpaid" for a taxi - we were in it for an hour, and we spent a tenner! He was generous with his tips everywhere, but couldn't stand that he paid more than the quoted estimate online.

Then when we were in Turkey I looked up booking via Uber, the trip out a tenner, the return twenty quid. He insisted we'd do better booking via the hotel - £75 return! He almost refused to pay it, but I pointed out he would be stranding us in the middle of nowhere, and it was his fault we hadn't got the cheaper option.

Sometimes it's cheaper to just accept the price quoted.

Same as a PP, interest only mortgage for a while. Allowed us to have a bigger house when we needed it, ie with the kids.

We might be able to pay it off later if things go well with other investments, but if we can’t, we’ll just sell up and downsize. In the meantime we might have paid more interest, but we’ve also had the benefit of the price increase on a much bigger house than we could have afforded on a repayment mortgage.

You just can’t think of it as a “forever home”, But we can’t see why we’d want the same house as a family with growing teens than as a retired couple. We”ll be going for a centrally located flat with lots of things on our doorstep and easy to lock up to go travelling, as opposed to lots of bedrooms and bathrooms and large garden…

I had a decent travel mug for Christmas a couple of years back. It was expensive, but it’s saved me a fortune when out and about. I only drink tea, but was paying £3+ for takeaway tea, it really mounts up!

Yes! I got a Sage in 2019 and it's going strong. We use it everyday.