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

Oh and I used to buy cheap everything - think primark and shein.

Now I only buy what I really really love. I work hard, Im ancient (51) and I feel I deserve nice things. Some things are (to me) eyewateringly expensive. But ive been pretty much skint most of the past few decades and now Im quite flush and I want to spend it on nice things. Nice clothes, travel, etc. I spoil myself more and I really really value that. Id rather have lots of lovely clothes that I really enjoy wearing that lots of cheap crap.

I buy a brand new car every 2 to 3 year( trade in plus cash). I am familiar with depreciation however, I have a brand with one of the lowest depreciation rates,don’t spend a penny on consumables (tyres, wipers etc) and do this because I am an unpaid carer for an elderly parent and hour away, have a full time job an hour away and a child with various clubs. I consider this buying my way out of trouble as I can’t afford for the car
to be off the road.

We didn't/don't take a penny off our adult DC when they lived here, or still do live here.
It's free all inclusive, all the way.
They protest and try to contribute but I'm of Irish heritage and that's just the way it is. I'd have to be starving before I'd charge family.

Paying a financial advisor initially went against my core beliefs but actually was the best decision we ever made. They saved us many thousands and we have been able to retire in our 50s rather than 60s.

We saved my income for about 10 years into investments, bloody hard and the few people we confided in thought we were nuts.
Now, we've got nearly enough in pensions and we've been able to clear the mortgage too. The way we saw it, was those 10 years were going to pass anyway so we might as well end up in a much better position still relatively young.
We enjoyed fantastic holidays and spent on key experiences and any essential aspects for our family life, but no waste.
To us now it's been worth that intense decade. We've also ensured to not upgrade to a larger home, travel, fun and leaving a legacy are more important to us.

Do you just waste the rest??

Never drink alcohol or buy meals unless its outside the home.

I cannot tell you how much this saves me on drinking booze at home and ordering take outs. Which I was doing a LOT. Saves calories, my liver and the bank. I always think if I dont fancy cooking (which is always really lol) and fancy a treat (again - always) then I have the choice to go out and have it. Its a 'rule' that I try and stick to, and it doesn't feel like deprivation, but it naturally happens because Im lazy and don't like going out that much. I like just sitting at home in my pjs.

I don't budget either, I don't do no spend months or weeks, I am just frugal and stick to the list 100% of the time.

For my day to day spend, I only use cash - I found I spend a lot less than paying by card.
At the start of the month, I withdraw an amount per week plus a little extra. Every Sunday night I take the "left overs" out of my purse and put next week's budget in. It really works for me, no more impulse purchases and I think twice before I buy anything not strictly necessary.

I am 80 next year and still have a mortgage that finishes next year. I kept re-financing for improvements.

Which is (financially) foolish. MUCH better to enjoy those extra pounds, or put them into pension or high interest savings.

This is even better if you share the contents out, so everyone gets a couple of different sandwiches, half the crisps, half the sushi etc 🙂

Sometimes I go on to Morrisons rather than the Lidl next door because I like browsing there and I am too lazy to go into both.

We don't have pet insurance.
We weighed up the pros and cons and over the decades of pet ownership, paying for vet fees as they arose has saved us thousands. It's very much a gamble though.

We don't have credit. If we want something we save for it. This means that we have had to wait longer for stuff and have had to sometimes take cheaper holidays but it's paid off for us.

We have always prioritised hobbies for the kids above holidays to Disney etc. We now have young adults that can ride, sail, and play several instruments between them.

We don't sell stuff on vinted or eBay. Even fairly expensive stuff. We take it to the charity shop to support them (and I can't be bothered with the faff).

We don't sweat the small stuff. If I want a coffee on the go or a bar of decent chocolate now and again then I'm bloody well having one.

I’m the same, multiple accounts, bills, spending, clothes acct ( if I sell on vinted I can use to buy new ones). DH and I separate finances, how do you buy presents if it’s one joint fund? I can waste money if I wish & can afford to..
This works for us, has done for 38 years. Never had a row about money (only the no you can’t buy me that, thats far too expensive, kind of row🤣)

That sounds exciting, please elaborate….what kind of drugs? Do you share a prostitute or have one each?

I also have a lot of MacDonalds because the app is generous with freebies

I’m with you in the meal deal. When the DCs were small, I always use to do it. They used to be £3 in Boots so We could feed all four of us for less than £15. I’d spend more getting all the stuff for a picnic.

buying snacks at the cinema is just crazy though 😂

I stockpile things when I'm flush. I'm about to buy 3 pairs of the same glasses from goggles4u because they're my favourite ever pair and cost 4 quid. I cut my own hair. When I was really skint years ago I'd water down milk

Not unpopular but I'm adding this because in the last ten minutes I've saved £60 on my home insurance renewal just by going to the company's website and clicking on the 'thinking of leaving' button. Ten seconds later they came up with a cheaper quote. I look forward to my yearly arguement renewal conversation with the AA for breakdown cover but this was incredibly easy.

I have an account specifically for fun things like having a coffee out now and again. Life is hard enough without having a little treat now and again.
I only go into office once a week and don’t take my lunch. I eat the same cheese but every other day of the week, I want something different.

i use Hello Fresh because I think it’s cheaper than meal planning.

im not sure this is going against the traditional advice. I have a one in/two out approach to buying new clothes. And the out has to be via Vinted or eBay. My waiting to be Vinted pile is huge, and I can’t be bothered doing it, so I haven’t bought any new clothes since before Christmas.

I don’t plan like mad for retirement. I do pay into my work pension but just the automatic deductions from salary. I do also save each month but nothing like the amounts some talk about on here.

We really stretched ourselves to buy a house (had to put all our expenses on credit cards for a month as we had nothing left!) The more common approach seems to be to spend less so that you have more for holidays but we don’t go on holiday much, I don’t feel I enjoy them enough to justify the cost!

I like reading about money saving tips but not following them. E.g. could probably take advantage of current account switching to get £100 here and there but really can't be arsed with the hassle.

I have access to discounted gift vouchers via work. Supermarkets about 4% off, M&S maybe 8%, but hardly ever use them as find kept getting refunds in form of vouchers that then had to keep track of and go out of the way to spend at that shop. Wasn't even items not being suitable last 2 times, they just decided they were out of stock between me placing order and them delivering.

I buy coffee when out and about and in fact I am enjoying one right now!

I am staying out in London with my family. Moving out simply doesn't make financial sense for us. We live in an unfashionable outer borough that has very decent state schools and a train that gets me into the city in 25mins and the numbers add up for us. Leaving London would really constrain DH and I's work opportunities, and a lot of the commuter belt is actually more expensive to buy property in than where we currently are.

I discarded the "buy the worst house in the best neighborhood" advice. We have an extra bedroom and a summerhouse in our more scruffy neighborhood and we are near the train station. The neighbours are friendlier than in the more posh neighborhoods and no one gives a hoot about keeping up with the Joneses. We also have a cheaper house than we could technically afford, going against the advice to max out the mortgage. Honestly the price of even basic repairs and work on the house is now so high that I really appreciate having that slack in my budget at the end of the month. I think the advice of maxing out the mortgage made more sense in previous generations but it doesn't now.

We dont have a car and even with the cost of public transport and the odd taxi we are hundreds of pounds better off for it. We do live in London so I appreciate this advice wouldn't work for everyone but we are happy with it and it's just one less bill to think about

Mine has been more like 5% over 20 years. But that's because - another unpopular tactic - I only invested in green energy, socially responsible funds, ESG trackers etc. Some did incredibly well - overall the returns weren't so good, but it worked for me

We arecthe same, except my husbands military pension goes into bill account. He sees that as both of ours as I gave up my career to allow him to do 24 years service. I moved around for him with the kids.
Now we both work our wages are in our separate personal accounts I pay for weekly shop.
He pays for phones, car expenses
I have no idea of his spending and dont worry and he doesn't know mine.