To think a lot of people make poor spending choices and then blame everything else?

I agree. I used to work with people who'd complain that the end of the month couldn't come quick enough as they were skint. Then the next 2 weeks they be saying they'd had 3 or 4 family takeaways that week.

This is where keeping records of spending and analysis really comes in handy.

Some of the new banking apps are really good for analysing spending between categories/days/shops, etc., so people can see at a glance what they're spending on and how it adds up.

Some of the TV programs highlight it very well, i.e. multiply up the costs of not shopping around, buying brands instead of cheaper alternatives, waste, expensive habits/hobbies etc and you soon come to thousands per year that could relatively easily be avoided without too much compromise, just by making wiser spending decisions.

Unfortunately the kind of person who'd benefit most probably aren't the kind who'd be watching daytime TV! Likewise, tradesmen often still spend in cash (using cash from customer jobs), so there's no easy way of recording what they've spent and what they've spent it on.

I'm an accountant, so part of the job is analysis business spending, and clients are regularly aghast when they see relatively "big" figures in their year end accounts for different categories, and then I can show them a line by line breakdown of lots of small amounts that add up to big amounts due to the sheer number of them.

My BIL does this. He earns the same as my DH and I combined, and he has no children. He spends thousands of pounds on Lego (the huge expensive sets) and a very expensive lease car, then goes cap in hand to relatives because he can’t afford his rent.

My BIL used to buy himself and his labourer breakfast and lunch out every day, plus coffees.
He was complaining he couldn’t afford a family holiday abroad and DH tried to explain it he was doing that it was £5k a year. He never did believe it, just kept saying it was a few hundred at most.

To be fair, spending her money on gigs and holidays rather than lunches out and overpriced coffees sounds like a reasonable financial choice, it will probably bring her more joy. Though if she's moaning about being skint rather than just politely declining, that's annoying.

Well, obviously.
Have a meal out sometimes. Give the DC a day out during the summer holidays. But prioritise a buffer in the bank over a weekly takeaway or whatever. Once you have that buffer, and you're confident it's enough, then you can lighten up a bit. Once DH and I had some decent savings, we used the tent less and went on 'proper' holidays.

Priorities are just different with some people.

I have a friend who refuses to put their heating on in winter. To the point their 3 kids are sat at home with icy breath. Her awnser is, they have to wrap up in a coat and blanket.

Their sky and Internet package is £230pcm and they have the very latest iPhone every year without fail.

Trouble with dementia is that by the time it was so bad, the person wouldn’t be able to do it or nor remember that was the plan.

My mil started down that road and once we went round to find her with her head in the oven - an electric one not gas, and a few times neighbours called us to say she was standing in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night, and she told us she wanted to be run over by a bus - it wasn’t even a bus route, but a sleepy short cul de sac with barely any traffic. Every time, literally minutes later she’d forgotten and was chatting away as if nothing had happened.

I think for a lot of people, life is just really really hard. But then I think people do make decisions that add up that seem insignificant in the moment - for example, I know two people at work (incidentally on the lowest wages) that spend £4 a day on their lunch. That might not be much per day but adds up to £20 per week, £80 a month, just under £1000 a year. And they tell me how they often don't have a tenner left before payday.

My DP spends about £300pm on Costa etc. He WFH, but he prefers to work out of his flat in cafes, and pays for tea etc. It all adds up.

Saving is good, but spending on what makes us happy or our life easier, is good too.

I make poor choices and don’t end up overdrawn. Still poor choices, I could have a much better savings/investment back up by now. It’s frustrating as it’s all psychological

They don't add up the charges. Its like those people who spend £4 on Costa and £4 on a sandwich meal deal each day. That's at least £1840 a year. Based on 46 weeks.

I think I have bought 2 bags this year because I was caught short. I always take a bag out with me.

But I don't think people are in debt because they buy bags when shopping.

Count the number of bags you use. Main shop 5-6 bags. A top up shop 1-2 bags. Go to B&M - 1 bag.

Plus the run up to Christmas, Easter, DC's and DP's birthdays, you may use another bag per week.

I often saw families buying 5 carrier bags - they were 30p each at the time I was working.

I saw many customers buying bags. Obviously got more money than sense.

I probably bought 10 bags since the bag charge. As I bought a coat and needed a bigger bag. On another visit to the shops, my only bag on me, broke.

It’s easier not to buy “things you don’t need” when you have more money though.
When you can still have a nice life without “extras”.

Whats the actual point of slogging away on NMW, paying rent rather than mortgage and doing nothing. We are not in the Middle Ages. See the world, enjoy the hobbies, look after the family.

I think people get upset about the choices. Not the cost. £150 on a tattoo is a waste.£150 on a wedding dress is bargain. Despite neither actually being necessary but both being important to the spender.

I bought a Tesco one recently as my shop ended up bigger than planned. But that does not happen often. I always take a reusable bag with me.
I don't think anyone is buying 10 bags per week. You just saw one snapshot in time... if you had saw me with my 40p Tesco bag, then you might have assumed I do that all the time. I don't.

I can't believe how much they are now anyway. They used to be 5p.

It's 10.5 years since the bag charge in England and around 2-3 years longer for other parts of the UK.

Still get people - mainly from poor income households who never bring their own bags when shopping. Why??? The carrier bags are now 40p each for most of the supermarket chains. If you buy an average of 10 bags a week - that includes B&M, Poundland, clothes shops etc. That's at least £200 a year. I worked in a supermarket next to a council estate with c300 properties. Vast majority of the residents shopped and 95% bought bags each visit. Plus I had to void off something so the customers could buy a bag, If they brought bags from home, they would been able to buy the item I voided off.

Then see people use these brand new carrier bags as bin bags. Stop this habit. Bin bags are cheaper - per unit, bigger and able to tie them up properly. Many supermarket bags, you can only tie the handles but the far edges don't get tied up.

A lot of it comes down to time. If you’re retired or don’t work you’ve got plenty of time to shop around, get the best deals, look for the best savings accounts.

I’m sure there’s always some reason people these days are lacking when others manage or used to manage in the past. However when you’re in the thick of it juggling two full time careers, young children, a high mortgage , you’ve barely got time to breathe let alone manage your finances.

My friend is only mid 50s, so I hope they don't do it soon!.
They just keep spending and racking up huge debt. They have been lucky in that between them, they have inherited a couple of properties over the years, and when the debt gets too much, they sell up. But they are at the end of the line now. They get a credit card, and see it as cash instead of a buffer/emergency. They just spend it all.
I don't understand it. I know when my friend worked, she was on a very good salary so they are still trying to live the same lifestyle even though they do not have the same incomings anymore.

I read that in Japan, elder crime is a thing... so they go to prison and are housed and fed.

Yeah, it is not that much in the scheme of things... but the DWP will also want to see what you spend your money on when you are between £6-16k to ensure what you are buying is not seen as Deprivation of Capital.

Anyone who has 100 spare should open a sipp for their children now you can open one at any age

Small amounts now massivley compound for them .I wish someone had done it for me

@XenoBitch jumping off the ship isn't such a bad idea

I think older suicide is quite common more so than we think .
I would certainly choose it over dementia and or being on a care home !!

It's 16k.

After 6k your monthly UC payment gets reduced by £4.35 for every £250 over 6k.

That's less than £20 for every £1k over. It stops at 16k and you lose the UC completely.

Their choice though. My friends don't work (she is disabled and her DH is a pensioner - just on the state pension as far as I know), and they are in a silly amount of debt. They love their hobbies and holidays too much. They are very good at moving their debt around though. They have a house they rent out that they can sell when it gets too bad. Their plan after that is to go on a cruise, and jump off the ship 😮

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