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

I think a lot of it is expectation. As in people expect to be able to do/have things as a right, like foreign holidays, show house homes, new cars etc. Except that their income just doesn't support those expectations.

Its always been the way, at least in the last 40+ years anyway.

I think with regards to things like car finance and upgrading mobile phones etc, a lot of people just want the best and they want it now.

Fine if they can afford it but if they can't, it's no-one else's fault that they chose to have them anyway.

I got £100k life insurance payout. I paid off the mortgage and spent the rest on things that needed doing to the house (doer upper) but the amount of people that thought it was insane that we didn’t treat ourselves to new cars and fancy holidays.
we know we are financially secure now, a fancy new car wouldn’t have done that. We now have the of being able to save up for the things we consider luxuries like new cars and holidays

Well no, I just buy my cars outright.

But raise the topic on Mumsnet and the dominant view will be that getting a car on finance is the sensible, prudent thing to do.

This is the thing. Information/advice etc has never been so easy to find as it is today, literally and the press of a button, yet it seems more than ever, people aren't researching things and not asking for advice, etc. It's counter intuitive that we have all the "tools" at our disposal yet seemingly ever increasing numbers of people are making poor decisions and getting into difficulties unnecessarily.

No, I don't think it is. People have different ideas of what life should be like and what they will accept.

My own example, One sibling - a series of unrelated random issues, meant they needed to borrow several thousand to support a teenage child, which I was happy to do. They paid me back with unasked for interest.

An in-law, flashy new car on PCP, holidays to the states, only works part time, needed a loan, lied about why.

Household 2 had a much higher income than household 1.

Yes, but you don't need to pay interest to build up the credit score. You can get credit cards and pay off in full each month which will build up your credit score just as well, likewise get interest free credit which does the same.

Problem is, the banks make all their profit on people defaulting though, don't they. So it's not in their interests to steer people into sensible choices, is it. And they have a lot of advertising money to reinforce that...

There you go then.

'You have deep suspicions'.

We're all at liberty to research online at the click of a button and doing that is taking personal responsibility.

People have been doing this for centuries but without the brilliantly easy internet.

Sensible people spend on credit and pay it off by the end of the month (avoiding any interest) to get a decent credit score though. Spending outside of your means is never a good idea.

I mean, we literally live in a financial reality where repeatedly borrowing and repaying money (and of course its interest) will get you a better credit score- so I suppose could be seen as more financially prudent- than saving up and buying things outright.

Well yes, car finance (lease) is probably the "best" way to buy a car if you want new every time and only to keep it for 3 years at most.

But you don't "NEED" a new car every three years and it's usually a lot cheaper to buy nearly new and keep for longer than 3 years.

So it's the best choice, but only for a particular choice and there are other choices available, like not having a new car so often!

Yet people are conned into thinking older cars are more unreliable, cost a fortune in expensive repairs, etc., which is untrue for most cases as long as the car is carefully driven and properly maintained!

So there is an element of deceit in the message given by the car finance industry, but equally, people don't need to be so gullible to be taken in by it.

I've got one client who has repeatedly been conned by the garage and still doesn't "get it" and can't believe he's been conned, several times! He bought a car on lease and half way through the garage contacted him saying he could have a new one for a lower monthly rate - what's not to like! Of course he took the deal. But it's now over a longer period, so some of the early redemption charges were rolled into the new lease. Rinse and repeat several times and his latest "good deal" is now over 5 years but he still doesn't realise he's been duped time and time again.

It's like the old Nat West "business development loans" which were fixed rate, fixed term. Bank managers were trained in conning business customers in that whenever they saw an overdraft being used excessively, they'd give the customer the option of a new loan to clear the overdraft, all sounded good, but the overdraft would build up again, so the manager would again offer a loan to clear it and the previous loan, but the early redemption fees would be rolled into the new loan, so instead of a 3 year term, it became 5 and then 7 years, all for a lower monthly repayment. It was just smoke and mirrors where the bank made more interest, more charges, more early redemption fees, but the customer simply never realised what was happening.

I think it’s a bit harsh as lots of people budget really keenly but wages are low and costs are high.
of courses we all know payday millionaires who constantly buy coffees, cornershop soft drinks and who never take a packed lunch to work. I used to work with one who constantly pleaded poverty when she’d burned through her money 10 days after we got paid. I think most people are really careful though and still struggle.

I'm always really surprised at the amount of new or relatively new cars around. I earn a decent amount of money and perhaps it's just not my priority but it could never be worth the money to buy or finance a new car to me. I'd need an extremely large amount of disposable cash and no mortgage to consider spending that amount just to drive a nice car.

My brother and I both have ADHD and irresponsible spending has been a big problem. I’ve been able to “scratch the itch” by having awareness (late in life diagnosis) but it still plagues him as he has limited earning ability and wants to treat himself to his fifth watch or guitar.

Ps I’d love to add the people I know in real life who chastise people over spending choices spend their life thinking and analysing everything. It seems bloody exhausting. I remember hearing a financial planner on the radio and being surprised at how ‘well people have to enjoy life too’ he was- he then told the story of his dad dying an almost millionaire on a good income but not rich but how life was always about them being told no, how they lived frugally always as he showed them how much money was being accrued, to give them life lessons. He said yes they got money from inheritance but they’ll only ever remember him for the word ‘no’ and the life of borderline poverty they led.

Impossible to answer, unless we are in possession of all the facts around everyone else's financial matters. If you're referring to a specific demographic, then say it! Otherwise, this is just a MN Goady post, looking to create division and sit in judgment.

Hmmm.

A lot of things are advertised as "sensible, prudent choices" that I have deep suspicions about. Car finance, for example.

Yes..we seem to live now in a society that has little to no personal responsibility.

I think some in society have very little and really do struggle.
Some have got used to hearing about the ‘cost of living crisis’ and decided to join in, even if they are not really in a crisis. And go about saying they cannot afford this or that. And how it really is unfair and terrible. And how they should have this or that from the Government.
But manage to go on holiday always. And have nice things.

It depends though, people talk about people on low incomes frittering money away etc but the amount they spend is something someone on a higher wage can spend without making a dent. They can never afford the things that people on higher wages might buy and still have the money to save/ make good choices. Also if you’re on a lower wage you can’t bulk buy or buy something that saves you money in the long term or you can only do that by using eg credit cards or hp

Yeah, have seen over the years friends say they have no money for bigger things like a new bed & mattress (while keep spending on lots of tat, ornaments, little things for the house) or another friend plead poverty about not being able to feed her cat - while buying a bottle of wine every night or a chip catflap while buying takeaways.

It's priorities. Sort them out then understand that cannot afford to buy everything. And yes, I learned the hard way, I was terrible when I was younger.

Some people are literally poor due to their own bad decisions and choices. It is their 'fault'. Who else are you looking to blame?

OP obviously isn't talking about people that never had enough in the first place to be anything but poor. There are lots of people that spend their money in unbelievably irresponsible ways and then look for bail outs from everyone else.

Nonsense.

There are many people who are not sucked in by advertising for things they don't need.

Many people who aren't in debt. Not because they have plenty of money but because they don't buy things they don't need and can't afford just because someone else is advertising it.

I think there are two separate things going on. First, prices have gone up - food is a recent one, but housing costs and bills have been going up for decades. And wages are not that high in the U.K.

On the other hand there seems to be a disconnect for some people between what they can afford and what they think they should be doing/spending on. I do thinks social media is fuelling this to an extent. So people on low or average incomes think it’s normal to spend £££ on a hens weekend, expensive cars, regular takeaways, etc.