How do people afford nice things?

[Nocares]

Looking for advice or an explanation of some sort!

Me and my DP both earn a good wage and have no kids.

We both drive very old cars and just bought our forever house (doer upper) very cheaply due to the works.

I have 0 debt . We never get anything on credit/finance we just save up for everything.

Although our monthly outgoings are low and we have spare money to save and spend, I don't understand our quality of life compared to others.

So we need a new bathroom first in our renovations which will cost about 4K all inc. We would both like newish second hand cars too at some point. To get something reliable and decent your talking about 7k each.
A new kitchen would be 10K with discount including fitting.
That there alone is 28K

As we pay for everything in cash as we save, I just don't see how its possible to get those things in under a decade of us saving!

A lot of our friends drive nice cars (on finance), have new kitchens or other refurbs done on their house with average incomes.

Even if you were to put everything on credit, after your repayments on top of bills and mortgage you'd have no disposable income left for years until its paid off?

I would get that people did do that, but most people still go on holidays, take maternity leaves etc. So they must still also have disposable income after paying off new car finance, credit card, and doing home renovations?

I feel like maybe we're missing a trick?
I can't imagine every single person I know is in huge debt! Especially as a lot of people have recently bought new homes due to stamp duty. So must have good credit.

I just don't see how its possible for us to do what we want to do within a reasonable time frame without it taking us a decade whilst we also live frugally.

The everyday people we know also have average jobs and income so its not like were surrounded by wealthy people either!

Am I missing something?!

To the posters thinking I am lying, I think I'd make up a quite elaborate lie if I was to do so?

I have a dp on 27k and me on 35k, living up north. I don't know whats so far fetched about that?

Anyway this post has massively been derailed by my cash expenditures.

I haven't sat down and literally gone through every single bill with a bank statement in one hand and mumsnet in the other. 1k is a rough estimate of outgoings.
Currently 350 each to spend on 'stuff' and since being in lockdown we've not spent much.

For our area our salaries are very normal, not low and not high. In the middle. I'm a registered professional in health and social care and my salary is considered normal after a few years in practice.

There is nothing odd, but I think people are taking things very literal instead of general iyswim?

I think you're being very sensible OP. I'd stick with your current approach: buy when you have the cash rather than buying into the credit culture. I think you value things more when you have to wait a little while for them.

35k is a decent salary.

I’m going onto £37.5k as of Monday. I’ll be a Senior Scientist I at a small Biotech, in Cambridge. rip.

@Doomsdayiscoming

35k is a decent salary.

I’m going onto £37.5k as of Monday. I’ll be a Senior Scientist I at a small Biotech, in Cambridge. rip.

That’s MSc + 10 years experience by the way.

Where you’ve gone wrong is saving for a big deposit. At current interest rates a mortgage is the cheapest debt you’ll ever be in so you’d have been better off putting less down and spending in other areas of your life. Or if you want a new kitchen, bathroom etc putting £20k on the mortgage. Missed a massive trick there,

@Doomsdayiscoming thank you. I thought it was normal, maybe not where other people live!

Congrats on your promotion! 👏

[quote Nocares]@Doomsdayiscoming thank you. I thought it was normal, maybe not where other people live!

Congrats on your promotion! 👏[/quote]
Cheers. I hope one day to live somewhere that isn’t Oxford, Cambridge, or London. But with this, goodbye 90% of the jobs in my sector.

Well until you get a better handle on you outgoings and what you can save I wouldn’t look at getting any debt, 0% or not.

Your utilities are going to increase. For an old house, your council tax is likely to increase. You’re missing internet, TV licence. Phone contract for both of you is £29? We have rolling contracts, not paying for the phone, and that’s £25 each. Insurance for two cars, an old house and both your lives is £120 per month? If these figures are correct then you’re pretty good at scoring a deal, so should have no issue getting these refurbishments for cheaper.

You also both drive old, and therefore less fuel efficient cars, but only spend £70 a month on petrol? If that’s the case, then you don’t need two cars. One car must only be doing a handful of miles each week. In reality, both cars are probably doing very minimal journeys, especially given your low insurance rate.

To answer your question - we have a similar income but higher outgoings. We finance our car because we prefer to have newer car and not have the uncertainty of paying for repairs associated with older cars. When we first started driving, we drove old cars and found it disruptive and costly when they frequently broke. My first car was £800 and lasted 18 months. In that time it was repaired 3 times with a total bill of £2,000, not including the additional cost (and inconvenience) of having to use public transport. We figured we would be spending money regardless at this stage of our lives and prefer to pay that money in interest, than mechanics fees. We only have one car.

We bought a house with no parental support, so we had a 5% deposit. We made sure to keep to the lower end of the lending amount and have a manageable repayment. We’ve lived here for 4 years and have bought a fixer upper. Our kitchen is older than us and is falling apart. Our house has needed new electrics, new windows, new bathroom, plastering. The works. We saved, got the electrics done. We saved, got the windows done. We saved with the intention of getting the flooring done (it is literally splintering as we walk over it), then the boiler crapped out. So we’re taking out the bit of equity we’ve built in the house to do internal doors and the flooring. Then we’ll save all over again and maybe we’ll be able to afford the bathroom. Then we’ll save for a deposit on a new car. Then we’ll save for the kitchen. Then the cycle starts all over again. We haven’t had a holiday since our honeymoon, before we bought the house. That’s life.

Most people add stuff like new kitchens bathrooms on to their mortgage. Cars usually on finance. Nobody saves these dayd. What's the point.

Haven’t read the full thread but 2k a month left over ? You’d have everything you listed in your OP ie cars and kitchen within two years if you stick to the saving .

Then after that 2k a month Spare for “ nice things”

🤷🏻‍♀️

When we moved into our house, all renovations go on a credit card. Once maxed out we cut it up and pay it off before interest free runs out.

Leaves our normal money free to start with for holidays/treats etc.

We are also currently paying off a new bed/mattress and new windows/doors. Instead if saving and buying in cash, we do interest free credit. Then once paid off we either buy something else or save it.

Once this lot is paid off we'll get 2 new cars on finance

@LovelyUserNames not necessarily. Dh and I (before having kids and the joy of nursery fees) had similar outgoings. Mortgage 450 a month - 3 bed detached house. C tax 160 a month. We live in a small town in the North East, 1k a month household outgoings here is completely normal.

I have a well paid job & parents who happily help us out financially when in a bind. But the biggest change for us was receiving a large inheritance when our best friend passed away. We are now financially secure (no mortgage) & have an investment property for our 2 DC to help them get off to a good start too. We are extremely fortunate to be in this position so young (I’m 32, DH is 42).

nothing wrong with remortgaging if you're using it to add value to a house, also there are some good finance deals out there you can get just don't go to a third party go straight to the manufacturer dealership

Before the inheritance, everything went on credit card and paid off each month, cars were on finance etc

Either by windfall or on finance, nothing wrong with buying second hand likes cars ect. Some people do without treats like alcohol and takeaways. And buy clothes from supermarkets rather than High Street they save and save to get nice things

we had a very large deposit plus some previous equity so didn't need to borrow that much.

A lot of people would have kept some of that cash for upgrading the house and had bigger mortgage, as that is a cheap way of borrowing.

Holidays I save for, don't have a car but if I did I'd probably go for a monthly lease type arrangement.

I haven't RTFT (sorry) but I've seen similar threads wondering how people afford things and there seems to be an assumption that it is either savings or finance/borrowing. This is not the only way!

We tend more towards the saving end, but we, and many people like us (40s, graduates etc) have investments - money begets money. We don't get loads from this but it does help. Obviously also comes with risk though! It also depends on your career - I've always been public sector but DH works for a global corporation and gets bonuses some years - occasionally quite substantial! And (in the past) thanks to his business travel and our British Airways Amex we got cheap flights so saved money there. Plus people get inheritances - sometimes huge but even just a few thousand can make a difference saving up for something. Obviously our salaries pay the bulk but the other things have made a significant difference to our lives

We don't use credit cards and don't have much debt but we did take a loan for our new kitchen. There is always something that needs doing in our 1920's house, we tried to account for that when we bought it and made sure we put money aside every month. I haven't had car finance for years as it was paid of ages ago and the car is still going strong. I wouldn't think to replace a car unless it had done so many miles it was costing more to repair than to buy a new one.

If you’re looking to redo a couple of rooms in a cheap house at a price of 30k you might be better off just saving a deposit and moving again. Don’t assume you’ll be compensated for it in sale price. We were going to get a new bathroom and were quoted around 8k. Decided new flooring (just covered the old tiles with that kind of stick on flooring), new sink, shower protector, painting it, and replacing bath side would do it. Looks great now and saved 7k.

How do you know what your friends and acquaintances are earning OP? It could be a lot more than you imagine, but they are not so crass as to publicise this

I’m 40 and am changing kitchen for first time in my life. I know you’re renovating but I wouldn’t expect to be changing kitchen or bathroom in next 15 years.
Lots of people have debt and can’t wait for things.

We live similarly to you and pay everything up front........I wouldn't trade for anything. Peace of mind can't be bought and the lower my outgoings if things go tits up and we end up with no / low income the better.

Bought a door upper, several years ago, cheaper than other local property
Would like a new kitchen & bathroom too
Bathroom is "avocado or equivalent"
Bathroom & kitchen are functional, but old

Priority after first year was to install heating & insulation

Have over paid the mortgage instead

Bathroom & kitchen, still on the to do list

Car 20+ years old, no debt

So it depends what your priorities are