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?!

[PenisBeakerIsMyFavouriteMuppet]

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!

So you’re saving approximately £230/month? Honestly, that’s not a lot with two incomes, no kids, and “very good disposable income”.

It sounds like you’re not saving enough.

[PerfidiousAlbion]

Apparently, equity release and re-mortgaging are at record high levels (a relative works in this field). A lot also comes from windfalls such as inheritance and dividends.

[Nocares]

Thanks everyone. Certainly food for thought.

I think I may look at 0% finance options as a way forward. Especially as we don't have children yet so can certainly afford repayments on things.

I've always had 'avoid debt' drilled into me from a young age so the thought of any type of debt other than my mortgage scares me! But it seems maybe better long term than what I initially thought

[maybebe]

[quote Nocares]@shinynewapple21 nope! House was dirt cheap, even when renovations are completed we won't have spent as much as it would cost to buy a completed house.

Also we have plenty of disposable income, but not enough to just save and buy a kitchen one month then get a new car 3 months later and then a bathroom etc. If you see what I mean?
Then if we wanted to also go on holidays and enjoy life on top then we'd be saving up for decades!!

Even with our very good disposable income, it would take years and years to buy nice things through savings![/quote]
Surely you save the disposable income and then use it to get your kitchen? We just got a new kitchen this way. Saved money over the years, spent it too but not extravagantly, then spent it on a kitchen. It wouldn't occur to me to get one on finance. Don't just dispose of the income. Spend or save it wisely.

[JackieWeaverFever]

I have "nice" stuff

I carefully prioritise what I want and "buy cheap" on things that don't matter.
People think half the stuff in my house is Neptune. its mostly a mix of john lewis clearance, Dunelm, Matalan and ikea.

My clothes are designer mixed with high street but i buy everything in sales or sample sales most is 50-90% off

When buying my last kitchen I was flexible on the units and counters I got 6 or 7 quotes and benchmarked them against each other the final price came in 5k lower than the starting point.

I don't believe in taking on debt if I can't afford something but as per user19... 0% can makes sense

[BasinHaircut]

Not everyone has inherited or been gifted money, and not everyone is financed up to the hilt. Sometimes it’s a sensible balance between carefully managed debt for things that make sense and saving up for other things.

For example it might make sense to go into short term debt or release equity in your house to do some much needed renovations and allow you to enjoy your home, but makes sense to save up for a depreciating assets such as a car.

[Babdoc]

I started out with DH in a slum tenement with no bathroom on £15 a month rent, back in 1977. We saved hard, and bought our forever home in 1983 when the mortgage interest rate was 15%.
We were down to our last £30 in the bank when we moved in! We had no stair carpet or tv for 3 years.
When we had the DC, DH was allowed one pint of beer a week, as we couldn’t afford any more. We budgeted to the last penny.
I think young couples now are not prepared to accept the standard of living that we suffered back then, so they take on a lot more debt, and buy on credit.
I was widowed at 35, the mortgage was paid off by the life assurance, and once I was working full time again the DC and I had a comfortable lifestyle. I invested heavily and also inherited from both sets of parents, so I finally got my new kitchen at the age of 60. And was able to give both DC a 50% mortgage deposit.
You just have to weigh up priorities, OP, and decide what level of debt you want or feel comfortable with. Everybody’s circumstances are different - those people you envy with lovely new cars/kitchens/holidays might lie awake at night sweating with fear about their repayments. (Or be sad widows who would trade all their possessions and savings to have their DH back.)

[NeedToGetOuttaHere]

I think you need a plan, for example for the next 8 months we are saving £500 per month snd then getting the bath room done etc. Thinking about every thing you need or want is overwhelming.
I’m sounds like you are comparing yourself to others a lot, you have a house and by the sound of it a lot of disposable income, I can’t see a problem.

[HappyTimeTunnelDinosaur]

I agree that jot everyone has rich parents, we didn't have money given to us either and our only loan is the mortgage. We saved for a while then paid for our new kitchen, prior to that we had saved for a car etc, just step by step. At one point we chose to manage with just one car so that we could save more etc. Yes a lot of people do finance things, but not everyone.

[Isla2021]

What is your approx joint income op? Do you have a mortgage, if so what is your monthly payment?

I do know what you mean though, I feel the same as you, another one who has an old car but I own it outright, I would love a new one but they are so expensive!

[Nocares]

@PenisBeakerIsMyFavouriteMuppet

Lol no, that was an exaggeration, apologies.

[Bee0808]

Any debt we have taken on (other than mortgage) is always 0%.
Our mortgage is only 1%!
It's a no brainer to me...
We have got the savings to pay for stuff but would rather just pay each month 0% interest for 1-3 years and keep the savings for emergencies - and a new bathroom (though nice) isn't an emergency.
Its worked pretty well so far

[imamearcat]

My husband always insists that any house stuff we do the work ourselves so that saves quite a lot in labour. Buy stuff on finance. Made money on properties to put into the next. Hope wages increase to cover existing debt and current living costs plus extras.

[sanfranfibber]

How much are you earning and saving OP?

[Logmein]

I earn a really good wage and DH earns double that.
When we buy houses we buy them based on my wage alone and its always a renovation as DH has a building company.
I pay for everything mortgage, bills, insurances etc.
DH pays for our cars, holidays, renovations which works out to more than my input, it also means we don't have to borrow money.
We've never been fortunate to be given any money from parents/family.

[riddles26]

Massively depends on your income and amount saved but my point of view is that house is appreciating asset so major work like extension/kitchen are worth increasing mortgage, especially right now when interest rates are rock bottom and saving like crazy for when they do eventually rise.

As pp said, there is also lots to be gained from shopping around and ensuring you get the best possible price as well as trying to do some of the work yourself if you have time.

Cars only ever depreciate, holidays are for enjoyment so they are paid for with savings and if no savings, we go without.

[Nocares]

Currently our income is: 3.7K
Outgoings including food shop and petrol: 1K

Left over: 2.7K

We were saving 2K towards the new house purchase and now we've bought it were thinking of putting 2K into savings for house and having 350 each for monthly spends from the leftover 700.

What you think?

DP also gets quarterly bonuses but I don't like to add that into equations as it could change at anytime. But when he gets his next bonus it should be 2K after deductions on top which will go on bathroom.

But again I don't like to count his bonuses into the finances as their not guaranteed.

[Lampzade]

We have lived in our current house for about twelve years and have only just recently got work done on it.
It can take years to get your home the way you want it

[TheChosenTwo]

Well it depends on your perspective of a ‘good income’.
Dh and I combined bring in what I think of as a ‘good income’. We can afford holidays, bought a new car which is coming next month, doing a lot of home renovations, have 3dc. Nothing is on credit (our mortgage is our only ‘debt’ and we overpay it to clear it quicker), we have various savings accounts, choose what we want to buy/book next and will have the money ready to pay for it because we’ve constantly put a ‘good’ amount of money away.
Maybe people you know are earning more. Maybe they’re putting it all on finance. If you’re happy, does it matter about anyone else?

[Munkeenut]

We got to the point where we could afford nice things and then had a toddler who meant we couldnt have nice things after all because he destroys every thing in his path. I'm looking forward to buying one nice thing like a car on retirement and hope he's moved out by then

[freezingcoldsnow]

But you said it would take you a decade to save 28K but you have 2K a month to save...that's 14 months saving???

[TheChosenTwo]

Sorry, you’ve updated since I posted.
I’m shocked that your outgoings INCLUDING food and petrol, does that include all bills too? Our food bill for the 5 of us alone is around 1k

[NeedToGetOuttaHere]

She you could pay for everything you want in a just over a year?

[IndecentFeminist]

We are in the middle of a massive extension which has raised the odd querying eyebrow, but sadly it was financed by the loss of a parent.

Prior to that we lived very happily in our very small, very dated house for 6 yrs. We knew we would extend one day, by hook or by crook, but it has come sooner than we thought. We won't have enough to kit out most of the new bits, but that's ok.

Using finance sensibly can also help.

[NeedToGetOuttaHere]

Your posts don’t make sense.