If you are financially comfortable, have you started cutting back on non-essentials?

[LabraDabraDoo]

I realise that we are very fortunate to have the financial headroom to choose to cut back and at the moment we spend quite a bit on non-essentials. We did a budget last night to look at likely price increases (especially fuel) and it looks like, while our jobs are secure ( although our investments are in the doldrums) we will be cutting back on quite a few non-essentials. Anyone else also making this choice yet?

Our list includes:
Back to buying decent quality supermarket meat and reining in trips to the farm shop.
I’m not buying clothes this Spring, I have enough to clothe a hundred middle aged women. We aren’t heating unused rooms in the house. Horse riding lessons are being suspended ( kids didn’t seem too bothered so that’s an easy £200 saved). We’ve cancelled our plan to refloor downstairs (wooden floors, so that’s a big saving). I planned to raise the children to a cottage in Norfolk for a couple of weeks in summer and we’ve arranged a house swap with a friend instead. We are not going out to eat for the foreseeable, and outings will be free swimming at the gym, dog walks etc. All other home improvement plans and big spends ( I considered renewing my car) are on hold. There are some things I hope we don’t have to cut, like cancelling holidays, music lessons and our lovely cleaner. We are still saving money into pensions and investments.

Anyone else making cutbacks? Do you think it’s going to start having an impact on people who provide non-essential services or are they still enjoying a post-Covid boom?

I've reduced fuel and electricity usage. But I'm not going to reduce using services that other people provide (e.g. cleaning, gardening) as that directly impacts their income. It will hit them harder than it would hit me.

the title clearly states it's talking about people who are financially comfortable

Yup, yet everyone seems to be piling on with the tone deaf bollocks. A quick glance of the title would give an indication of where the op is at.

I've been mindful of energy price increases + the effect of the NI increase in April for a while, so had already decided to stop DS's tutor to cover these (he's at a transition point of his education anyway, so this wasn't too big a deal). We'd also reviewed our entertainment subscriptions for value for money as well, and have ditched Sky and Now, and taken advantage of a free Disney+ subscription when DH changed phone plan.

Going forward, I'm being militant about energy use in the house. Drying washing outside even when it won't get completely dry to reduce use of our dehumidifier. Will review DC's clubs/ activities to ensure they are really enjoying/ getting the most out of them. Will review DD's school lunches as they are very expensive.

The big one is moving house - we were all set to put our place on the market this year (in the next month or so) and increase our mortgage substantially to see us through to retirement. I am now very spooked by this - DH wants to continue with the plan, but I'm not so sure.

I think people who are comfortably off should think twice before cutting back on things that could affect already struggling businesses as it will only worsen recession in the long run. Perhaps focus a bit more reducing fuel consumption and waste as that will help the environment as well as saving money.

We were going to decorate and buy a new sofa, furniture and carpet for the sitting room.

We will just decorate and buy furniture the sofa and carpet can wait.

Well there definitely will be a recession if everybody starts cutting back whether they need to or not. I tend to go the other way in uncertain times - who knows what will happen tomorrow. Why bring misery forward?

I think it's an important topic to raise.

I don't particularly have any sympathy for people having to stop horse riding lessons, or getting hello fresh.

However, it is important to consider that these cut backs being made by those who are 'comfortable' are contributing to a cycle of further financial hardship. E.g the ones who work in the services that people are cutting back on, the hello fresh staff or the hair dressers etc.

It isn't pleasant to read as it's basically meaning those who are already struggling are going to struggle more, and I guess that isn't particularly eye opening as imagine most people have put 2 and 2 together. But these small cut backs will have major knock on effects to many people.

So while I have 0 sympathy for the OP (Not that I think that was her intention) it's a valid topic to discuss.

We are in the same position but have decided to cut back massively because I think gas and electric will continue to rise for several years - the government isn’t doing anything to stop it or taking any real measures to help people out. I’m saving every penny to pay the mortgage down as much as possible. We no longer have luxuries like Gousto or Hello Fresh. I’ve cancelled all subscriptions bar a few cheap ones. Meals out won’t be happening anymore. We aren’t going on holiday anymore. We used to go to Centreparcs once a year. We won’t be doing that anymore. I’ve stopped buying myself clothes unless I really need anything. I cut my families hair and only get mine done when it really needs doing. No more takeaways etc. I think many people will be doing the same and a recession is inevitable.

Not really. I had a huge pay rise this year and price rises so far seem to be mostly on things that don’t affect us much. We don’t buy petrol for example and our energy bill is rising to £67 a month which seems to be what half of MN spent in a week even before the rises. Obviously we buy food but we mostly shop in Lidl anyway as it’s closest and everything doubling in price there would bring it about in line with Tesco!

@ReadyToMoveIt and @tentative3 well, that was a waste of a comma. Good job they’re free!

It would be an irrelevant argument if benefits were adequate. They aren’t, so it needs to be mentioned. (Of course, you’re all lobbying hard for UC to be raised, aren’t you?!) It’s pretty usual for comfortable people to be against higher benefits (and remains in their best interest) because of the belief they earned their money, and anyone else could too, so people need to ‘encouraged’ to be better off in work, but it’s not completely universal. So I think it’s fair. And if it’s the only thing I said people take issue with, we’ll all be better off.

Won’t be renewing National Trust membership. Have put teenager on a “10 minute only” shower rule (he is usually in there forever!). Bought a heated airer to cut back on tumbler dryer use. No cleaner anymore. Fewer take aways. Taking a packed lunch and drinks for DC with us if we go out for the day, instead of lunch out, and only going to a local attraction we have passes for or that are free ( but cutting back on the distance we travel for to go out anyway.) Walking more instead of using car fro shorter trips. Mostly things we should have been doing anyway though I think.

I wish we could cancel Sky but in a contract. Same with phones, will be moving on to SIM only when possible.

I control our household finances (*) and am looking at cutting back on things like take aways (we don't have many - maybe twice a month); trying to drive the car less and amalgamate trips to do all my errands in one hit rather than short trips; we were planning a holiday for the autumn, but probably won't now; have sold a few expensive items on eBay (a small caravan, some sports gear etc) to bolster our funds a bit ... I'm sure there's more we could do, and will do as things proceed, but we live very fugally now. Our biggest expense at the moment is heating oil (see other threads on that!) so thank goodness we're heading into the warmer weather.

• ..... DH is in his late 70's and has early onset dementia, so doesn't now understand how our finances work. I'm not a control freak!

This will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, The more you panic and cut back more businesses will go down the drain, unemployment will rise which will then downward pressure on wages, honestly people just need to hold their nerve.

We are very comfortable but the Ukraine situ has potential to impact our business massively - which will mean less bonuses etc. I am going to ditch Gousto, perhaps ditch Ocado, I am a self confessed shopaholic so will try and cut down on clothes purchases.

I have literally just started getting highlights, after dyeing hair brunette myself via esalon.. so can't really stop that, but hopefully can stretch it out longer as blonde hides my greys!

Luckily we have fixed energy until May 2023 so mainly will be planning for that - overpaying now while we can to lessen the impact and being careful about energy usage.
Hopefully we can still do our planned holidays but who knows!

PP is right though, if we all start cutting back it will mean more job losses in the lower earners.

My Husband is a commuter, so he can't cut back there... I have a huge gas guzzler so I will start walking more and stop the lazy school runs.

whatkatydid2013
Because if they stop buying non essentials now they will be able to afford the essentials when the price rises continue to spiral. Are you feeling sympathetic towards Amazon, Starbucks etc ? The multinationals who take our disposable income but don't pay tax ? Part of the problem with our economy is that its mainly comprised of service based industry now and we produce very few tangible goods. When the recession hits later this year, if we're lucky, it will trigger another industrial revolution and as a nation we will be able to support ourselves again without relying on so many imports. We constantly have a trade balance deficit, that's not sustainable. We have, as a result of covid, the largest national debt we have ever had. Do you really think people should be wasting their money on luxuries when a significant number are going to be in negative equity on their homes ?. And by the way, your opening sentence reads to me that you'd rather people were cutting back on essentials rather than non essentials?

I'm not cutting back on any luxuries at the moment, for all the reasons above. I am trying to cut back on fuel use, but that's as much about environmental concern as bills. We're lucky that we currently underspend our income by a lot, so we can absorb price rises fairly easily. However, I'd definitely be more cautious about anything that requires a long term financial commitment. We were about to put our house on the market, with a view to upsizing and substantially increasing our mortgage, and we've decided to put that on hold for now. Our jobs are fortunately pretty secure, but I wouldn't want to commit to lots more debt and then see a big rise in interest rates. With things as they are, I want to maintain a healthy buffer between income and outgoings for now. I realise we're very lucky to be in that position.

@Bringsexyback

This will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, The more you panic and cut back more businesses will go down the drain, unemployment will rise which will then downward pressure on wages, honestly people just need to hold their nerve.

I have three young children and a large mortgage, I can’t really afford to ‘hold my nerve’. Having a reasonable buffer in place is more important to me at the moment than getting my nails done. Everyone is feeling the squeeze, even those on higher incomes and for most that means something has to give.

I don’t think we are as comfortable as some of the posters (and yourself op, can’t afford riding lessons anyway for example. No dig btw!)

But I’ve started shopping more at Aldi. Making an effort not to waste food (better meal planning and cheaper meals). Encouraging house to turn off lights (never ending battle with dc!). And will be selling more stuff in selling sites rather than straight to charity.

I would normally upgrade my phone now (2 years old). But won’t bother now. (Am sim only anyway).

Thankfully I have the opportunity to do a little project at work which means I can earn a little bit more for a few months. But I plan send this money straight to our gas and electric supplier!!

[quote ddshocker]@tentative3 "don't hoard money"...as in save? Why not?? Saving is essential if you have a mortgage etc...[/quote]
You likely meant me. Yes, don’t save. If you have enough, don’t hoard more. Those people made money for you in good times. You paid them for their time, but less than you get for yours. You profited from their time in the good years. Stand by them in the bad ones and keep them in work. It’s only fair, isn’t it?

Also inflation is batshit - saving is not sensible right now.

I agree this is an important topic to discuss, and that people do need to take some responsibility for not reading things that are clearly labelled and they know will upset them.

We're reasonably comfortable, in that my household have disposable money and savings although we probably wouldn't be considered particularly high income . As luck would have it, I increased my hours in November, around the time our energy bill went up, so that paid the extra and should cover a fair bit of the upcoming NI increase too.

What I want to do is insulate us against price increases in a way that causes the least harm to others as well: possibly because of having grown up poor, I tend to be quite conscious of the responsibility of having more money now. It will be difficult though because I was already quite frugal in terms of things like buying most stuff second hand, meal planning, washing line dried whenever weather allows etc.

So I'm not giving up the delivered milk, the meals out at small local restaurants or the pub. What I do think we'll do is delay work we wanted to do in the house. I'd really like a new bathroom but four grand or so feels very extravagant at the moment. Also we are meant to remortgage in a few months and I was going to cut another couple of years off it whilst increasing the amount we pay. Not sure we will do that now, I want the flexibility of that extra hundred or so a month. I'd rather have it to spend.

[quote Hellorhighwater]**@ReadyToMoveIt* and @tentative3* well, that was a waste of a comma. Good job they’re free!

It would be an irrelevant argument if benefits were adequate. They aren’t, so it needs to be mentioned. (Of course, you’re all lobbying hard for UC to be raised, aren’t you?!) It’s pretty usual for comfortable people to be against higher benefits (and remains in their best interest) because of the belief they earned their money, and anyone else could too, so people need to ‘encouraged’ to be better off in work, but it’s not completely universal. So I think it’s fair. And if it’s the only thing I said people take issue with, we’ll all be better off.[/quote]
So your comment was just a generalisation then, that people with higher incomes think benefits are adequate? And not based on anything actually said on this thread?
I have an above average income and am very much in favour of raising benefits, actually. I don’t ‘lobby’ for higher UC as with a full time job and 3 young children including one with additional needs I don’t really have the time, but I have written to my MP about it, along with a lot of other things, and vote for political parties who are in favour of increased taxes.

We are (mostly) comfortable but I’m on maternity leave at the moment and very nervous about the rises. We are being a lot more careful with gas and electric, no take aways, limiting eating out, definitely reducing overall spending.

We are comfortable - no mortgage and no kids. I feel we already have a frugal lifestyle in many ways but not in others.

We don't drink or smoke, don't go to the pub, don't own a tumble drier, no expensive hobbies. We eat a takeaway maybe twice a year. We have a car each but one is a 15-year-old pick-up truck that we use to collect free wood that we then dry for the wood burner. We have Amazon Prime and Netflix (which I share with my elderly parents so I'm not giving those up) plus Spotify Premium, but not Sky. SIM only deal for the phones.

I buy a stupid amount of really expensive food, though - | wouldn't say we're wasteful as we use up leftovers and rarely throw away food, but I buy expensive food on a total whim, go to M&S and Waitrose all the time, and take a tour of local delis, coming home laden with pricey treats. Every time I'm at the shops I will buy a nice coffee and often cake to bring home. Pre lockdown we ate out once a week. This is definitely somewhere I can and must cut back, but I want to do it in a way that hits the supermarkets more than the small businesses, if that is even possible.

Used to go abroad once a year (somewhere in Europe) and also have a couple of weekend breaks. Haven't been away anywhere since 2019. Was thinking about a holiday abroad this year but definitely not any more. Home improvements have also been shelved indefinitely.

I pay a lot to get my hair done but never get nails done or massages. Facial maybe once a year with birthday money. I buy nice skincare but am now going to wait until something is finished and I need to buy another one rather than just buying something because I want to.

Yeah I think that’s what was bugging me HellorHighWater It’s one thing actually needing to cut back, but if you are actually quite wealthy and secure- don’t! It’s not a fun game, it’s just a hobby to see how much more you can stash away.
There are some posts on here saying “ mortgage is tiny, we are very comfortable, here is what we are cutting back on..”

it’s not going to help the economy for wealthy people to stop buying goods and services. And I say this as someone directly affected by the economic devastation of the pandemic. For the love of god, if you can afford it, go out to eat! Buy from farm shops! Don’t sit in your virtuously cold houses counting your money.
NOT aimed at people who genuinely need to cut back ( that would be us, as people don’t spend money in restaurants anymore!)

@Elllicam

We are (mostly) comfortable but I’m on maternity leave at the moment and very nervous about the rises. We are being a lot more careful with gas and electric, no take aways, limiting eating out, definitely reducing overall spending.

We are being more careful with gas and electric too. I was already pretty keen on unplugging things etc, again legacy of growing up potless, but I've turned the heating down as well and am going to be stricter. Have also decided against upgrading our phones.