What luxuries are you cutting out to combat the cost of living?

[Feelingthepinch22]

I didn't have too many but I've started to cut out my Butlers hot chocolate, weekly browse in primary, not cutting out my weekly few glasses of wine but have switched brands saving 3 euro, cut out the hairdressers completely & have started colouring my own hair (8 euro compared to 60 at the salon) no more meals out or takeaways, no heat on when the dc are at school...

• Given lease car back. Bought an older banger instead. Miss my lovely shiney one but £350 better off per month.

-Stopped getting takeaways.

• Not going out as much.
• Trying to save a small emergency fund.

I’m debating cancelling the insurance for the dogs but it seems so risky. £158 per month though and I’ve never ever claimed!!

Not much tbh. We're pretty frugal and we regularly review outgoings and make use of cashback and discounts where I can. I cancel DDs we no longer use asap.

I've done my own nails since lockdown, bought a job lot of polish from eBay and use some quick dry top coat + strong polish remover, takes 5 mins.

I shop in Lidl and B&M. We rarely eat out, I've become a decent cook and will do fakeaways instead of takeaways.

I do go to the hairdressers monthly for Root colour but that is £30 with my Stylist.

It’s hard to help without seeing your hair but I would go to a salon and have a consultation and make a note of the colour they recommend. All the colours used in a salon are available in box dyes. As a general rule you don’t want anything with a 3 in it, ie 9.3 which will be golden blonde. 9.1 will be ashy blonde the 1 is an Ash tone, 3 is a gold tone. I’m not a hairdresser but successfully dye my own hair. Watch YouTube tutorials for more info and confidence.

Try a silver shampoo to lift the orange.

[quote Bayersoak]**@Malibuismysecrethome* and @CornishGem1975* Please help me with mine!!

I skipped the salon and tried to do it myself and now have horrible brassy gingery roots.

My natural colour is mousy and I have old blonde highlights...I have been getting my dark roots bleached blonde at the salon and so I just want to try to do that myself at home to save £££

Any recommendations? I used 'Clairol Nice n Easy Root touch up Light blonde' which was easy enough to do but I don't want brassy ginger roots!![/quote]
I’m A hairdresser …

Did the salon used to just bleach your hair or did they tone it after too?

Like a pp, I've gone down the making more money route. We don't always have overtime available at work but we do right now, so am taking on as much as possible. Then saving every penny over my normal wages for any increased expenses.

I've cut down somewhat on wine and I'm trying to plan meals better. I don't normally spend anything on hair/beauty anyway so nothing to cut. No cleaner, gym fees or anything. I live quite a frugal life generally. Usually I save any excess money for holidays so I suppose potentially it will be that pot that's hit.

It's only a small thing but I realised I was buying my 15 year old a Costa hot chocolate 2 or 3 times a week. At £3.30 a pop.

So I bought a big tub of cadburys powder, bag of mini marshmallows and a can of whipped cream. Total cost of less than a tenner and lasts a month before I have to top up one or the other

We have a velvetiser anyway and now I just make them from home. An easy save of about £50 a month

I know it's not the most penny pinching of cut backs and we are lucky that we are financially comfortable but it just seemed like a pointless spend

I don't really have any luxuries to cut out.

We’ve bought an electric car so don’t have to worry about petrol costs.
I’ve coloured my own hair since the first lockdown and am 100% happy with it. I use nice and easy root touch up every couple of weeks and nice and easy all over colour about every 9 months.

Nothing yet. The more we all cut back the quicker we have a recession and people start losing their jobs.

Breathing 😂

@3ormoredogs

- Given lease car back. Bought an older banger instead. Miss my lovely shiney one but £350 better off per month. -Stopped getting takeaways.

• Not going out as much.
• Trying to save a small emergency fund.

I’m debating cancelling the insurance for the dogs but it seems so risky. £158 per month though and I’ve never ever claimed!!

I'd keep the insurance, it's tempting fate.

I am mainly just spacing things out. Food shopping now 8 days between shops instead of 7. Dogs grooming now every 11 weeks instead of 10, I might go to 12 weeks as they get a bath at home every 3 weeks. I just got them clipped a tiny bit shorter. Eating out once a month for evening meal with DH in stead of twice but might have a breakfast which is cheaper the other fortnight.

-i walk or take a bus instead of the tube
-i am doing a low-buy 2022- only allowed one new thing per month, and it can’t be makeup or any beauty product as i have enough to last me a decade

• still going to a hairdresser for balayage every 4-5 months but no haircut- i bought professional scissors and watched an online tutorial - my hair looks great and the cut is just how i want it
• bought a thermal pot and making dh porridge every morning- he takes it to work and it’s still hot after a couple of hours

-also making him sandwiches for lunch (saves a lot when he doesn’t have to buy breakfast and lunch every day)

• i allow myself 2-3 take away coffees a month (it used to me more like 8-10) I make the best coffee at home anyway in my cafetière

-i am selling my car

• trying to meal plan like a boss, almost everything gets used up, even past date things if they smell alright 🥸
• if we do go out for dinner i choose the cheapest option that i like

@3ormoredogs. I stopped paying insurance for my cats now put away £50 month. Had never claimed, only needed 1 xray and now saved up over £3k.

Celebratory meals out.
We used to be able to find an excuse about once a month but since lockdown my skills have improved to at least “better than takeaway”. I also meal plan strictly and keep to a budget of €150 shopping per week all in.
For example we always celebrate St Patrick’s Day so this year dinner will be DIY soda bread and smoked salmon offcuts, Guinness Irish stew with plenty of potatoes and an apple pie. 4 people €16?

I agree re cutting down on eating out. I have had some expensive but mediocre meals since lockdown has ended. Unfortunately the venues seem to think you should be grateful. I don’t want poor quality for outstanding prices. I will save by not going out and spending the money at home.

No not needed new clothes, hair colour at home, more slow cooking at home.
Coffee/cake treat out with friend, only then

Not too much at the moment; our energy is fixed until October and the Council Tax has only increased by £8 per month, which will be offset by the £150 rebate. However we have turned the heating down a notch to 17 (unless really cold), not buying coffee at work and taking a sandwich in on office days, fewer takeaways and general unnecessary spending on rubbish we don’t need.

Try Jerome Russell highlighting kit. It’s about £6-7 and really really good. I haven’t had my hair highlighted in a salon in a long time now and I’ve never had so many compliments.

Cutting back on heating, changed broadband providers, doing one weekly shop. Buying more own brands and basics. And not much else. I will continue to support the service industies. Ie. Food, leisure and beauty.

I'm a hairdresser, and this thread scares me. The hair industry is already suffering with around 25% of clients not having returned to salons since the pandemic. Average number of visits per client per year has declined to approx 4 visits per year instead of 6-8 visits. This is lower than the last recession. This will further rock the industry and push prices up even more. Minimum wage and product costs are contributing to many salons and professionals struggling to turn any profit at all.

By all means look at your budgets but please choose your services carefully, our high streets are dying. They need your support.

I am sorry that this thread dismays you and I understand the need for employment. However I had my hair coloured and cut as a treat last week and walked out with mauve hair! I was charged £150. I really don’t see how a cut and colour or highlights can cost £150-200. I know about rent and business rates and this is local prices not West End prices. There is a salon near me that regularly charges £500 and women pay it at the till as they are too embarrassed that the treatments they agreed to and salon services were in addition to the price quoted originally.

Sorry to hear that you've not had a great experience. I would speak to your salon and see if they can help rectify that for you. As they should.

The cost of products, wages, rates, overheads, rent, ppe, training costs to plug gaps, refreshments, magazines, WiFi, computer system costs, bank fees and transaction charges etc have risen substantially. The margin for profit has diminished hugely. Also, when you visit a professional you are also paying for their time and expertise.

Any decent stylist will try and up sell or add on treatments. They do help maintain and treat the hair. Also, stylists will make commission off of these products. (hopefully) but they should be quoting you every step of the way so there are no hidden surprises.

Personally, I confirm every step with my clients before service begins and throughout and if someone says that they can not afford it I always offer alternatives. This should hopefully be happening across the board.

Most stylists are on a minimum wage basic pay and earn their wages through commission. It's hard to do that with out clients coming in.

I'll cut back on a lot before I cut back on my salon hair cut and colour. It's something I really enjoy and, considering its 3 hours of my stylist's time, well worth it. But it's nearer to £100 than £500.

Things I am doing:
making healthy/cheap choices like cycling or walking to save on petrol and parking, cutting out alcohol at home of an evening, having one decent takeaway or meal out a month, using the library, meal planning and freezing food, using an electric throw instead of heating, using one all-rounder household cleaner - not 10 different products...Mostly just stopping all the money 'leaks'. It can add up to a lot very often

We're selling the Porsche. 12 miles per gallon is just not great in the current climate (pun intended). Down to 1 car - whole family are all cycling everywhere instead. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

@funkypickle is running a salon is no longer lucrative how come two have opened in my town this year? One especially is empty most of the time, I don't understand how they can remain open? I understand overheads are big but 28 euro for a blowdry is crazy money or 60 euro for a colour... I would have thought salons would be offering discounts to get customers in the door & nor have staff standing around?