Do you pay for air?

[WillitFit]

I'm very much a look after the pennies kind of person. I know cancelling Netflix and stopping the daily coffee, buying fewer designer tshirts isn't going to buy a house, but it can buy a holiday, for example.

DS1 very much has an attitude of "it's only a couple of quid/a fiver/£20" and to my mind fritters away a lot of his money. Which is fine, it's his money afterall, but it makes me feel like I've failed in his financial education.

I asked him this morning if he knows how to put air in his tyres because I needed to do mine and would show him "I go to the garage ,it's only 50p for 5 mins".

I need to give up! Paying for air when we have perfectly good easy to use equipment to do it for free!

The space in my small house is more valuable to me than the 50p it costs to use the garage's pump every couple of months.

The one I have is very small, it easily fits under the passenger seat, they are not massive pieces of equipment.

The thing is you are not just paying for air.
You are paying for use of equipment.

How old is your DS? I think you need to seriously relax about how he spends his money if he is an adult.

The paying for air and tyre pressure talk is a massive distraction from what the post is actually about.

I used to have a bit if a flippant attitude to money and be a spend thrift. I am now really tight with my self and every few months have a bit of a frivolous enjoyment.shop. Over the last few years I have saved £1000's. I've cut my subscriptions back, use topcashback for nearly everything if I can
I ask for things like gig tickets as birthday/ mothers day presents instead of things being bought for the sake of it( flowers chocolate, gin)
I ask friends sometimes to meet up for a bike ride, dog walk, swim etc rather than a coffee shop or the pub. I still go to these places of course but I have cut down. My waist is thanking me!!
I make a point of having a bank transfer to savings at the beginning of the month.

The pounds do start to add up if you watch what you are doing.

I woukdnt get upset of the air pump though. I'd just be glad it's been done.

Exactly @notacooldad it's possibly an indication of his attitude to money and an illustration of 'if you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves'.

Some people spend an awful lot of money on seemingly inconsequential little spends here and there, but if you do it enough, it can take up a significant slice of your disposable income on not much at all and in some circumstances go a long way towards explaining why some people 'never seem to have any money' while others have loads of savings. Over time all these little spends can add up to a lot.

I asked him this morning if he knows how to put air in his tyres because I needed to do mine and would show him "I go to the garage ,it's only 50p for 5 mins"

But you still have to put your own air in at the garage. So his argument doesn't even stack up because it's not like you hand over 50 p and a garage employee does the work for you.

I asked him this morning if he knows how to put air in his tyres because I needed to do mine and would show him "I go to the garage ,it's only 50p for 5 mins"
The thing is kids( I mean our kids as young adults) will figure it out for themselves eventually.
My two were exactly the same as teens. They were both working, had good jobs, lots of overtime and money wadnt an issue.
I would cringe at the shit they threw money at. However they both bought a house in their early 20's and it's a different story now. They have different priorities and now are really watching the £'s!.
To be fair I had a cavalier attitude at that age as well. I was in the same boat. I was single, good job, lots if money and then bought a house by myself in my early 20s. New clothes and drinking shots every week went right out of the window!!!

Sometimes you can't teach them shit but they do unconsciously pick up your attitudes and they mature. Usually!

Well honestly, is there a need for that couple of quid?

You can't expect kids to relate to abstract concepts that don't affect them, and to live in a way that they don't actually need to.

I think you're fighting a pointless battle tbh.

The one I have is very small, it easily fits under the passenger seat, they are not massive pieces of equipment.

It depends on the size of your car! I don't have any spare boot space if I need to use it, no glove compartment and I'm not sure anything will fit under the seat.

I can't remember the last time I checked tyre pressures, DH usually does it. I do as little to my car as possible!

it’s FIFTY PENCE every few months at most. I’d understand you whinging about it if it was every day

My local garage do it for free but even if I had to pay, I would. It's a waste of space to have a machine for something so cheap

We once came back from holiday in the middle of the night, picked the car up and the tyre pressure warning came on after a couple of miles. We couldn’t find a garage that had air available.

Now I carry an electric tyre pump in the boot.