What have you stopped doing due to COL

[mysparkleismissing]

I earn a decent salary but am definitely cutting back on things I used to do, I'm curious if other MN have a similar mental list

• far less takeaways (saving £20-£30 a time)
• get my nails done a couple of times a year instead of every 3 weeks (at £20 each time)
• shopping at Aldi not tesco -
• don't get my hair coloured done anymore it's growing out (only bothered twice a year due to the cost anyway but saving £70 each time)
• less frivolous spending on clothes, only replaced what I've really needed
• book ban NO NEW BOOKS just read what I have (a lot) or ones one my kindle or library ap
• Heating is on far far less
• more mindful cooking and impulse buying
• mindful.of driving and what things I can achieve on the same trip

Need to tweak my pet insurance that's my next job!

Eating out and coffee shops. It's not just that they're expensive but the fact that what you get for your money isn't great quality for the most part, not proportional to how much it costs anyway. I do still get the occasional take away, although not fish and chips since the price of a piece of fish went up to £12!!

I have gone back to using the full amount of heating that I was before. Gas prices came down and it wasn't that expensive this winter. So the only year I skimped on that was winter 2022/23.

I don't really spend on other things like hairdressers, gyms, a cleaner etc. So nothing to cut!

Other things I think I was cutting down on them naturally anyway. Like new clothes, I wfh now and I feel I have enough clothes for what I need. Ditto stuff for the house, have kind of got everything I want anyway.

I have however been doing a day of overtime each week for months, to afford a decent holiday. I'm lucky to have that option but used to be able to afford it out of my standard wages and now I can't. So also, days out don't really happen as the money goes towards the holiday instead.

We've not been too bad mainly due to funding childcare kicking in at the same time our credit card was paid off so it has sort of balanced out. The main thing we have cut back on is eating out. And we tend to do haven and eurocamp rather than all inclusive holidays. We're not really frivolous spenders anyway, so wouldn't have that much to cut back aside from kids extracurriculars and our weekly food/drink shop could definitely be cheaper.

Less meat, less alchohol, fewer take aways, cancelled cleaner. Next is to work on my coffee habit.

If you belong to a library download Pressreader app and you can get free newspapers to read online.

No foreign holidays

not Upgrading 10yr old car

house renovations on hold / taking a lot longer

buying more “essentials” items from Asda

not eating out often, perhaps 1x per month

no cinema trips of pricey days out with kids - only special offer/cheap days out, trips to beach if weather good (not often), or playing and crafting at home

we are vegetarian anyway no no meat but we are trying to have things like jacket spuds and lentil Dahl more , less quorn or prepared items

trimming my own hair and going for proper cuts maybe 2x per year

Use more cashback sites

Pick up extra shifts at work

Vinted for 2nd hand baby clothes rather than buying new

Cheaper holiday packages

Cancelled the extension on the house

Bought a coffee machine and stopped getting coffees out (probably not much of a money saver as we spend lots on beans and milk now)

Oh yes @Alloveragain3 we also cancelled our extension. We had been planning it since we bought the house but due to the increase in the cost of materials and the cost of borrowing it just doesn’t make sense… and if we had gone ahead with the work, when our existing fixed rate ends in a couple of years we could potentially be in a situation where we couldn’t afford to live here!

Our household income is substantial so affordability isn’t really a consideration for most things other than perhaps property. However even though everything is affordable I do find myself assessing whether I think purchases are value for money or not much more than I would have done in the past. I think it takes a while to get used to new prices and accept them as being normal.

Stopped my PT sessions. Haven't hired a cleaner (had one at my old house). Stopped going out for coffee a couple times a week. I recognise these are all luxuries but it's what I've had to cut back on - the extras.

Between us we earn high however our outgoings have crept up with it

I've just clamped down on food shopping costs as we have been quite wasteful and popping to supermarket a few times a week is adding up.
We are then throwing food away so bak to meal planning and a list once a week

I took my two teens for a breakfast bagel and coffee yesterday morning and it was £30

I then met adult dc and partner at a coffee shop later on that was planned and it was another £20 so £50 in one day

We used to do money for birthdays plus a token gift and a dinner out for the family (6 adults) but this year have stopped the meal as it's £150 on top of the birthday money.

Not had a Chinese for months as last time for 4 of us it came to nearly £70 so I stopped.

Am making the teens aware of just shoving things in the wash after less than a days wear so I check their washing before I put it in the machine.
If it's fine it goes bak to their rooms.
This has saved about three loads of washing a week.

I was going to buy a car this year as mines starting to need work doing but I'm going to try and hold out as long as I can now.

Far fewer meals out and takeaways. We are very lucky to have good salaries but went out last for a pub lunch during the Queen’s funeral weekend and were so shocked at how high the pricing was that we haven’t been since.

I’ve stopped getting my nails done and my eyebrows. Really missing having nice eyebrows though!

No takeaway coffee / drinks / snacks
Less takeaways and dinners out - both only for celebrations or when on holiday now
No going to the pub and less alcohol at home
No more Hello Fresh / Gousto boxes
Cancelled Amazon Prime
Kids clothes now from Vinted instead of new
Selling things now rather than donating
No getting nails done
Switched to a cheaper hairdresser
Packed lunch for work now

I didn't think I'd cut back on much, but I have cut back on quite a lot.

I only buy second-hand clothes.

I never get my nails done anymore (but I still get waxed. Nothing will make me go back to razors)

I've gone vegetarian, but not due to COL, and I have noticed my food bill come down.

I've reduced how much I use the heating.

Wash my hair less to save on gas that way, too.

My mini skip of a car is very cheap to run so I don't worry about that. But I dream of a new one.

I use the air fryer 90% of them time as that is cheaper to run than the oven.

I've decided to pay the same for gas as I do in winter, so I'll be well in credit come winter. Just in case.

We've dramatically cut down our heating and have got our bill down from £300 to £200 a month

Takeaway have gone from once a week to once every 6-8 weeks and we actually enjoy it more now as we really look forward to it!

Us too.

we don’t eat out as a family much either. I’m a really good cook so it’s only worth it if it’s a really good meal - we’re also not keen on processed food, so tend to only eat out very occasionally.

I would never shop at Aldi again though - pointless.

We are very lucky in that the cost of living crisis hasn't affected us too badly - it would have been a different story a few years ago.

But have definitely cut down on takeaways. They just aren't worth the money anymore, and aren't that good either. Used to have a takeaway a week, now it's more like once every couple of months and I don't know why we even do that, they never fail to disappoint.

Ive pretty much stopped takeaways and when I eat out I want it to be good! I'm also quite a good cook (working on getting better) and I've decided to spend a bit more on ingredients and cook the treat meals at home. I shop the offers but I'm happy to spend a bit more on meat and fish because I know I can make something good from it. I'm also good at meals from cheap ingredients but found if I treat myself at home I don't feel the urge to get takeaways. Seems like I'm being more extravagant but I'm saving lots not spending too much on unhealthy foods.

We are lucky not to have had too much impact to now (due to going from one, to two, pretty good wages by coincidence as CoL hit, and having been used to living pretty frugally for most of our lives - eg I haven't paid for a hair cut ever, very rarely bought anything at full price, no car, no kids,... ).

Food is the thing we're noticing most, and I do find myself not buying pretty basic foods now as they just feel too expensive even though we can actually afford them.

We haven't been out for a meal since very early autumn, whereas that would have been an almost weekly treat at one point. We also would have done coffee and cake once most weekends, which we've not done since last summer.

Trips to Dh's home country have declined in number as it's too expensive to stay there. Though being there (EU capital city) now feels cheaper than being here (small Northen town) in terms of everyday prices, whereas it used to feel like everything was much more expensive there.

The other main thing we're noticing is we just have no social life anymore. Friends don't seem willing or able to do anything anymore, and many have moved to cheaper nearby towns so are no longer walkable distance. I haven't seen any non-work friends since January, which I really can't get my head around.

Some good ideas shared here!

I also love to look for a voucher. I got £100 tesco voucher last year for booking our sumer holiday. Use clubcard vouchers from tesco for ds cinema tickets and meerkat for occasional meals out and collecting biscuits via the biscuit ap for vouchers for nandos and harvester etc help if I do go out.

No big holiday this year got 4 nightd near Portsmouth in a caravan for ds and me, and gonna meet my sisters there for a couple of nights, he's well excited!

Try to be organised to post cards 2nd class not first and stock up on good value cards to avoid a panic moonpig panic buy.
Dh takes lunch to work now which comes from OUR money for the food shop where his meal deals would come from his account

Eating out, take always and even entertaining. I don’t feel I can have people round for dinner anymore.

Mainly living and now we just exist to pay tax extortionate energy bills and over priced shit quality food.

Definitely takeaways - I now only buy one every few weeks rather than weekly.

I cut out alcohol.

I buy a lot of things only when they're on sale, like shoes and clothing.

Other things I shop around for, e.g. I never buy haircare for the extortionate price my supermarket wants when Home bargains are around £2 cheaper.

Petrol - I deliberately chose my workplace because it was close to home, so I wouldn't have to spend more money on petrol. It saves me almost £150 per month compared to my previous workplace.

Nothing much else; I've always lived pretty frugally with a few luxury items that I'm not willing to compromise on.

Rail Travel.

A casual day trip to London is now totally out of the question.

Five stops down the line to our nearest big town is about all I can afford now.

we Stopped DDs ballet lessons - we had a big falling out with the teacher but had intended on loving her. Now realised that we can’t really justify the £££ that 3 or 4 lessons a week was costing us. DD not massively bothered by it.

stopped getting random coffees out. Stopped eating out as much - the last meal out we had was for my birthday in February and it cost nearly £100 for the family. We going on a day trip out today and whereas I would have gone out to eat or to the cafe before, I’m making a picnic to take, solely due to cost.

I mostly save a lot less as I’ve always been pretty frugal. Kids love a Tesco meal deal etc.

I buy a lot more second hand and use vinted for the toddlers things and other bits. I probably would have done this without COL as I love being able to spend less…