Do you consciously think about everything you spend

[thehungryteacher]

How much unplanned spending do you do and does it bother you?

Like a coffee out with a friend or a buying a drink in a shop because you are thirsty?
Or a new pair of tights or face cream.

Would you pop in to a pub and spend £30 on lunch?

I do frivolous spending but almost all of it is online, so I don't do any of the things in the OP. I make sandwiches for lunch and bring them and water out with me, and I never buy drinks when out unless I was meeting up with someone.

But I definitely fritter money on random online purchases, and go on splurges a few times a year.

Financially I'm very comfortable and don't need to watch every penny, but there are certain things I think are a waste of money so I don't spend money on them, while I spend freely on lots of other non-essentials. I get a lot of pleasure out of squirreling money away and seeing it grow with investing, so that motivates me not to fritter too much.

Not particularly, I maybe check my bank account once or twice a month. Everything is set up on standing orders/direct debits etc so at the start of the month all bill money is sorted, as is money for savings and then I view the rest as fun money.

But I don't have very expensive tastes. We almost never get a takeaway and I'd rather spend £40 going for a coffee at a cafe to sit and read my book multiple times than £40 on one takeaway that is often disappointing.

So if I need a new face cream for example I'd just buy one because I'm never spending more than £10 on that sort of thing. Or I'd happily buy myself a treat from the supermarket. I wouldn't drop £30 on a random pub lunch for no reason but would happily spend it if meeting up with a friend.

I appreciate I'm fortunate to not have to really worry about money but the best advice my dad ever gave me was about paying myself first, hence I make sure all bills are paid and money is transferred to savings before I spend anything else.

I don't have a budget ... if I had a ready made template I might
I don't really use credit
I don't have any debt at all
I don't waste money eg on coffee out (I will buy water if thirsty
I do review electric, insurance each year
I do go out for lunch, have a takeaway

I currently live within my means, so I don't need to track expenditures to avoid say going overdrawn.

I'm aware of roughly how much I've got in my account and have routine small purchases like having coffee and bacon and egg roll after parkrun on a Saturday.

I don't have takeaway often, but when I do there's a little "don't go crazy" voice in my head, although that's as much not to order more than I should eat quantity wise rather than price wise.

I typically only buy clothes to replace something that's worn out or a few new items before going on holiday. Count the latter as part of my holiday budget

As I'm approaching retirement in a few years I'm starting to think about what I spend more generally. Things like which mobile phone plan I'm on and which streaming services I have. Need to tot them up and see what I actually need versus having them just because.