To wonder how so many people afford so much nice 'stuff'?

[EscapingBiology]

So many people, who earn seemingly average incomes just seem to have loads and loads of nice stuff; constant new clothes and shoes, kids all decked out in expensive branded clothing and shoes, kids doing every extracurricular club under the sun, having 3 different expensive prams for one child, constantly re-doing their houses and buying new furniture and accessories. The list goes on and on.

How do people afford it? We have a decent income but there is no way I could afford the nice items that some people buy. I know we all have different incomes and circumstances but I'm talking couples who live on a single income, with one partner doing an averagely paid job. I don't live in an area with very high wages, there are certainly no bankers living round here, or people who appear to work in a call centre but who actually earn 100k!

My Sister is like this. Nice clothes for kids are all bought by my not well off parents, very good with money and would never but a takeaway coffee. Cook very cheaply use ebay/charity shops.
Lots of people do waste bits of money including me, and it does add up. Also some women get hair cut regularly, legs etc waxed and buy make up regularly, this adds up to a lot.

I earn a terrible salary - 13k (no tax credits, no partner) but still manage to afford most of those things.

I bought our house many moons ago and the mortgage is paid off. I keep childcare costs and household bills to a minimum. I shop at Aldi and discount supermarkets and our food bill is £40 a week. No car or transport costs. No coffees and we take packed lunches to work and school. Pay as you go phone. I don't drink, smoke, gamble, have any expensive habits or any debts.

Being good with money means we have about £130 a week leftover to either save or spend on days out, holidays, new clothes, Christmas, hobbies etc.

Some people I know who shouldn't (on what I know) be able afford lots of expensive stuff, are really good at buying and selling stuff second hand. Some brands hold their value pretty well and have dedicated sites for buying and selling.

1. None of your business
2. There are always people who have more money than you and less money than you and that will always be the way
3. Worrying about it and envying them is a quick way to make you feel shit about yourself
4. Count your blessings, be grateful for what you do have and crack on with your own life
5. Rinse and repeat

They are probably more comfortable with getting into debt than you are. Once we hit another recession/financial crisis, they will be on their backsides.

Debt
cash in hand
Self employed dodging tax
No savings
Very low mortgage
Prioritising differently - saving on some things to splash on others
Buying second hand items for pennies
Free childcare with family

Some people don't realise how much money they "waste" on disposable items (magasine ,take away for example) or expensive tv subscription, whilst others scrimp on those and can afford other things instead.

I think the reality is that, whilst some can, a lot of people can't actually afford all these luxuries. The problem is, too many look at what others around them have and think they need to keep up and should be able to. Don't be one of them. Debt has a legitimate purpose when used wisely and managed properly. When used unwisely and for things you don't really need it is a disaster waiting to happen. Debt has a habit of building up over time if abused and people end up paying hundreds of pounds a month in interest just to service it. All it takes is a rise in interest rates or a change in income and their whole world falls apart.

It can be pretty easy to look like you have a lot of 'nice stuff' these days, what with Ebay, cheapish phone contracts, things like using Tesco vouchers for theme park tickets and meals out. There are a lot of nice looking homewares in shops like Wilko and the supermarkets.

As well as credit, parents, other income streams a lot of people have had big PPI compensation payouts in recent years (a thread on here showed many posters getting thousands) some have said this accounts for a lot of car sales.

Yeah I often wonder this too. And before anyone says yes I know it’s none of my business and I don’t spend every waking moment thinking about it but yes I know people like this too and they don’t seem to have jobs or work hours that would support it, so my nosey side does wonder. Bank of Mum and Dad is my best guess for most of the ones I know.

I’m 26 and in my experience people who are doing ‘inexplicably’ well at my age is all bank of Mum and dad. For example a girl I work with her parents put down a huge deposit on a flat when she was 18 and with the deposit the equity she’s built on the flat, having now moved with her bf thy have minimal mortgage and have never been in the positions of paying rent and saving for a deposit etc

Another friend’s husbands parents gave them a small deposit for a house, paid for their wedding and pay for their holidays to America, Mexico etc twice a year - but the parents go on holiday with them so they have never been on holiday alone in ten years of being together.

Can make you feel crap and like you are so far behind but also proud that whatever we achieve we’ve grafted for it.

For clothes/furniture/'stuff' - eBay, facebook and charity/vintage shops. I can't remember the last time I bought something (other than food, toiletries and underwear!) that wasn't second hand. There's just no point, someone's always selling what you need in good condition. And I'd rather have branded/designer stuff for £5 than new for £10 (for example).

Means I can spend the majority of my disposable income on extra curriculars and travel which makes me look riche that I am I suppose.

Not always debt and credit cards. And credit cards are fine if you use them properly.

Anyway, we have nice stuff, we save before we buy. Don't fitter money on shite.

I think most of it’s probably help from parents/family, but that seems to be quite a controversial subject on MN. I’d love to help my kids out financially if I could.

Re clothes and toys, my DP has a massive family (none well of at all) so we’ve had loads of second hand stuff and gifts. I honestly didn’t have to buy much for DD at all when she was born.

We always look very well dressed because we have relatives with slightly older children who care a lot about appearances. This means that almost every birthday and Christmas we get bought clothing as presents, and people are constantly giving us their barely worn cast offs so we all look like we spend a lot of money on clothes without actually spending a penny. The same relatives have also given us a 2 year old sofa, gym equipment they bought and never used and a £££ pram which was the wrong colour for their new baby!

you can be very well dressed with clothes from ebay, or selected ones from Primark. It has nothing to do with money

Credit cards.

Maybe it's all shit.

I mean, is it really 'branded' clothing? If you can see the name of the 'brand' then it's probably from Sports Direct or TKMaxx. For me a 'decent' brand is one where you can't see the name. Is it really 'nice new furniture' or just £50 spunked on a new range from The Range? Accessories can come from supermarkets. You can acquire a lot for a little.

Maybe the after-curriculars aren't as expensive as you think.

I don't run a car. Probably gives me more money in my pocket to spend on other things.

I don't know. I guess I don't see this phenomenon much. I see people who buy a lot of cheap stuff, and people who buy a little better quality stuff, but I am clearly not in the right place to know anyone spending thousands on lots of 'nice' stuff.

Up to their necks in it and why not the whole world has gone mad

I have an average income and I have fairly nice things. I've never really thought about how I afford it to be honest. I don't have a car, I don't really go on holidays because I don't enjoy them and I keep my household bills down without missing out on anything. I have NowTV instead of a proper Sky package, I do my food shopping at Aldi and pick some bits at the local wholesalers. I save a bit of money each month for any luxuries too. I probably come across as one of the people you mean.

I honestly don't think that any of the people that I know who seem to buy a lot have high incomes. Honestly, they all work locally for various companies and none of the companies in this area pay well, it's a very low paid area.

But you wouldn't necessarily know about their incomes just based on that information though.

Ok so most employers near you don't pay much, though even call centres sometimes have bonuses and even a modest one of a couple of hundred pounds could still buy a lot of second hand Ralph Lauren tops on Ebay. But they could easily have other sources of income you don't know about. Who's to say they aren't doing something from home? Or getting help from family? Even just grandparents paying for a hobby for each child might make a family look much wealthier than they are.

Plus, a lot of the things you mention, they just aren't that expensive. Someone mentioned Wilkos upthread. Couple of tubs of paint for a room and some accessories from there would give you plenty of change from a hundred. How many times a year would someone have to paint a room in their house and post about it on FB for you to get the impression they decorated it a lot. Three, four? Add the numbers up.

Unless you have access to their bank statements you have no idea what people’s income is.
I’m a SAHM, we live in a small town in the midlands that people would say had no big paying businesses. DH works predominantly from home in the banking sector with the occasional foray into London. People who don’t know is well would have no idea he has a six figure salary.

I often wonder how some of the families from DC's school seem to have so much money. One family in particular lives in a massive house, the husband works in an unskilled job and the wife doesn't work. They have so much nice, expensive stuff. I'm guessing they have or have had help from family, that's the only thing I can think of.

Debt, benefits, family assistance, self employed so able to do own taxes etc.

don't forget alcohol and cigarettes. If you are smoking a packet of fags everyday and drinking 2/3 times a week (or more) that soon mounts up. Food is also an area where you can save a lot of money if you shop wisely and all those little extras like take away lattes and lunches. These all mount up.