Lock down has made me realise I've been wasting money for years. Anyone else?

[sunshineanddaffodils]

As supermarkets have been short of my usual premium versions of food I've bought the cheaper alternative and found they are just as nice/better.
Also recently dyed my own hair and actually prefer the outcome! This obviously saves me loads.
DH and I usually go out to eat one evening every couple of weeks. Instead we're having a nice meal and wine at home so not really missing that at all.
Anyone else?

We’ve noticed a big saving as it’s really made us re-evaluate the difference between want and need and we actually need very little. One of the biggest savings has been the teens curtailed social lives. Rather than asking for top-ups each month they’ve volunteered to have their allowance cut as they’re not spending anything. I realise now how much I’d sometimes shop for diversion while convincing myself it was essential. Turns out it wasn’t and we can get by on a lot less than we’ve previously imagined.

Not particularly - I was pretty frugal before and saved as much as possible, so not really much room to save any more. Also I swear Sainsbury's have really inflated their prices!!

This lockdown has confirmed that the things I spend money on are things I really value and miss. Evening classes, brunches and a nice coffee in town every couple of weeks, and going into London to see my friends. I have signed up to a few subscriptions (Financial Times, an economics course and some watercolour painting online tutorials) to try and keep me busy, as I'm saving £50 a month on bus pass for work.

That’s great OP and I hope that those changes continue after this is over. It’s lovely to treat ourselves but eating out and over buying has become everyday for so many. There’s so much waste. Ive always been an Aldi/ thrifty gal so not noticing much difference. The only thing I’m missing is my DD being able to continue her uni experience and my foul highlights that I cannot do at home! Cheers to healthier bank balances!

Foul highlights? Freudian slip ? I meant foil obviously.

As supermarkets have been short of my usual premium versions of food I've bought the cheaper alternative and found they are just as nice/better.

I’m finding the opposite actually. I usually meal plan and buy the supermarket own brands to keep costs down, but now having to get the more expensive brands with the shelves being half empty. My weekly shopping bill has doubled!

My salary has also been cut by 40% so all in all I’m finding lockdown rather expensive.

We would normally eat out once a week so are saving on that, and our gym membership has been stopped so that’s saved a lot of money. But I wouldn’t say that I was wasting money on those things, that was stuff we really enjoyed.

I reckon we're saving nearly £250 a week! No cleaner, I'm doing one shop at Lidl rather than an online delivery. We don't eat out anyway, but have saved a fortune in school lunch money, kids activities and afterschool clubs. The downside is I have had to stop working so we're down to one wage, but it does make me realise how little we actually financially benefit from me working versus the luxury of me having more time when at home.

No, spending more on food.

Can't wait to get back to going out. I wasn't extravagant so the thing I went to were important to me.

Spending MUCH more on food - £150 a week for 2 of us

But buying NOTHING else to compensate

Spending far more on food and wine, one teen home from uni and the other home all the time obviously, whereas before she would eat out a lot.

Saving on commuting, petrol, eating out, coffees ...

@sunshineanddaffodils You won't go back now which is a bonus out of a bad situation.

I became an Aldi convert last November after previously shopping at Morrison's with a 10% discount card given me by a friend (staff member). They left their job and so I tried Aldi... it is cheaper than Morrison's after the discount and I used to buy supermarket own brand!

In addition to what I said upthread, were spending £100 a week at Aldi compared to £80 but not doing top up shops apart from maybe milk. Saving in DD’s riding lesson of £30 every fortnight and her maths tutor at £25 pw but with no gcse to worry about and social distancing to consider, the tutor cancelled.

We’re

@LaurieFairyCake @150 pw for 2 on food?????? There’s 4 of us!

I’m sure I’m still spending the same amount of money and I can’t figure out why!

But definitely noticed I should stop spending money on a morning coffee and lunch in my work canteen.

I’m saving on the commute and food costs at work, but our food bill has gone up because we’re buying from local organic shops (the only ones we can get deliveries from as we’re all self isolating) which are much more expensive. I’ve enjoyed having more time to cook now though and the food does taste nicer. I reckon we’ll break even by the end of this. We have a toddler so didn’t have much opportunity to go out in the evenings anyway!

I am spending so much more than usual. Can't menu plan, can't get offers, shopping in village where prices are higher and having to buy more expensive options, can't get my usual veg box, everyone at home, all the little bits husband and teenagers normally pick up themselves added on to food shopping. Probably as a family we are spending less but as the person who manages the food budget I am looking at that and thinking argh!

OMG yes definitely

I really like the results of colouring my own hair, similarly slathering on Retin-A for good skin, so I doubt I’ll be getting my roots done or having a facial for breakouts ever again.

I'm spending less on petrol and I'm growing my own veg, so we might save money on food later in the summer. But we're getting through more food in general as we're all at home for three meals a day. I'm also not using my gym and pool membership, which is making me sad as well as being a waste of money. Meanwhile, I'm earning bugger all. Overall I'm in deficit by a mile.

Greenpop21

Yep, DH eats tons. We can only get one type of delivery (tried everywhere) - Ocado - I cancelled our saver pass so it's £6.99 per delivery. We can't get any saver deals we usually do, restrictions on vegetables (we're mostly veggie)

(We don't go to supermarkets - London)

I'm really missing coffee shops, restaurants and all the nice little lunch places near work. Cooking for one is boring and I'm so over it.
I'd happily be spending the money again.

I probably have spent more on food. The kids have done a stock take on the cupboards which has been really helpful as we had half open packets of rice, beans etc which I am now trying to use up before opening anything new. I went to Costco about the week before everyone started to stock pile so have a few bits left from then and since have been shopping at small local shops, the butchers and had eggs delivered. I actually really like not popping to the shops every few days and will continue to try to do this - doing a 1 large shop a month and then using up what I already have and just getting veg from the market. I can't get any milk delivered at the moment but might get a milkman when this is all over, I spent much more going to the shops to often - other than food I haven't spent anything - so I am hoping to save a bit incase work is slow when we all go back.

We are saving a ton on fuel. DH usually puts £300 aside for fuel - if this lasts all of April we'll only need £75.

Definitely saving money, but at what cost for others?

Gym membership £45
Work lunches £4 day (£80 month)
Food shopping daily £10 day (now around £4/5)
Frivolous shopping £a lot

Obviously using more electricity being at home and keeping away from ordering online unnecessarily.

We stockpiled a lot end of January- mid February so we have a good sock of essentials such as toothpaste, mouth wash, shower gel, vitamins, UHt milk, basic food etc mostly bought on the multibuy offers thankfully.

I dye my own hair any way and don't usually buy premium brands of food. We are also still having a take away once a week to help local businesses. We seem to be spending more on groceries but I'm reminding myself that there is no dinner money going out and a lot of the food extras we usually pay for, ie a hotdog each for the boys after their weekend football matches, snacks on the way home from school have gone, also no going out for meals and no nights out with friends. I do intend to be a bit more frugal when this is over, but I cannot wait to go to he pub.