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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not understand how people are saving money during this pandemic?

635 replies

squishedblueberry · 02/02/2021 10:15

I know commuting costs have cut and buying lunch and dinner out etc but we seem to be spending more and more.
I appreciate we are lucky to be able to do this before anyone jumps on me but am baffled as to how people are saying they are so much better off.

Signed up to Disney Plus and Netflix to keep ourselves sane. Spending more on takeaway because eating is one of the few things we can still do that feels like a treat.

I’ve ended up having to buy equipment so I can work from home as has DH. Bought countless entertainment for DS as he’s getting so bored so toys, books, games etc that we can play together, crafts and things. We had to replace the deck as it was unusable and we are spending so much time at home we wanted to make the most of it (didn’t have to I know, but it was dangerous so DS couldn’t go out on it).

We’ve also ended up having to do some jobs to the house because things have finally given up due to us being in it loads.

And that’s before the books and things we’ve ordered for ourselves to try and keep ourselves sane, supplies for hobbies, having to buy more expensive clothes from DS as can’t nip to Primark and pick up vests etc cheaply and he’s growing like a weed.

I know this is all very privileged and we are lucky to be able to afford it but it amazes me when people say they are so much better off. We’ve also lost money on a couple of auks holidays so that adds to it and I’ve lost work so am down on income to what we usually have.

OP posts:
BorisandHarriet · 02/02/2021 10:17

We’re saving money on fuel for the car, kids sports / activities etc. Less on holidays. Spending more on general crap though. Also utility bills have gone up a lot with everyone at home.

EspressoExpresso · 02/02/2021 10:17

Maybe the people who are saving money haven't had work on the house and garden, haven't had to reclothe a child, sign up to entertainment memberships, or buy books/office equipment/toys for kids? Hmm

FlopMadeMeDoIt · 02/02/2021 10:19

Nursery closed in the first lockdown and didn't charge fees = £600 a month saving

Can't go for weekends away or trips to see people, cancelled holiday abroad and refunded money.

No commute = saving on petrol and public transport fees.

Just generally can't go out and spend money on the things we used to do, like having a haircut, or going out for lunch, or going for drinks with friends.

DappledThings · 02/02/2021 10:20

No commuting and not eating out makes a massive difference to us. Commuting alone saves us around £850 a month, maybe more.

It has also coincided for us with DC1 leaving paid childcare and starting school and then DC2 fairly soon after moving to her 30 free hours so our childcare bill has shrunk enormously. And because of us both WFH it has shrunk even more because we only need a few hours of ASC a week rather than the Breakfast Club plus childminder it would have been if I was still commuting.

As for hobbies, I spent about £20 on a complicated crossstitch pack for myself about 7 months ago and it's still going so that's been a very cheap investment!

NooneElseIsSingingMySong · 02/02/2021 10:20

We’re saving money. DH isn’t driving to work - 30 minutes each way. We don’t really get takeaways, our food shop has gone up a lot though. Not eating out...no trips to the pub. DD chooses to stay in her nightwear most days, she doesn’t need more clothes! We’ve only done minimal home improvements so far too. I get that we are privileged to still have two incomes when others don’t but our spending is down simply from not going out as much.

Pukkatea · 02/02/2021 10:22

Takeaways are less than I would have spent going out to eat. Not going out at all, far less spent. Only activities are free, ie walking around. No daily london commute, more time to plan meals with leftovers instead of often picking up lunch or breakfast. Live in block of flats so don't need or have heating. No trips or holidays.

HasaDigaEebowai · 02/02/2021 10:22

No commuting costs, school fee reduction, no school bus costs, no school meal costs, no eating out costs, no activity costs, no holiday costs.

Spending it on other things such as home improvement but that's a choice - your situation seems to be the same. Children don't need extra toys etc

CharlotteRose90 · 02/02/2021 10:22

For me it’s no commuting or Petrol, no takeaway coffees or buying lunch from the shop, plus by now I’ve missed 4 holidays so that’s all been saved. I also save 3/4 of my wage now

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 02/02/2021 10:23

For us...
DH still working outside the home, but still walks there.
I'm not driving children to school
Food shopping has increased as we cook more varied food.
Subscriptions haven't changed. We usually switch between Netflix and prime, and planning on a Disney Plus month. But won't have the others that month.
Not paying for swimming lessons or sports clubs
Not going skiing
Kids got lots of books, games, craft, Lego etc for Christmas.

The extra savings are just little things that add up. Even the not driving to the swimming pool. Or the impulse purchases, or takeaway coffee.

ErrolTheDragon · 02/02/2021 10:23

Our underspend is mostly attributable to no holidays, no days out, very low car usage. But our DC is a student, and I WFH anyway so had all the kit. It will vary massively between families and I'm sure it is - like most things in this pandemic - worst for families with kids.

Howshouldibehave · 02/02/2021 10:23

@EspressoExpresso

Maybe the people who are saving money haven't had work on the house and garden, haven't had to reclothe a child, sign up to entertainment memberships, or buy books/office equipment/toys for kids? Hmm
Exactly Grin
ArmchairTraveller · 02/02/2021 10:23

Exactly, EspressoEspresso.
Those of us now WFH are not buying season tickets, work wardrobes, food on the hoof, take-away coffee, browsing shops. Neither are we going to theatres, cinemas, restaurants, concerts.
So yes, we’re saving money.

Scarby9 · 02/02/2021 10:23

No commuting (probably my biggest outgoing in normal times).
No meeting friends for lunch at the weekend.
No impulse buys while in the supermarket.
No clothes shopping.
No giving people lifts.

middleager · 02/02/2021 10:24

I know what you mean OP.

I worked close to home, we always took sandwiches and rarely eat out, didn't have expensive kids' clubs, so savings not noticeable there.

We are saving some money on school and DH's work travel cost, but it's outstripped by having two ravenous teenagers at home all the time.

With all 4 of us at home my energy and food bills are escalating, along with takeaways and entertainment, clothing, etc.

ShirleyPhallus · 02/02/2021 10:24

Not having any form of social life or holidays is saving us a lot of money. Plus the commute.

The offset cost of buying items for a home office, some extra films and takeaways doesn’t come close to how much we were spending before enjoying real life. So we have saved a lot personally

Ch3rish · 02/02/2021 10:24

So you're saying that you don't understand that people are different?

It's not hard to think that not everyone has spent all the money you have or lost money on holidays or subscribed to new streaming services etc

HeidiHaughton · 02/02/2021 10:24

No diesel. No holidays. No kids activities. No spontaneous eating out. No work done on the house(planned but postponed due to restrictions). No family celebrations. No nights out with friends. No nights out with DH. Very few new clothes for any of us except for socks and undies as not needed when all at home most of the time. No bits and bobs of spending we can't account for when we're out of the house.

shitinmyhandsandclap · 02/02/2021 10:24

Yep, I'm putting an extra £600+ in savings a month since March last year as I've been WFH - no commuting, no parking, plenty of time to cook more so saving on eating out/takeaways, don't need new clothes to sit around the house, not using make up, hair been done once between lock downs

ethelredonagoodday · 02/02/2021 10:25

Pre covid both of us commuted an hour each way to work every day. Kids went to wrap around care. Also they each did several after school clubs per week. We had a pretty busy social life, and frequently hosted people for food, or ate out with friends. Also might have had a couple of expensive nights away in a hotel, or gone to gigs or at the theatre, or had a weekend in London seeing a show and that type of thing. We also had probably a fortnight's foreign holiday per year. Kids had school trips, or guide camp or rugby camp or whatever. Plus both of us have been able to work from home and not been furloughed.

Obv none of that has happened for the last year, so we have been able to save.

I recognise we are very fortunate to be in this position.

1987qwerty · 02/02/2021 10:25

No holidays, no weekend breaks, very few meals out, huge reduction in petrol. Very fortunate not to have a reduced income. Taken the chance to help other family members not so lucky.

CinnamonStar · 02/02/2021 10:26

Well, we're saving on commuting costs, fuel for the car, meals out, days out, work lunches, extra curricular activities, holidays, weekends away.

We haven't signed up to Netflix or Disney plus.
We haven't had to buy extra equipment- DH's work provided monitor and PC, we already had old laptop for Dc to do homeschooling.

We haven't had any home improvements that we hadn't planned for anyway.

We haven't bought extra activities for Dc (apart from Christmas and birthdays).

We are spending more on clothes for dc1, but that's balanced out by everything else.

LakeGeneva · 02/02/2021 10:26

OP sounds like your regular costs are less. You're just spending it on different things instead though. If you hadn't chosen to spend your money on those things, you'd have saved money too. The people who say they're saving aren't making the same discretionary purchases that you are, that's all.

thedevilinablackdress · 02/02/2021 10:26

Signed up to Disney Plus and Netflix to keep ourselves sane.

There's more than enough TV on my Freeview box.
My employer provided WFH kit.
Takeaways a couple of times a month max.

Backtoreality1 · 02/02/2021 10:26

Commute reduced......only in work 1-2 times a week and no other travel so have gone from £50 a fortnight to £50 a month on petrol.
No trips out.
One takeout every 2-3 weeks which is much less than when I would eat out.
Bit of online shopping but considerably less than if I was allowed out!
Heating bill has gone up a bit as when I am in my home office I need some warmth, but I am only heating the office and not the whole house so its negligible.
Revisiting my bookcases/dvds/music and rediscovering some amazing things that I had forgotten about.
Pretty easy really.

Spring2021 · 02/02/2021 10:26

We could have saved a fortune.

As it is we are still better off WFH than not due to money saved on petrol, parking, food out, coffees out, pub visits, meals out, trips to barbers, hairdressers, beautician, work clothes, teen clothes, teen lunches and subbing cost of meeting their friends in town etc etc.

But our food shopping bill has gone through the roof, we have spent more on takeaways and crap on Amazon.