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

[squishedblueberry]

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.

I have saved loads, almost £1k a month!

And spent lots on stuff for the house, such as a new desk and other furniture. No holiday this year or last year has allowed us to get a new front door and back door.

Can't remember the last time I put fuel in the car, bought any kind of takeaway food or hot beverage.

It's the only silver lining to this misery!

Between two of us (me and DH) we are saving £500 a month on petrol and commuting, £300 on lunches/coffees/drinks after work. Another £400ish on eating out, cinema, socialising. I'd say we spend an extra £50 a week on food... so our total saving is around £1000 a month.
On top of that, the area I work in is much busier at the moment due to Covid which means I have more work than usual.

I agree with some others , I think people who have saved are those quite well off anyway and in secure jobs and haven't had loss of job or furlough

No commute to work, no petrol for running around, no extra curricular activities for 3 children, no days out, no lunches or coffees with friends, no cinema trips or bowling etc.

You are spending a lot! I went through a phase of online shopping (because that's all you can do right!) Buying a Nintendo switch, new ipad, Disney + & Netflix and more. But I'm through that & I'm banking £500 a month now and will be doing it for as long as I can until we can have days outs/holidays again!

We're saving quite a lot. Commute approx. £160 per month for me and £220 per month for DH. Wrap around care for two DC £250 per month. Petrol for the car approx. £30 per month. Eating out approx. £150 per month.
We already had Netflix, Prime and Sky, so no extra on those. I got Disney+ free for 6 months but the DDs didn't watch it so we didn't renew it.
We have takeaway only about once a month as we're not that keen but cave in when the kids really want it.

DH's work provided all the office equipment he needed, so no extra payment on that. I only need my laptop and pen and paper for work.

I suppose the biggest additional costs for us were two laptops for the DC for homeschooling, printer ink and paper (also for homeschooling), food - I am shopping for nicer food as it's our only indulgence at the moment and obviously additional heating and water (we're on a water meter). These costs are definitely offset by what we're saving though.

I have spent miles less. No kids activities, haven’t really bothered to buy clothes for them 🤣
I haven’t needed to buy anything extra for DC what they have had for birthday and Xmas is more than enough. I haven’t indulged in more take outs or anything.
No travels costs. My utility bills haven’t really done up because my daughter 7 is very in to her environmental stuff so most of the day we sit with no lights on 🤣

I've made most of the same savings as everybody else. On top of that I was working 30 hours per week in pre covid times. Now I am to work from home permanently I've gone full time as I don't have to factor in commuting time into my day. I can easily work full time and be done for the day by the time school finishes. So more money each month and less outgoings. Winner 👍

Spending money on

Food shopping ( more expensive as prices have risen )
Some fuel as DP works 3 days at work
A few takeaways but not more than normal
A few dvds / audio books

Saving money

No holidays ( 3-5 per year ) or weekends away ( every month )
No fuel 2 days DP works at home
No meals out ( ate out at least 2 week )
No point in new clothes, shoes etc
Bought token birthday / Christmas presents for each other as neither of us wanted anything ( rather have a nice trip away when it's all over)

Lucky we have a good home office set up already so not an extra expense

Written down it should look like we have saved money but in all honesty I don't think we have saved much

Saying that the clothes situation has really taught me a lesson !
I used to spend a fortune on kids clothes. This year my daughter had genuinely rotated 3 outfits and her pyjamas and it’s been absolutely fine.
Washing so much easier to !

Commute was big do that's a huge saving.

Not bought as many clothes for kids as although they've grown and 2 of them in particular have trousers full of clothes there is little point buying stuff. Didn't have a summer holiday abroad and not going skiing this month so no kit for those (yes yes first world problem).

Takeaway as normal, only have it every few months and that hasn't changed.

School bus payments paused or refunded during closures.

No childcare during school closures.

Not signed up to any additional tv stuff. Never been bothered about that.

Electric will have gone up a little. Heating not changed, we've not adjusted the thermostat, just put a jumper or 3 on in the day.

So yes, even accounting for some extra craft bits like modeling clay, additional paper and printer ink we've still saved a lot.

I consider is very lucky though as we both have secure jobs so we've not had any loss of income.

No eating/drinking out, no petrol. I would have normally gone away for two hobby/music related weekends in Jan/Feb so that saves a lot and although one event has been postponed to September I'm making no plans for that yet. Drinking frequency is the same as before or possibly a little less. The only things I've bought online apart from food/drink were DIY and gardening related and I'd have bought those regardless of lockdowns. As we're actually living off savings right now it's good that we're spending little, but obviously we'd rather be out and about again.

We're spending quite a lot less than we used to.

Because Mr Multivac hasn't been able to earn any money for 12 months.

Funny what you can do when you have no fucking choice, eh?

Also DH and I have had netflix and game subscriptions on and off, but neither are that unusual for us to do during normal times.

I did save a bit initially but I am not any longer! I work from home most of the time anyway so I've not really saved anything on fuel. We are both eating at home with takeaways some of the time and groceries have gone up. I have bought some lounging stuff, Prime and our bills have also increased since we moved.

Our costs haven't reduced either, DH already WFH, my commute was short so not much petrol money but Im still driving DD into school as she has SEN so no saving in petrol costs.
Always bought in a packed lunch to workso not saving in costa etc
Sadly our life was fairly boring and so we are not saving anything on not going out either, we are spending it on takeaway instead🤣
We still managed to have a holiday last year and DC are teenagers so past the swimming lesson/ gym club stage so no savings on clubs either.
I think the only people who have more money are those that spent a lot on commuting and went out loads/ had lots of holidays etc

I think you can save during lockdown as long as you don't replace spending on one thing for another.

Eg saving on meals out, but then spending that saving on takeaways.

Or not spending on day trips, but using that money for home furnishings.

It depends what gets you through lockdown. Some people need a treat or instant pick me up, some people can go without and are happy to see their savings growing.

We've saved loads this past year. The supermarket shop, heating & electric bill have all gone up but we've saved hugely on holidays (normally 2-3 a year - probably £3-5k), eating out (probably saving £40+ a week), petrol (£30 a month saving), kids activities (£40-50 a month), going out with friends (£50 a month), my gym classes (£30 a month), haircuts for DH (£10 a month - he brought clippers as soon as the first lockdown looked likely!). DD1 didn't have as many replacement clothes as she probably would have done because I only picked stuff up in supermarkets when she really needed it, any extra toys/craft stuff was a couple of quid here and there from home bargain or the supermarket again, I borrowed a couple of books from FIL while the library has been closed. I was pregnant for most of last year too so didn't buy any new clothes and our alcohol bill went down considerably 😆

Key worker here so nursery still open and charging fees, still have same commuting costs, spending loads more on buying stuff I probably don't need online. Definitely not been able to save here! I don't understand how people are managing to save either but I feel quite envious to be honest. I could do with starting to save a bit more.

I have saved money, but I'm sure it will be blown when everything opens up again!

I work full time, not from home or with the public.

I still have the usual travel costs, which are were low anyway as I live a 5-10 minute car drive from work.

No shops open to go spend and my DH goes for the food shop (as I'm more vulnerable than him) so I'm not picking up things that aren't on the list.

I was pretty aggressively budgeting already when the first lockdown started so didn’t see a massive improvement in disposable income, however I have since found multiple ways to reduce my outgoings even further, and I’m now saving much more than before, which feels great.

OP, I had a wry smile at your list of outgoings and the accompanying “what else were we supposed to do?” mindset — not being judgy; god knows we all need to do whatever we need to do to get through this and give ourselves and each other a break — but what I guess I’m trying to say is another way is possible — if you don’t already have a monthly zero sum budget in place, start using one, just to see exactly where every penny goes for a few months — you will be amazed at the outcome.

Wiser money gurus than me have said before, you need to tell every penny where to go, or every penny will just leave. Track it all for a few months and then set your budget accordingly and in alignment with your values and what you most want for a happy life. You’ll feel like you got a raise

@multivac

We're spending quite a lot less than we used to.

Because Mr Multivac hasn't been able to earn any money for 12 months.

Funny what you can do when you have no fucking choice, eh?

Is there any need for that tone? What is wrong with people on here lately?

No holidays (we've had 4 cancelled), no gigs, no pub visits, no restaurants, no theatre visits, no cinema visits, no haircuts/nails/massages, no commuting costs

Saving on -

Wraparound childcare
Kids extra curricular
Fuel for the commute
Meals out
Clothes as can’t browse and try on and don’t need stuff
Buying lunch at work and picking up nice extras in waitrose
Less takeaways as more time to cook
Birthday presents for parties that kids go to
Food/drink for entertaining
Days out, holidays