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.

No petrol costs , no gymnastics fees, no gym subs , no drama classes , no music lessons , no topping up the kids school catering cards , no eating out , no entertaining at home , only one supermarket delivery p/w with no topping up in between , no hair cuts for four of us , no hair colouring for me , no nails or eye lash treatments or eyebrow dyeing, no train season ticket , no lunches from sandwich shops, no gig tickets , no holidays ( we usually have three or four a year ) Have saved an absolute fortune this year.

Very aware that we are very very lucky not to have suffered any reduction in household income and also aware and prepared for the fact that we will be paying much more tax once this is all over.

Oh yeah less beauty treatments- hair, nails waxing + £50-£100 a month

The first lock down I had no childcare costs and then there is no extra curricular costs.

We are saving about 350 per month on petrol and 150 per month on kids activities. Plus we aren't going out for meals, buying gifts for birthday parties or going on outings like zoo, cinema, etc. So maybe 100-300 more. So yes, we are saving quite a lot by being in lockdown.

@TokyoSashimi

Because lots of little spends of "just 6 or 7 quid" can soon add up to a fairly significant amount each month.

''I mean, if you pay for NowTV, NowCinema, Netflix and Prime, you're paying over £20 per month - which is £240 each year just on TV subscriptions.

There was a thread recently from someone who couldn't see where all her money was going, but it was full of arguments like "I didn't think about x because it's only £10 a month".

This is really true. I only buy Aldi wine. We drink a bottle between us daily, so £6 a day. or £36 a week. That's circa £126 a month. Then if we go out (pre lockdown twice a week and buy 2 glasses at 5 pounds each a time that adds another £40 a week. Which adds £160 a week. Pretty soon you you are looking around £300 a month on stuff you just piss down the loo.

It's scary.

Yes. Exactly. Now add up all that monthly wine bill and compare it with 5.99 :)

No ASC.
No clubs (apart from Brownies and Girl Guides online).
No breaks away. Holidays and weekend breaks.
No restaurant meals.
No days out.

Yes. Exactly. Now add up all that monthly wine bill and compare it with 5.99

But you're completely missing the point.

Lots of people have numerous spends that are "just £5.99" and they write them off because of how low the amounts are. But add all those spends up across a week/month/year and they soon add up.

If, each month, you have a few ten pound top-up shops, £5 on Netflix and £8 Amazon prime - that's easily £50 gone out of your account without you really realising it. And lots of people spend that kind of money without really thinking about it.

Which is fine if you have £500 a month spare to fritter away, but most people don't, and so those little spends add up if you don't keep track of them. I know I used to be guilty of getting takeaway coffee before work, thinking "oh, it's only £3", but across a month, that's £60 on coffee alone.

So no, £6 on Netflix isn't really much at all, you're right, but it's never "just £6 on Netflix".

I have found I spent a lot of money just on 'stuff'. So on my day off I might go into town or the local high street and spend £30-40 just on bits and bobs (cleaning products/make up/unneeded clothes and accessories/ top up food shops etc) just out of boredom.

That's an easy £100-200 a month!

I'm hardly spending anything atm, so yes definitely saving money.

I’m donating more to charity.

The first lockdown I saved a lot (enough to pull a house deposit together) but that was over the summer and nursery was closed so no fees. Now nursery is still open, I'm spending more on food, and because I'm in all day, I've also got the heating going all day. So this lockdown it evens out.

No wrap around care, no swimming, no golf lessons, no hair cuts, no cinema, no lunches our, no work clothes, no petrol, no holiday, no trips to grandparents at the coast with money in the slot machines, no pressure from the kids for on trend clothes, no bday parties.

We have spent about £5k on the house and our bank account remains about the same level. I’m also putting more against the mortgage.

I feel sorry for the people who are obviously suffering with the shortfall, ie the people that should’ve had my cash.

No commute
No dining out (massive saving)
No theatre, gig or festival tickets
No holidays or weekend breaks
No long drives/petrol
No clothes for special occasions
No parties or entertaining friends
Instead of paying for fitness classes live I'm doing them on Zoom for a fraction of the price

I've bought books and some loungewear and that's about it.

We are spending more, I still have to commute to work, the food bill is more and the heating and electricity bills are more plus I've spent about £600 on things the DC need to do school work at home.

We have saved money here too.

No commute (£400 a month)
No petrol-one car hasn’t moved, the other one had a tank of petrol weeks ago and is still half full.
No bus fares for kids
No dinner money for kids
No giving money to the kids to go out as they haven’t been anywhere.
No meals/drinks out.
No takeaway/boozy evenings with friends.
No new clothes.
No day trips anywhere with lunches/entrance fees/patrol etc
Not had hair or nails done, no leg waxing.
No driving lessons for older teen.

We have probably spent more on food and heating but not THAT much.

No day trips, no weekends away, no meals out, no commuting, no trips to family (hundreds of miles), no hobbies, SORN'd one of the cars, no holidays, redecorate ourselves rather than hiring in, no haircuts, no cinema, no school trips, no taxis on nights out, no weddings/ christenings/ birthdays to attend in distant places so no air bnbs, not had to buy school shoes this term and school specific trainers like I usually would.

@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?

I know. Is the original post a joke of some sort?

We are, I know, extremely fortunate to have retained our jobs at full salary. I rarely go into work, so fuel costs have dropped. We no longer go out for meals/cinema, our main expense, so yes, we’re saving money. My DH received a small inheritance recently and has bought a couple of big ticket items, but it hasn’t affected our monthly outgoings.

I have saved money on lots of things...
Petrol costs - about £100 a month
Nails - £60 a month
Eating out - £250 a month
And my biggest achievement in 2020, I gave up smoking! £450a month! Yikes..
Holidays- I did manage 2 trips away but several were cancelled saving my a lot
Dinner parties- I love entertaining and spend around £400 a month

However, I can't say I have saved a lot!! I bought new garden furniture, decorated the house, bought another horse... spend far more on nice food and wine for my support bubble (3 of us spend the weekend together as I'm a single person living alone)

All in all, I'm probably at break even..

Saving money on fuel, clothes, sons classes, beauty treatments and generally not socialising

Literally just buying sensible food shopping, no take-always - cooking is passing the time

Spending more on online training sessions

Haven't read the whole thread but, as others have no doubt said, we're saving money based on NOT doing things, eg going on holiday/weekend trips, driving as much/commuting, eating out, going to the hairdresser's and clothes shopping.

But your thread has made me think it really depends on your situation pre-Covid. As you've said, you've found other things to spend your money on (or that you've needed to spend money on). We have made some big purchases too (eg a laptop, TV) but clearly our saving has outstripped our spending, and that's the way it's always been due to a few things pre-Covid:

• Being childfree (although that's about to change this year!)
• Having no big debts
• Having manageable bills (eg don't have a TV package and we share one car, which has a pretty low monthly payment)
• Being really good savers in the first place (due to making good money)

With regard to saving, I used to easily save about 20‰ of my wages. Now I'm not going out, this has increased to about 40‰ (which actually makes me think I must have been spending my "pocket money"/disposable income on absolute crap before!).

So yeah, I don't think you're being unreasonable at all. I generally try to avoid mentioning how much I'm saving (in real life) as you never know what other people's circumstances are. And that's really what it comes down to - circumstances/lifestyle.

Oh forgot to say, we've been incredibly privileged to continue to work from home this whole time! With no furlough etc, I'm so sorry you've lost work, has happened to so many.

OP answered their own question by then listing everything they increased spending on to make up for losses elsewhere.

We've saved money because of...
Cancelled holiday abroad.
Moved uk holiday and a long weekend abroad so no need for paying the balance last year or the deposits for new trips this year.
I drove to work once every 3 weeks and wfh the rest of the time in lockkdown 1.
Every theatre trip booked was postponed or completely refunded.

Gym trips stopped and I always PAYG for those.
Once monthly meal out and birthday meals all not done unless restrictions for those were lifted and even then we only went to places with really decent measures in place.
No shopping trips just because bored. That's saved me a fortune with 2 teens who love to shop. Ordering online isn't quite the same so we've kept to essentials.

Not being allowed to buy non essentials again here in Wales is really annoying, but stops you sticking rubbish in your trolley too.

We already had prime and netflix. And we have kept to one (payday week) takeaway for the sake of our health.

Of course, with all of that we've still only been able to save money becuase we were exceptionally lucky and both our jobs have not been affected.

Uni age DD has saved lots because she wasn't charged for term 3 of her student digs. Staying at home meant she didn't need to spend her maintenance loan of £3k at all. And staying on campus this year means she's getting a discount for every week she's been unable to go back to uni so far.

I'm wfh but had a free commute, took my own lunches and have to swallow extra costs for bills. So I'm losing money.
But no spending on holidays or eating out. That's where lots of my money goes normally.
No clothes buying, suntan lotion, clothes for teenager. We can't go anywhere! She'll need a bigger school jumper whenever school starts.
So we're spending about tenner a week extra at the supermarket and cooking fab meals at home some days.
DD is homeschooling so we bought her a printer. She's an avid artist so has all the equipment anyway. Otherwise she's online with her mates.

I've saved a considerable (for me) amount over the past year, despite buying random crap on Amazon!

One thing I think has helped is not having daily trips to the local shop where I'd pop in for one thing and then spend £20. Also, I'd go to home bargains and spend £50+ on crap.

No fuel costs. My old car cost £30 for a full tank and would last a fortnight. From March to October I probably filled it up 3/4 times. I've got a different car now, it's more to fill up, (£60) but since October I've spent £90 on fuel.

No holidays- most of it here I think. Saved at least £2k not going away.

Dh no commuting cost £400/month
Gym membership £50/month
Kids swimming lessons £120 per month
Skating lessons £50 per month (plus no competition fees, no competition dresses, travel, etc)

Holiday to italy cancelled last Easter, summer holiday in USA cancelled. We'd have probably gone one one or two mini breaks as well - saving around £4000 (Although we did buy a new airtent last summer and go on a few camping trips, but that was cheap in comparison).

We used to eat out quite often, we do now get the occasional takeaway but it's far less often than a year ago. So saving on that, plus about once a month I'd go out for cocktails with my friends, Dh would occasionally go for drinks with his friends. We don't really drink at home. No meeting up with friends for a coffee once or twice a week. Probably saving around £200 a month.

No clothes shopping, as we're mainly living in comfy indoor clothes. No travelling around to see friends, no hosting friends for weekends at ours. No trips to soft play,etc.

Were spending more on printer ink (especially with homeschooling), electricity usage and gas bills will probably be higher than other years. But overall we're saving far more than we're used to.