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.

Oh and home improvements.
We had to have a new boiler (probably as it seems to be on day and night with everyone home)
Our hob broke and we needed another (probably for reasons above)
And we needed desks, equipment etc.

Renting so no house or garden works, not having children (or having older kids who aren't growing so much and can entertain themselves), cooking instead of takeaway, using a library click and collect or ebook service, using iplayer etc instead of paid streaming (or just watching tv), wfh equipment provided by employer, doing exercise videos or running so minimal equipment needed...

I lost my job and so we are down approx £1400 a month (was self employed). Somehow we are saving some (we did a bit before) but it goes to show how much we used to spend on days outs, meals out and takeaways. I know you can still get takeaways but seeing as I have more time now I’m cooking more.
We are also not having to pay out for Cubs, rainbows, gymnastics. Sold the second car as it’s not needed anymore, so saving on tax and insurance. I put £30 of diesel in my car yesterday, I last put £30 in at the beginning mid November. We used to probably spend £200 a month as we used to visit lots of people, parents and friends so would often do 2 hour journeys at a weekend. ( in-laws who are 450 miles away we haven’t seen).

Have spent a fair bit as I’ve decorated the house during lockdown one. But we haven’t really been buying clothes and if we have they’re from the supermarkets. Must admit we are all in dire need of new shoes!! I’d rather wait and not get supermarket ones if poss as they don’t seem to last as long (Kids feet need measuring properly too!)

We’ve spent lots on Amazon but also ebay buying old board games (connect 4, downfall etc) and bought more books than Waterstones! But also been decluttering and eBaying and probably earned about £1500 from things lying around the house. So basically lots of little savings and some making money.

We aren't spending more, saving on travel, as we travelled extensively for work.

@EspressoExpresso I get that, and as I said repeatedly I know some of these things are choices but after a year you look for things to try to keep you sane. Play areas and baby groups never reopened here so making use of the garden made sense. On our daily walks (!) we see so many people having woke done on their houses so I know it’s not uncommon at the moment.
Single friends with no children say they are spending more as well on activities etc to do at home.

I seem to have saved a lot. Much of my spare money went on extra-curricular activities for the DC, most of which either haven't happened at all for the past year or have only been periodic. We have saved money on holidays and days out which we would normally do in the school holidays. I haven't had birthday parties to organise which usually use quite a big chunk of money. We haven't really changed our eating or shopping habits. The only additional things I can think we've spent money on are home improvements, which needed doing anyway, and some extra garden equipment.

However, DH and I have stable jobs which we've been able to continue doing throughout so we've had reliable salaries.

Most of the people I know who say they are saving money are those who were comparatively well off to begin with and used to spend a lot on things like nights out, short breaks and big holidays, lots of new clothes, regular hair and beauty appointments, etc.

No commute, work gave me all the kit I need to do my job, except a desk, but I already had that.

I already had lots of books I hadn't gotten around to reading and have a library card which allows me free e books so use that alot.

Already had netflix so no extra cost there.

Have bought 0 clothing (don't feel the need for expensive lounge wear).

My main craft is cross-stitch so I have spent a bit on that, but a full coverage 20cm2 piece takes me 4 months atm and costs about £30, so pretty cheap.

Buying fewer takeaways / ready meals as more time to cook more involved stuff. Enjoying doing it as part of my leisure time.

Haven't booked any holidays or done work to the house.

In normal times, I have about £800 left over each month. Now it's more like £1500. I know I earn over the average wage, and am lucky that my job is unaffected by the pandemic.

well, your OP has a lot of expenses in that most people haven't spent!

eg work done to house and garden.

It really isn't hard to see how, if you are wfh and haven't lost your job, for most people there are savings
no need to spend
comuting costs, train/car/fuel
lunches/coffees etc
eating out
kids clubs and activities swimming lessons, football club etc
theatre/cinema
family leisure - bowling/swimming etc
work clothes and school uniform.

Yes, you may have signed up to netflix etc (although not everyone has, we haven't for example)
yes you may have bought more books etc, but not everyone one has. My dds brought home about 30 books from school library to see them through.
Not everyone is eating more takeaways. we aren't. In fact in first lockdown I was astonished when I realised people were doing take aways, I thoguht everything was shut down! But we have never done them due to price, so no.
We haven't needed to buy extra equipement. Maybe because we wfh a lot anyway.

We're still working as usual, paying for nursery, we have a few annual passes for local farm, aquarium, soft play so week to week we don't spend much on day trips and have found we are spending more on books and toys, and have a toddler who rapidly outgrows everything. We can pick up a few basics in Tesco which is helpful but he's needed new shoes, boots, coat, snowsuit this winter and our utilities have gone up because there are people at home a lot more.

Not going out and no childcare cuts my expenditure massively.

I used to spend roughly a grand a month of childminder plus babysitting approximately once a fortnight and meals out/gigs etc. At a stroke that’s gone...

We never bought lunches and expensive coffees every day at work anyway

@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?

Yes. This, OP. This.

All situations are different.

Already had Netflix etc. Not going out with friends for meals, no activities to pay for the kids, nothing to spend money on taking them to at weekends - cinema, trampoline park etc. No family meals out. Less petrol. Three holidays abroad cancelled last year so money for that back. No xmas night away with my husband. No family weekends away like we use to do. Not been buying as much clothes, shoes, make up. No school lunch money for kids. No money for teen to go out with friends at weekend. No money for birthday presents for parties for kids or our friends.

We have had to make savings as we have lost my income. We have made a few purchases to make shielding ds and homeschooling dds easier, but otherwise we have tried to stop spending apart from essentials, as we know that things will be precarious for a while.

We are spending a lot less.

Yes we've spent more upgrading Sky and Disney Plus. Spent more on craft and schoolwork supplies, but these aren't particularly expensive at Home Bargains.

A lot less overall on clothes as we can't go anywhere anyway. Although we have had to buy more expensive clothes, like you we use Primark for basics normally.

I haven't been to the hairdressers or had my nails done for a year. No coffee and cake catch-ups with friends during the week (£10 a week in normal times). We used to eat out twice a week as a family (about £80), now have one takeaway a week which is a lot cheaper (about £25). No holidays last year so that saved about £5000. No kids activities which are normally £120 a month in total. We are probably saving around £100 per weekend on not going on days out, climbing centres, leisure centres, National Trust days out etc. Saving around £20 per week on fuel. I've joined the library so not spending £8 per week on Kindle Unlimited.

Crikey, when I wrote it down I realise we used to spend A LOT of money. I honestly can't imagine going back to how we used to live completely. For us, I think it will be somewhere in between.

Our income has drastically reduced but because we are spending so little we are actually saving.

I'm still going to work, so not saving those costs.

But in normal life, I would be taking the train to visit family several times a year, going on short breaks and proper holidays, travelling locally to meet friends, going to performances. I'm getting a lot of take away, but still not as much as I'd spend on eating out.

We're saving so much money. No petrol costs, no going to visit family and going out. Where I live there is not many take away options so I would rather cook or just get a slightly dearer pizza from Tesco which is still cheaper than a take away.

Work provided WFH stuff. Not had to buy any new clothes as I'm not going anywhere. Even my trainers have got more wear out of them as I'm not going to the gym.

Our wild treat is we buy expensive coffee online once every 2 months. We already had most streaming services.

(We did buy a house so our overall savings have gone down but day to to day savings are up.) Our heating is so much cheaper than our old house by about £110!! I'm so glad I have central heating now.

No holidays, no commuting costs (my fuel bill was high), no need for new clothes as I’ve got nowhere to go, can’t go for a wander round the shops and buy stuff, no meals out, 75% nursery bill reduction in lockdown one, no soft play or other activities.

We’ve spent a bit of money on the garden and bought a kids tablet, but other than that we’ve not starting spending on anything we weren’t already (we have virgin tv and prime).

If you are still on your full earnings most people are saving through no commuting and limited social costs, no eating out, no clubs, no holidays etc.

Obviously the other side of this coin is that many are struggling on reduced incomes so are not able to save even with less outgoings.

Really if you weren't doing big jobs on the house and garden then you would have saved, but you wanted those things.

You only save when you spend less than you did before.

Our food shop us costing more but we are not paying for:
car commute (not masses)
driving ds to sport practice
driving to uni to visit dd
eating out
swimming pass (me)
gym pass (ds2)
Random cash spends
travelling to athletics events last summer

I chose to spend a lot on Christmas such as new laptop for ds2 and lots of other nice gifts as requested. That was paid for by a refund on an expensive school trip that was sadly cancelled. Have still saved an extra buffer in my current AC.

I had new decking and some new electronics but it’s more than balanced out by spending almost nothing on holidays, travel, entertainment, Christmas and clothes.
I don’t drink, subscribe to TV packages or have takeaways. Maybe once or twice a week I have coffee on the hoof - less than £5. I know I’ve been very lucky to have lots of ‘discretionary spending’ in the budget but I’m still surprised to have finished the year with a surplus equivalent to a couple of package weeks away - if only!

We're retired. Before COVID it was meals out,breakfast out once a week,some weekends away,hairdressers,evening in the pub once a week,probably bought more clothes and makeup,generally browsing shops (and buying crap). Using the car more.

Now none of those things have been happening.

As someone else has said, we are lucky that our income has not changed and so we have more each month, than before.

We have been able to save more.
No commute or parking costs = £200/month
Reduced nursery hours = £250/month
No lunches/coffees = £70/month

We have spent more on DS clothes, only get a takeaway once a month and heating bill has gone up. We have used the money saved to clear debt quicker and now saving.
We also find at the end of the month anything not spent in the joint account gets put into savings which is a easy way for it to accumulate without noticing.

To be honest we were in this position in the first lockdown. Spent loads on food/booze/entertainment, £5k on getting the garden redone, god knows how much on furniture and decoration for the garden.

But since the summer ended we’ve really reigned it in. No need for new clothes, takeaways are always a bit of a disappointment so we haven’t really been having any and massively cut down on the booze. Aside from the food shop I can go weeks without spending anything.

However, we’re saving for a house deposit so there’s a big incentive to not make mindless purchases