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.

And that £1k a month is not even counting not going on holiday. Just fairly regular spends.

Our food bill is up definitely as is our wine bill! But I have abided by the stay at home unless absolutely necessary and only go to the supermarket about every ten days. I found that the quick nip in to the supermarket a few times a week cost us ££££ and that has stopped. We certainly do not do without. I think we have saved around £500-£600 pm which is cutting out unnecessary shops, loads less fuel, school dinners etc, not buying little luxuries in TK Maxx!

That said our oil bills are up as are our coal - we live rurally. The fire is lovely at the moment but burning smokeless costs a lot.

We are saving on petrol, lunches, days out, nights out.
Not paying for swimming lessons, dancing lessons and half a dozen other activities
No gym membership
No hair cuts
Not bothering to buy new clothes as cant wear them anywhere.
Usually go on 3 holidays a year - only managed to get on one of them

We've saved £13K so far.

For us it’s not eating out or day trips. Child still at school and I’m working but not much in commuting. Husband is working from home, so not eating at work or travelling.
More money on food and bills though so being able to save some money

It all depends on how much money you earn to start with. Me and my husband are lucky enough to be teachers (which is a very well paid profession in Scotland) and we didn't get furloughed. Before lockdown we would go to the reataurant twice or three times a week, so we are now saving on that. Plus we don't have a child yet (I mean, except the 23 weeks little baby I am carrying), no car, no big fees, no more alcohol tabs... Our gyms and cinema memberships have been frozen. At the moment we're able to save a lot but I do appreciate how fortunate we are.

Saving on petrol, after school childcare, tube fares, lunches, swimming lessons, gym lessons, pool membership, buying new clothes for us. Probably about £500 or so a month, and we had some flights refunded.

Spending more on gas/electricity, and probably spent a bit more on takeaways initially, but I’ve got my cooking mojo back now.

Saved around £4k in total.

I’m not even sure OP 🤣 I am spending a fortune on amazon to keep only child entertained/ educated as he can’t see friends 😢 or even get library books...

Husband used to spend a fortune on commuting so that’s a saving, as are the holidays we never went on... Don’t have to spend £££ on fuel to see relatives...

On the other hand, DH’s job used to pay for most of what he ate in week (constant lattes / working lunches / dinner at desk etc), now he wants 5* food round the clock as that’s what he’s used to but we have to pay for it lol plus he bought a posh coffee machine 🤣 he has heating on all the time and lights in every room all day I dunno why I keep turning them off and they keep turning themsleves back on... Keeps buying weird IT equipment like broadband boosters...

Definitely getting more takeaways...

But no weekend cafes...

Child can’t do any clubs...

But child now has a playroom you wouldn’t believe... And the company I get his home ed workbooks from seems to have hiked their prices for the pandemic (nice 🧐)

I don’t even know errrr

Oh yeah and DH has basically built himself a new home office incl a lotta furniture...

No haircuts/highlights.

I’m saving quite a bit, 2x dc age 15 and 11 and me. No school bus fare, dog Walker, dance and football fees, no tutor for ds which was £35 a week and we only have one take away a week at most. I am spending more on my weekly shop though x

I think it balances out-no eating out. 3 takeaways since last March. Unable to visit dd and sil, unable to visit 🇬🇧 to see mum. Literally filled my car twice last year so less petrol. Holiday canceled and refunded. Electricity bill will probably be awful as ds is currently with us ( came out of university accommodation so ne idea about turning anything off). Had to improve internet speed to cope with 3 people wfh. Some home improvements but would probably have happened anyway. Virtually no new clothes for any of us.

We did not have a holiday in 2020 so £2500 saving on one thing. No child's activities or parking metres at activities cricket 6 hours each week including 2 hours 1-1 coaching, no karate, no swimming so saved £ 650-750 saving per month plus his equipment has not needed replacing as not being used. No meals out and we used to eat out as a couple twice a week so £350 per month savings, no commuting so dh saves £8 per day train fair plus coffee and lunch at work £12 per day, so commuting and lunch is saving him £400 per month. It all adds up we are saving around £1800 per month. we have not had any weekend breaks away either, so even more in reality. We are saving more but will splurge on a fantastic holiday when we are able to have one.

I am in total agreement with you - I have had to buy a desk and chair as my employee won't help financially - I had to purchase unlimited wifi but unable to come out of the original contract so paying two amounts.
Daughter at home so heating is on all day where as when she was at school I had a coat and hot water bottle. Food bills have gone through the roof as daughter bored and hungry, money spent on crafts and nextflix to keep entertained, not saved on petrol as we feels so confined to the house go for a drive each evening just to escape the four walls and stay sane, So no i have not saved anything but realise how sad my life was before covid - due to ex paying no maintanance I never went out, never went to the hairdressers or went on holiday so world ....welcome to my world !!

I think it is unreasonable to expect every family to be the same financially during these times of change. I have saved money but that's because our fuel bill to and from work was £600 a month and now its about £200. Our house was (thankfully) done. We moved two years ago into a new build so no work to do. Plus we have a home office/study where the computer is so we haven't had to adjust our home to accommodate us working here. We have grown up kids that don't need 'entertaining' so no need to spend on them. Plus..no holidays or spending money. We dont eat takeaways but loved to eat out so we miss that BUT instead Ive been doing Friday night dinner nights where we get nice food in, we sit and chat like we would as a family if we were out. Its just about adapting.Nothing will be the same as we were ever used to to so stay positive, adapt as much as you can and look forward to whats to come not back at what has happened and the stuff we cant change...if you have over spent (we all have at some point) then knowing where to cut back is key. Maybe takeaways can go or amounts of them each week can decrease. Find other ways of enjoying food together. Think about our grandparents times..they didn't have money, they didn't have phones, no netflix, no primark.They spent time together, as a family, talking and that was their entertainment. We have taken so much for granted up until now, if we thought about & appreciated how they used to be then perhaps we can take some solice from that...

I used to spend 8k every month when I used to go to school for transportation.. I saved that.. We didn't go for dine out.. We saved there

I've not saved anything. I manage to fritter money away far too easily. I've got into subscription boxes and all sorts. I just like spending money. It's my absolute weakness.

I can imagine the general food shop bill has gone up.

If you haven’t been to a restaurant and bought your lunch out at work these are big savings straight away! Travel costs... surely this is less than the extra you are spending on your weekly shop.

@HazeyJaneII

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.

Same here, I’ve lost my job so we’re having to cut back on most things, wish I had 3/4 of my wages to stash away. Instead no wages and barely any jobs to apply for, those out there get so many applications you don’t get a look in

We were spending an average of £100 a month on DDs karate.
Bus fairs to college, another £40 a month.
Bits of money for both DC here and there to go into town with friends-goodness knows how much that adds up to.
No coffee with friends for me, I don't do it often but even so at £2.50 a shot.....
No fuel on visiting relatives 150 miles away, or my mum 40 miles away.
Lots of shopping done online, so impulse buys cut down on.
Yes, we added Disney + to our existing Netflix and amazon prime, not a massive cost and very good value for money.

I wonder if its a kids age thing, with older teens the biggest thing we save on is moving them about, frivolous spending whilst they're doing activities, activities themselves and quick food (not necessarily fast just more convenient). We saved loads when dh was furlough as I went into high budgeting alert as I was so worried about the future. I can honestly say we've been had the most comfortable (but miserable) January ever, because we are spending less and I set a target of no takeaways all month (which was actually fine as we don't have that many ).

We saved loads during lockdown 1, but there was a lot less open then there is now and it was warm weather. This lockdown takeaways are open, kids are on computers from 9 until 3 everyday, the heating and lights are on. The price of food has gone up too.

We are saving £1200 a month (house fund) because we aren’t having to pay out for loads of stuff. Not eating out, barely any takeaways, trips to the shops buying shite we don’t need

I used to spend 8k every month when I used to go to school for transportation

Surely there is a typo there? Were you flying to school??

Also spending much less!

Many months of no nursery fees or substantially reduced due to them being closed (still are in Scotland!)

Dropped after school care as we are both now working from home

Reduced spending on food as not eating out and not buying lunches on work days

No holidays

No beauty/ hair treatments

Less spending on work clothing / makeup etc as slumming in leggings etc

The list goes on.

well I had no income before all of this as I was a sahm so my outgoings were minimal. my OH got laid off and it prompted me to get a job (which I did on the same day, go me) and now I have a full time income, he got another job so is back to being "the breadwinner" and my money is being spent on those comfort takeaways, tv subs and the rest is going into savings. financially we are better off than we have been for most of our relationship but I feel bad about it cus without the pandemic it wouldn't have happened.