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've managed to save a good few thousand. I have increased my hours in work, I take lunch to work, and other than the food bill and petrol for work we haven't needed to spend any money. We have about 2 take ways a month. We have kept going to work so no added expense of needing equipment to work from home.

@shitinmyhandsandclap firstly congrats on the best username 😂 same here. Saving £500+ per month just from no childcare costs, no commute.

No commuting, no kids clubs, no eating out and we've not had any take aways as we're limiting what we bring into the house. Kids got plenty at Christmas and we use kindle library etc. for books. Don't need new clothes as we're not going anywhere.
We're very fortunate that our employers have paid for any additional equipment needed to work from home.
Any extra cash is going to reduce credit cards, very useful. We know we're very lucky.

@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?

We've saved money but are still doing all the things you mentioned : we are clothing a rapidly growing teen who is. going into small men's clothes and shoes, we already had Netflix and Prime pre pandemic and we regularly buy books and entertainment items. We are saving money on eating out, theatre and cinema tickets, shopping for fun and spending a bit mindlessly, paying out for school dinners, Ds not being able to go out with friends and needing money.

We've been spending the same as pre-lockdown even though we're out a lot less. We've used lockdown as a good opportunity to do up the house and the garden so lots of expensive projects there. Bought a van last September and converted it in to a camper van ourselvez so that was a 5k project easily but very enjoyable and will come in very handy for staycations this summer! Also, I still like to support all my favourite restaurants for takeaways!

Like lots of others we are fortunate enough to both have 2 wages coming in. Both of us work out of the home though so no savings on travel costs.
Home food bill has gone up but we are usually a very sociable family, and that’s completely stopped. I usually take the 3dc out for a lunch on Saturdays, maybe bowling or ice skating or swimming etc for whoever wants to come (not all of them always want to do the activity), trampoline park, shopping, cinema, I probably spend £150 on this most Saturdays on average. It really adds up over the course of the month. Also, no haircuts, clothes shopping (only when we need something and then we just buy what we need online and because we’re not at the shops we don’t end up browsing and buying extras like we often do), I’m not buying daily lunch out as I don’t want to go into shops unnecessarily which is saving me a minimum of £30 a week.
No long journeys to visit family which we might do once a month along with a day trip out somewhere and 3 hotel rooms for the night.
Once a month dh and I would go out for a spendy meal together, sometimes with friends, taxis etc, spend a lot on that.
Often I’ll have a day in London with my friends, matinee show and lunch, then drinks for the afternoon, bit of shopping and then more drinks, sometimes hotel and stay overnight too.
Just loads of things we can’t do and so aren’t spending the same amount.
Last month I had half my wages left at the end of the month, dh pretty much the same.
Everyone will be different depending on their previous spending habits. We are massive consumers! There’s less to consume now so we are saving a lot.

I've got higher bills from wfh but that's offset by not spending on school dinners and work canteen (don't have time for packed lunches usually).

Most of the savings are from the lack of activities, both mine and the kids. Most memberships are paused. I'm saving fuel not driving to work and activities. No trips at the weekend where I'd end up buying food/drinks out. No pub. No lunches out with workmates.

And yes, no haircuts/beauty treatments or holidays

everything for us is more expensiv, the kids get free school meal vouchers so that will cover breakfast lunch and dinner for them all week if I do budget meals, luckily I'm good at making it stretch but everything else is costing more. Using heating more to try keep the chill off for the kids, when they are at school I would usually use a blanket when sat at my desk and plenty of hot drinks to keep warm in the day so fuel bills are higher at the moment, avoiding buying clothes as I usually shop at charity stores which are alot cheaper just hope what they have they can keep using till they are back open as this will be a huge strain on finances. Have had to order mop bucket and new dust pan and brush due to stupid accidents at home which cost more buying online, have had to order DIY stuff to do basic repairs online which again was more expensive, have had to get some bits to try help my autistic son as his anxiety levels are rocketing, flea collars for the cats are 6 x the cost online. Tbh as I don't drive, don't generally use public transport it's actually costing more and saving nothing for us. If I wasn't shielding I could use the vouchers to stock up on df milk and heavier bits from super market and using my local anti food waste market for all the fresh at a fraction of the cost then it might outweigh the costs somewhat. I am in 2 minds as to just saying screw it and go get what I need because I can't afford to keep going on like this with my income lower than normal plus I need to get my pain medication which isn't prescription and can't afford stupidly large deliverly prices to order enough paracetamol and ibuprofen to last me through the month.

We saved £4000 in the first lock down. Spent £2000 on garden and went on holiday in the UK as planned. We have still got £3000 left as at pay day last week which we intend to transfer into savings.

I really don't know how we are saving that much, its clear how much we wasted. DH saving about £30 a week in petrol and I am saving about £40/£50 a month.

No after school activities so that's probably £20/£30 a month on average. We did start saving in after school care but that would have stopped in July anyway but that is up to about £80 a month max.

We did used to be in and out of the shops so must have been spending way more than we are now (we spend about £130 a week at Sainsbury's). We still have take away about twice a month which is about normal.

I didn't feel we spent that much on social things but we must have to be saving that much.

No petrol, no outings or holidays, no meals out, no cinema, no children’s activities or school trips. I already had sky and Netflix. Food bills are slightly higher but I don’t tend to buy stuff to cheer myself up.

nope not better off. Company refused to furlough zero hours contract staff so no income.

I’ve continued to go to work as normal as I’m a keyworker. I’m still saving money. Saving money from eating out - although we have a takeaway on payday, less on fuel because I’m not sat in traffic, nothing on entertainment/activities etc.

Buy nice food as a treat from the supermarket in place of takeaways. Much better on the purse and no waiting for delivery.

We're not big spenders anyway, and kids just use the things they already had (apart from the Switch they got for Christmas, but that was a planned present). We started off lockdown in a tough financial position, but saved on kids hobbies and taking them to Costa etc. Our business picked up dramatically during lockdown, but the only extra things we're spending are on a takeaway every week or two. Most kids clothes I've bought when doing food shopping. Utility bills have gone up, but that's covered by the commute savings, and we already had Netflix and Now.

I think we are probably the same as pre lockdown.

We are both keyworkers so no change to our working day.

Our kids are at home but one of us would always be home anyway so I dont think our heating has changed much. Our electric is probably up more due to all the devices on!

We are saving money on the kids clubs. We would normally pay £90 a term for swimming and £30 a month for sports clubs.

I'm saving on spontaneous purchase like magazines and little bits and pieces for the kids.

I've spent more on food and have bought a few craft bits and pieces but generally we are still being entertained by Christmas presents.

We bought a printer as we were struggling to keep up with school work at home without one.

We are probably just the same with takeaways as DH would often take the kids to McDonalds after sports or trips out and we dont do that but we probably order food 2-4 times a month.

We've saved in some areas, spent more in others; but have managed to put something away into savings or paying stuff off every month.

monthly visits to either parents involve a drive of 1+ hour, or 3 hours (that one usually involves an overnight) so haven't been spending that petrol, meals out/takeaway or little gifts

DC is at home since July due to uni staying online so no petrol costs for monthly trip to see him (usually involving a meal out in Edinburgh and perhaps other entertainment and shopping.) the deal whilst he stidies is he covers rent and fripperies, I refunded other living expenses monthly - so saving on all those.

Partner and I haven't been going to our weekly art classes as cancelled, so not paying for those. Also not paying for the meals out that night as we would eat out because no time to come home to eat between work and class.

No weekends away (we used to aim for at least once a month/6 weeks even if it was just a cheap Groupon or something)

Have had 2 takeaways since March as OH feels weird about having them just now.
Normally we'd eat out twice and takeaway twice a week at least, sometimes more, so saving loads on that.

Spending more on food shopping (obviously - we're actually eating at home more than once a week!) although only going once every week/10 days so not falling into the trap of nipping to the shop every night for treats and snacks and spending £20 a time

Spending more on electricity and loo roll etc as both OH and DC are working/studying at home everyday.

Spending more on sending wee gifts to friends and family , but we're not spending money on visiting so that kinda cancels out.

DCs 21st during lockdown : no expensive party!

My job was due to change in June last year when my temp post at a higher grade was to end. Contract was extended a few times and only finally changed mid January so I've had 7 months extra at a higher pay grade than I had expected.
Post was initially for 18 months, so because I always knew it was only temporary I have skimmed off the extra and saved it from the beginning - I carried on doing that. Also termtime contract so had overtime from working through Easter/summer/October etc.
OH got a reasonable payrise and a few bonuses.

We've both been employed and paid as normal throughout so realize we are lucky to have kept the same (or more) income to start with.

Commute and petrol costs almost nil - I've put £100 in since March 7th 2020.
Holidays cancelled including a £3000 ish one.
Kids haven't been bought anything new outside of birthdays and felt tips
Clothing costs almost nil as no special trips to plan for

We are financially doing well. I have also got a job contract that only exists / I was only able to take due to WFH.

I think it is unreasonable to count home and garden improvements as costs of covid. We are moving house as we now need (well, want) 2 home offices but we aren't saying covid has cost us £300k.

I already had Netflix etc and we have sufficient devices - I’m still working outside the home but on reduced days but on the same pay, a tank of petrol is lasting me more than double the normal time, saving money on holidays including refunds, weekends away, weekend activities such as cinema, roller skating, eating out, trampoline parks, kids activities/clubs such as swimming and the rest. Some extra electric and gas does not equal all that

We're spending less, but not saving anything because DH salary has dropped significantly.

We're saving on petrol, lunches out, days out with the kids, going to the pub, take aways even as we have until recently had more time to cook. I've not bought any work clothes or clothes for holidays.

Shopping bill has gone up, energy bills are up too. We've bought 2 desks! I'm starting to order restaurants at home kits because I'm missing going out and they break the monotony of the week.

No gym membership x 2
About £200 per month saved on petrol.
Saved on my hobbies.
No holidays, 2 festivals refunded, and would have been away for a few weekends normally.
Saved on make up, hairdressers etc.
No meals out, nights out, cinema trips etc, and saved a fortune on no Christmas nights out, Secret Santas and all that. We have one takeaway a week.

Bought less Christmas/birthday presents as not seen people.
Not as many new clothes, bought slippers, comfy trousers and jumpers, and have been doing home dressmaking.

I'd have been due to change my car, but since I've barely driven it, I'm keeping it for at least another year.

I've bought 2 firesticks and signed up for prime and disney+ but that's significantly less than we'd have spent going to the cinema/theatre/gigs. Utilities and groceries have gone up slightly. Bought a heated throw to keep me warm in my home office, not much else really. DH has been spending on the garden, but he'd have done that anyway.

I realise we're really lucky in both still working, me from home since March, DH has been in and out, but currently WFH. Luckily we both had work laptops and enough space and DD had own laptop so we didn't need to buy any IT.

I am saving on - no holidays, day trips, meals out, buying fewer items of clothing, saving on petrol. I have bought more for the house and am spending more on food because I am doing click and collect. I guess if you are furloughed or have lost your job, you won't be saving money.

We are saving about £1000 -£1500 per month on the things we would have spent them on like commuting and doing things with the kids etc. But we are then spending in on home improvements we’ve not been able to afford for the 4 years we have lived here.

So while we are technically saving it, we are choosing to spend it on things we really want. Like a shower that works, windows that don’t let a draft in, a radiator that doesn’t leak on the floor etc - all those things which feel like luxuries in normal times.

YANBU but you may be forgetting about retired people on generous pensions (State and Private/Company) who have no mortgage. They are not spending on meals out, holidays, theatre trips etc. Hence, they are saving money.
I have an older friend who has said on more than one occasion ‘Oh, all this Covid business has passed me by! I’m hardly affected at all. Tee-hee!’
To say I felt like poking her in the eye is putting it mildly. But I did remind her about lost businesses, lost jobs and many peoples’uncertain futures.

Another friend said ‘Well, we are not spending money so all my spare money is building up very nicely in my bank!’
IMO these are the ones who ‘dance around’ in supermarkets to keep their distance and make a big fuss about keeping the Covid rules: the rules that other people are quietly keeping without the drama. But perhaps this is my anger and lack of patience!
PS - I am not young 😄.

Think it completely depends on your lifestyle and if very wealthy / comfortably off versus things economically tight. For me extra heating and lighting bills, more meals at home etc has all cost more - but I have saved on petrol and hairdressers . A ( much!) wealthier friend reckons she’s saved about £10k - they ( normally) eat out once or twice a week minimum, holiday to exotic ( expensive) places and go on very frequent short overseas breaks, daily Starbucks , gym membership etc. I suspect her hairdresser/ beauty regime costs match my monthly salary!! If you are on minimum wage and then lose income/ on furlough/ lose overtime payments it must be a nightmare because of all the extra essentials which come with home Ed ( stationary, heating, printing, WiFi etc) and entertaining children. ( another friend had well established routines fir free entertainment fir her kids - museums , galleries, parks, free team sports etc and reckons she’s now spending double usual costs on Disney plus etc)