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 commute, we aren't using our cars so we've changed our insurance to reflect that so we save money.
No eating out- including takeaways. The amount of people I see who regularly get takeaways and wonder why they have no money .
No days out or holidays for a year.
No aimless wandering around shops buying tat we don't need.
The only clothes I've bought were some warm pyjamas in December.
Not bothering with birthday presents/christmas for extended family members, as well as no visits to see them with gifts for kids. No parties or get-together so no outfit/travel/gift costs.
We've had time to do house reno stuff ourselves and have saved maybe 10k just from that.

OP as others have said, you're spending more money on stuff now than you would've before Rona. If you weren't buying takeaways more regularly and subscribing to entertainment services you'd magically have more money.

Have saved nearly £12000 in a year

No holidays
No takeaways
No petrol
No haircuts
No new clothes
No days out
No meals out

Very boring existence, just one big shop per week and spending on nothing else at all except essential bills, etc

Not everyone has children or the same outgoings as you - surely it's not that hard to comprehend?

We're both still working, but we've saved money on the following.

Fuel - commuting costs are the same but we're no longer going out at weekends to go shopping or out for lunch etc.
Shopping - everything done online so no chance to just browse the shops.
Meals/food - no longer going out for meals, we tend to just eat at home with the odd takeaway, which is the same as pre-COVID.

We already had things like Netflix, so no added expense there. Heating bills have probably gone up slightly but balanced out by all the savings.

We're probably about even. I'm saving money on my commute each way (30 mins) as working from home. OH still working outside the home. We both always took packed lunch so no change there. I've cancelled my gym membership (£15 a month) and a class I used to do isnt on (£30 a month). We arent nipping into town and buying pointless things from primark but we are having a takeaway a week as a treat which we didnt have before and are picking up sweets/cakes and coffees from the corner shop when we go on our walk to make life more interesting. Havent had to buy anything to wfh but have the heating on more

It depends on what you spent your money on BEFORE the pandemic in comparison to what you're spending it on now. I was doing a lot of driving for a hobby which I haven't had to do since March, so I save £100 a month on fuel for the car. We used to go on a lot of social nights with this hobby, buying food and drink, obviously haven't been doing that. DSS hasn't been going to college, so no bus money or lunch money (and all he eats during the day is toast, so not exactly expensive - or healthy come to that, but he's 17 so old enough to feed himself something better). DP is a key worker and has had an absolute shed load of overtime, so as well as our outgoings being down, our income is well up too.

But honestly I'd give up any financial gain right now and have things back to normal if I could.

We're putting aside anything extra we have as there's lots that needs doing on the house, but we don't really want anyone inside working at the moment. So we'll wait until after.

No commuting (£100)
No buying breakfast or lunch at work (£75)
No restaurants (£50)
No cinema (£20)
No trips to visit family an hour’s drive away (£25 on petrol)
No cleaner (£100)
No holidays (£500 put away each month)
No wandering around town on a Saturday afternoon with coffee and cake plus buying a few bits and pieces (£50)
No additional subscriptions (I already had Netflix / Amazon prime)

I don’t particularly like takeaways. I’d say my supermarket food budget has pretty much doubled but that’s about another £100 a month (I live on my own).

The figures above are all monthly so you can see why I’m saving a fortune.

Oh and to add to my post, I always worked from home as well, so it's not like there's any more heating etc than normal. The only difference is DSS's computer being on, but that's not a major difference.

No commuting cost (nearly £500 per month saved between two), no childcare costs (hundreds per month), no holidays, no new clothes, no going out to eat, no swimming lessons, no music lessons, no haircuts, no manicures, no car repairs, no birthday presents for kids parties that aren't happening, no need to buy convenience food for lunches at work ...

If someone has been lucky enough to remain on their normal wage during the pandemic, I can't see how you don't have extra money. If you are diverting that money to home upgrades etc. that still means you have money for things you wouldn't otherwise have had.

No fuel for commuting, no after school clubs fees, no weekly eyebrow threading, no eating in the staff canteen for lunch. Even taking the kids swimming at the weekend adds up, all that kind of thing has stopped. Our house is always boiling anyway so our heating bills are as eye-watering as they have always been!

I did spend £60 on printer ink at the beginning of January

We've saved money too. No commuting costs, I also used to buy several teas / coffees a day plus lunch (now sandwich / pasta at home), I would always buy a few food treats for the kids when coming home from work too which I now never do. I would buy the odd book from a bookshop near work and that has stopped. Never buy clothes, never go out for drinks. Haven't bought new clothes for kids for ages, nor have I bought them toys (they are in nursery so entertained there during the day). I'd say it's probably the fact that I've stopped buying teas and coffees that has made the biggest difference!

We're saving loads. Some of that saving we have chosen, like you, to spend on home improvements.

We're saving :
Commuting (rail) £500pm
Petrol £100pm
School dinners £150pm
Coffees/lunches out on work days £50-100pm
Family gym membership £200pm
Reduction on school fees during first lockdown (approx £1500)
Haircuts/nails/waxing etc £50pm (whole family)
Meals out/socialising/cinema/theatre etc £300pm
Kids extra curriculars £100pm
Shopping trips/new work clothes & shoes etc £?

The only additional costs we have are extra groceries (£100pm) and extra heating/electric (£50-100pm absolute max).

So arguably we're quids in. It's not worth it though :(

We have managed to save the money to pay for landscaping of the garden and redecorating the house, plus some new furniture. We've also got the money saved for a new car (but we won't buy until we're out of lockdown) But we did this work because we managed to save, rather than because of lockdown.

I would say stuff like your new decking, and doing up the house is proof that you did save money, not that you didn't!

no commute
no after school club
no breakfast club
no lunches outside
no impulse purchases

• but spending more on online shops (food and snacks)

No fuel costs
No holidays
No restaurants
No days out
No takeaways
No shop browsing, leading to buying things

But

We can’t shop in Aldi, so food costs have risen exponentially
I’ve had to pay vast sums to get my eyes and teeth fixed because it’s not happening on NHS.

DH is self employed and is CEV so can’t work. Nor can he access the schemes for self employed people.

We’re massively out of pocket.

Some things have gone up for us but dh js saving so much by not commuting that we are "up". Yes there has been some essential household maintenance needed but it would have been done anyway; but bigger things where we have a choice (eg kitchen refurb) are on hold as we have a CEV ds so dont want other people in unless we have to.

@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?

Why be so bitchy? Wtf is wrong with people on mumsnet right now? That little fucking sarky face just makes your comment come across super rude.

I don't think it's that hard to understand (assuming your income hasn't been affected). We aren't spending more on food. Normally, we pack our lunches (and for me, breakfast and dinner too as I work long days). I do in normal times eat lunch or dinner out as I am too tired to pack it up for the next day. But now all meals are at home. Dc eating meals at home, but school was packed lunches only in the autumn anyway so it's about the same.

We aren't spending more on entertainment, if anything, less as we aren't going on days out. We aren't really having takeaways, but we don't really have takeaways normally anyway. But I am saving £800 a month on train fares and parking, which is amazing. We are fortunate that our income has not been affected by COVID.

I've saved moneybox
Not going to the pub with friends
Not eating out
Not going to the theatre
Not having weekends away
3 holidays cancelled
No incidental spending because shops are shut.
No extra food and drink on parties at my place.
Less fuel costs because I'm not travelling any where.
I've hardly bought Ny clothes.
My gym membership is cancelled.
No children at home.
Work have provided kit.
I've been quids in so far.

So arguably we're quids in. It's not worth it though

Very true.

Our largest expense was childcare. That ran over £1200 pcm for three DC. We have managed to save all of that, plus much of the amount we used to spend on activities.

We've saved by having no commute, not picking up lunches etc while in work but also not going out - if we have a takeaway where we would have gone for a meal the cost is roughly half of what it would have been.

Are you actually looking to check if you can get things cheaper? We've taken to cooking more and bought a few cookbooks, and DH is reading more so has bought some books - all off Facebook marketplace / eBay, much cheaper than Amazon (and more environmentally friendly).

We're now spending quite a bit as we've just moved and are doing a few bits to the house and there's not a massive amount to can do about those costs but we're being sensible about it and still saving as well (and we don't earn massive amounts).

We're saving money. The only thing that is going to cost considerably more is heating bills. But DH used to spend £400 a month on the commute so even another £100 a month for fuel (if it's that much) isn't going to touch that.

The other thing we did was have a second broadband line installed which is currently £23 a month.

We did get a garden office installed but had talked about it before, and it uses a "dead" part of the garden, so while the pandemic spurred us on to do it, we had planned to either have a garage conversion or have a garden pod anyway.

Family of 6 SAHM plus 4 children, 2 secondary, 2 primary

No children's activities (swimming lessons, sports etc)
No commute into London for DH
No meals out as a family
No socialising with friends
No summer holiday in 2020
No weekends away
No school trips, school events
No birthday parties at £10 a present a time for younger two.
No random coffees and snacks out

Christmas was a huge expense though as we probably overcompensated with takeaways, nice wine, cheese & meat deliveries, upgrading tech presents, outdoor decorations which we don't normally do.

I'm not buying petrol, also haven't bought clothes and am eating far less as I am just not hungry- also , as it has just been Christmas I had books and toiletries etc as gifts

We have done the same as you and used the 'savings' from not going to the pub or the wacky warehouse to buyuch needed furniture that was broken.

So we sort of have saved, but we've also brought things that we probably wouldn't have otherwise.
However now those purchases are purchased we are saving thick and fast again.
and thats with added travel costs because dh now can't get a lift to work

No travelling either on the commute, work travel or holidays has done this for us. We already had home office kit.