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 mean - basically we don't do the things you do, we already had Netflix?

We're resisting takeaway as much as possible partly its expensive, partly a lot of it doesn't travel well - curry/chinese is ok but others not so much.

I'm saving a few hundred each month (no train season ticket, no car parking, low/no lunches at work) but its partly needed to offset my wife being furloughed and increased costs for electric/heating and food.

Still overall we're slightly ahead

We are saving loads, DP's fuel bill is usually about £250 a month if not more plus he stays away a lot for work so thats extra food and sometimes hotel costs. No school uniform, no soft play, no days out, no eating out. My fuel bill is less because im hardly going anywhere, no school tag days or activities to pay for, no swimming lessons at £180 each a term. Id say we are saving £500 at least a month

Outgoings wise we already had netflix and disney plus, im spending a bit more than usual on shopping and activities to keep us all occupied at home but nowhere near as much as our usual outgoings, the biggest thing is the extra gas and electricity.

For the first time in years despite DP not really having much work for the last 10mths we have some savings.

Oh and as pp said no holidays. We usually have a summer, a center parcs at Christmas and maybe a couple of days here and there elsewhere. All cancelled.
I also used to spend quite a bit a fortune doing things in my job (childminder), but there has been nowhere to go. No groups, no softly, no cafes, no attractions, so saved money on that, and fuel.

Well op you're helping the economy so don't feel bad.

Saving has come from a number of activities not done due to lockdown.

Monthly saving:
No nursery: £2,000 in total for 2 DC
No commuting: £520 in total for us both
No food at work: £400 in total for us both
No outings: £300 in total
Total: £3,220 per month

Our food bill have rocketed from about £600 per month to £1,000 (me, DH, 2DC and 1 DSC EOW and half holidays)

Have spent lots of those savings on improving the house and garden though!

No commute = £160 pm
No kids activities = £150pm
School fee reduction = £2.5k in total
No gym = £45pm
No school lunches = £1k in total
No school wraparound care £200 pm
No pubs/restaurants/Pret for work lunches = £400pm
No holidays last year = £5k (total)
No school ski trip/outdoor pursuits/rugby tour = £2.5k (total)

Our savings easily offset the extra utilities and food. We don't have Netflix/Disney, nor buy a lot of takeaways. I spent a bit on a new home office set up (maybe £1.5k), but we've still saved overall.

It’s the lack of leisure activities which usually cost.

We might spend more on the supermarket delivery and on an off takeaway, but it’s more than compensated for by not going on days out and eating out, or buying the associated things with going out....gifts for those who might be hosting us, the odd new outfit for going out or work, snacks and drinks through a day of being out...big and little bits here and there.

If before lockdown, you didn’t spend much on leisure anyway ....hols, eating out and going out and expensive activities for kids, then there might not be so much to save.

I guess I'm in a similar position to the OP in that whilst I've saved on some things, I haven't saved more overall, because I've also chosen to spend money on exceptional one-off costs.

If I hadn't, then I'd have more in the bank. It's that simple. I can totally see how others have squirrelled away more cash.

Our costs have been about the same although we are spending a bit less on fuel. Bil and Sil are saving loads though with no childcare and no commute.

We’ve saved at least £500 pm on commuting costs. In the times where our youngest DC hasn’t been to childcare we haven’t been charged so we’ve had a good few months saving nearly £500 on that. We haven’t bought lunches etc at the shops near work which has probably saved £25 a week each. I’ve had one haircut in a year, and no other beauty treatments. Kids sports and activities all cancelled and refunded.

We’ve spent more on groceries, takeaways, treats or big purchases for the kids (climbing frame for example), home office supplies, heating bills etc, plus I’ve lost about 25% of my income, but the balance is still definitely in our favour. We haven’t saved a fortune but we’ve definitely been better off. Tbh I don’t know how we were managing before

Worked from home for a while = no petrol costs. Pubs/restaurants closed so no social life or need for new clothes = money saved.

You chose to waste money on totally unnecessary expenses like netflix/Disney channel /takeaways/entertainment for children, but please don't whine about it.

Jeez, how would we have possibly survived in the 80s!

Takeaways cost way less than eating out which we regularly did as family time.

Havent done anything to the house and not lucky enough to have a garden.

Kids already have everything they need to be entertained + xmas litrally just happened.

Asda clothing doesnt really cost more than primark.

Bills havent gone up because we are still home the same amount of time.

DHs a keyworker, hasnt cost him anything more than normal.

In lockdown so got nowhere to drive too so no petrol costs for my car.

We cant go on outings, holidays, weekends away, had to cancel birthday parties... basically every big annual outgoing and every weekly little luxuary has gone and nothing else has changed.

Sound like you choose to upgrade your house but thats a choice, most people havent done that.

If you need to save money then you can replace a lot of what you are spending money on with cheaper alternatives.

If you don't need to save money then do what you have to do to get through lockdown happily.

Don't make "who can do lockdown the cheapest" into a competition in your head. Everyone's different

I’m spending much more than usual.
However I can see how people who had money to start with are saving.

Mines gone up now I’m not able to go to 25 shops to get the best deals, more food, more heating, ordering bits and bobs is normally pick up in wilko etc.

If you were someone already lucky enough to go to restaurants, cinemas, days out, clothes shopping etc, big expensive commutes than your going to be saving a fortune

I think it depends how close you were to the breadline before the pandemic. If you were ultra careful with money before, you're not going to save much/anything now. My savings are because I tend to waste money on stuff I don't need to cheer myself up. I'm not saving a huge amount but my outgoings have been cut down to essentials and apart from a period where my employer reduced my hours my income has been static.

More expensive than usual:

• Bought annual subscriptions to Disney+ and Prime
• Three months of reduced working hours hit income
• Drinking more

Less expensive than usual:

• My commute cost me $200 a month
• I'm only going out once a week for food shopping rather than doing lots of top-ups which has reduced spending by a third
• Government rebate
• I've bought no new clothes in a year
• I've had the same pair of trainers since late 2019, usually I'd wear through a couple of pairs a year
• I've not made the countless visits to random shops to buy random stuff, just because I can
• I've not been withdrawing cash every week which somehow just disappears
• I've not had any takeaways since pandemic began, they seem like an extra unnecessary risk

No petrol costs commuting to work (haven't been to the office in nearly a year).
I don't buy coffee, lunch etc at work so no change there really - if anything I'm probably spending more as work provide tea & coffee in the office. Still getting occasional takeaway coffee/ cake at weekends.
I don't subscribe to Netflix etc.
No impulse shopping buys as mostly doing weekly food shop online.
Additional cost of a monthly "meal kit" box but that's probably balanced out by not eating out.
No holidays or weekends away (had one last year but that's far less than normal).
No other travel costs e.g. local public transport as not going anywhere!
No need for office work clothes and shoes.
Gym membership on hold while they were closed, no personal training or sports massage costs.
I bought a desk but everything else was provided by work.
I guess not having growing kids helps!
I've put about 20% of my salary into savings in the last year.

As no doubt countless posters up thread would have said - basically lockdown stay at home economies from deleting all previous lifestyle norms and costs such as transportation, entertainment, eating and drinking out especially holidays including frequent last second long weekends jet aways etc etc. Even simple basic things like breakfast on the run and lunch and coffees at the office adds up!

I guess we are saving money but my income has taken a hit so we aren’t adding to our savings we are breaking even though so can’t complain.

@willFOURbagsbeenough

It’s not really hard to understand OP. You see the things you’ve spent money on? Imagine other people didn’t spend that money and there you go- now you can see how they’ve saved money.

Its not rocket science is it ?

saving on petrol costs to go to work
saving on one school run petrol costs as the child in school walks home
food: more expensive to shop on line than in Aldi but more controlled and no Aldi aisle of doom.
no swimming lessons

I think our food shop is actually down as well, despite us eating more at home. Mainly because when we both worked in the office, we had a Sainsbury's delivery. Now we have more time, we've switched to going to Lidl instead, which has saved a fortune.

Less petrol. No longer sitting in a coffee shop on my day off. No pottering round shops and buying things.

I'm not paying for the gym or art classes. I'm not buying random crap because I'm not going to the shops. I'm barely spending anything on petrol. And I haven't spent any money on holidays for 18 months. I'm not getting takeaways or eating out. I'm budgeting much better because everything is so much more predictable.

I am buying things online, but even so, I'm finding that I get to the end of the month with spare money to add to the regular amount that goes into my savings account.

People differ. I already worked from home and spent about zero on eating out, restaurants etc but I did not have to pay for last summer's holiday so a saving there - as a result I did spend a bit more on the garden last summer, new sun beds etc but not a vast amount. For me there is not a lot of financial difference - may be work is a bit less busy and with no covid support (sole trader over £50k before tax so no state help) that does make some difference.

• no nursery fees in lockdown one - thousands in the savings straight away
• no commuting costs - roughly £100 a month saved
• no buying lunches - probably another £100 a month saved
• no going anywhere at weekends - farm parks / soft play / cinema / out for meals - easily another £100 a month
• lots of holidays cancelled - all the money straight back into the savings account for holidays this year / further ahead
• I took voluntary redundancy - put £5k in savings - found new job

Have bought Disney+ and a fair amount of craft stuff etc to entertain the toddler. Haven’t had a takeaway since Christmas Eve (we wanted to see if we could go without as felt we were ordering too much 😂)