To ask you for your 'living well for less' tips

[meatbawls]

Maybe this philosophy has a name that I don't know, but I've been doing some thinking recently about how not to fall for all the tricks of the modern world and how to live a good, even luxury, even slightly flash(!) in certain ways life. I wfh in a good job, we have plenty of money so it's not about that, we have kids. It's not about austerity measures (not a boast, just clarifying so you don't ask to see my outgoings and help me budget).

What I'm trying to achieve is I guess a watered down version of FIRE (financial independence retire early) except I don't mind working for now, I just want to actually have something to show for it at the end and not just a load of crap I bought or conveniences I paid for.

My personal list is as follows, i'm interested to know what other people's look like! I am not looking for judgement particulary on the below, these are the things that for me represent value for money, or don't and any money that would have been spent on it should be put directly into savings instead.

IN:

healthy cheap food, lentils, beans, etc to promote health and long life
home workouts, mix of free and streamed
biking / cargo bike commute to school
second hand toys and clothes for all
antique jewellery which might hold value not decrease the minute I buy it.
proper coffee but not takeaway and no pods
very occasional facial for a treat.
highlights and haircuts, but only 2 times a year.
botox, because it actually works
effective cheap skin products (for me tret, sunscreen, moisturiser and not much else)
occasional file and polish pedicures
nice holidays
nice meals out on occasion
good wine, delicious cocktails!

OUT:

takeway coffee/lunch
pretty much any beauty products that are not listed above
eyebrow threading - they always take too much and I've bought a magnifying mirror for fraction of cost.
gel manicures/pedicures that require upkeep
pretty much any salon treatment that can't be seen on my face
clothes in general. certainly new clothes not on sale - i've been shopping my wardrobe and the rest on vinted
new furniture, as above
meat when eating alone
taxis unless strictly necessary
new phone or any other tech upgrade until current one is either broken or stolen
new glasses until frames actually break (I only use them for work and don't see people in person often)
new gym wear - see above re exercise mostly at home.

My OUT list feels too short. What can you add that are just a con of the modern world and don't need to be purchased either because they are completely unnecessary or because you can easily DIY it.

Why have I never thought of this??

Can you defrost cake in microwave or does it ruin it? Guess a small portion probably defrosts fast anyway.

Everything is in portions and then they microwave for a few seconds if they don’t want to wait twenty minutes. I made fruit crumble bars and those we sometimes heat through and have with cream or custard. Scones, cakes, cookies (baked or unbaked in a sausage to slice or balls to stick in the oven), millionaires shortbread, pastries, cinnamon and chocolate swirls all freeze really well.

Thanks FurForksSake !

Best tip ive ever found was living alone single and childless the cost goes down drastically.

My mom does this. She has apple pie and rhubarb pie in squares in the freezer. You take the individual squares out and they defrost while you cook and eat dinner. If needed, you cam put in i microwave for a few minutes.

Thank you for this post. Just reading it brought me a sense of calm. I particularly like your approach to the Christmas holidays when a sense of stress and anxiety is generally present due to the fear of missing out and not doing it all or not doing it right. Agree 100% about spending time in nature and also making your home and garden a place where you can relax and enjoy your surroundings.

IN - Upskilling

If you can do something yourself, you can stop paying other people to do it. Safety first - don't start fitting gas appliances - but there are plenty of things that I've stopped paying for by learning how to do them on Youtube.

I think you get to a certain age and stop chasing happiness through “stuff” and comparison and move towards fulfilment through other means.

I’ve definitely been very, very bad at instant gratification in the past. Moving to a slower pace, waiting to make a purchase and really considering things is something I am working hard on. Amazon is my greatest expense, I am trying very hard to add things to my basket and leave them there for a week. It’s rare I need something with any real immediacy. But growing up in relative poverty for a good deal of my childhood has caused me to have fear around scarcity. I don’t buy one bottle of floor cleaner, I buy six. I don’t buy enough food for a week I make sure the cupboards are always full.

so for me living well means tackling my financial psychology first off.

one thing I’m bad at is starting craft projects and then walking away. I think this might be something I tackle, too. Scheduling time away from electronics to spend time on fulfilling activities that I already have access to. I have lots of wool and crochet hooks and needles, embroidery equipment, paint and paper and pencils. I even have a sew your own knickers set!

I have regular no-buy months where I only buy what's absolutely essential, including any dry foods. So I finish off all the old rice, pasta, crackers, nuts etc. that have been languishing at the back of the cupboard and would never have been eaten otherwise.

big yes to the cost per wear thing.

Meet friends for a walk, instead of lunch

Sodastream

Living frugally isn't new. My grandparents (post war) were always careful with money

Of course living frugally isn’t new, but it’s probably far less practiced now than in previous generations. And the point of this is about living well and being frugal, so I think more about quality and enjoyment without living a mean and meagre existence for the point of frugality.

Thank you for this thread as I'm sure it will be very useful. I have recently taken a cut in income and am now semi-retired so money is not as readily available as it was. I need to learn to match my spending to my reduced income.

In
Selling stuff I no longer use or want

Out
Buying new stuff I don't need

To be honest, this one alone will probably solve most of my cash flow issues!

In
More crafting and making stuff myself. I am happiest when creating things with my hands whether it's clothes for grandchildren or baking bread.

Out
Over-spending on presents people don't really appreciate. Give homemade instead whenever possible.

I always take my own lunch and coffee on days out so already very frugal on that but my cupboards and freezer are full of stuff that I forget about and don't think to use up so I need to tackle it and stop visiting the supermarket so often.

I already use soap rather than shower gel and by working from home I don't bother to get my hair cut and styled so often so savings there.

I do need to review my bills as I'm sure I am probably paying too much for things like car insurance and mobile phone.

Great thread, thanks OP.

I can recommend this book, about living a luxurious life on a budget. It's free with Kindle unlimited (I promise I'm not the author!).

https://amzn.to/4omwrIk

I can also recommend signing up to Bookbub, which sends out a daily email of free and cheap ebooks. You can tailor it to different genres, authors, etc.

We moved house in January and that's given me an opportunity to really declutter and get rid of things we don't use. The process has really opened my eyes to how much STUFF we own in general. We donated a ton of clothes, toys and kitchen stuff that we never used and it's a shame to think how much money we have spent on things that just go to the back of the cupboard or the wardrobe and stay there forgotten. I am so mindful about what I buy now. We have double the space in the new house compared to what we had before, but I don't want to overfull it again with things we don't need. I have not gone minimalist but I want to be able to find things with ease and only buy what we need and use.

One of our biggest expenses is food and we end up with a lot of waste as we don't plan our meals and have an almost daily top up shop. I have gotten into the habit of buying convenience foods which are not that healthy. WeI need to go back to cooking and eating whole foods consistently. I need to plan better and spend less on last minute dinners from the hot counter. I also tend to overstock the fridge and the pantry in case I run out of something and end up with a ton of food which never gets eaten as I keep buying more and more. My pantry is full of so many cans of beans, tuna, tomato sauce, different pasta shapes, jars and jars of unused sauces that we couldn't possibly eat in a month, let alone a week. So a few things that I'm changing this year:

In
Cooking from scratch while not buying too many things for the pantry (i.e. endless cans of beans and jars and jars of spices we will never use)
Meal planning
Reducing UPF (this will cut out a lot of money spent on packaged crap we shouldn't be eating)
Decluttering
Gardening

Out
Constant food top up shops
Expensive sandwiches and crisps, take outs and £4-5 coffees
Eating out at crap restaurants
Buying seasonal decorations
Buying a ton of cosmetics I will never use

I like to soak my feet into a foot spa. Then cut toe nails, and rub in cream and paint toe nails. Makes me feel feel great. It costs very little once you have the foot spa.

I've been secretly playing a silent game with myself (in my head) re spending intentionally. It's called 'pretend it's the 70s' or 'ww2' - whatever I fancy that day. This translates to using up food in barely remembered recipes ie bread and butter pudding, baked apples, mending things and also shopping from my house.

I was certain I'd stashed toiletries somewhere and finally found it in the shed (moved house last year) - there's at least six months to stuff that I had been buying on repeat without checking.

It helps me never feel deprived, my ds said to me 'you're literally role playing as you feed us, it's ridiculous'. No, it's a mindset.

I’m also using up all the stockpiled toiletries and not buying a beauty Advent calendar this year.

Use gift cards for cash back, I am saving a lot doing this

This is a wonderful thread and completely aligns with how I'm trying to live.
In: Keeping my trusty old phone on a cheap SIM only deal.
Meal planning
Bookbub for free/cheap books, also Borrowbox App from the library.
Offering unwanted/unused clothes on Vinted before sending them to the Charity Shop.
Growing my own herbs
Meerkat movies
Art galleries for great days out
Out: Buying ALL the tech
Take Aways (which I never much like anyway)
Not checking the freezer/cupboards before doing an online shop
Upgrading perfectly good cars just because they are 'old'
Centering all social life around restaurants and bars

Yes, this!

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Surely it's about balance op I'm on the fire groups because they have some good financial advice and we've done due to circumstances stuff on your list eg quality second hand toys ,no new clothes unless absolutely necessary and so on .we have a budget and money ,every penny works every pay day it goes onto all our different funds.
However , we do have a fun part of our budget for Christmas and for fun spending which is fine because we know it's not robbing the other pots

This is essential because DH was raised in a very tight family to the point where he was scared of spending money and it was strangling his life and ours when we met.
Balance is the key and whilst my twp DC under 16 understand the importance of investing and saving ( they both save really well ) I also drum onto them have x % for spending.
If you are out and really want to sit down in a cafe and have someone else make you a drink
..do it ! Use your fun budget ! We as a family do loads of picnics and self catering youth hostel holidays so enjoy the times when you fancy spending

That's nice! I don't feel any stress about Christmas (though we don't have kids, which I'm sure helps), even though I work quite hard to make it nice. But the work is all in preparing lovely food and having enough in to spend two weeks relaxing, eating, hosting friends, watching old films and drinking in the afternoon. We hardly do any presents—for us, it's all about the food.

Learn to play a/another musical instrument and or learn a /another foreign language for hours of interest and life long satisfaction

assuming that you are the kind of person who would find either of those things satisfying?