What’s an “unpopular” spending or money decision that actually works well for you?

[HonestTealPoster]

For me, it’s not budgeting. I’ve tried it before and found it quite stressful, I ended up overthinking every purchase. These days I don’t follow a strict budget. I just spend fairly naturally and because I’m quite frugal anyway, I still tend to save more than I spend.

Is there anything you do that might go against the usual advice but works for you?

We spend 1k a month on drugs and prostitutes.
Hows that?

Why not? Got plenty of money in ISA’s, investments and pensions.

All depends on what your monthly outgoing are.

I have about a quarter of my S&S holding in a dividend experiment. My general investment approach is "monkey at a dartboard", and I consistently significantly outperform my husband, who researches carefully and makes choices based on advice etc.

I also don't budget any more. I chuck most of my money in savings and just work with what I have for the rest.

Lastly I hate shopping around for deals. I make more money investing than I ever could by saving. I use cashback sites and basic price comparison sites, but I CBA doing the hunting around for a fiver off here and there.

lol I think that’s shockingly quite popular! 😂

I own my house outright and have an okay amount of savings (5 figures). Since reaching that point I've given up on further wealth building besides paying a normal amount into a pension. I'm not a high earner but I spend everything I earn. I won't retire early but I had a couple of friends die at young ages and having reached this level of security I want to live for now. So I do it all - the takeaway coffees, the meals out, the theatre tickets, I enjoy my life.

For me it is splashing out on certain things that I love. If I really like something I will get more use out of it and look after it better. For example we have a sage coffee machine. We could have bought a cheaper one that does a similar job. But I love this one and it has been used everyday for the last 3 years.

yes there isn't much on here that is unpopular. Some of them are extremely common

(and if you are not budgeting but spending "naturally" and aren't in debt, it just means you earn enough to cover your "normal" way of spending so don't need to continually have to track it. It's implicit budgeting really ...)

We do the same. And the spending one gets the same amount in every month. We make sure not to go over it. Ensures we don't overspend on too many cafe trips etc.

I'm in the office twice a week and DON'T take a packed lunch to work.

• I cycle in and don't have room in my bag for work, laptop, clothes, lunch and breakfast.
• I cycle in so save £8.20 a day on train fare.
• I can economise on cheaper meals at home like dahl if I'm running a bit skint.
• I live alone and unless I'm eating out, (rare), I cook every single meal I eat. So twice a week it's nice to eat a M&S salad or a bagel or something from the street food stall precisely because someone else has made it.

I know that... And I still do it. I realise it's unpopular in some quarters but I am more interested in my quality of life and family time now than future quality of life because 'i saved thousands in interest'. I should possibly add some disclaimers that I know I have enough pension etc. so future me is fine and I am happy to forgo having even more money in my 60s

Same. It works for us. I can’t imagine sharing ‘my’ money with DH. I also don’t budget really. But I think both of those things are made possible by the fact that we both earn well and, mortgage aside, have no other major outgoings - no car, DS goes to a state primary school, we have access to a family property abroad for holidays.

I'm going to go the opposite of @Beebopwasthebest and say I spend a lot on coffee because it is literally my favourite thing to do. I plan a trip to a cafe with a book alone or a friend and think it's the best money I could spend. I love coffee and love the cafe culture. It genuinely makes me happy! I do it once a day when I'm off, I have a regular weekly date with my teen DS and go with DD maybe once a week too.

I almost never eat takeaway though, i don't see the point. Either eat out and enjoy it or cook at home, get pre made if you are exhausted. Paying almost restaurant prices to eat at home seems madness to me!

Unlike my parents who used to be booking holidays whilst on holiday we chose to spend money on a house which is bigger than needed.

This came after living attached to arsehole neighbours for 5yrs who made our lives a misery and we've subsequently spent the last 4 yrs in total calm.

Sacrificing better holidays for more space and years of happiness has been worth every single penny

I park at the station sometimes because it's more convenient, I buy coffees if I feel like it and lunch out if I feel like it. I never worry about it or wish I'd saved that £15 as it was worth it at the time.

I have two kids in private school (well, DD about to start). And yes I knew about and even supported the VAT on school fees; given the kids' ages, we've never NOT paid VAT on school fees.

So that's an INSANE financial decision and I hate myself for making it. I didn't go to private school and I have a good job!

But DS's primary school was not a good year (it's a good school but sometimes you just get a year-group who are toxic) and I didn't want to send him to the local state secondary with the exact same kids. On his first few weeks in Y7, he kept saying to us how wonderful it was to be in a class full of "nice boys" where people actually want to learn... and he still talks about it today as being such a great school compared to his primary. I am getting what I am paying for, but good Lord it's outrageous.

I put everything on credit cards and pay it off in full at the end of the month. This gives me a companion voucher for Virgin and British Airways each year.

This year I booked a Upper class flight to NYC and premium economy on the way back using my voucher and £770 with Virgin. And return flights to Geneva for two people and this cost £4.

We do this too!

Bills from joint account split 50/50 despite my earning a third more than my husband does however I pay for all holidays and most entertainment.

We do this too. We also didn’t trade up houses either, it might be small but it’s mortgage free.

Me too. I love my little house and it enables me to be generous with my adult DC and have lots of great holidays.

Six holidays booked for this year so far…

I also drive a 12 year old tiny car.

I'm sort of similar. Im using my excellent credit rating and pretty stable, secure employment to access 0% credit that has kept me afloat while single parenting teens. We've had some, not loads, nice holidays, we have Netflix and Disney and x box subscriptions, they do vaguely expensive hobbies. I keep a close eye and move things around as needed. In 5-10 years I will be downsizing and in a position to pay it off but Im not going to turn down every nice opportunity for a trip or day out to be sensible. Life is too short. They'll not have much of an inheritance but they'll be adults and its up to them.

I don't meal-plan, despite a food budget. We have a loose 'plan' dictated by working hours and time/energy and my love of fishfingers and chips on a Friday night; but I just can't plan for a full week. What if I don't want spag bol on Wednesday? what if I'm too exhausted on Thursday to cook from scratch? I can still use what fresh stuff we have within the week, but I can't dictate what meals are when. Apart from Friday night!

We also have separate bank accounts, separate savings, but also joint accounts and savings to pool together. Been married 20 years and it suits us.

This in spades. We buy the sort of staples that can make a few different meals, and the sort that make quick low effort. And we expect that we will get takeaway at some point.

We have three times bought the house with the most potential in a not quite up and coming neighbourhood, and all three times the neighbourhood has come up and we've done very, very well.

I don’t budget either 😅 the ‘big’ bills go out within the first couple of days of the month and then I just keep an eye on my spending from there. I’m not exactly an extravagant spender and don’t have any expensive habits or hobbies so it works okay for me.

Not wasting time and effort on things I know from experience I won't use, even if they're generally popular- eg collecting Avios. I'm sure there are great bargains to be had but I won't be having them as I really can't be arsed with the complexity and I value having flexibility and freedom over cost saving.

I spend a fortune every year on a particular diary, which I love and which makes my life 10x easier. I am well aware that diaries are available for 1/20 of the price.

Barring disasters, I'll be buying both my kids a flat. I have no truck at all with the idea that you have to work for something in order to value it, especially in the current climate.

Cheap clothes are a waste of money.