Am I the only one who often wonders where the heck some people get all their money from?

[Nonalphamum]

I probably am very nosey, but I know a few people that have a seemingly average/low income but seem to spend spend spend all the time and I guess I just wonder how they do it.

DD's friend's mum is a single mum with 2 children, she works part time, yet seems to have endless cash for holidays, clothes, haircuts, nights out etc. She and her kids have had 2 foreign holidays during these summer holidays alone.

Another woman I know has 5 children, her husband works in the catering industry so not on a good wage, and again they seem to just spend all the time; clothes, holidays, things for their house. And she has said that they spend £200 most weeks on food shopping.

It just baffles me where people get their money from.

[Freemilk]

Just coming back to this......
for some dare I say it they have well paying jobs (I gather not infrequently public sector) and work in a cheap part of the country.
TBF as someone said upthread how much you pay for housing makes a huge difference, whether that is through having no mortgage or living somewhere where houses are very cheap.

I also think the kind of differences I am talking about are not accounted for by taking the bus instead of walking or buying cushions from matalan when everyone thinks they are Next. I am talking about school fees for multiple children from the age of 3, buying houses for well over a million, having 4 or 5 overseas holidays a year, for the whole family, flying business class (or better) however many clubcard vouchers I save or clothes I sell on ebay or buses I don't catch it is never going to pay for all that.

Worth remembering that savings and housing equity are not taken into account by tax credits a useful way of adding several 10s of K to your wealth when you might not 'need it' not sure what the situation is re maintenance but even then as I said that is only going to cover 1 set of school fees not all the other stuff.

Along the same lines those who receive lots of parental help where are the retired getting it all from?!!! I'm surprised they don't feel the need to save for their care homes!!

Actually sorry I have just realised that I have changed the question it was about how people on a low income have loads/look rich etc, not about how totally loaded some people seem to be!! I will add this anyway it is interesting to think about.

[BreakOutTheKaraoke]

I have what is classed as a low income, yet I do always seem to have shopping bags at work. I generally only buy a good bargain, I don't spend a lot on food (so many people turn their noses up at whoopsied meat, etc, but I generally buy it at at least a 50% reduction, it saves me a fortune!). I also have a nosy at HUKD, MSE etc, at least a couple of times a day, while on my lunchbreak at work, and I'm more than happy to buy Christmas/ birthday presents months early if it's going to save me a decent amount.

The people who always complain to me that they have £50 left the week after payday to last them the rest of the month, or that they have dipped into their savings again, are generally the ones who are snobby about labels, or rummaging for a good bargain, or not having yellow labels on their food. They'd run a mile if they saw my freezer!