Are you happy saving money?

amalis

Like all other families we have our dreams and goals. There is always something to save money on, isnt it? We do quite well, we save decent amount a month, without really depriving ourselves from necessary stuff. Maybe just from luxuries. But I noticed that it is making me really unhappy! I have a feeling that all my life I am waiting for the real life to start. I am thinking "Ok, now we are saving on house deposit, then on great car and AFTER that I will star living and treating myself". But i doubt this time will come! I am not happy now. I am not happy buying Value products instead of Organic. I am not happy to save gas by cooking in bulk.I am not proud of myself.. I jsut feel sorry for myself. I have good salary and it is really depressing me that if I wouldnt have to save money I could afford all this luxury things that I want.
Does anyone have same ideas? I would willingly accept criticism as well, if someone can put my brains on the right place

richardw

So buying a tin of organic kidney beans rather than a no frills/basics can would make you happier?

I find 4 things at the pound/99p shop really helps the retail therapy.

amalis

richardw wrote: »

So buying a tin of organic kidney beans rather than a no frills/basics can would make you happier?

i guess it will help me not to feel deprived from good things in life. Isnt it normal to be more happy when you buy clothes in Armani rather than in Next?

grey_lady

Can you not save a little less and build in some more treats with the extra? or increase your income somehow to allow for more treats.

MrsTinks

Am I happy saving money... Let's see...
By saving money I can spend at least 6 months at home with my baby when she arrives instead of having to go back after 6 weeks... Yep... yep I think I'm happy
I don't deny myself all luxuries by any means - but I shop around and I make sure I get a good deal. Instead of organic veg I have finally gotten an allotment :j so hopefully some of my organic veg will be home produced.
Between hubby and I we have a great income - sadly we have the debts to go with it - not from fancy holidays or such (even our honeymoon was mainly paid for with Tesco Clubcard vouchers but we still had a week 5* in sharm ). I ended up in debt thanks to an ex and my DH partially due to his ex too and him being naive and thinking he could afford all these nice cars cos she told him he could...
Yes we still have nice cars (actually we have to in our jobs - but that's another story) and we could reduce out outgoings drastically if we got rid of them and bought old bangers - sadly we can't though.
We still go out for dinners - but instead of a £80 meal we'll go to the local pub which does beautiful food and it'll cost us maybe £30 including drinks. We still buy little treats (like OHs 360 games - although now he rents them instead of buying them as he usually completes them in a week so it costs about £5-£6 instead of £40odd...).
I try to bulk cook but I have a tiny freezer so can't do this as much as I'd like - so I try to meal plan instead - you might find this works just as well for you
As for REAL luxury treats... I have a massage probably every 2 months (£35) and I come out feeling like a million dollars... don't deny yourself EVERYTHING, it's about compromise

MrsTinks

amalis wrote: »

i guess it will help me not to feel deprived from good things in life. Isnt it normal to be more happy when you buy clothes in Armani rather than in Next?

Yes... IF you can afford Armani - and have checked that you can't get the same item elsewhere for less or with cashback :cool:
Armani... heck I'm too tight to shop in Next unless it's the outlet store
But then for special events I will treat myself to something special - like a dress from a good shop that fits well (I live near an outlet village so there are some bargains occassionally ).
I guess the point is CAN you afford Armani AND saving for the long term things you want in life? If you can't then which is more important to you? Something pretty that will be out of fashion in 3 months or owning your own place one day without struggling to pay the bills etc?

celyn90

amalis wrote: »

i guess it will help me not to feel deprived from good things in life. Isnt it normal to be more happy when you buy clothes in Armani rather than in Next?

I think happiness comes from more than material things. For me, I'm happy as I love my family, my work and my life. We earn very little, but I know I need less.

You can be just as unhappy dressed in Versace and diamonds - trust me, been there. Life is more than that.

amalis

The problem is that just one year ago we were saving money and I was leaving some money to myself for treats ,haircuts, clothes..But my mom lost her job and there is no one but me to help her. So me and my husband decided that instead of leaving money to myself I will be giving it to my mother every month. This is my duty as daughter and in the beginning it wasnt bothering ,but now I feel really depressed when I see all those nice things I could afford,but can not

mountainlioness

Sometimes I think you can have a lot of the things you count as luxuries just by planning a bit... for example, we now shop in Waitrose - shock! horror! must have money to burn (that's what ppl say)... well no, actually. We spend the same each week as we did in Sainsbury's - we just meal plan a little bit more, use overcooking for lunches the next day and, most of all, we don't waste as much. We find the fruit and veg lasts longer - it still tastes good at the end of the week, whereas we were finding some of the fresh stuff was going off midweek before. The meat has less water in it so you need less. We def notice the difference in food quality. But to come to your point - we really enjoy the food so it doesn't feel like money saving, even though we aren't spending any more.

Maybe it's a case of identifying the products that you really don't like skimping on and that having a quality version of would make you happier... go for the best then but perhaps stick to cheaper brands and bulk buy where it's not so important.

I guess my attitude is quality not quantity - would (most of the time - sometimes you need a 'bab!) rather wait and have a 'posh' meal out than a pub lunch every couple of weeks. We use toptable.co.uk to look out for deals on the kind of places we couldn't afford to eat in normally. I would rather pay for something I couldn't actually make at home myself! We had a Michelin star lunch last xmas for £27 each - you could spend that on pretty mediocre stuff in a chain restaurant, but you really feel like it's a special occaision (we do wonder if we're the only 'normal' ppl in the restaurant though - you do see the types that could prob afford to do this regularly but hey ho, my money's as good as theirs! )

Agree with Mrs T re: treats. Even if it's once or twice a year, it'll make you feel like you're splashing out.

Guess all depends on what floats your boat - and then focus your splurging on that. Designer handbags wouldn't make me happy but the meal out did... horses for courses...

amalis

MrsTine wrote: »

I guess the point is CAN you afford Armani AND saving for the long term things you want in life? If you can't then which is more important to you? Something pretty that will be out of fashion in 3 months or owning your own place one day without struggling to pay the bills etc?

Exactly! this is the question. Sometimes I think that of course, house is more important and it is really a good opportunity to save now and to buy it sometime soon..But the other day I feel like my life is just passing by and I am always waiting for something.. Last week I had a small heart attack and i was thinking if I die that day would I regret that I didnt buy a house? No! But would I regret that I didnt go to my dream holiday? Oh yes!

richardw

amalis wrote: »

Last week I had a small heart attack and i was thinking if I die that day would I regret that I didnt......

Seems like you are reassessing your life a bit.