Only freedom will do

AlexLK

edinburgher wrote: »

I could survive for several months on unsecured credit, but that's a finite resource, sobering stuff to be sure.

:eek: Definitely a finite resource and wouldn't really help in the long run.

gallygirl

Debsnewbudget wrote: »

I inow I used to work with people who didnt have enough money to buy toilet rolls the week before pay day, but apparently its got worse.

edinburgher wrote: »

I could survive for several months on unsecured credit, but that's a finite resource, sobering stuff to be sure.

Oh dear, somehow I thought you were going to say you could survive a few months on toilet paper pinched from work :rotfl:.

You're right Ed though, it is sobering stuff. People on here (mostly) can save money by bulk buying, whether it's toilet rolls or large bags of rice. But if you're living hand to mouth you probably can't afford to buy large quantities of one item - and in many cases the environment at home (e.g. damp in cupboards or overcrowding etc.) may not be conducive to storage.

edinburgher

AlexLK wrote: »

:eek: Definitely a finite resource and wouldn't really help in the long run.

I agree, but as a short term source of funds, I don't mind using debt as a smoothing device in a pinch. Sometimes we take a gamble in life, my main gamble is currently that money invested in equities making use of tax breaks etc. will be more beneficial to my family than a bloated emergency fund earning nothing.

gallygirl wrote: »

Oh dear, somehow I thought you were going to say you could survive a few months on toilet paper pinched from work :rotfl:.

You're right Ed though, it is sobering stuff. People on here (mostly) can save money by bulk buying, whether it's toilet rolls or large bags of rice. But if you're living hand to mouth you probably can't afford to buy large quantities of one item - and in many cases the environment at home (e.g. damp in cupboards or overcrowding etc.) may not be conducive to storage.

I suppose our collective tendency to hoard good deals is a sort of emergency fund. At any one point, we probably have enough food for 1-2 weeks, enough toilet roll for a fortnight and enough coffee for a month stashed around the house.

Also, it's early days yet, but I have started withdrawing a fiver a week in cash at the start of the month for 'emergency emergencies'.

I expect our cashflow to improve in a couple of years, having children is not cheap!

Karmacat

I love it that your most-hoarded item is coffee :j

A little emergency stash in cash is crucial, I think, Ed. As you say, everything's a bit tight, but just enough to get a taxi somewhere crucial if your car was out of action. During family emergencies taxis can be a big help.

edinburgher

Absolutely KC, will probably be an idea to get us both put on MIL's car insurance as well, as she's a 30 minute brisk walk away if we really needed to use a car and Mrs E and I are no longer of an age where we increase car insurance premiums!

edinburgher

I despair sometimes. Family member (nearly 40s) has reached 60% LTV and can obtain 1.xx% remortgage, very poor pension provision. I asked if they were considering ISA/pension for some of the money freed up. Scoffing reply was 'what - so I can be rich in my 50s?'

I look forward to awkward conversations in a decade or so I realise that I am perhaps a little too focused on the future, but 10 years is not the distant future, I worry for them.

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

It is a strange thing to find that the people I am working with who have to work to pay bills, mortgages and rent spend what I consider to be a crazy amount on junk (pizza for lunch, getting nails done, glossy magazines) whereas I wouldn't ever consider that sort of spending yet am probably most able to afford to do so. They all think I am lucky to be able to take long breaks though. Very like your friend will be thinking when looking at you in ten years........

SuperSecretSquirrel

Secret_Saving_Squirrel wrote: »

They all think I am lucky to be able to take long breaks though. Very like your friend will be thinking when looking at you in ten years........

"The harder I work, the luckier I get..."

AlexLK

I think you know what you're doing re. investments etc. and the potential to need short term borrowing.

We had a really good personal emergency fund until we replaced the roof. That killed it. The idea of some people not having money to get a taxi home if need be is a very sad one. As for car insurance, you shouldn't add anything to the premium of your mother-in-law's insurance being your age. I've been on my parents' car insurances since 17. Worked well when I was a teenager, home for holidays and working on my MG. Once told my father I was picking up three friends to go to an opera, really I wanted to pick up this girl I was dating in my father's Jaguar (was doing something to my MG) but knew if my parents thought I had one passenger I'd be sent away in mother's Land Rover 90 which wouldn't have been such a good look. As it happened, she wasn't impressed and thought I was "showing off", so the LR 90 would have been a better bet.

:rotfl: Re. the bulk buying ... I never even considered that particularly MSE until a year or so ago. We've always used the cash and carry for buying all types of things no one really wants to buy (washing up liquid, kitchen roll, laundry tablets, hair shampoo, that type of thing). Usually buy a supply for a year or so at a time. Logic was something along the lines of we don't want to buy it so let's only need to once in a while.

edinburgher

Secret_Saving_Squirrel wrote: »

It is a strange thing to find that the people I am working with who have to work to pay bills, mortgages and rent spend what I consider to be a crazy amount on junk (pizza for lunch, getting nails done, glossy magazines) whereas I wouldn't ever consider that sort of spending yet am probably most able to afford to do so. They all think I am lucky to be able to take long breaks though. Very like your friend will be thinking when looking at you in ten years........

Yes, that is my concern, perhaps a little closer to home as I can imagine it leading to envy if my parents leave any estate (i.e. 'you deserve less as you're not poor'). Perhaps I'm overthinking it, but I wouldn't be surprised.

I wouldn't say said relative has a flamboyant lifestyle, just the normal trappings of middle class life for an average family coupled with a few periods of unemployment as they established a career. Unfortunately this means that they are locked in with all their financial providers and can't realistically save any money switching etc.

SuperSecretSquirrel wrote: »

"The harder I work, the luckier I get..."

I like that phrase

AlexLK wrote: »

Once told my father I was picking up three friends to go to an opera, really I wanted to pick up this girl I was dating in my father's Jaguar (was doing something to my MG) but knew if my parents thought I had one passenger I'd be sent away in mother's Land Rover 90 which wouldn't have been such a good look. As it happened, she wasn't impressed and thought I was "showing off", so the LR 90 would have been a better bet.

:rotfl: Re. the bulk buying ... I never even considered that particularly MSE until a year or so ago. We've always used the cash and carry for buying all types of things no one really wants to buy (washing up liquid, kitchen roll, laundry tablets, hair shampoo, that type of thing). Usually buy a supply for a year or so at a time. Logic was something along the lines of we don't want to buy it so let's only need to once in a while.

I love the opera story - pure Alex I enjoyed a very enjoyable couple of trips to the opera in Covent Garden when we were in London.

I only bulk buy when there is a saving to be made. For example, the cash and carry isn't typically any cheaper than one of the German supermarkets with a weekly offer on. There is a certain forgetful satisfaction to things such as not having to buy dishwasher tablets again for a year!

We still need to tweak our investments one last time and then I'll need to stop increasing them for the next few years (I fear a wifely revolt) :rotfl: