where do people get the money?

Mee

GreyQueen wrote: »

:T Bravo, BB. Long but very good and very informative.

I consider I live a very luxurious lifestyle. I have a machine just to do my laundry (servant!), a library book which was only published this year and which I may be the very first borrower for, 2 different kinds of melons, black and green grapes and several other fruits from my Magic Greengrocer (carrier bagful for £1) and tonight I may, if it isn't raining, go up to Sainsbugs and play Hunt the YS bargains.

Life with much more money would be boring because it'd be too easy and where's the thrill in that?:rotfl:

I have the opposite problem to the OP too. I feel guilty paying full price for food or drink. I tend to trawl the reduced food sections, use various supermarket cards for freebies such as coffee, and only visit the cinema now if it's a freebie, or borrow DVDs from my local library.


I sometimes worry that I'm ruining my social life when I can't bring myself to spend on meals out...

VJsmum

GreyQueen wrote: »

I cannot get over that people will pay good money for a few spoonfuls in pasta salad in a plastic tub from the supermarket, or a few chunks of fruit, ditto. These are things you can assemble at home in minutes from leftovers, into your own tubbyware, and save money and waste of disposable plastic pots and plastic cutlery.

Me neither!! what is that all about? Or buying a sandwich? How long does it take to make a sandwich?


I am lucky in that I have quite a good disposable income - I am not sure how much it is. But even if I were a millionaire I don't think I could spend money on things that I can get cheaper. A colleague just spent £140 on a new suitcase, cos last years £140 case is scratched!! :eek:


I can get through money in the school holidays though - sometimes it feels as though I am just handing out tenners.


Sounds like a spending diary is a good idea.

Butterfly_Brain

GreyQueen wrote: »

:T Bravo, BB. Long but very good and very informative.

I consider I live a very luxurious lifestyle. I have a machine just to do my laundry (servant!), a library book which was only published this year and which I may be the very first borrower for, 2 different kinds of melons, black and green grapes and several other fruits from my Magic Greengrocer (carrier bagful for £1) and tonight I may, if it isn't raining, go up to Sainsbugs and play Hunt the YS bargains.

Life with much more money would be boring because it'd be too easy and where's the thrill in that?:rotfl:

Thanks GQ x

ampersand

bigmaz - hello.

Your Thread has taken wing, hasn't it?

I'm picking up on this: 'I dont know if its just pure laziness or what, but I wish my brain could be programmed and just do this kinda stuff automatically, no one to blame but ourselves, hehe!!'

How did you learn to do anything?

You didn't get straight into a car and drive it. You didn't sit in front of a new putah for the first time and instantly know how to start it, boot it, use it.

You see where I'm going, don't you, bigmaz? Take the first step, acquire the skill and practise it. That's how you improve at something, how it becomes second Nature to you. If seeing things through is a problem - you've written about trying and giving up on this exercise before - try again now, with this Thread and all of us on your case.

Involving the children will help too. Make a game of it - receipt collection, writing up daily etc. if this keeps the spark alive.

I won't add another My Situ/Income example for you to compare with, but my life is conducted like that of BB and Grey Queen's friend.

Subscribed - to keep Mine All-Seeing Eye on your progress:-)
#
and finally posted, after mse server probs for over 1/2hr.

thriftwizard

Quick idea - if you can't seem to get the hang of keeping a spending diary for a month or two, find an old envelope, label it with the month & slip ALL your receipts in that at the end of every day or week for that month. It's easy enough to keep track of regular monthly/annual bills etc. but quite hard to see where the little bits n'bobs get to over a shorter period of time. Then sit down sometime & sort them into categories - food, fuel etc. - and add them up for the month. It's quite informative...

ampersand

'On the spike' is the best and easiest of all!

It was my late and blvd R's way and is mine too. Also cathartic.
Take your pick
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=paper+spike&rlz=1C1GGIT_enGB308GB353&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=fb3lU7ihE8ig7AbT_YGoDQ&ved=0CEkQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=676

I have several.

Caterina

Butterfly Brain your post is a true inspiration, you are my role model!

JustThisOnce

thriftwizard wrote: »

Quick idea - if you can't seem to get the hang of keeping a spending diary for a month or two, find an old envelope, label it with the month & slip ALL your receipts in that at the end of every day or week for that month. It's easy enough to keep track of regular monthly/annual bills etc. but quite hard to see where the little bits n'bobs get to over a shorter period of time. Then sit down sometime & sort them into categories - food, fuel etc. - and add them up for the month. It's quite informative...

This is what I do, too - I'm no good at spending diaries. I fill it in on a (very basic) spreadsheet and average it out over the months, to smooth out the bumps caused by birthdays, big yearly bills like insurance, or even just taking advantage of a good fuel price to fill up the car. It's really helped me see where our cash goes, and decide what's important to us and what isn't.

Mistral001

This might be a bit controversial but I think the OP has nothing to worry about. He has a reasonable income and spends money maybe a bit freely but does he really want to become one of those people who has money but whose wallet seems welded shut all the time, at least when buying at the pub or restaurant.


I think it can be problematic when we judge people who spend what seems to be a lot of money in restaurants and nights out. They might not have much money but save up to have money to spend with friends/family now and again.

maman

Mistral001 wrote: »

This might be a bit controversial but I think the OP has nothing to worry about. He has a reasonable income and spends money maybe a bit freely but does he really want to become one of those people who has money but whose wallet seems welded shut all the time, at least when buying at the pub or restaurant.


I think it can be problematic when we judge people who spend what seems to be a lot of money in restaurants and nights out. They might not have much money but save up to have money to spend with friends/family now and again.

I can't agree. It's not about saving up or treating yourself or spending lots of money in restaurants. I don't have a problem with that at all.


It's wondering where the money's going.

OP came on here perplexed that he couldn't afford an £80 meal although he had £750 a month disposable income. That concerned him and it would me too.