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diamonds

Snakey wrote: »

Cut your cloth according to your means, is very good advice - the biggest financial problems I've seen have stemmed from people feeling entitled to a lifestyle that they cannot afford. Also, only get into debt for an appreciating asset or an investment (such as education).

My habits vary according to my circumstances and needs. I spent a two-year period quite recently saving every penny to the point of not having a life - but I bought the property I wanted, so it was worth the sacrifice. A couple of years before that (when I had just come out of a relationship) I was booking theatre tickets and long-haul flights without a twinge of guilt or regret. You wouldn't have thought it was the same person.

When I do spend money I prefer experiences rather than possessions. Some of this is because I was in rented accommodation for so long, so that too may change.

Like diets, whatever you settle on needs to be sustainable (unless you have a very short term savings goal). Better a little bit each month for your whole working life, only taking it out to buy the things you were saving for, than three months spent putting away more than you can afford and then needing to take half of it back out again and not bothering after that because you feel like you failed.

Well said Snakey, I have no luxuries in the same position right now. Stuck in a poverty trap with health and any extra earnings that eat into housing benefit so I cannot plan and save from overtime when well enough for when I'm not well enough to work any hours as more wages mean less housing benefit and extended claims periods for small periods of Employment & Support Allowance (returning to work before even paid such!)

Ten+ years ago before illness started getting worse when I thought £5000 savings was great, I frittered away wages 4 times higher monthly than friends had.


Buying like yourself means big changes people would not recognise in me these days, being on my knees (read back not knees - bedridden) with sickness benefit made me plan a future I did not even know I would ever have. But I will buy the property I want saving hard, I actually look on track to do so in twenty months total.



And the ultimate bonus on house buying, not being penalised for working overtime to bank money to help when I cannot work for weeks or a few months at a time with no need to claim short term ESA



^Hope some more people take some wisdom from your words and thus encouragement. Well done with the sacrificing you bloody..... homebuyer

Snakey

If you're only buying something so that you can sell it again if you need to, wouldn't you be better off with shares?

I'd be wary of going into most of these things as an amateur. You're always going to be taking a bit of a gamble on future demand e.g. the artist or item you pick might not be in fashion in twenty years' time (Beanie Babies, anybody?), and there's the need to store it carefully and keep it nice and not get it stolen.

I have happened in the past to have bought things that I have subsequently been able to sell at a similar price or even at a profit (my record collection, and my collection of RPG books and figurines), but none of it was bought with a future sale in mind - I believed at the time that I would always love/use these things and never ever want to sell them, and I did indeed get many years' happy use out of them.

It was a nice bonus to realise that I could get some money for them rather than taking them to the charity shop, but if I hadn't liked the actual things for their own sake, it wouldn't have been a good use of my money.

I have a friend who buys really, really expensive watches and pens but, although he does choose them with one eye on rarity and condition and so on, he really does like them. Personally I wouldn't want tens of thousands of pounds' worth of stuff sitting around in my flat like that!

If you don't know your onions, dealers will see you coming and sell you stuff that a "real" investor/collector would not touch, and/or at a price that will wipe out the first ten years of capital appreciation.

Mrs_Z

i_was_taught_2b_cautious wrote: »

thanks for all your replies.

I have been watching that program called Posh Pawn and on there it seems as if ordinary people have these "amazing" valuable items which they never knew they had or find after having a clear out.
.

Well, it's interesting that these people with these amazing valuable items need to pawn them, and often for fairly small sums. If you live within your means and have a habit of saving,then ideally, in the hour of need you should have your 'rainy day fund' to dip into.
There's nothing wrong buying luxury items, if you can afford them and you like them. I do the MSE thing instead and have a regular clear outs selling my unwanted things on ebay
Nothing of value likely to be found in our house :rotfl:

kidmugsy

Our first non-old-banger of a car lasted us 15 years, our most recent almost 20. New cars are a dreadful expense: be suspicious of them.

If you have the occasional long train journey to do, consider shopping carefully so that you can afford First Class: it really can be a much pleasanter experience.

moneyfoolish

Our system is easy. I save and don't spend and my wife spends and doesn't save!

Ifts

Spend on what you need first rather than on what you want.

If you make a habit of buying things you do not need, you will soon be selling things you do need...

hcb42

I have tended to be a saver but the last few years have not moved my savings forward much

that said i did fund an operation privately for £10K and have had some great holidays and hubby had five months unemployment last year

As long as you live within the means, including any downtime e.g coping with unemployment then each of us is different. I work hard, and would be miserable if I could not spend my downtime have treats such as dining out, bottle of wine, spa day etc

That would be more important to me than "things"

cheesetoast

i_was_taught_2b_cautious wrote: »

I have been watching that program called Posh Pawn and on there it seems as if ordinary people have these "amazing" valuable items which they never knew they had or find after having a clear out.

But for every one person who appears on that programme, there's a thousand who had bog all hidden in the attic.

racing_blue

i_was_taught_2b_cautious wrote: »

How do you find that balance between saving and spending?

It is possible to consciously de-couple expenditure and income. So, rather than having a saving target, you target a spending ceiling and and income floor. There is no reason why they need to be related, as long as over a lifetime income matches or exceeds spending.

My experience is that it's possible to find a comfortable spending ceiling, while developing career so that earning are significantly higher.

Just because someone earns more, does not mean they have to spend more - once they have found their preferred rung on the lifestyle ladder.

Many (all?) of the financial independence books and websites have this message, I think

lawriejones1

There is no rule of thumb that works, nor an easy way to break habits (either spending or saving), you just have to do the best you can. My grandmother died a millionaire but never really enjoyed her money. I save what I can (10 - 30% in investments, 20% pension) but I make sure enjoy myself too - otherwise there really is no point in working so hard.

The key to enjoying spending is to maximise completely the value you get in every pound and to waste nothing.