Money sense?

maxie014

Sounds like some sensible heads on here and good advice.
I wouldnt say i am mega sensible,or good at making extra money but im not too bad.
I like a good deal myself,can haggle quite well,hate being ripped off,buy cars for the long term,the next owner of my cars is usually the scrapyard,quite good at saving.

Zero_Sum

trickydicky14 wrote: »

I think I must be hard wired when it comes to saving.
From the age of about six I would put half of my pocket money in to a post office savings account.
When I went to the big school I started selling sweets and biscuits to other kids to make money.
Most of my working life I would grab all the overtime that was going.
At eighteen I rented a house as a single chap and the landlord wanted to sell so I purchased it for £7000 knowing it would make me a good return in a few years and it did.
Every little thing that could make a few pounds was never too much bother.
What I cant understand is I did not learn this behaviour at home because no one in my family ever had two coins to rub together and have struggled most of the time to make ends meet.
Now retired I am learning how to spend money.

Thats more entrepreneurship rather than being a saver.
I do think attitudes towards saving & spending are influenced by parents.

jonnygee2

I've never been a borrower - never used credit for anything. I didn't actually start saving a lot until about 10 years ago, aged about 25, mainly out of necessity being Londoner and wanting to buy a house. It took another couple of years to work out how to save large amounts, instead of pennies.

I completely misunderstood pensions until about aged 30, when I suddenly realised I needed to be putting a lot in. Only in the last year or so have I started to put money into investments and understand those too - before that I didn't have enough (apart from when I had a house deposit, which I didn't want to risk).

So I guess for me, it's developed over time.

Frogletina

Sea_Shell wrote: »

I've always been a saver rather than a spender, even with Birthday money as a kid. I loved making small deposits and getting statements from my "kids" account. I've always loved "admin" in that sense...and stationary!!!

I'm exactly the same. I can spend ages doing my accounts and have several cash books even though my main accounts are on line (YNAB)

I now have to learn how to spend money...

frogletina

kev2009

In general, always a saver, it takes me a while to earn money so i'm certainly not one to blow it all. I'm also very hesitant re stock market/shares, the thought of buying some shares and a sudden market crash and i loose it all doesn't appeal so i tend to put my money in much secure things which wont loose money but admittedly wont give me the same return as potential investing would. Currently have no ISAs as i used those for despot on a place few years ago, currently just have what money i have in regular savers and general savings accounts. Considering putting some money into a ISA but job situation is a bit all over the place at the moment so don't want to tie it up if i may need it so its all on hold at present.

I generally only buy things i can afford to, yes I've bought items that i wouldn't say i actually "need" but ones that i want and i general class that as needing to live etc and most of them are 1 off purchases in terms of say for instance a new TV, i don't buy one every year so classed as a one off. A few years ago, i did spent on a nice German car, not brand new but was most expensive car i had ever bought, but i'd had such a appalling Ford, i could only live with that for a year or so and it had to go so i basically traded it in, put small amount towards it and took a loan. I've subsequently changed that to another German car and a smaller loan and I've got 2 years left to pay that off.

In hind sight, if i'd known i was going to buy a place, i would never have bought a german car as the initial outlay was way more than i deally wanted and i could of used the money for either additional deposit or to assist with purchasing stuff for the place. But i was sooo disheartend with Fords after having several of there cars before and more friends were buying more "up market" cars so to speak that i thought well, I've always been sensible and bought "normal" cars for want of a better word, maybe i should buy something really nice to drive in, plus the added bonus was my parents would be able to use it for days out etc as its very nice to drive on motorways etc so i took the plunge. I would say the car is probably by biggest expense apart from the property that in theory i didn't need to have and could of bought something cheaper but you only live once and once you've bought them, its hard to go back but I am considering switching back to Ford, just purely due to the upkeep *can* be expensive and your always thinking, what if x happens, how much will that be as its always few hundred quid etc. However, i'm going to mull that decision over for the next year and then re-evaluate as said, job situation is all over the place at the moment so i'm just sticking with what i have and will need to see how it all pans out.

On the flip side, i'm not one to go on holidays every year and when i do go on holiday its generally UK based as not keen on flying so the cost is cheaper, i dont buy designer clothes etc.

I started a Private pension just before i was 25, i made a mistake of putting in a fixed amount each month and i never increased it, later on I got a perm job and had copany pension whcih i never contributed to but company did. few years later prob between 30-35, i moved private pension into work pension and i started to contribute a % and that has remained until now and i'm 41 now. I probably should get a ISA but its just not knowing IF something will happen and i'd need the money thats the concern, so hence i have 2 regular savers that i pay into and i have a account that gives me cashback on bills so not too bad.

Kev

Katiehound

I have a sneaking feeling that being frugal or spendthrift comes from childhood experiences.
If you never had money as a child and every penny (almost literally!) counted then you retain that viewpoint into adulthood. Certainly friends who had a well cushioned childhood (in financial terms) have been more inclined to be spenders rather than savers after the major purchase of a house has been addressed.

One of my friends finds that I'm not really great fun to take on a shopping trip! I like charity shops and car boot sales which she hates. When in a store she picks up items to admire, and possibly purchase, I comment "But do you need it??" and she puts it back!! No fun for her, but she saves the dosh.....

Fatbritabroad

kev2009 wrote: »

In general, always a saver, it takes me a while to earn money so i'm certainly not one to blow it all. I'm also very hesitant re stock market/shares, the thought of buying some shares and a sudden market crash and i loose it all doesn't appeal so i tend to put my money in much secure things which wont loose money but admittedly wont give me the same return as potential investing would. Currently have no ISAs as i used those for despot on a place few years ago, currently just have what money i have in regular savers and general savings accounts. Considering putting some money into a ISA but job situation is a bit all over the place at the moment so don't want to tie it up if i may need it so its all on hold at present.

I generally only buy things i can afford to, yes I've bought items that i wouldn't say i actually "need" but ones that i want and i general class that as needing to live etc and most of them are 1 off purchases in terms of say for instance a new TV, i don't buy one every year so classed as a one off. A few years ago, i did spent on a nice German car, not brand new but was most expensive car i had ever bought, but i'd had such a appalling Ford, i could only live with that for a year or so and it had to go so i basically traded it in, put small amount towards it and took a loan. I've subsequently changed that to another German car and a smaller loan and I've got 2 years left to pay that off.

In hind sight, if i'd known i was going to buy a place, i would never have bought a german car as the initial outlay was way more than i deally wanted and i could of used the money for either additional deposit or to assist with purchasing stuff for the place. But i was sooo disheartend with Fords after having several of there cars before and more friends were buying more "up market" cars so to speak that i thought well, I've always been sensible and bought "normal" cars for want of a better word, maybe i should buy something really nice to drive in, plus the added bonus was my parents would be able to use it for days out etc as its very nice to drive on motorways etc so i took the plunge. I would say the car is probably by biggest expense apart from the property that in theory i didn't need to have and could of bought something cheaper but you only live once and once you've bought them, its hard to go back but I am considering switching back to Ford, just purely due to the upkeep *can* be expensive and your always thinking, what if x happens, how much will that be as its always few hundred quid etc. However, i'm going to mull that decision over for the next year and then re-evaluate as said, job situation is all over the place at the moment so i'm just sticking with what i have and will need to see how it all pans out.

On the flip side, i'm not one to go on holidays every year and when i do go on holiday its generally UK based as not keen on flying so the cost is cheaper, i dont buy designer clothes etc.

I started a Private pension just before i was 25, i made a mistake of putting in a fixed amount each month and i never increased it, later on I got a perm job and had copany pension whcih i never contributed to but company did. few years later prob between 30-35, i moved private pension into work pension and i started to contribute a % and that has remained until now and i'm 41 now. I probably should get a ISA but its just not knowing IF something will happen and i'd need the money thats the concern, so hence i have 2 regular savers that i pay into and i have a account that gives me cashback on bills so not too bad.

Kev

@kev 2009 you seem to need the lightbulb moment i had about 6 years ago (and I work in financial services so no shame in it).

So you pay into a pension but are nervous about paying into a s and s isa in case a crash makes you lose your money..... But you're paying into a pension. Where do you think this money is going?
You could replicate what's in pension in your isa and it would be the same thing. The isa /pension is a wrapper. Where the money is invested can be exactly the same if you wish

Alistair31

Fatbritabroad wrote: »

@kev 2009 you seem to need the lightbulb moment i had about 6 years ago (and I work in financial services so no shame in it).

So you pay into a pension but are nervous about paying into a s and s isa in case a crash makes you lose your money..... But you're paying into a pension. Where do you think this money is going?
You could replicate what's in pension in your isa and it would be the same thing. The isa /pension is a wrapper. Where the money is invested can be exactly the same if you wish

That could lead to temptation to withdraw during a downturn whereas if out of sight in pensions there is no way to lose nerve.

jonnygee2

So you pay into a pension but are nervous about paying into a s and s isa in case a crash makes you lose your money..... But you're paying into a pension. Where do you think this money is going?
You could replicate what's in pension in your isa and it would be the same thing.

The big difference is when you might need to withdraw. A pension is untouchable to 55 - over 15 years or so there's very little risk of an overall drop.

But putting money into an investment account that you might need in < 5 years time is a much larger risk, one you probably shouldn't take.

As Kev2009 thinks he might need his savings in the short term, I think keeping them in a savings account instead of investing them is the right move.w

LHW99

One thing I did that started me off was to put a really small amount (I think the minimum in those days was £20 per month, but its probably nearer £50 now) into a unit trust / OIEC. It wasn't that much, so it didn't really matter what happened to it. It got me used to the idea that the value went up and down, and so when it went down I got more units that month, which then help when it went up again. Pound cost averaging! almost as much fun as compound interest!