Pensioner frugality- not spending !

Eldi_Dos

Nebulous2 said:

I've written before about an acquaintance with a large prestigious car and expensive private plate who goes most places by bus utilising his free bus pass. Yet he will drive 20 miles to pick up a friend then another 80 round trip to take them to a hospital appointment.

He has no problem spending his money on others, but struggles to do it on himself.... 

That's what a bus pass is for, you can go into town and not have to bother about finding a parking space or rushing back before the ticket expires.If you want to go for a refreshment you can without having to worry about blowing into a bag on the way home.

Sounds to me like your friend uses the car as a tool for when it suits them and helps others,thats commendable I think.

Albermarle

I think it is a little bit of a chicken and egg situation with a lot of people.
One of the reasons they have been able to build up good reserves, is that they have always been careful spenders.
If they were not careful spenders, they could well not have any money left to spend in their later years.

I suppose ideally you should be a careful spender up to a certain point, and then suddenly change but that is unrealistic.

Personally I have found I have relaxed a bit about spending as I got older ( and better off) . However it is still a bit of a mixed bag.
OK to spend on some things, like a holiday, or dentistry, or keeping the house warm, for example, but still go out of my way not to pay an extra Pound for parking, wash my own car rather than paying for a car wash, getting free entry to places with Clubcard points etc. all  those sort of things are just ingrained in my psyche.

poseidon1

Albermarle said:

I think it is a little bit of a chicken and egg situation with a lot of people.
One of the reasons they have been able to build up good reserves, is that they have always been careful spenders.
If they were not careful spenders, they could well not have any money left to spend in their later years.

I suppose ideally you should be a careful spender up to a certain point, and then suddenly change but that is unrealistic.

Personally I have found I have relaxed a bit about spending as I got older ( and better off) . However it is still a bit of a mixed bag.
OK to spend on some things, like a holiday, or dentistry, or keeping the house warm, for example, but still go out of my way not to pay an extra Pound for parking, wash my own car rather than paying for a car wash, getting free entry to places with Clubcard points etc. all  those sort of things are just ingrained in my psyche.

Had to smile at the car washing quip.

 Last time I had a service wash the cost was £25. I can afford it but find it more satisfying to do a quick self service wash for the princely sum of £4 at my local Shell garage.

Albermarle

poseidon1 said:

Albermarle said:

I think it is a little bit of a chicken and egg situation with a lot of people.
One of the reasons they have been able to build up good reserves, is that they have always been careful spenders.
If they were not careful spenders, they could well not have any money left to spend in their later years.

I suppose ideally you should be a careful spender up to a certain point, and then suddenly change but that is unrealistic.

Personally I have found I have relaxed a bit about spending as I got older ( and better off) . However it is still a bit of a mixed bag.
OK to spend on some things, like a holiday, or dentistry, or keeping the house warm, for example, but still go out of my way not to pay an extra Pound for parking, wash my own car rather than paying for a car wash, getting free entry to places with Clubcard points etc. all  those sort of things are just ingrained in my psyche.

Had to smile at the car washing quip.

 Last time I had a service wash the cost was £25. I can afford it but find it more satisfying to do a quick self service wash for the princely sum of £4 at my local Shell garage.

In fact if the weather is bad, or one of the cars is particularly dirty, I do take it for a jetwash - £3 .

HedgehogRulez

Do you not own a bucket and sponge?

Archerychick

This is a tough one for some to understand, sometimes it’s about seeing the value in something before spending the money.

As my income has grown over my career my lifestyle hasn’t become more affluent because of it. It has enabled me to save, and get myself into a position where I can retire happy knowing I have a large buffer. I can afford to buy lots of things, but if I don’t see the value in it, I won’t. For example if I need a pair of walking shoes I won’t buy a pair for £180 if they’re is a pair for £40 and they tick the boxes. I won’t however do food shopping in Lidl because I’m a brand snob, I like what I like and I’ll have it. I don’t take holidays because I’d rather be at home. I don’t buy clothes unless I need to, and I wear my clothes until they’re ready for the bin. I don’t buy takeaways before I can’t be bothered, I’d rather cook. 

Am I happy? Yes too right I am. 

Just because you have money, that doesn’t make you happy. It depends on what happiness is to the person. So my best advice is, let them be if they’re happy and healthy. 

finbaar

Archerychick, I fully understand the points you are making but I'll just put an alternative point of view on a couple of things. Walking shoes - ticking the same boxes at £40 and £180 might be one thing but it is almost inevitable the the more expensive shoes will be more comfortable and last a considerable time longer than the cheap pair and will, in the end, cost less than several pairs of cheap ones. As for avoiding shopping in Lidl, well you are missing out on some - not all, I'll give you that - better quality products than you get in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda etc. Fair enough Waitrose is better.

SVaz

We are far more frugal now than in the past,  due to me becoming self employed and also having one eye on retirement.
We are living quite happily on £1500 a month,  everything else is being shoved into pensions and savings.
We try not to pay full price for anything like clothes,  go to a local farm / abbatoir and pay £40 for fresh meat that will feed us for 6 weeks or more,  Beef joints,  Sirloins, lamb,  gammon and chops,  even in Aldi it would cost double that, don’t have to worry if it’s halal in disguise either. 

When we hit SP age in 2032/33,  we will have over £3k a month net without touching my Sipps so we’ll eat out more and take more and longer holidays,  maybe Spain for a month in the depths of winter. 

kinger101

finbaar said:

Archerychick, I fully understand the points you are making but I'll just put an alternative point of view on a couple of things. Walking shoes - ticking the same boxes at £40 and £180 might be one thing but it is almost inevitable the the more expensive shoes will be more comfortable and last a considerable time longer than the cheap pair and will, in the end, cost less than several pairs of cheap ones. As for avoiding shopping in Lidl, well you are missing out on some - not all, I'll give you that - better quality products than you get in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda etc. Fair enough Waitrose is better.

Good point here.  I used to buy shoes for between 50 and 100.  They would last a year at best.  Started spending 200 plus on some with welted soles.  Have same pairs that are 8 years old now (redwings).  You can do sometimes find bargains too.  Managed to get some Grenson Curt for 110 back in 2021. 

Nebulous2

finbaar said:

Archerychick, I fully understand the points you are making but I'll just put an alternative point of view on a couple of things. Walking shoes - ticking the same boxes at £40 and £180 might be one thing but it is almost inevitable the the more expensive shoes will be more comfortable and last a considerable time longer than the cheap pair and will, in the end, cost less than several pairs of cheap ones. As for avoiding shopping in Lidl, well you are missing out on some - not all, I'll give you that - better quality products than you get in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda etc. Fair enough Waitrose is better.

It just goes to show we are all different. I am very much of the view that expensive walking shoes are worth it.   We started with cheap walking boots, had issues with them and the ones we bought gradually became more and more expensive. We finally hit on ones that we really like, and pay a great deal for them, but they last very well. 

After retiring, when I wasn't wearing boots, I was wearing out trainers very quickly, moved to walking shoes and followed the same process, they weren't waterproof, they fell apart, not as quick as the trainers, but quicker than I liked. I ended up buying shoes of the same brand as the boots, and every day it is a pleasure to put them on. I would feel I'd hit it lucky if I could get them for £180!