Pensioner frugality- not spending !

Martico

kinger101 said:

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. 

Look up the Sam Vimes Boot Theory

SVaz

We usually buy waterproof bargain basement Karrimors for under £40,  my Wife has only just slung a pair, worn near daily,  that she bought 8 years ago for a trip to New Zealand, she’s replaced them with an almost identical pair for £35. 

We’ve both had more expensive Brashers/ Merrells and they haven’t been any better.
The only cheap brand I wouldn’t have again are Mountain warehouse.   

artyboy

£12 'sneaker boots' from Costco last me about 6-12 months at a time depending how much 'serious' walking I'm doing. And they are comfortable from the first moment I put them on, despite having big and wide feet. 

I do have some considerably more expensive ones as well, but the cheap ones do me very well for day to day use.

BikingBud

For anything you can buy there is always a trade off of price v value for money, content or taste for food is very subjective. €400 motorcycle boots bought nearly 20 years ago still doing well but need resoling v £150 disposable fashion items that are likely not even credible as PPE. Sam Vimes all over? More likely a Yorkshire upbringing. Easy decision for me.

Anyway back to the core post, we know what our income and outgoings are, forecasting and planning ahead we can see how quickly and how large the pot may grow. Once an initial buffer is established there is no point saving any more and surplus income will be diverted to the kids.

They might wish to add to a house deposit fund or use it as their income stream and offset some of their wage into pensions but we see no advantage to building up a massive fund that might be susceptible to all manner of bizarre future decisions on taxation.

penners324

Suggest they go on a holiday 

HedgehogRulez

My parents bought me some quality walking boots aged 16…. Haven’t yet replaced them 30 years later and frequently walk up hills on them